Morning Report - News from Sept. 25, 2002

POP/ROCK

Settlement Reached in ‘Silence’ Case

What price silence?

Six figures--as British musician Mike Batt found out when he included a minute devoid of sound on “Classical Graffiti,” the latest album by his rock group, the Planets.

Batt agreed Monday to pay an undisclosed sum to the John Cage Trust, after publishers of the late American composer sued him for compensation, claiming he had plagiarized Cage’s 1952 composition, “4’33”,” which was totally silent. Batt’s piece, “A One Minute Silence,” had been credited to Batt/Cage.

Batt has registered copyrights for 4 minutes and 32 seconds of silence and 4 minutes and 34 seconds of silence. (“If there’s ever a Cage performance where they come in a second shorter or longer, then it’s mine,” he told the New Yorker.)

Nicholas Riddle, managing director of Cage’s publishers, Peters Edition, who accepted the check, said they were prepared to defend the concept of a silent piece because it was a valuable artistic concept with a copyright.

Guilty Plea in Death of Betty Blowtorch Singer

An Illinois man has pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide in the death of L.A. rocker Bianca Halstead, 36, the lead singer for the female punk band Betty Blowtorch.

Brian McAllister, 34, told a Louisiana court that he was driving about 100 mph when the incident occurred on Dec. 15. Sideswiping another car as he was changing lanes, he skidded across the median and hit a vehicle driven by Colorado resident Robert Fenkel, who has been confined to a wheelchair ever since. McAllister’s car then hit a pole, cutting his Corvette in two. Halstead, an acquaintance of his, was in the passenger seat.

McAllister, whose blood alcohol count was measured as .12, wasn’t hurt in the crash. He could get up to 20 years for Halstead’s death and five for Fenkel’s injury. Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 13.

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TELEVISION

‘Sopranos’ Question: Was It Inappropriate?

A Miss America judge was wrong to ask Alicia Renee Luciano, Miss New Jersey, about her views on “The Sopranos” during the interview segment of Saturday night’s pageant in New York City, the contestant and some Italian American groups said.

The HBO drama focuses on fictional mob boss Tony Soprano as he juggles organized crime and his family life in suburban New Jersey.

Luciano, 19, answered that people shouldn’t take TV shows seriously, and that good parenting should offset violence on the tube. “It was a question that I don’t think they would ask of anyone, other than someone with my background,” she told the Daily Record of Parsippany. N.J. “I wasn’t expecting that. Everyone else was getting questions about how they felt about performance dance and the arts.”

Several Italian American groups agreed that the question was insensitive and insulting to Luciano. Miss America officials could not be reached for comment.

Meanwhile, there is turbulence on the Miss Universe front, too: For the first time in its 52-year history, the reigning title-holder has been given the boot. Russia’s Oxana Fedorova, the first woman from that country to win the crown, was replaced by Panama’s Justine Pasek.

Pageant spokeswoman Mary Hillard McMIllan said Fedorova “was not able to fulfill her obligations and her responsibilities,” which included global travel to speak on AIDS awareness. “Being at home was more important for her,” she explained.

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MOVIES

More Films to be Saved From Extinction

Fifty-eight films, languishing unseen and forgotten in archives nationwide, will be the beneficiaries of grants from the National Film Preservation Foundation.

Among them: Duane Kubo’s 1976 documentary on the cultural scene in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo; home movies made by dance luminary Katherine Dunham in Haiti in 1936; a film clandestinely shot by an American in 1920s Soviet Russia; a backstage view of opera baritone Richard Bonelli during the 1930s; a 1973 documentary about the construction of the World Trade Center; and a student performance by Ben Vereen.

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QUICK TAKES

During its first week on the market, “Monsters, Inc.” has sold 11 million DVDs and videocassettes in the U.S. and Canada, Disney/Pixar reports, a sales pace second only to “The Lion King”.... Former First Lady Nancy Reagan will discuss her husband Ronald Reagan’s battle with Alzheimer’s disease on the season premiere of CBS’ “60 Minutes II” at 8 tonight.... Ridley Scott, who just won an Emmy for HBO’s “The Gathering Storm,” is embarking on a second TV movie about Winston Churchill, focusing on his years as prime minister, to be followed by another dealing with the post-war years.... Paramount Pictures is developing an updated version of the 1958 Elvis Presley film “King Creole,” the story of a New Orleans dishwasher who gets the chance to perform for a night. No star has been announced.... R&B; singer Usher will play Marvin Gaye in an episode of NBC’s new series “American Dreams”.... ABC is developing a pilot for an hourlong drama based on John Grisham’s bestseller “The Street Lawyer,” the tale of an attorney who leaves a big corporate firm to work for a legal-aid clinic.... Country singer Merle Haggard, 65, has called off 11 concerts this month because of four herniated discs in his back.