CNN - Showbuzz - January 14, 1999

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Following the popular response she earned from hosting the Tony Awards, Rosie O'Donnell is setting her sights on the Grammys, according to Daily Variety, which reports the television talk show star has agreed to front the music industry's 41st annual Grammy Awards February 24 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. O'Donnell revealed the news to her studio audience during a break in taping Wednesday, the paper said.

The acceptance surprised Grammy officials at the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences because the two sides had been without a firm deal after a week of negotiations, it said. The Grammys, which honor the best in music, will air on CBS.

"Frasier" star Kelsey Grammer was host of last year's Grammys in New York, which posted their highest television ratings in five years. With O'Donnell at the helm for a second consecutive year, Broadway's 1998 Tony Awards enjoyed their second-highest rating in five years, although the score was 13 percent below the red-hot 1997 rating, Daily Variety reported at the time.

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Kidman's nomination for "Blue Room" was just one of six nominations the play received.

Olivier nominees include Kidman, Spacey

LONDON (CNN) -- Nicole Kidman and Kevin Spacey, best known for their work on the silver screen, have been nominated for the 1999 Laurence Olivier Awards, which honor the best on the London stage. In her London stage debut, Kidman received a nod for best actress, one of six nominations handed to "The Blue Room." She'll compete against Judi Dench ("Filumena") and Diana Rigg ("Britannicus" and "Phedre"), Sinead Cusack ("Our Lady of Sligo") and Eileen Atkins ("The Unexpected Man").

Kidman's "Blue Room" co-star, Scottish actor Iain Glen, is up for best actor, along with Michael Gambon ("The Unexpected Man"), David Suchet ("Amadeus"), Jim Norton ("The Weir") and clear front-runner Kevin Spacey, for his marathon performance as the salesman Hickey in the Broadway-bound revival of Eugene O'Neill's "The Iceman Cometh."

"The Blue Room," the David Hare adaptation of Schnitzler's daisy chain of love and lust "La Ronde," will vie for best play against "Copenhagen," "The Weir," and "The Unexpected Man." Meanwhile, English director Trevor Nunn's fresh take on the musical warhorse "Oklahoma!" earned the most nominations -- nine in all -- including best musical production; best director (for Nunn); best set (Anthony Ward); best lighting (David Hersey) and best choreography (Susan Stroman).

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DiCaprio

Thai court allows DiCaprio show to go on

BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) -- Once again, a Thai civil court has refused a request by environmentalists to issue an injunction to halt filming of a Leonardo DiCaprio movie on a southern Thai island, local papers reported Thursday. Environmentalists and local activists claim that 20th Century Fox film crews for "The Beach" are damaging coral reefs and Maya Beach, which is a legally protected national park conservation area on Phi Phi Island.

Thailand's Royal Forestry Department has given the producers permission to alter the landscape of Maya Beach, provided they return it to its original state upon completion of filming. A civil court judge rejected the activists' request on Wednesday, saying the director general of the Royal Forestry Department should be afforded an opportunity to explain why he gave permission before any action is taken. It was the second time this week a Thai court had rebuffed action by environmentalists.

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Lucy Lawless, the star of "Xena: Warrior Princess"

Lucy Lawless raised to be a hero

(CNN) -- Lucy Lawless, who plays the title role in the hit TV show "Xena: Warrior Princess," says she raised to believe in herself and her power as a woman. "I grew up with plenty of female role models," Lawless tells USA Weekend. "I didn't realize there was such a dearth of them in other people's lives. I didn't realize women couldn't do anything." As the fetching, breast-plate and miniskirt-wearing princess in "Xena," she says she realizes her show isn't the most serious thing around, but it has found its niche. "Everybody loves their law shows and their sitcoms, but this is just a different genre they can fit into their viewing diet," says the 30-year-old New Zealander. "It's dessert."

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Reuters Limited contributed to this report.

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