Morning Report - News from June 11, 2002

POP/ROCK

Former Beatle and Fiancee Meet the Press

As cameras flashed, Paul McCartney kissed his fiancee, Heather Mills, and handed her a red rose Monday outside the gates of Castle Leslie, the remote 17th estate in Glaslough Village, Ireland, where they are set to wed today.

“As you know, there is going to be a wedding tomorrow, but it is a secret,” joked McCartney, 59, referring to the fact that the venue’s loose-lipped proprietor revealed their nuptial plans to the media last week.

According to McCartney spokesman Geoff Baker, the couple will be married by a local priest at the estate’s St. Salvator’s church before throwing a lavish party for 300 guests at the castle.

Villagers were upset with what they perceived as a lack of support for their economy. “They are sourcing nothing at all at the local level,” said florist Aileen Scott, miffed that flowers had been shipped in from Holland. “Even the castle staff have been sent away so that they can bring in outsiders.”

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TELEVISION

Brandy Following in Ozzy’s Footsteps

MTV finally re-signed Ozzy and family for another season of the hit series “The Osbournes.” But while fans are waiting for those episodes to be shot, the network hopes they’ll while away their time with ... Brandy.

That’s right: The 23-year-old R&B; singer and former star of UPN’s “Moesha” is opening her life for what MTV calls a “documentary miniseries” called “Diary Presents: Brandy--Special Delivery.” Premiering June 18 at 10:30 p.m., the show will “document the daily life of Brandy as she balances her marriage, career, family and impending motherhood,” the network said.

Keyes Dropped From MSNBC Prime Time

Continuing its prime-time overhaul, cable news channel MSNBC on Monday announced a new lineup that doesn’t include conservative Alan Keyes, whose show--launched in January--has become a ratings disappointment. The network said it is talking to Keyes about a daytime slot.

The new schedule, as of July 15, includes “Nachman” at 4 p.m., hosted by Jerry Nachman, who is also MSNBC’s new editor in chief. It will be followed at 5 p.m. by a show from Phil Donahue, then “Hardball With Chris Matthews” and “Ashleigh Banfield: On Location.” To give West Coast viewers a chance to see them in prime time, the Donahue, Matthews and Banfield programs will then repeat in succession from 8 to 11 p.m.

In a related development, Jeff Cohen, the founder of Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting, is leaving the liberal media watchdog group to become a senior producer for “Donahue.”

Miami Picked for MTV’s Latino Awards

Miami Beach lost the Latin Grammy Awards to Los Angeles. But now it’s receiving a consolation prize. The city has been selected as the site of the inaugural MTV Video Music Awards Latinoamerica, which will take place Oct. 24.

The awards show, the network’s first pan-regional event of this kind, will feature local and international acts tailored for the Latin market. It will air live on MTV Latin America, with portions of the program made available to all MTV channels worldwide.

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AWARDS

‘Mind,’ ‘Sam,’ ‘Iris’ Are Humanitas Finalists

The feature films “A Beautiful Mind,” “I Am Sam” and “Iris” were among the nominees announced Monday for the 2002 Humanitas Prizes, honoring movie and TV writers whose work “honestly explores the complexities of the human experience and sheds light on the positive values of life.”

Episodes of NBC’s “The West Wing,” ABC’s “The Practice” and HBO’s “Band of Brothers” were nominated in the hourlong TV category. In the half-hour category, the ABC Family channel show “State of Grace” collected two nominations, along with one for NBC’s freshman series “Scrubs.”

In the category for network TV movies, nominations went to ABC’s “Anne Frank,” CBS’ “Crossed Over” and CBS’ “The Rosa Parks Story.” For cable TV movies: HBO’s “The Laramie Project,” FX’s “Sins of the Father” and Lifetime’s “Within These Walls.”

The awards, which carry cash prizes ranging from $10,000 to $25,000, will be announced by the Pacific Palisades-based Humanitas organization on June 25 at the Hilton Universal.

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QUICK TAKES

A BBC recording of the Golden Jubilee rock concert, held last week at Buckingham Palace to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s 50 years on the throne, will go on sale June 24 to raise money for charity. EMI will distribute the 21-track album, which features artists such as Rod Stewart and Brian May....The British media are speculating that Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger is to be knighted next weekend by Queen Elizabeth II for his service to music. He’s said to have been nominated by Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is a fan of the band....CBS has greenlighted a four-hour miniseries about the early years of Adolf Hitler, based on Ian Kershaw’s biography “Hitler: 1889-1936 Hubris,” Variety reports.... Todd Field, director of “In the Bedroom,” will receive the Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Medal from the AFI at Wednesday’s tribute to Tom Hanks, to be held at Hollywood’s Kodak Theatre.... David Koepp, who is credited with writing “Spider-Man,” has signed on to write the sequel.... Don Johnson (“Nash Bridges”) and his wife, Kelly, became the parents of a boy, Jasper Brekenridge, last Thursday.... Clint Eastwood was sworn in Saturday as a state parks commissioner at the beginning of the 100-year birthday celebration for Big Basin Redwood State Park, California’s oldest state park.... Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett will star in “The Fountain,” a sci-fi epic co-financed by Warner Bros. and New Regency, Variety reports.