March 31: King Appearance Postponed Due to continuing developments in the Terri Schiavo case in Florida, Dolly's scheduled interview Thursday night on Larry King Live has been postponed, CNN officials confirmed Wednesday night. A new date for Dolly's appearance has not been announced.
Headin' To Dollywood! Although the park has been open to the public for several days, the "official" annual grand opening festivities at Dollywood to celebrate its 20th season don't kick off until Friday. That's when Dolly is expected to begin making this year's first public appearances on the park grounds, followed by her annual 6 p.m. parade through Pigeon Forge (beginning near traffic light No. 7 and ending at light No. 3 -- they usually have large banners posted identifying "parade starts here" and "parade ends here"). On Saturday, she is expected to make at least one appearance at the park, her annual Parade of Nations around 4 p.m. To celebrate its 20th season, Dollywood has opened a $5 million expansion of the Country Fair section, including 10 new rides, plus the Festival of Nations returns for its fifth year, bringing more than 200 artists, musicians and dancers from around the world to entertain, headlined this year by the Moscow Circus. And if you're in the mood for some great bluegrass, don't forget that Dolly's band, The Grascals, will play Friday night at the Old Smoky Hoedown in Pigeon Forge. Tickets, $15 for adults, are available at 865-428-5600. (Image of Dolly by Duane Gordon from a mini-concert at last year's season opening.) There won't be any site updates for a few days while your webmaster is observing the festivities at the park, but look for recaps soon, likely starting on Sunday night!
Asking For Help I'm told new commercials promoting Dolly's Imagination Library literacy program have started airing in Nashville on program sponsor Comcast Cable. The spots feature Dolly and Gov. Phil Bredesen (D-Tenn.) soliciting funds for the project. Thanks! In addition, The Camden Chronicle reports this week that Benton County, Tenn., officials met on Monday at the urging of the town librarian to discuss adopting Dolly's books program there. Read the story here.
Duet Getting Airplay The new issue of Power Source magazine is out, and its April charts see Dolly's duet with Kim McLean on the tune "Angels And Eagles" from McLean's CD Happy Face jump up 17 spots to No. 9 for the month on the Christian Country Top 100 tally.
March 30: Column: Dolly's Heart A Role Model For Celebrities Although it's a few days old, Bo Roberts of The Tennessean has an awesome column available online about Dolly and her love of giving back to her community. Calling her "a true Tennessee angel," Roberts recounts Dolly's early efforts to support her native East Tennessee, her efforts through the Dollywood Foundation to improve education there and her now-nationwide Imagination Library. "To me, Dolly set a pattern from the outset of her career by paying back early and often," he writes. "She has never claimed to be perfect; she's just plain ole Dolly doing her thing for education and the kids." Read the full column here.
Bras For A Cause A charity in Great Falls, Mont., has come up with a unique way to raise funds for women's health: bras. Of course, when you think about bras, you think about Dolly! The Montana Breast and Cervical Health Program will beginning April 5 display at the Lewistown Art Center a total of 62 bras which female artists have designed for auction inspired by famous women throughout history, ranging from Cleopatra and Betty Crocker to Mother Teresa and Dolly. They will be auctioned to support the federally-funded program which provides free mammograms and Pap smears for low income, middle-aged women too young for Medicare. Read more from the Great Falls Tribunehere.
March 29: King Sets Dolly Interview CNN confirms that Dolly is scheduled to appear in a new interview with talk show icon Larry King on Thursday, the night before she makes her public appearances in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., for the 20th season opening of Dollywood. The show is set to premiere at 9 p.m. Eastern Thursday, with repeats scheduled for midnight and 3 a.m. April 1. In the summer of 2003, her most recent appearance on the Larry King Live, King offered one of the most comprehensive and in-depth interviews of Dolly's career. Let's hope this one is as good! (Image courtesy CNN.)
Bacon Cheddar Dolly? Don't you just love those kitschy, entertaining Burger King commercials featuring Hootie & The Blowfish front man Darius Rucker? Well, here's one reason we would have loved them even more: Turns out, Dolly was the ad execs' first choice to sing the tune and appear in the spots. A profile of the advertising agency, Crispin Porter + Bogusky of Miami, in the new issue of Fast Company magazine reveals that piece of information, although it offers no word on why Dolly turned them down. Read the piece here.
'Viva' Coming To Radio The Grascals, Dolly's backing band and opening act on her recent "Hello I'm Dolly" Tour, announced Monday that their record label, Rounder, has set April 4 for the release date to send their duet with Dolly, "Viva Las Vegas," to country radio. The commercial CD single for the song has remained in the top 10 for country single sales for 13 weeks.
Urban Digs Dolly CMT.com columnist Liz Smith reports Monday that at the second night of Keith Urban's sold-out three-night engagement at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium, guest artist Mindy Smith stopped in to perform a duet with him on Dolly's classic "Coat Of Many Colors." You may recall Smith first came to prominence with her cover of "Jolene" from the 2003 tribute CD Just Because I'm A Woman: Songs Of Dolly Parton, a rendering which impressed Dolly so much that she added her own harmony vocals for the song's re-issue on Smith's debut album, One Moment More, a few months later. Read Smith's full "Hot Dish" column here.
No Dolly In CMT Faith Show There weren't any Dolly appearances on CMT's 20 Greatest Songs Of Faith over the weekend, although a few songs were included in the countdown that have been recorded by Dolly (as well as by dozens of other artists over the years): "Farther Along," "How Great Thou Art," and "Wings Of A Dove." The No. 1 song was Hank Williams' "I Saw The Light."
March 28: 'Congeniality' Makes It To Second Place Sandra Bullock's new film Miss Congeniality 2: Armed And Fabulous, featuring a humorous and plot-important cameo by Dolly, opened as the No. 2 film in the country this weekend, according to industry figures released on Sunday. The film grossed an estimated $14.5 million over the weekend, compared to $21 million for first-place movie Guess Who. The film also took in about $3.1 million on its opening day, Thursday, for a total of $17.6 million since national showings began. The Ring Two made third place for the weekend.
Bellamy Reminder Don't forget that the Bellamy Brothers' new CD, Angels & Outlaws, Vol. 1, hits stores on Tuesday including their new recording of "If I Said You Had A Beautiful Body (Would You Hold It Against Me)" with Dolly. The set of mostly trio recordings with fellow stars (including Alan Jackson, Willie Nelson, George Jones and more) may be ordered here.
Military Sees Opry America's servicemen and servicewomen will get to see Dolly host The Grand Ole Opry next month. Saturday night's show was the first to be broadcast live on Armed Forces Television to military personnel worldwide, it was announced last week. Dolly hosts the April 23 show, making up for her missed performance in February which was cancelled due to the flu. Also on the bill for that night are The Grascals, Catherine Britt and Ralph Stanley. Tickets to both the 6:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. segments remain available here.
