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January 12, 2000
Web posted at: 4:56 p.m. EST (2156 GMT)

• Madonna bails on Bowl
• Charges dropped against accused Streisand stalker
• Alleged intruder in Harrison's Hawaii home pleads not guilty
• Crichton to write new Fox drama

Madonna

ATLANTA (CNN) -- Madonna has canceled plans to do a pregame show for the Super Bowl in Atlanta on January 30. She was supposed to debut her remake of Don McLean's "American Pie."

Her manager, Caresse Norman, says the pop star's busy recording schedule didn't leave enough time for her to prepare a performance "on the level of Super Bowl excellence."

"I am sorry that I will not be able to join all the great entertainers who will be performing on Super Bowl Sunday," Madonna said in a statement. "My sincere apologies to the NFL, ABC-TV, as well as my fans. I look forward to the possibility of doing something with the NFL in the future."

The absence of Madonna doesn't leave Bowl organizers high and dry. They've still got Tina Turner and Travis Tritt slated to perform in the pregame show. And the halftime show is to include performances by Phil Collins, Christina Aguilera, Enrique Iglesias, and Toni Braxton.

Wall

MALIBU, California (CNN) -- Tabloid photographer Wendell Wall says an arrest isn't going to stop him from trying to snap a picture of Barbra Streisand and her husband James Brolin.

Police say they took Wall, 28, into custody on suspicion of stalking on Saturday, after the couple reported that Wall had been tailing them. Prosecutors dropped the charges on Tuesday, citing insufficient evidence.

"They felt jeopardized," says Streisand publicist Dick Guttman. "The police felt that sense of jeopardy was warranted and they acted accordingly."

Wall says Streisand had him "arrested for no apparent reason."

"I'm still going to take her picture," he says. "This is not going to stop me. It's my job."

WAILUKU, Hawaii (CNN) -- A 27-year-old woman allegedly found making herself at home inside George Harrison's Maui estate has pleaded not guilty to burglary and theft charges.

Cristin Keleher allegedly entered the former Beatle's home through an open sliding glass door on December 23. "She said she had cooked a frozen pizza, drank a root beer soda, she was doing her laundry and she had made a long-distance call to her mother in New Jersey," investigating officer Jeffrey Hunt says.

Harrison was not in Hawaii at the time. His sister-in-law discovered Keleher at the residence and alerted the caretaker, who called police.

On Tuesday, a judge ordered Keleher's bail to remain at $10,000 and set a pretrial conference for April 6. If convicted, she could get a 10-year prison sentence and $10,000 fine.

Her arrest came a week before Harrison was stabbed in the chest by an intruder in his mansion near London. He was treated for a collapsed right lung and released from the hospital late New Year's Day.

Crichton

LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- Fox is planning to pay Michael Crichton more than $20 million to write and produce an hourlong drama series. This would be his first since creating the hospital drama "ER" for NBC in 1994.

Although a concept for the program has not been narrowed down, the network says it has committed to 13 episodes and wants to roll them out beginning late fall or early 2001.

Crichton's other writing credits include "Jurassic Park" (1993) and "Twister" (1996). His latest big screen venture is "Jurassic Park 3," due out next year.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.