Sex appeal beats talent: Ronstadt

Linda Ronstadt says today's music industry values sex appeal more than talent. "It puts a huge amount of pressure on kids" who are aspiring performers, said Ronstadt, 57, whose singing career began in the 1960s. "If you are someone like Beyonce, who happens to be gorgeous and talented, well, great.

But there are a lot of people who are not paid attention to because they don't look like a fashion model," she said. Ronstadt, a native of Tucson, Ariz., was a sex symbol herself, with such hit albums as Heart Like a Wheel and Simple Dreams.

`Baby Jessica' turns 18, graduates

"Baby Jessica," who held the attention of North America and much of the world 17 years ago when she fell into an abandoned well, is a high school graduate. Crews struggled for 58 hours to rescue Jessica McClure from a 20-centimetre-wide pipe in October 1987. Now 18, McClure joined more than 100 other seniors at Greenwood High School near Midland, Tex., in receiving their diplomas Friday. "We're just trying to get back to having a normal life," said her mother, Cissy Porter, commenting on her daughter's behalf. The case of 18-month-old Jessica created an international sensation. Emergency crews rescued her -- a dramatic moment covered on live television -- after digging a parallel shaft and then breaking through the wall of the well.

Veteran Brit TV screenwriter dies

Jack Rosenthal, a TV screenwriter who worked on long-running British soap Coronation Street and scored hits with numerous TV plays, has died at the age of 72. The funeral took place yesterday in north London, two days after Rosenthal died from a form of bone cancer in a hospice in the capital. Rosenthal worked as a scriptwriter during the early days of Coronation Street in the 1960s, contributing to more than 120 episodes of the soap. He won several awards for his work and in 1994 was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

Moore not invited to Flint Film Fest

Missed the Sundance Film Festival? Couldn't get a hotel room in Cannes? Consider Flint. But don't expect to rub elbows with native son Michael Moore while you're here. The city of 125,000 is preparing for its inaugural Flint Film Festival. It begins Friday with an opening gala and concludes Sunday with an awards party. Festival-goers will have their choice of 29 works by independent filmmakers from as far away as Germany. But Moore was not invited and his latest film, Fahrenheit 9/11, will not be shown. Organizers "wanted this to be about local filmmakers and not about one famous one who has a way of bringing all the attention on himself," said festival chairperson Greg Fiedler.

Freeman, Simpson at Indy 500

Morgan Freeman drove the pace car. Pop star Jessica Simpson sang the national anthem. David Letterman co-owns the team that had the winning driver, Buddy Rice. Some of the celebrities at the Indianapolis 500 had local roots. Letterman, former NBC Today host Jane Pauley and Rupert Boneham of Survivor fame are Indiana natives. Also at the race were actors James Garner and Judge Reinhold, and New York Giants quarterback Jesse Palmer, who recently finished a stint as The Bachelor.