David Lee Roth is out and Opie and Anthony are back in. The morning hours of 6 to about 10 on WBCN (104.1 FM), filled for many years by Howard Stern before he decamped to the world of satellite radio on Sirius, were recently occupied by the former Van Halen front man, who drew horrible ratings and even worse reviews. Yesterday the shock duo Opie and Anthony (that is, Greg Hughes and Anthony Cumia) returned to WBCN to announce that they would be replacing Roth on all of the CBS-owned radio stations where Roth took over for Stern. The pair were not exactly welcomed back with open arms locally. Officially, Mayor Tom Menino had ''no comment" on their return to radio, but hizzoner's hardly a big fan of their adolescent act. Can you blame him? In 1998, Opie and Anthony pulled an April Fools' prank in which they told listeners that Menino had died in a car accident in Florida. The first Opie and Anthony show will broadcast tomorrow and will break new ground, at least from a business perspective. The show will be simulcast from New York on the CBS-owned stations and on XM, and the XM subscribers will get two hours every morning of a specially produced show. . . . In other WBCN news, former Atlanta radio personalities Fred Toucher and Crash Clark will be joining Dallas radio guy Rich Shertenlieb for the ''Toucher and Rich Show" weekday afternoons on the Boston rock station. Clark was fired from the Atlanta station.
From Beantown to Tinseltown
Actress Rene Russo had lunch yesterday at Bravo, the restaurant inside the Museum of Fine Arts. . . .Last night, the Sportsmen's Tennis Club honored Patriots wide receiver Deion Branch and Emily Rooney, host of WGBH's ''Greater Boston," with the Sportsmen's Founders Awards for their support of youths. The club is the first indoor, nonprofit black-owned and operated tennis club in the United States.
Teen singing sensation and Foxborough native Joanna ''JoJo" Levesque, who's had two movie roles this year, was spotted on the red carpet at the Hollywood premiere of ''R.V." with teen soccer phenom Freddy Adu. Burlington native Amy Poehler also attended the Sunday night event. Levesque plays Robin Williams's daughter in the comedy flick.
Local teens are finalists in rap contest
Seventeen-year-old Janelle Clinton entered the contest almost as a lark. ''It wasn't so much about prizes as having my music critiqued," said the wannabe rapper from Mattapan. ''I didn't know it was going to blow up like this." The senior at Fontbonne Academy is a finalist in Essence magazine's search for hip-hop's next big stars. (The contest is cosponsored by Berklee College of Music.) Clinton, whose stage name is ''Lyric Jones," compares herself to the likes of MC Lyte and Queen Latifah. ''It's a new thing for me," she said. ''Something I have a passion for." Tunes by the top 10, which includes Nyles ''Lil Witness" Houston, 15, from Brockton, are available at Essence.com/takebackthemusic. The winners (two will take the grand prize) will be posted next month.Suzanne Ryan of the Globe staff contributed. Names can be reached at names@globe.com or at 617-929-8253. ![]()