Mag Mention I'm told Dolly makes a couple of appearances in a new magazine titled The Best And Worst Makeovers Ever. While it apparently doesn't make a judgment call on whether hers were among the best or the worst, she is shown in two sections of the publication (one for overall appearance changes and one focusing on celebrity bosoms). One compares a 1970s photo with one from the late 1990s, while the other compares a 1970s photo from an awards show to one from the "Hello I'm Dolly" Tour last fall. Both list the myriad plastic surgeries she is believed to have had (and has freely admitted) over the years. Thanks, Jaron!
March 26: It Looks Good On The Chart "It Looked Good On Paper," Dolly's duet with former Bluenique Randy Kohrs on his current CD, I'm Torn, debuts in the April bluegrass singles chart issued by Bluegrass Unlimited magazine, it was announced Friday. The album itself rises three spots for the month to No. 7 on the publication's CD chart, and its title track jumps up 10 places to No. 10 on the singles side.
'Reba' Appearances Popping Up Dolly's guest spot on Reba is still three weeks away, but it's getting some coverage already. Dolly and the show's red-headed star have a full-page photo in this week's Country Weekly magazine, and when Reba McEntire appeared on The Ellen Degeneres Show on Friday, I'm told that the clip used to illustrate her own series before she entered the stage was one with Dolly. Thanks, Jaron!
Could Dolly Go Down To Georgia? Nothing has been scheduled yet, but Ulster-Scots band the Fiddle-Sticks Orchestra is hoping Dolly might show up at one of their concerts over the next 10 days in the La Grange, Ga., area in their first American appearances. According to Northern Ireland's newspaper The News Letter, the band received a congratulatory letter from Dolly last year saying she was a fan. Apparently, the band's managers are working to try and get Dolly to make an appearance at one of their shows, the story suggested. Read it here.
Wax Museum Moving Bodies Porter & Dolly are together again -- in wax, at least. As part of an effort to revitalize the Music Valley Wax Museum on McGavock Pike in Nashville, the facility's managers are moving some of their life-sized wax statues around and upgrading several areas. Among the changes are moving Dolly's figure adjacent to longtime duet partner Porter Wagoner and putting duo Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson together as well. Read a story about the museum's face-lift in The Tennesseanhere.
Dollywood Opens! The general public gets its first look at the $5 million revamping of Dollywood's Country Fair section on Saturday, the day the park officially opens for its 20th season following Friday's season passholder preview. The annual Festival of Nations, featuring hundreds of performers from around the world, is also in play, running through May 8. Although the park is opening a week early this year, the full season opening festivities won't get underway until next weekend, with Dolly appearances scheduled for April 1 and 2. The Knoxville News-Sentinel offered a great spread on the park Friday with a story describing the rides in the expanded area here (which also includes a note that Dolly has videotaped a new tour for her Chasing Rainbows museum, featuring tales from her life), a story on the annual Dolly Parade here and a story on the Festival of Nations here.
Another Library Addition Another Tennessee county is on tap for Dolly's Imagination Library literacy program. Columbia's Daily Herald reported this week that Maury County's County Commission agreed on Monday to sign on. Read more here.
March 25: 'Blue Smoke' On Hold Dolly's next album project is on hold, it has been confirmed. Blue Smoke, which has stirred tremendous fan interest since Dolly performed several cuts from it on her "Hello I'm Dolly" Tour last year, was expected at that time to be out in early 2005, but completing it has been postponed and no new release plans set yet. Steve Buckingham, Dolly's longtime producer, confirmed to Dollymania that while Dolly has recorded several tracks for the CD, the project is unfinished, and she has placed the album on hold as she works to compose new songs for the Broadway musical adaptation of 9 To 5. The disc is expected to offer a blend of new Dolly originals, such as the title track and "I Dreamed About Elvis," with several folk-rock covers from the '60s and '70s, including "Me And Bobby McGee," "Imagine" and "Blowin' In The Wind." Judy Collins, Joni Mitchell and Keith Urban have been reported to be among the guest artists contributing vocals to the project.
No Kiss, But A Flying Tackle Although it garnered a great deal of publicity, the much-ballyhooed smooch between Dolly and Sandra Bullock in the film Miss Congeniality 2: Armed And Fabulous, which opened nationwide Thursday, does not happen. Dolly does make a funny cameo appearance where she is chased through The Venetian hotel in Las Vegas and Bullock tackles her and sits on her on the floor of the casino, but there's no kiss or mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, as some reports had stated. Overall, the movie is predictable but enjoyable. There really aren't any fall-out-of-your-chair laughs, but it has enough good gags that it's not a waste of your time to see and nowhere near as bad as some of the reviews made it sound.
'Reba' To Air In April Dolly's guest spot on the WB sitcom Reba is scheduled to air at 9 p.m. Eastern on April 15, according to VH1's Rock On TV TV listings Web site. The episode, titled "Reba's Rules of Real Estate," was shot in February and features Dolly as a hot-shot Houston Realtor scouting out Reba's character as a possible employee.
Duet Goes To No. 1 In Europe Dolly's cover of "Thank God I'm A Country Boy" with Roy Rivers, is the No. 1 country song in Europe, according to the March 3 European CMA charts issued Thursday. The tune rises three spots this week to the top spot for continent-wide penetration but slips one to No. 2 for actual continental airplay after two weeks at No. 1. After two entries at No. 1 in Holland, the song falls to No. 3 in country airplay there, and it also inches down from No. 1 in Germany to No. 2. It falls out of the top 20 in Spain and Denmark, where it had been No. 3 and No. 15, respectively, in the most recent tallies, but returns to the top 20 at No. 3 in France and No. 14 in Belgium, both places where it had peaked at No. 2 before falling out of the top 20. It also returns to the top 20 in Italy at No. 18, after leaving that chart following its peak at No. 1. The CD which contains the song, Thank God I'm A Country Boy, is available from Rivers' Web site here. Also on the overall chart, Arly Karlsen and Pat Roden's former No. 1 cover of Porter & Dolly's "Please Don't Stop Loving Me" gains 10 places to No. 38.
