April 30: Stripes Gone From Two Charts It looks like The White Stripes' new album with their live cover of Dolly's "Jolene" is nearing the end of its chart life with the May 8 numbers released Thursday. The collection Under Great White Northern Lights, falls off the top 200 U.S. pop charts, down from No. 149 in its fifth week, and off the top 100 Canadian pop charts, down from No. 89. The CD marks a sixth week on the soundtrack albums tally, sliding seven to No. 16. Steve Martin's The Crow - New Songs for the 5-String Banjo, featuring a Dolly collaboration, holds steady at No. 4 bluegrass albums in its 62nd chart week. Lady Antebellum's Need You Now holds on at No. 1 country and gains one to No. 2 pop with 83,000 copies sold in its 13th week, while The Zac Brown Band's The Foundation remains at No. 2 country and jumps six to No. 9 pop in its 75th chart week with 29,000 units moved.
April 29: Celebrate Another Dollywood Anniversary
Five years ago, SD Professionals created a great video for Dollywood's 20th anniversary that played in Dolly's Chasing Rainbows Museum. The company this week posted the piece to YouTube, where you may watch it in the player above or by clicking here. Thanks, Jason!
They'll Soon Be On Their Way The Lane Twins will embark on their journey Saturday, traveling the country by road filming their Hollywood To Dollywood documentary. As a reminder, you'll be able to follow their adventures via their Twitter feed here. Interviews with actor Leslie Jordan and musician Emmylou Harris, dropping in on fans along the way to East Tennessee, an in-store appearance at Dolly's Trinkets & Treasures in Nashville, a radio interview in Music City, filming at the park and shooting at Night of 1,000 Dollys should all come together into a pretty impressive movie. Best wishes, guys!
One More Library Community Added More children in Minnesota will soon be able to participate in Dolly's Imagination Library literacy program, The Osakis Review notes here with a kick-off Saturday for a new chapter there.
April 28: Dolly And Rita Dine Wonder if they talked movies. Dolly stepped out to lunch Tuesday with actress, producer and Mrs. Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, according to Tabloid Prodigy, which snapped her out and about here. Thanks, Tabby!
Malkin Wants Dolly 'Glee' Gossip guru Mark Malkin is jumping on the Dolly Glee bandwagon. In discussing on his E! video blog here the campaign by Britney Spears' manager to have an episode of the show devoted to her music, Malkin said he'd much rather have Cher or Dolly get their own nights on the program.
'The Parton Test' Dance diva Kylie Minogue and her producer had an interesting song test for her new album, it was revealed to PopJusticehere: Only songs that worked if they tried singing it "in the style of Dolly" made the cut.
DRUM! Coming Back Next Year Nova Scotia performers DRUM! have been booked to perform at the 2011 Dollywood Festival of Nations following their triumphant reception by audiences this year at the park, Canada's Chronicle Herald reported here Tuesday. The show is estimated to have been seen by 90,000 folks at this year's festival over the course of the past month.
April 27: Report: Oprah Taping May 14 This hasn't been independently confirmed, but a reader who was supposed to be in the audience in 2008 when The Oprah Winfrey Show sought several Dolly fans for her (subsequently cancelled) appearance on the program that year tells me he's been contacted by producers to attend the May 14 taping, which will reportedly be Dolly's. We'll hopefully hear more soon. Thanks!
Dolly Footage Found Thanks to Caroline for alerting me to a brief video of Dolly's stop this weekend at Madeo restaurant in LA. Check it out here.
'Glee'ful Dolly Entertainment blog Zap2It thinks Dolly deserves an episode of Glee modeled after the recent Madonna music storyline on the program, noting that her music could score an entire season of the show. Check out who else they think should be recognized on the show here.
Drag Dolly My favorite queen of the series, Raven, may have come in second on RuPaul's Drag Race Monday night, but you can watch her perform a couple of Dolly numbers via YouTube. Check out "Better Get To Livin'" here and "Winter Wonderland" here.
