Unoriginal sin
Today we introduce a new feature to the Living/Arts section. Pop! will offer expanded coverage of celebrities and pop culture six days a week, Monday through Saturday.
Pop! replaces Go!, a daily guide to arts and entertainment events. That coverage now appears in the new Sidekick section.
The Family Datebook column, which appeared in the Living/Arts section on Saturdays, will cease. Coverage of events for families and children now appears in Sidekick.
We welcome your thoughts about the changes. You can e-mail the Living editor, Steve Greenlee, at greenlee@globe.com.
Unoriginal sin
'Rock Star: INXS," debuting tonight on CBS, is not the worst idea ever for a reality show. That would be ''Welcome to the Neighborhood," the hastily canceled ABC series about seven diverse families competing for a house in a white-bread Texas neighborhood. Besides wallowing in boorish cultural stereotypes, the show was accused of violating federal fair-housing laws, setting a standard for stupidity that may never be surpassed.
If ''Neighborhood" was Archie-Bunker-meets-Carson-Kressley, though, ''Rock Star" smacks of an air-guitar contest between ''American Idol" and ''The Osbournes." Premise: Once potent (30 million albums sold), now fading '80s band loses lead singer (Michael Hutchence, left, a suicide), auditions 15 potential replacements, houses them together until they're voted out, one by one, and a new frontman (or woman) is chosen. Immediate payoff: 13 weeks of prime-time exposure plus a newly announced recording contract with Epic Records/Sony BMG.
In the name of Richard Hatch, is this any way to pick a lead singer? Pop! asked several music-industry veterans, none of whom had previewed the series, to comment:
Michael Creamer, artist manager: ''Truly morbid. I don't understand why the guys in the band would want to do it. Maybe to bring more attention to the group, but the concept is just bizarre. Nirvana went nowhere after Kurt Cobain died, and these guys aren't exactly Nirvana."
Robin Batteau, singer-songwriter: ''When kids start a rock band, they place ads in papers like the Boston Phoenix looking for a singer. So actually it's not that crazy an idea. But making it into a psych-out game a la 'Survivor' is very different. Watching 'American Idol' is gruesome enough."
Duke Levine, guitarist, recording artist: ''If U2 lost Bono, would they try this? Maybe this gets INXS back in the public eye, and maybe they find someone really good. Still, the whole reality-show premise is completely bogus -- which sounds pretty much like the music business, come to think of it."
Ed Valauskas, bassist: ''Bums me out. If Hutchence had simply been kicked out of the band, I could see a gimmick like this. But the guy hung himself. Plus, even though the TV thing worked well for Ozzie, he's a compelling personality. Is their saxophone guy that incredible a character? I doubt it."
David Bieber, director of special projects, Phoenix Media/Communications Group: ''I'm not sensing any pining for INXS to come back. In the US, they were never more than a transitory band. This is one step above karaoke -- or maybe one step below."
Consensus: The contestants may rock, and ''Star" cohosts Dave Navarro and Brooke Burke may roll, but must-see TV? Guys, if the Red Sox are on, they don't need you tonight.
JOSEPH P. KAHN
It is never on his mind
Willie Nelson (inset) is so prolific that sometimes even he forgets he has another record coming out. At a recent Nashville show with Bob Dylan, Nelson performed a long list of hits but not a single song from his long-awaited reggae album. ''I keep forgetting," Nelson, 72, said a few days later by telephone from the road, which he's called home for most of the past 30 years. ''The set is so short." Nelson's reggae album, ''Countryman," is due out tomorrow.
Shields up
Brooke Shields is coming back to Broadway to play Roxie Hart in the long-running revival of ''Chicago." Shields, currently starring in the London production of the musical, joins the New York company Sept. 6 at the Ambassador Theatre. The show is in its ninth year on Broadway. The actress scored a critical and popular success in New York last season when she stepped into the role of Ruth Sherwood in the revival of ''Wonderful Town."
McKnight on deck
R&B artist Brian McKnight (inset) will perform the national anthem tomorrow before baseball's All-Star Game at
FROM WIRE REPORTS
Take that
'He wants too much power. The movie company hasn't obliged. He wants final editing rights and the final look at the movie and so on.'
Actor Jackie Chan, explaining that costar Chris Tucker's attitude is holding up the third installment of 'Rush Hour'