U.S. Chart Updates "Viva Las Vegas" by Dolly and The Grascals earns a 13th week on the country singles sales chart, inching down one spot to No. 10 in the April 2 Billboard numbers released Thursday. The band's debut CD, The Grascals, which also includes the song, moves up one place to No. 5 on the bluegrass albums chart in its sixth chart week. Rhonda Vincent's concert CD, Ragin' Live, featuring a cover of "Jolene," remains steady at No. 2 bluegrass in its second chart week but slips six to No. 62 country. Rod Stewart's Stardust: The Great American Songbook: Volume III, with the Dolly duet "Baby It's Cold Outside," loses nine places to No. 105 pop and 10 spots to No. 112 comprehensive in its 22nd week. Norah Jones' Feels Like Home, featuring Dolly on "Creepin' In," falls 16 spaces to No. 103 pop and 19 digits to No. 110 comprehensive in its 58th chart week. Miranda Lambert's Kerosene debuts at No. 1 country and No. 18 pop with 40,000 units sold, while Rascal Flatts' Feels Like Today, remains steady at No. 2 country in its 25th chart week and gains one to No. 22 pop.
March 24: Sandra: Yep, Dolly Said It I missed it, but I'm told that on Wednesday's Entertainment Tonight, Sandra Bullock repeated her claim that Dolly said about their scene: "Let's put that Madonna-Brittney kiss to shame," but her intonation showed that Dolly was saying it in a joking manner, something that the re-telling of it in print this week didn't bring across. Thanks, Michelle! The story that promoted it as more than a joke got even more coverage Wednesday when it was picked up by the Associated Press and plastered all over the Web on TV stations' online entertainment news feeds. The film which contains the Dolly-Sandra scene, Miss Congeniality 2: Armed And Fabulous, continues this week to get mixed reviews. Most have said it's not that great, including Indianapolis' NUVOhere and Film Critic.comhere. On the other hand, The Catholic News Service loved it (see their review here), and Coming Soon.net said here that Dolly's cameo "comes out of nowhere and ends up being one of the biggest laughs of the movie." The film opens nationwide on Thursday, a change from its original planned release on Friday.
Who Knew She Was A Fan! I'm told the April issue of In Style magazine has a Dolly plug in its "What's Hot Now" feature, where various celebrities list their current faves. Pop princess and dumb blonde Jessica Simpson is photographed holding up Dolly's Greatest Hits CD. She tells the magazine: "I love Dolly Parton. Any one of her CDs is a favorite to listen to." Thanks, Jaron!
Another Admirer Reba's current Reader's Digest story on how much she loves Dolly got a plug in the New York Post'sgossip column by Liz Smith Wednesday, with the celebrity scribe noting: "Everybody loves Dolly Parton. But who loves her the most? Fellow country queen Reba McEntire."
Another Tenn. County Joins Library Yet another Tennessee county is gearing up to kick off Dolly's Imagination Library. The Elk Valley Times in Fayetteville, Tenn., reports this week that a celebration is scheduled for April 22 to bring Lincoln County into the fold of Dolly's nationwide literacy program. Read more here.
March 23: Dolly 'Kiss' Gets Coverage A supposedly hot and steamy lesbian kiss between Dolly and actress Sandra Bullock has been getting a lot of press the past few days, but it appears things have been blown out of proportion. As has previously been reported, Dolly has a brief cameo in Bullock's film Miss Congeniality 2: Armed And Fabulous, which opens nationwide Friday, apparently featuring her being chased, knocked down and knocked out in a Las Vegas hotel, resulting in Bullock's character performing CPR. Maybe the mouth-to-mouth evolves into a kiss as Dolly comes to, but I'm sure it's comedic instead of sexual -- but we'll have to wait until Friday to be sure :) The stories started to circulate following the posting of a story here on entertainment news site Contact Music late Sunday which quoted Bullock as saying: "I had to shoot a scene where I literally had to lie on top of Dolly. I thought she might object to such close intimacy, but she didn't mind at all. In fact she said, 'Let's try and make that Britney and Madonna kiss look tame.' So we did! Her determination to make the hottest gay kiss surprised me." Contact Music frequently posts tales based on supermarket tabloid stories, and we all know how inaccurate those are and how they manufacture fake quotes to sell papers. Unfortunately, once it makes it onto Contact, mainstream publications pick the stories up and report them as fact, even if they started out in a tabloid. So far this week, the Contact story has been cited by Country Weeklyhere, Great American Country's Web site here and several radio stations nationwide. Since I was unable to determine whether this story originally came from a tabloid, I couldn't confirm whether the quotes were real, so it wasn't mentioned here until dozens of readers started writing in asking about it following its publication in several other news outlets. As Paul Harvey says, "And now you know the rest of the story."
Lovin' That Song Public radio's The Leonard Lopate Show out of New York's WNYC invites singer-songwriters to share their favorite songs by other artists, and a show this week features New York performer Ruth Gerson gushing over Dolly's "Down From Dover." You can listen to why she loves the song, and hear the full original Dolly recording of it, from the show's site here.
In This Corner . . . I doubt Dolly ever thought her Imagination Library literacy program would cause a fight, but that's what on tap for next month. Pike Fights XVI, a fraternity event at the University of Tennessee at Martin, this year will benefit the reading program in Weakley County, Tenn. Read a story from the student newspaper, The Pacer, here.
Possible CMT Countdown Inclusion Dolly may get included in CMT's newest "The Greatest" countdown, 20 Greatest Songs Of Faith, premiering Saturday. While the list of songs or artists for this episode haven't been announced yet, readers recommended several Dolly songs for consideration on the countdown. A list of some of those sent in by readers is available here. The episode premieres at 8 p.m. Eastern Saturday on CMT.
Grascals Note Some more details have been released about The Grascals' performance at the Old Smoky Hoedown in Pigeon Forge following Dolly's April 1 parade through town. Tickets will be $15 for adults, $11 teens, $5 ages 6-12 and free for 5 and under. Since there is not scheduled to be a Dolly collectors' convention this year after the parade, I suspect many fans will head out to see the band which backed Dolly and opened her shows on her tour last fall. Dollywood opens for season passholders on Friday and then to the public on Saturday, but the official season opening festivities featuring Dolly herself don't get underway until April 1.
March 21: Paper Gets Public Ready For 20th Season The Knoxville News-Sentinel just a few miles away from Pigeon Forge, Tenn., gears up this weekend for the 20th season opening of Dollywood with a great profile of how Dolly came to work with local officials for the park's creation here, complete with sidebars on the park's highlights in a timeline here and photos of Dolly's various looks over the years since the park opened here. The park opens for season passholders' annual preview on Friday and then to the public on Saturday, but the official "season opening" festivities with Dolly won't take place until the following weekend, April 1 and 2.
Dolly Jokes Apparently Abound In New Film We know there is one scene in next week's release Miss Congeniality 2: Armed And Fabulous where Sandra Bullock chases and tackles Dolly in a Las Vegas hotel, but according to one story on the film, it also features "running Dolly Parton gags" throughout the movie. Read the story from the Long Beach Press Telegramhere.