April 26: Slipping Down Under The Very Best Of Dolly Parton, Vol. 1, the 2007 foreign Sony compilation, celebrates one year on the Australian country albums chart this week. The album falls six to No. 12 in its 52nd nonconsecutive week on the top 20 Down Under.
Bryan Ad Jokes On Dolly Thanks to Aaron for forwarding a video from Luke Bryan's campaign for ACM votes earlier this month that includes a Dolly joke about three and a half minutes into it. Check it out here.
Enjoying A Night Out Dolly stepped out in L.A. Saturday night, spotted by photographers leaving the Madeo restuarant. Check out shots here.
April 24: Dolly Signs On For 'Oprah' Next Month Dolly will appear on The Oprah Winfrey Show sometime in May to celebrate the 25th season of Dollywood and perform, the show's publicity department revealed Friday. The exact date of Dolly's appearance has yet to be announced, but the only dates next month for which guests have yet to be announced are May 5, 6, 10, 12, 17, 19-21, 26-28 and 31. The show will mark Dolly's first appearance on the program since a 2003 show to promote the tribute project Just Because I'm A Woman: Songs Of Dolly Parton; she had scheduled a January 2008 appearance to promote Backwoods Barbie, but the taping was cancelled after she pulled a muscle in her back and had to cancel several appearances. See the announcement here.
'Very Best' Back In Ireland The 2007 overseas compilation The Very Best Of Dolly Parton, Vol. 1 this week re-enters the top 100 Irish pop albums chart, coming in at No. 95 to mark a 94th week on the tally.
See Park's New Attraction Thanks to Dollymania correspondent Jason Worley for sending in some pics of the new Adventure Mountain attraction at Dollywood, which have been added to the 25th season opening section of the site here.
April 23: Stripes Gain A Little The White Stripes move up a little on the May 1 Billboard charts released Thursday, with their Under Great White Northern Lights, which features a cover of Dolly's "Jolene," rising 11 to No. 149 pop and two to No. 9 soundtracks in its fifth week. It slips 11 to No. 89 Canadian pop. Steve Martin's The Crow - New Songs for the 5-String Banjo, with its Dolly duet, rises one to No. 4 bluegrass albums in its 61st chart week. Lady Antebellum's Need You Now holds steady at No. 1 country and rises one to No. 3 pop with 65,000 copies moved in its 12th week, while The Zac Brown Band's The Foundation regains one to No. 2 country and five to No. 15 pop in its 74th chart week
Another Dolly Movie Connection There will be a Dolly theme to a new film expected to start shooting soon. Lizzy Caplan is reportedly to star in Queens of Country about a devotee of country divas including Dolly and Loretta Lynn who finds an iPod full of their music and sets off in search of its rightful owner, who she is convinced must be her true love. Thanks, Nick!
April 22: Magazine: Dolly One Of History's Top 75 Women Joan of Arc, Queen Elizabeth I, Eleanor Roosevelt, Hillary Clinton, Madeline Albright and . . . Dolly! Esquire magazine just released its list of the 75 greatest women in history, and Dolly made the cut. About her, the publication's editors lauded her record number of top 10 albums, 25 No. 1 singles and film career but said her "best contribution" is also her least known: the Dollywood Foundation and its Imagination Library. In addition to historical and political figures, the list is full of pop culture icons like Madonna, Cher or Tina Turner as well as poets and writers. Check out the full list, in no particular order, here.
April 21: Anderson's Dolly Keeps Her On Show Pamela Anderson channeled her inner – and outer – Dolly Monday night on ABC's Dancing With The Stars, dressing as Dorolee to dance to Dolly's "9 To 5" with partner Damian Whitewood. Unfortunately, the performance (viewable on YouTube here) landed them in the bottom two along with Kate Gosslin on Tuesday night's elimination show, but it was the reality show mom sent home to her eight kids rather than the Baywatch babe when the votes were tallied.
Dolly's Outfit Criticized US Magazine's "fashion police" man on the street interview takes on one of Dolly's recent outfits this week. Check out what passersby had to say here.
