Fergie is feeling ASCAP’s love

This week is already off to a big start for Fergie -- she was scheduled to perform Sunday night at the all-star “Idol Gives Back” concert and join her classic-rock heroines in Heart on their “Barracuda.”

“My plan,” Fergie said Friday afternoon, “is to get my inner rock chick on.”

Stepping on any stage under the “American Idol” banner is a major deal these days, but Fergie said she was equally excited about a different Kodak Theatre event: At the ASCAP 25th annual Pop Music Awards on Wednesday night, she is poised to pick up major honors. “To get any honor in that room is something very special,” she said. “Songwriting is an expression of your soul, so to be honored as a writer feels like an approval of your soul.”

ASCAP is certainly getting a lot of approval for its effort to remind the world that Los Angeles is a civic center of songwriting. The City Council has declared this “ASCAP I Create Music Week.” The festivities begin Tuesday morning, when cast members of “Wicked” will serenade composer-lyricist Stephen Schwartz as he gets a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Then, beginning Thursday, the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel will be the site of the three-day “I Create Music” Expo.

“There is no other resource like it, and songwriters at every level of their career come from all over the country to attend: On just the first day, attendees will get to see Steve Miller, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora, and Jackson Browne, among many other notables,” said ASCAP’s president, songwriter Marilyn Bergman, whose own credits include co-writing the lyrics to “The Way We Were” and “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers.” The nonprofit American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers was founded in 1914 to monitor public performance of music, collect fees and compensate members.

The Kodak awards show on Wednesday will include special career presentations to Miller, Lionel Richie and songwriting team Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller (“Jailhouse Rock,” “Stand by Me”). Fergie and Justin Timberlake will lead the younger hit-makers being honored. “I signed a publishing deal before I had a record deal,” Fergie said. “I consider myself a songwriter who performs, so this is where I want to be. To me, to be in a room of songwriters, it’s like everyone is sharing their diaries with each other.” For more information go to www.ascap.com.

-- Geoff Boucher