Stewart Gone Down Under After 19 weeks on the Australian pop albums chart, Rod Stewart's Stardust: The Great American Songbook: Volume III, featuring the Dolly duet "Baby It's Cold Outside," falls out of the 50-position tally, down from No. 46 the previous week, it was announced Sunday. In addition, The Great American Songbook Collection, an Australian-only release of all three of Stewart's standards CDs, also falls out of the top 50, down from No. 43 the previous week in its third chart week on the Australian pop list.
March 19: Park Promises Special Fun It's now just two weeks from the big 20th season festivities at Dollywood, and park officials have announced that park hours for Saturday, April 2, have been extended two hours to 10 p.m. to allow extra time for fun. Sunday, April 3, will also see extended hours to 9 p.m. And a special Circus & Cuisine offer is being made for "premium seating" to the 8 p.m. Moscow Circus performances that weekend following a 6:45 p.m. meal at the Backstage Restaurant. In addition, some shops throughout the park will offer free surprise gifts with purchases, and special 20th season "Dolly Dollars" will be available. Although the park opens to the public this year on March 26, the official season opening festivities (including Dolly's personal appearances and parades) are the weekend of April 1-2.
Post Parade Party And for those fans looking for something to do following Dolly's 6 p.m. parade through Pigeon Forge on April 1 (since there will not be a Collectors' Convention this year) , I'm told that The Grascals, her backing band and opening act on her most recent tour, have been booked for two sets starting at 8 p.m. that night at The Old Smoky Hoedown on the Parkway. So if you enjoyed them on the "Hello I'm Dolly" Tour, head out to see them again!
Film Appearance Countdown It's just a week before Miss Congeniality 2: Armed And Fabulous opens nationwide in theatres, including a cameo by Dolly, but The Hollywood Reporter says the film's "giddy potential (is) unrealized," adding in a review posted Friday night: "A sure sign of trouble: Even a Las Vegas chase scene involving Dolly Parton falls flat." Even so, I'm sure that most Dolly fans will still go see the movie for her scene alone. Read the full review here.
More Library Movements The Blount County Commission in Tennessee this week voted to sign up for Dolly's Imagination Library literacy program, according to a story in Maryville's The Daily Timeshere. And Carter County, Tenn., is having great success in getting parents to sign up for the program there, according to a report in The Elizabethton Starhere. Dolly's program, active in nearly 400 communities across 39 states, provides one free book per month from birth to age 5 for all children in a participating community whose parents sign up. It distributes about 1.5 million books per year nationwide.
March 18: Good Golly, Grascals The Grascals' debut CD, The Grascals, slips three places to No. 6 on the March 26 Billboard bluegrass albums chart in its fifth chart week, it was announced Thursday. The CD's first single, their Dolly duet on "Viva Las Vegas," remains steady at No. 9 in its 12th week on the country singles sales chart. Rhonda Vincent's concert CD, Ragin' Live, with its cover of "Jolene," debuts at No. 2 bluegrass and No. 56 country. Rod Stewart's Stardust: The Great American Songbook: Volume III, featuring Dolly on "Baby It's Cold Outside," inches up two places to No. 96 pop and one to No. 102 comprehensive in its 21st week. Norah Jones' Feels Like Home, with the Dolly duet "Creepin' In," falls a dozen digits to No. 87 pop and nine places to No. 91 comprehensive in its 57th chart week. Kenny Rogers' 42 Ultimate Hits, featuring "Islands In The Stream," falls out of the 75-position country chart, down from No. 69 country in its 40th chart week last week. Kenny Chesney's Be As You Are moves up three spots to return to No. 1 country and is up 19 places to No. 17 pop in its seventh chart week, and Rascal Flatts' Feels Like Today, slips one to No. 2 country in its 24th chart week but remains steady at No. 23 pop.
John Denver Cover Still Rules Europe "Thank God I'm A Country Boy," Dolly's European single with Roy Rivers, continues to gain in airplay overseas, according to the Feb. 20 European CMA charts issued Thursday. It remains at No. 1 in overall continental airplay for a second week in a row and shoots up 40 places to No. 4 on the main singles chart for total continent-wide "penetration." The song remains No. 1 for a second week for country singles airplay in Holland and rises two to No. 1 in Germany. It debuts at No. 3 in Spain and No. 15 in Demark. After one week at No. 1 in the U.K. and Italy, it falls out of those nations' top 20 airplay charts. It also falls off the top 20 in France and Belgium, where it had been at No. 2 the previous week, and Scandinavia, where it had been No. 6. The CD which contains the song, Thank God I'm A Country Boy, is available from Rivers' Web site here. Also on the overall chart, Arly Karlsen and Pat Roden's former No. 1 cover of Porter & Dolly's "Please Don't Stop Loving Me" loses 14 digits to No. 48.
'Reba' Blurb In The Paper Although it doesn't contain a final air date, a brief from Wednesday's Knoxville News-Sentinel notes that Dolly's guest appearance on the WB's Reba is still expected to air in May. It was reported that on a recent visit to Dollywood she told staff members there that the taping went well. Read it here.
March 17: Nashville Celebrates Library Dolly's Tuesday appearance in Nashville to celebrate her Imagination Library literacy program coming to the city continued to get coverage on Wednesday. The Tennessean featured a main story with photos here, a sidebar on how the program operates here and a sidebar on security here, as a bomb threat cut the event short. Also, the Knoxville News-Sentinel offered a short story on it here.
'Live' Praise City Pages in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn., on Wednesday gave readers a very positive review of Dolly's concert DVD Live And Well, providing a very well-reasoned and intriguing cultural and artistic comparison with rap group The Roots' DVD The Roots Present . . .. Read it here.
March 16: Dolly Celebrates Nashville Library Dolly made an unexpected appearance in Nashville Tuesday to celebrate the adoption of her Imagination Library literacy program by Davidson County, where Music City is located. It had been announced that Gov. Phil Bredesen (D-Tenn.) and Mayor Bill Purcell were to participate in the ceremony at Nashville's Downtown Public Library, but Dolly's appearance, which included her dancing the "Hokey Pokey" with a group of children, was a surprise. A brief on the event is available from Nashville's WTVF here, and a couple of Associated Press photos are available here. And Bradley County, Tenn., is on schedule to kick-off the library there in May, The Bradley News Weekly reported Tuesday. Read that story here.