More Library News Expansion of Dolly's Imagination Library in the Mississippi Delta is getting a four-week promotional campaign, according to The Greenwood Commonwealthhere.
April 20: Last Dollywood Pictures Posted The final gallery of Dolly shots by Dollymania correspondent Jason Worley from the 25th season opening at Dollywood have been added to that section here. Unless some additional readers submit images, this will conclude the site's coverage of the event.
Sincerest Form Of Flattery A Dolly tribute show, Rhinestone Cowgirl: A Tribute to Dolly Parton, is making the rounds in the U.K., and The Cornwall Standard-Freeholder talks here to its star, who shared some tips to playing Dolly.
Another Great Video Found Thanks to Jason for sending in another YouTube clip he dug up. This time it's the green screen footage of her filming the intro to her official website, Dolly Parton.com. Check it out here.
One More City For Dolly's Library Dolly's Imagination Library is expanding again overseas. Calderdale, England, is signing up, The Halifax Evening Courier reports here.
April 19: Moving Up Down Under The Very Best Of Dolly Parton, Vol. 1, the overseas Sony greatest hits collection released in 2007, may make it a full year on the Australian country albums chart. The CD gains three this week to No. 6 in its 51st week on the top 20 Down Under.
Dollywood Coverage Continues Yet another gallery of Dolly's pictures from the Dollywood 25th season opening appearances from Dollymania correspondent Jason Worley have been posted in section of the site here! Still a few more to come!
Red Carpet Footage Available Thanks to Jason to alerting me to a video posted to YouTube by a local radio station covering the Kenny Rogers anniversary concert taping in Connecticut featuring red carpet footage of Dolly. Check it out here.
New Library Added Yet another community has signed up for Dolly's Imagination Library literacy program: Cloverdale, Calif., thanks to the local Kiwanis Club. Read about it from The Santa Rosa Press Democrathere.
April 17: Dolly Sees Chinese Show
Ever wonder what Dolly's reaction would be to seeing that viral video of the Chinese talent show featuring a young Taiwanese man singing her "I Will Always Love You"? Well, TV host Wendy Williams got to chat with Dolly and showed it to her over the weekend, with the footage making her show on Friday. Watch it in the media player above or by clicking here. Thanks, Doug and Ryan!
Arizona Gets '9 To 5' Yet another city on the tour of Dolly's 9 To 5: The Musical was revealed Friday: Phoenix, Ariz., where it will play The Gammage at Arizona State University Feb. 22-27. Check out the article here. The known cities for the national tour at this time, a list which thus far has only been published on Dollymania, are:
Nashville, Sept. 21-26
Atlanta, Sept. 28-Oct. 3
Charlotte, Oct. 5-10
Des Moines Oct. 12-17
Tampa, Oct. 26-31
Memphis, Nov. 2-7
Houston, Nov. 9-21
San Antonio, Dec. 7-12
East Lansing, Dec. 15-19
Indianapolis, Jan. 11-16
Chicago, Jan. 18-31
Dayton, Feb. 1-6
St. Louis, Feb. 8-20
Phoenix, Feb. 22-27
Sacramento, March 9-20
Seattle, April 5-24
Costa Mesa, May 10-15
Tulsa, June 14-19
Minneapolis/St. Paul, July 12-24
Ft. Worth, July 26-31
Napes, Fla. (date TBA)
Night Of 1,000 Dollys Returns "Night Of 1,000 Dollys" is coming back! Knoxville's Dolly-centric party will take place Friday, May 7, after founder Christopher Hamblen turned the reigns over to show bar Club XYZ (1215 North Central). The unofficial event, which isn't affiliated with Dolly, begins at 10 p.m. and features contests at midnight including biggest boobs, biggest hair and best Dolly look-a-like with prizes. Dolly videos will play on the bar's 14 televisions, while Dolly decorations will be up all over the club. Bartenders will serve cocktails inspired by Dolly, and there will be Dolly numbers included in both of the night's drag shows (11:30 p.m. and 1 a.m.). Admission will be free for anyone with a Dollywood admission ticket or season pass.
More Dolly Photos It's time to get back to the coverage of Dolly's 25th Dollywood season opening appearances! Check out some new galleries from Dollymania correspondent Jason Worley in that section of the site here!
'Human Versions Of Coke Or Levis' Photographer Patrick Hoelck once shot Dolly in the middle of the Palm Springs salt flats and said it was one of only a couple of times in his life that he was "kind of pinching myself." He said at one point he looked at her "and I realized this woman's done, like, so much, that I was kind of taken aback by how much history this woman's created, from beginning to where she was, in a historical way." He said she and Clint Eastwood, who has had a similar iconic career, are "almost like human versions of Coke or Levis -- where the brand is just so long it's crazy." Read his full interview with Popeaterhere.
Kristen Sees Dolly In Self Kristen Chenoweth, one of a handful of Dolly's preferred actresses to play her on the big screen, tells Vanity Fairhere how they're alike.
April 16: Smooth Radio Doc Coming A new Dolly radio documentary, Dolly Parton: In Her Own Words, was announced Thursday as airing in the U.K. this weekend. The hour-long special will be broadcast at 1 p.m. British time Sunday on Smooth Radio (102.2 FM London, 100.4 Northwest, 105.7 West Midlands, 106.6 East Midlands, 105.2 Scotland, 97.5 and 107.7 Northeast). In it, host Andy Peebles talks with her about her early family life, Whitney Houston, Elvis Presley and more. It should also air online here.
Des Moines Gets '9 To 5' Another stop has been added to the tour of Dolly's 9 To 5: The Musical. The show will play the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines in Iowa Oct. 12-17, The Des Moines Register reported here Thursday.
'Hannah' And Dolly Tidbit One more piece of information has come out about Dolly's upcoming third appearance on the Disney Channel hit Hannah Montana. Piano wild child Jason D. Williams told The Lincoln Journal Star in Nebraska that he is filming a spot in the same episode playing "Billy Ray Cyrus' crazy piano-playing cousin from Arkansas." Read more here.
Chart Updates Under Great White Northern Lights, The White Stripes' live CD with their version of Dolly's "Jolene," slips a bit more on the April 24 charts from Billboard released Thursday. The set dips 38 places to No. 160 pop but gains two to No. 11 soundtracks in its fourth week. Up north, it falls 22 to No. 78 Canadian pop. Steve Martin's The Crow - New Songs for the 5-String Banjo, featuring a Dolly appearance, inches down one to No. 5 bluegrass albums in its 60th chart week. Lady Antebellum's Need You Now holds steady at No. 1 country and rises one to No. 4 pop in its 11th week, while Alan Jackson's Freight Train remains at No. 2 country but falls seven to No. 14 pop in its second week. Also, the magazine notes Loretta Lynn's new compilation entry gives her the second-longest span on the country albums chart behind Johnny Cash and that she also holds the second-most entries on the tally for a female artist with 59 albums compared to Dolly's 76. Read more here.
More Library News Masontown, Pa., area residents will soon see Dolly's Imagination Library in their community, The Uniontown Herald Standard noted here Thursday, and Middletown, Ohio, will celebrate the delivery of its 10,000th book in the project Saturday, The Middletown Journal reported here.
April 15: Dollywood Shots Continue Additional galleries from the Dollywood 25th season opening with Dolly by Dollymania correspondent Jason Worley have been added to that section of the site here. In related news, check out his coverage of the park's opening in local entertainment magazine The Loaferhere, and enjoy an Associated Press story on the opening via ABC News here.
Survey: Dolly Still One Of The Best Although it's been three decades since 9 To 5 hit the silver screen, Dolly's portrayal of Doralee still ranks as almost the best secretary of all time, a new study found. In honor of next week's Administrative Professionals Day, a survey by MovieTickets.com for the favorite administrative professional in the history of film saw Anne Hathaway's character in The Devil Wears Prada barely inch out Dolly for the top spot with 31 percent versus 27 percent of the vote of nearly 21,000 people. Julia Roberts as Erin Brockovich was next with 21 percent, followed by Gwyneth Paltrow in Iron Man at 15 percent and Maggie Gyllenhaal in Secretary at 6 percent. Read more from UPI here.