Hooray For Dollywood! Things are gearing up for Dollywood's 20th season! Although the time and date had been known for several months, the Pigeon Forge Department of Tourism has just issued a press release officially announcing Dolly's annual parade through the city for 6 p.m. April 1. Themed "Dollywood's 20th Anniversary Celebration," the parade, which attracts more than 50,000 onlookers each year, begins near traffic light No. 7 on the Parkway and ends at traffic light No. 3. Read the release here. Although the park opens for its traditional season passholders' preview day a week from Friday, it opens to the public a week early starting March 26, but the official "season opening" festivities won't take place until the following weekend. Dolly is expected to make public appearances at the park on Friday, April 1 (but the exact times and locations where she will appear are kept secret so they'll be a surprise). Her parade through town is that evening, and she is expected to have the usual 4 p.m. Parade of Nations through the park grounds on Saturday, April 2 (at left, Dolly is shown as Cleopatra in last year's parade). To celebrate the 20th season of its operation under the name Dollywood, the park will premiere its $5 million revamping of the Country Fair section, which includes 10 new rides. In addition, the fifth annual Festival of Nations will bring more than 200 artists, musicians and dancers from around the world to the park through May 8. This year's featured act is the Moscow Circus. China's very popular Dragon Legend Acrobats return, and other performers include Noticky from the Czech Republic, Atahualpa from Ecuador, Gradac from Serbia and Stix on Steel from Trinidad. The other festivals for the park's 20th season are KidsFest June 17-Aug. 7, the Music and Harvest Celebration Sept. 23-Oct. 29 and a Smoky Mountain Christmas Nov. 5-Dec. 30. For more information, visit the park's official site here.
Slipping In Germany Dolly's European single with Roy Rivers on "Thank God I'm A Country Boy" slips four spots to No. 5, down from No. 1 in February, on the country singles charts by German magazine Country Music News magazine, it was announced Tuesday. Thank God I'm A Country Boy, the CD which contains the song, is available from Rivers' Web site here.
Get Your 'Heartsongs,' Australian DVD Music Mill's re-issue of Dolly's 1994 concert CD Heartsongs: Live From Home hit store shelves on Tuesday. Also this week, I was alerted that Australia's AV Channel distribution on Wednesday releases an Australian-formatted DVD of The Nashville Sound, the 1972 film which follows artists around Nashville in 1969, including a performance by Dolly on the Grand Ole Opry.
Paper Covers Dolly Singing Contest Sevierville's The Mountain Press on Tuesday posted a story on the city's May 21 Mountain Soul Vocal Competition of Dolly songs noted here in Monday night's news update, although I understand that the story appeared in the paper's print edition Monday. Read it here.
Drummin' For Dolly Dolly fans who attended one of the stops on her "Hello I'm Dolly" Tour last fall may see a familiar face if they watch USA's Nashville Star. Playing drums in the house band for the country version of American Idol is none other than Chuck Tilley, who served as Dolly's drummer for the tour and on her upcoming CD Blue Smoke. I'm told he'll be getting back with Dolly once more when she plays the Opry next month.
March 15: Stanley Joins Dolly's Opry Show The Grand Ole Opry on Monday announced that country music legend Ralph Stanley has signed on to perform on the April 23 show, which will be hosted by Dolly. Stanley joins previously-announced guests The Grascals and Catherine Britt for Dolly's appearance, which was re-scheduled from February due to her having the flu. The 78-year-old Stanley collected a Grammy Award in 2002 for Best Male Country Vocal Performance for his version of "O Death" from the O, Brother Where Art Thou? soundtrack, the same year Dolly took home Best Female Country Vocal Performance for "Shine." The two's paths had also crossed the year before when she sang a duet of "Loving You Too Well" on his CD Clinch Mountain Sweethearts. Tickets for the performances are available here.
Sing A Dolly Song For Cash Do you just love to belt out a Dolly classic? Want to do it for a bunch of people on the lawn of the Sevier County, Tenn., Courthouse next to Dolly's statue? Well, the Sevierville Chamber of Commerce is hosting a Dolly-themed Mountain Soul Vocal Competition May 21 as part of the town's Bloomin' Barbeque and Bluegrass Festival and is accepting entries nationwide. Anyone may submit a tape, CD, DVD or videotape of themselves singing a song written by Dolly, and 20 of them will be invited to sing the song they chose live at the competition. Prizes range from $200 to $500 plus a recording session. Click here for more information.
Kudos For Dottie Dottie Rambo, who collected a slew of awards in the past couple of years for her duet with Dolly on "Stand By The River," was inducted Monday into the North American Country Music Association International's Hall of Fame in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. Also inducted were Jim Ed Brown and The Browns, John Hughey, Stonewall Jackson and T.G. Sheppard.
And Kenny, Too Another Dolly duet partner, Kenny Rogers, has signed a new recording deal with Capitol Records Nashville, it was announced this week. CMT.com reported Monday that while signing the contract, he was presented with his 26th gold album for his recent greatest hits compilation 42 Ultimate Hits, which includes "Islands In The Stream" with Dolly.
March 14: Down A Bit Down Under Rod Stewart's Stardust: The Great American Songbook: Volume III, with Dolly on "Baby It's Cold Outside," falls seven places to No. 46 on the Australian pop albums chart in its 19th week, it was announced Sunday. The Great American Songbook Collection, an Australian-only release of all three of Stewart's standards CDs, drops 11 spots to No. 43 in its third week on the Australian pop tally.
Opry Floor Seats Again Nearly Gone Dolly's April 23 Grand Ole Opry hosting and performing gig is getting closer to a sell-out. On Saturday, the several rows of floor seats that became available a while back were once again gone, leaving only a few single-seat tickets remaining for the main floor for the 6:30 p.m. show. The mezzanine is sold out except for a handful of rows on the far left and right hand sides, but plenty of seats remain available in the upper balcony. For the 9:30 p.m. portion of the show, tickets still remain available toward the back of the main floor. Dolly will host the night's shows, which will also feature appearances by The Grascals and Catherine Britt. Additional performers have yet to be announced. Get tickets here!
More N.C. Communities Eye Dolly's Library Residents of Franklin, Granville and Vance Counties in North Carolina are working to bring Dolly's Imagination Library literacy program to their community, according to the Henderson Daily Dispatch. Read the story here.
'9 To 5' Note Redux USA Today's report from Friday on the upcoming Dolly-written Broadway musical based on her film 9 To 5 was re-printed in Brad Schmidt's Celebrity column in The Tennessean on Saturday. Read it here.
Grascals Get Another Good Review The Grascals, Dolly's backing band and opening act from her recent tour, get a review of their debut CD, The Grascals, in Sunday's The Buffalo News, with the reviewer giving it two and half stars. He says their cover of "Viva Las Vegas" with Dolly is "accorded a healthy slather of Parton showmanship" and singles out their song "Me and John and Paul" as a highlight of the disc. Read it here.
Dolly Cover Gets Noticed Sunday's Philadelphia Inquirer offers a stunning review of Rhonda Vincent's new concert set Ragin' Live, noting her cover of Dolly's classic "Jolene" is "sharp" and calling the collection "an excellent showcase for Vincent's talents." Read it here.