Dolly And 'Glee' Actress Worked Together Who knew that Sue Sylvester started out with Dolly? Jane Lynch, the actress who plays the deliciously evil character on the best show on television, Glee, got her start in the entertainment industry with a voice-over as Dolly's first caller from her radio shrink comedy Straight Talk, The New York Times' blogs noted here Wednesday. Check out a clip of the scene on YouTube here.
Latest Library Developments Dolly's Imagination Library literacy program in the Acadian region of Louisiana is profiled in local newspapers The Advocatehere and The Advertiserhere this week, while way up north in British Columbia, The BC Local News discusses its expansion to Ocean Park thanks to the local Kiwanis Club here. Also, efforts to launch it in Joplin, Mo., are noted in The Joplin Globehere.
Dolly Songs Previewed In Film Trailer
Thanks to Tony for alerting me that the makers of the independent film First Dog that features original music by Dolly have released a new trailer of the movie with clips from a couple of her tunes. Watch it via YouTube in the media player above or by clicking here.
April 14: Park: Dolly Will Be There Both Days Dolly will be "on park" both Friday and Saturday, May 7 and 8, Dollywood announced on Tuesday. During her "homecoming" appearance, she will conduct park tours on each day, weather permitting. Those mini-parades are in addition to her 25th Annual Dolly Parade down the Parkway in the city of Pigeon Forge, which takes place at 6 p.m. Friday, May 7. In addition, thanks to Tony, who was scrounging around on the park's website and discovered a page that contains the "Memories Photo Album" video that they played at Dolly's media appearance on season passholders' preview day containing her complete studio version of the park's anniversary theme song, "Celebrate The Dreamer In You." Watch it here!
April 13: Dolly Tells Fans To Get Outside
Dolly released another video blog on Monday, this time waxing about the glories of spring and encouraging everyone to get out and enjoy it. Watch it in the media player above or by visiting YouTube here.
More Dollywood Pics Available Thanks to Dollymania correspondent Jason Worley for sending in several additional galleries of pictures added to the site's section on Dollywood's season opening here.
Kenny & Dolly (Not) Aging Together And check out some more shots of Kenny & Dolly at this weekend's Connecticut concert, along with some commentary on both artists' cosmetic surgery, from The Daily Mailhere and Huffington Posthere. There are also several pictures throughout a Tennessean gallery accessible here.
April 12: Dolly Sings Thrice At Kenny Show Dolly made several appearances at Kenny Rogers' 50th anniversary concert in Connecticut, on Saturday The Hartford Courant reported here Sunday. She duetted with Allison Krauss on "Sweet Music Man," joined Rogers and Lionel Richie on "Through The Years" and closed the show with him on "Islands In The Stream," during which the other guests joined them. Other performances included Wynonna Judd and members of the original First Edition on "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)," Krauss with "But You Know I Love You," Chris Isaak with "Ruby Don't Take Your Love To Town" featuring Linda Davis and Billy Dean on harmony, Smokey Robinson on "Crazy," a Rogers and Judd duet on "Don't Fall In Love With A Dreamer," a Rogers and Sheena Easton duet on "We've Got Tonight," a Rogers and Richie duet on Lady," and he called up The Oak Ridge Boys from the audience to join him on "The Gambler." Several videotaped performances were also shown, including tributes by Darius Rucker and Tim McGraw. Thanks, Bill! Check out some photos from Chris Barnes on his Facebook page here.
Dolly Up In Aussie Tally The Very Best Of Dolly Parton, Vol. 1, the foreign Sony compilation disc from three years ago, shoots up nine spots on this Australian country albums top 20, making it back to No. 9 in its 50th chart week Down Under.
Wendy Meets Dolly Be sure to catch Monday's The Wendy Williams Show (syndicated), as the hostess will talk in her "Hot Topics" segment about meeting Dolly over the weekend. Check out a pic on her FaceBook page here and Twitter here. Thanks, Ryan!