March 12: Broadway Show Details Revealed Although it's been no secret for several months that Dolly is writing music for a Broadway show based on her hit film 9 To 5, newspaper USA Today on Friday released several additional details on the project for the first time. According to the publication, Dolly is writing a dozen new tracks for (although will not perform in) the show, which is being produced by Showtime president Robert Greenblatt. It will remain set in its original time period of 25 years ago, and the first act will end with "sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot" Franklin Hart elevated in a harness. Read some comments from the producer here.
Library's Song Gets Recorded The song Dolly wrote as a theme for her national literacy program, The Imagination Library, is being released commercially for the first time, it has been announced. Her longtime friend Mary Haskell will offer the first studio recording of the song in her album Inspired (Standards - Good For The Soul), being released Tuesday on Concord Records. In a press release announcing the CD, Dolly said: "I play it over and over now with Mary's beautiful voice performing it. I think it's spectacular. Every time I hear it I think, 'Did I write that song? It never sounded that good when I had it by myself.'" Dolly has used the tune as the theme for the library for several years, often reciting the verses at public appearances and singing the chorus, which is to the same melody as her songs "God Won't Get You" and "A Cowboy's Ways." The disc, which contains mostly inspirational and spiritual tracks, includes one other never-before-recorded tune, "He Is With You," a song which Kathie Lee Gifford has written for her upcoming Broadway musical Under The Bridge. In addition, Everybody Loves Raymond star Patricia Heaton provides guest vocals on the duet "For Good" from the musical Wicked. Haskell, a longtime actress and former Miss Mississippi, is married to Dolly's William Morris Agency film agent, Sam Haskell, and is vice-chair of the Mary Kirkpatrick Haskell Scholarship Foundation in Amory, Miss., which benefits from the Stars Over Mississippi concerts held in the small town every two years, an event which Dolly headlined back in 2000. Reserve your copy of the new CD here!
More From Nashville The Nashville City Paper on Friday reported on next week's ceremony in Nashville to officially sign up Davidson County for Dolly's Imagination Library literacy program, making it the most populous community in the nation participating in the project. Read their coverage here.
Irish Love Dolly's Speech Northern Ireland's The News Letter on Friday offered its recap of Dolly's humorous appearance at the Country Music DJ Hall of Fame dinner earlier this month when she accepted her Artist Career Achievement Award while chiding radio for not playing her. Read it here.
March 11: Grascals Gain Ground The Grascals' debut CD, The Grascals, gains some ground on the March 19 Billboard bluegrass albums chart, moving up three to No. 3 in its fourth chart week, it was announced Thursday. The position ties the album's debut on the chart. The first single from the collection, "Viva Las Vegas" as a duet with Dolly, remains steady at No. 9 in its 11th week on the country singles sales chart. Rod Stewart's Stardust: The Great American Songbook: Volume III, with the Dolly duet "Baby It's Cold Outside," continues to fall, losing 13 spots to No. 98 pop and 15 places to No. 103 comprehensive in its 20th week. Norah Jones' Feels Like Home, featuring Dolly on "Creepin' In," inches down five digits to No. 75 pop and No. 82 comprehensive in its 56th chart week. Kenny Rogers' 42 Ultimate Hits, with "Islands In The Stream," loses two to No. 69 country in its 40th chart week. Rascal Flatts' Feels Like Today (with a band member wearing a vintage Dolly t-shirt on the CD cover), remains steady at No. 1 country but drops one to No. 23 pop in its 23rd chart week while Totally Country Vol. 4 remains steady at No. 2 country and falls six spots to No. 29 pop in its fourth week.
Library Begins In Va. County Wise County and Norton, Va., on Monday began allowing children to sign up for books from Dolly's Imagination Library literacy program, The Coalfield Progress reported Thursday. The paper said that about 80 pre-school children attended the event at the regional library to sign up for the program. Active in about 400 communities across 39 states, Dolly's library provides one free hardcover book per month for every child from birth to age 5 whose parents sign up in a participating community. It distributes more than 1 million books nationwide each year. Read the story here.
March 10: Britt On The Opry Just a week after she honored Dolly by performing a couple of her songs at the Country Music DJ Hall of Fame, newcomer Catherine Britt has signed on to play the Grand Ole Opry when Dolly hosts the country music institution's April 23 show with The Grascals to make up for her February appearance which she cancelled due to the flu. The Opry on Wednesday added the RCA recording artist to the show's line-up. Floor seats toward the back of the venue remain available for both the 6:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. segments of the program, although almost all seats are sold out for the earlier show except for the upper balcony. Get tickets here.
Nashville, Its Suburbs Join Dolly's Library One of Tennessee's largest counties next week will kick-off its participation in Dolly's Imagination Library literacy program, a nationwide effort to provide all children who live in a participating community with one free hardcover book per month from birth to age 5 in nearly 400 communities across 39 states. The Tennessean reported Wednesday that Gov. Phil Bredesen (D-Tenn.) and local officials will celebrate the joining of Davidson County to the Library's coverage area with a ceremony in the Kid's Place at the Downtown Nashville Public Library at 2 p.m. next Tuesday. With roughly 10 percent of the state's population, Davidson County has more than 37,000 children of the ages eligible for the program. Read the story here.
Kids Eat Free At Orlando Stampede And speaking of helping children, Dolly's Orlando Dixie Stampede dinner theatre announced this week that beginning Thursday and continuing through April 16, all children age 11 and under will be allowed free admission and dinner at the venue when accompanied by a paying adult guest. Read the press release here.
Grascals Get Coverage The Grascals, Dolly's opening act and backing band from her most recent tour, continue to get some great press. The band makes Wednesday's Times Leader in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., in advance of a gig there (read the story here) and band member Jimmy Mattingly, who formerly worked for Garth Brooks, has an interview on the Garth Brooks fan site Planet Garthhere, including a few Dolly mentions. Thanks, Bridget!
'Rhinestone' World According to a review in the Fairfield County Weekly in Norwalk, Conn., the new John Travolta film Stay Cool (which the reviewer really hated) pays a bit of homage to the 1984 Dolly/Sylvester Stallone picture Rhinestone, out on DVD for the first time this week, by including a poster from the film in a scene. Read the review here.
A Correction A couple of weeks ago, it was reported here that a couple of readers had claimed members of their church group had attended the show at Dolly's Dixie Stampede in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., and that Dolly herself made an unannounced appearance. It was noted at the time that the story was unconfirmed (and, consequently, may not be correct). The readers informed me this week that they had been given incorrect information and later discovered that Dolly did not make an appearance at the venue. We apologize for passing along a false story, even though it was prefaced as being unconfirmed. In these very rare instances that mistakes are made on this news page, corrections are quickly offered. Thanks, Karen.
March 8: Gov. Celebrates Three New Library Counties The Elizabethton Star in Elizabethton, Tenn., on Monday covered Gov. Phil Bredesen (D-Tenn.) on his trip to the area to kick off Dolly's Imagination Library in three more counties: Carter, Unicoi and Washington. He said that the additions bring the total in the state participating to 45, and he hopes to have all 95 counties signed up by year's end. Read more here.
Hazel Congratulates Dolly CMT.com columnist Hazel Smith noted Dolly's appearance at the Country Radio Seminar to pick up her Artist Career Achievement Award in her "Hot Dish" column Monday. Read it here.
March 7: Movement Down Under Rod Stewart's Stardust: The Great American Songbook: Volume III, with Dolly on "Baby It's Cold Outside," falls 19 places to No. 39 on the Australian pop albums chart in its 19th week, it was announced Sunday. The Great American Songbook Collection, an Australian-only release of all three of Stewart's standards CDs, drops 16 spots to No. 32 in its third week on the Australian pop tally.
Library News Dolly's Imagination Library literacy program got another mention over the weekend. Coffee County, Tenn., is working to bring the project there following its implementation in nearby Moore County, The Tullahoma News reported. Read the story here.
Release Reminders Don't forget that this week sees a couple of great Dolly-releated releases hitting stores. The first-ever DVD issue of the Dolly and Sylvester Stallone film Rhinestone from 1984 drops on Tuesday, the same day as bluegrass queen Rhonda Vincent's concert CD Ragin' Live with her cover of "Jolene" hits stores. Apparently, the Dolly-Sly DVD doesn't include any special features other than the original theatrical trailer for the film and an "enhanced widescreen" function designed to work better with widescreen TVs.
March 5: PBS Opry Special Includes Dolly Grand Ole Opry's Vintage Classics, an hour-and-a-half special hosted by Vince Gill and airing throughout the month of March on public television stations nationwide, includes at least one Dolly performance, it was announced this week. The show, which includes footage from Opry broadcasts from the 1950s through the 1970s, is airing as a featured program during local stations' fund-raising drives, so broadcast dates and times will vary (check local listings). As a fund-raising tie-in, most stations will also offer a DVD of the special for donors in the $100-$200 level. According to promotional materials on the show, Dolly appears in at least one segment performing a "rousing" version of her 1974 classic "Jolene" while wearing a lavender sequined jumpsuit.
A Few Good Tickets Freed Up And speaking of the Opry, a couple of rows of mid-level seats became available Friday on the almost completely sold out main floor for the 6:30 p.m. show at Dolly's April 23 appearance with The Grascals. The first balcony (mezzanine) remains sold out except for a few rows on the far left and right, and perhaps a quarter of the upper balcony is gone. The 9:30 p.m. performance still has a majority of floor seats remaining. Get tickets here.
Reba And Dolly Reba McEntire is featured in a story in the April issue of Readers Digest discussing how much she modeled her career after that of her personal idol, Dolly. A PDF version of the story is available on Reba's official Web site here.
March 4: Hello ACMs! Dolly and Norah Jones earned a nomination at the 2005 Academy of Country Music Awards for their duet "Creepin' In" from Jones' multi-platinum Feels Like Home, it was announced Thursday. The song will face off for Vocal Event Of The Year against "Hey Good Lookin'" by Jimmy Buffet with Clint Black, Kenny Chesney, Alan Jackson, Toby Keith and George Strait; "Party For Two" by Shania Twain with Billy Currington; "When The Sun Goes Down" by Kenny Chesney and Uncle Kracker; and "Whiskey Lullaby" by Brad Paisley featuring Alison Krauss. The song had previously been nominated for the equivalent award at the CMAs but lost to "Whiskey Lullaby" and the Grammy Awards, where it lost to Loretta Lynn and Jack White's "Portland, Oregon." The nomination marks her 36th ACM nod. She's won five awards from the Academy. This year's ACMs will be handed out live on CBS from Las Vegas on May 17.
Grascals Continue Strong Bluegrass Sales The Grascals' debut CD, The Grascals, says steady on the March 12 Billboard bluegrass albums chart at No. 6 in its third chart week, it was announced Thursday. The CD's single, "Viva Las Vegas" with Dolly, earns a 10th week on the country singles sales chart also remaining steady at No. 9. Rod Stewart's Stardust: The Great American Songbook: Volume III, featuring "Baby It's Cold Outside" with Dolly, loses its post-Grammy punch with a 34-point tumble to No. 85 pop and 37-place fall to No. 88 comprehensive in its 19th week. Norah Jones' Feels Like Home, including the Dolly duet "Creepin' In," also drops its Grammy sales gains, falling 24 spots to No. 74 pop and 27 digits to No. 77 comprehensive in its 55th chart week. Kenny Rogers' 42 Ultimate Hits, with "Islands In The Stream," remains steady at No. 67 country in its 39th chart week. Rascal Flatts' Feels Like Today (with its Dolly t-shirt on the CD cover), gains two to No. 1 country and three to No. 22 pop in its 22nd chart week and Totally Country Vol. 4 moves up three to No. 2 country and six spots to No. 23 pop in its third week.
More On CRS Honor Coverage continued Thursday for Dolly's acceptance of the Country Radio Broadcasters' Artist Career Achievement Award Tuesday in Nashville at the annual Country Radio Seminar. Country Weekly posted a brief on its Web site here, for the second day in a row Brad Schmidt mentioned the ceremonies in his celebrities column in The Tennesseanhere, and Dolly fan site Voice Of An Angel posted the video of Dolly's complete acceptance speech. If you visit the site's main page, the link to the video is available there.
Sly's Girl Dolly made several brief appearances in A&E's Biography Wednesday night on her Rhinestone co-star Sylvester Stallone. Throughout the show, she was shown discussing his wit and humor, screenwriting abilities, business smarts and that the first time she saw Rocky she thought it was one of the greatest films she'd ever seen. Of course, there was a fairly long segment on his 1984 movie with Dolly, who exclaimed, "The movie was a bomb!" She explained: "They were trying to have Stallone do something besides the Rocky character. He was drawn to it, and I was drawn to it because we thought that it would work. That city boy, country girl, those kinds of movies have, you know, had worked before." Later, she added: "He is funny. Wasn't funny in the movie so much because it wasn't particularly a great movie, and none of it really worked well." She also said he can sing very well, just that he's good at singing oldies rock, not country -- as was evident in the movie. She also mentioned that she was in a very bad place in her life with weight problems and depression at the time they filmed it, and just being around him helped her get out of that. The show repeats at 11 a.m. Sunday. Although universally panned by critics as just plain awful, the film wasn't really a financial failure, grossing $21 million (which would be about $40 million in today's box office numbers adjusted for inflation). The film hits DVD for the first time on Tuesday. Get yours here!
In Appreciation Thanks to votes from you, the readers, Dollymania recently became one of just a handful of Web sites on StarPages, which lists thousands of celebrity-themed Web sites (both official and unofficial), to reach that service's highest rating, its eight-star "Titanium" level. Thank you!
March 3: Dolly Wows CRS Crowd By all accounts, Dolly had them eating out of the palm of her hand at Tuesday night's Country Radio Seminar's Country Music DJ Hall of Fame dinner in Nashville, where she was honored with the Artist Career Achievement Award. A friend who attended said Dolly was "very accessible," sitting at an open table just like everyone else, talking with anyone who came by, signing autographs and even taking photos with 15 or so different people (mostly DJs and other industry professionals) who approached her prior to the event's start. Catherine Britt, who I'm told surprisingly mispronounced Dolly's name, performed "To Daddy" and "Little Sparrow" in her honor, and a very pregnant Martina McBride belted out "Coat Of Many Colors," "Here You Come Again" and "I Will Always Love You," reportedly missing a couple of high notes on the latter tune. Accepting her award, Dolly joked: "When Martina hit those high notes I thought she was going to have that baby. I know my water broke!" She also compared country radio to a lover, saying it once treated her well, bought her nice clothes, then dropped her ass for a younger woman. This brought half of the house to its feet for a standing ovation and laughs before she added that she's still recording and wants to be played on country radio. Introducing her, Charlie Monk noted two of her pet peeves from an appearance on David Letterman's show when she did his top 10 list several years back were that when people introduce her as "here they are" and that nobody notices she has "a great ass, too." So when she took the stage she made sure Monk saw how great it looked, posing for him and shaking it at him. RCA head Joe Galante presented her with a plaque recognizing the more than 24 million albums the label says she sold during her two decades with RCA from 1968 through 1985 (although since she's sold more than 100 million albums and singles worldwide over the past 40 years, half of that time with RCA, I suspect that RCA's total represented either only U.S. sales or only full-length album sales as opposed to both albums and singles). Read additional coverage from Billboard Radio Monitorhere, CMT.com (including a photo album from the evening) here and a blurb in the Celebrities column of The Tennesseanhere. Thanks!
Dolly Gets European Hit Dolly's duet with Roy Rivers on the John Denver classic "Thank God I'm A Country Boy" has taken Europe by storm. The Feb. 13 European CMA charts came out on Wednesday, reflecting airplay from reporting radio stations through Jan. 30, and the song is everywhere. It's No. 1 in overall continental airplay, up from No. 53 the previous week, and debuts at No. 1 on the country airplay singles charts for Holland, the U.K. and Italy. In France and Belgium, it debuts at No. 2, in Scandinavia it debuts at No. 6, and in Germany it jumps up 16 spots to No. 2 for the week. The chart methodology for the European CMA is different than that for the Country Music News magazine, where the song reached No. 1 in Germany in its Feb. 15 edition. The CD which contains the song, Thank God I'm A Country Boy, is available from Rivers' Web site here. The song comes in at No. 44 on the European CMA's overall country singles chart, which gauges total "penetration" through Europe rather than actual airplay. Also on the overall chart, Arly Karlsen and Pat Roden's former No. 1 cover of Porter & Dolly's "Please Don't Stop Loving Me" inches up four spots to No. 34.
TV Reminder Don't' forget A&E's new Biography on Dolly's Rhinestone co-star Sylvester Stallone, complete with a Dolly interview, premieres Wednesday night at 10 p.m. Eastern on the cable network. If you're not reading this update early enough on Wednesday to catch the show, it is scheduled for repeats at 2 a.m. Thursday morning and 11 a.m. Sunday. The first-ever DVD release of the Dolly and Sly film hits store shelves on Tuesday. Reserve your copy here.
'Atta Girl' Girl In NY A reader brought to my attention that Peggy Pope, the actress who played the "lush" in 9 To 5 beloved for her "Atta Girl!" line in the film, has a one-woman show in New York in honor of the film's 25th anniversary titled "Miss Peggy Pope's 2nd Farewell Appearance." In addition to behind-the-scenes stories from the film and her other television and movie appearances (plus a chance to win an "Atta Girl!" T-shirt!), she sings. The show played last Saturday and will return for another performance on March 26 at the Don't Tell Mama Theatre on West 46th Street. Click here for more information. Thanks, John!
March 2: Bluegrass Fest With Dolly Flavor Even though Dolly wasn't there, there were some Dolly connections at the 12th annual Wintergrass festival in Tacoma, Wash., The Seattle Times reports. Trio member Linda Ronstadt was on hand in what was billed as her first bluegrass performance. She, Maria Muldaur and Laurie Lewis concluded the event with their own trio, called the BlueBirds. Included in their set were "High Sierra," which Ronstadt had recorded with Dolly and Emmylou Harris as the Trio, and "My Tennessee Mountain Home," which Muldaur had covered on her debut album 31 years ago. Also performing at the festival was Dolly backing band and opening act on her most recent tour, The Grascals, whose current single, "Viva Las Vegas," features Dolly. Read more here.
Ind. Library Getting Noticed Connersville, Ind., will celebrate its local Imagination Library chapter at the city's annual Business and Education Forum next week, The News Examiner reports. A session at the March 10 event will profile Dolly's national literacy project's efforts in Fayette County. Read more here.
Dolly Honored As readers are aware, Dolly was scheduled to be honored Tuesday evening with the Country Music DJ and Radio Hall of Fame's Artist Career Achievement Award at the Country Radio Seminar in Nashville with a special tribute performance by Martina McBride and Catherine Britt. As of the time of this update on Tuesday night, no details from the ceremony were available yet.
March 1: Two New Tenn. Counties In Dolly's Library Two additional Tennessee counties have opted into Dolly's Imagination Library literacy program, The Tennesseean reported Monday. Moore and White Counties in middle Tennessee signed on last week, the paper said. Read the brief here.
CRS Reminder If you're going to be in Music City Tuesday evening and don't mind spending $75 for dinner, remember that you will still be able to buy a last-minute admission to the Country Radio Seminar's Country Music DJ and Radio Hall of Fame ceremony at the registration table at the Nashville Convention Center starting at 4:30 p.m. for the 6:15 p.m. event which will feature Dolly accepting the Artist Career Achievement Award and special performances in her honor by Martina McBride and Catherine Britt.
Although the park has been open to the public for several days, the "official" annual grand opening festivities at 
CNN confirms that Dolly is scheduled to appear in a new interview with talk show icon 
Things are gearing up for 