'A Prairie Home' Dolly Dolly got a couple of mentions on public radio's A Prairie Home Companion program this weekend. The show, which was being broadcast from Nashville this week, opened with a performance of some duets made famous by country's top duos: Porter & Dolly, Conway & Loretta and George & Tammy. Then the recurring skit about gumshoe Guy Noir found him searching for Dolly's lost bagpipes.
Tribute Disc Coming A new Dolly tribute CD is coming next month. Green Hill Records will on May 18 release instrumentalist Mark Burchfield's Country Tribute: The Songs Of Dolly Parton. Reserve your copy here!
April 10: Dolly In Connecticut For Kenny Dolly is in the state of Connecticut this weekend to lead a gaggle of stars paying tribute to friend Kenny Rogers' 50th anniversary in entertainment, headlining a concert in his honor at the Foxwoods MGM Grand Casino. The event is being taped for a TV special, although details on an air date or broadcast network have yet to be announced. Others on the bill include Lionel Richie, Wynonna Judd, Alison Krauss, Tim McGraw, Chris Isaak, Darius Rucker, Smokey Robinson, the Oak Ridge Boys, Sheena Easton, and Billy Dean. Read more from NBC Connecticut here.
Regis Return To Dollywood? After Regis Philbin's brief visit to Dollywood this week, Knoxville News Sentinel columnist Terry Morrow says here that both Philbin and Dolly want Live! With Regis and Kelly to broadcast "sometime soon" from the park.
April 9: More Shots From Park Posted Several new galleries from occasional Dollymania correspondent Jason Worley have been added to the site's section on the Dollywood season opening here. Thanks!
'Better Than Disney' Regis Philbin made a brief stop at Dollywood Wednesday evening for a quick tour of part of the park. Check out coverage from The Knoxville News Sentinel's Terry Morrow here.
Chart Updates The White Stripes' concert album featuring a live version of Dolly's "Jolene" continues its fall on the April 17 Billboard charts that came out Thursday. The CD, Under Great White Northern Lights, drops 61 spots to No. 122 in its third week on the top 200 pop albums tally, seven slots to No. 13 soundtracks and completely off the 25-position Internet sales tally, down from No. 20. Steve Martin's The Crow - New Songs for the 5-String Banjo, with its Dolly duet, loses one to No. 4 bluegrass albums in its 59th chart week. Lady Antebellum's Need You Now holds steady at No. 1 country and slides one to No. 5 pop with 87,000 copies sold in its 10th week, while Alan Jackson's Freight Train debuts at No. 2 country, No. 7 pop with 72,000 units moved in its first week.
Dolly Gets The Last Word Dolly was given the "Final 45" segment Thursday on Access Hollywood with a clip that had been cut from her original interview at her Nashville store that aired recently. In it, she was asked if she'd ever consider going on Dancing With The Stars as a contestant. Of course, her answer was no. Watch it here or in the media player below.
April 8: Fans Film Cross Country For Dolly Los Angeles residents Gary and Larry Lane, twin actors shown at left with Dolly, will visit Dollywood this May and are capturing their experience in a documentary they're calling Hollywood To Dollywood. And they're looking for some Dolly fans to meet and film along the way. "We are looking for HUGE fans! with Dolly tatoos, Dolly collections, Dolly look-a-likes!" they say. If you fit the bill and live anywhere close to the Interstate 40 corridor, e-mail them at garylarrytwins@yahoo.com. You'll also be able to follow their journey on Twitter here.
More Dolly Pics Posted Speaking of the park, another set of reader-submitted shots have been added to the galleries from opening weekend here. Thanks, Greg!
Made In Taiwan Reporters are calling him "the next Susan Boyle," as a young Taiwanese man stunned judges on a televised Chinese talent competition with his spot-on rendition of Whitney Houston's cover of Dolly's classic "I Will Always Love You." Read about it here or watch on YouTube here. Thanks to several folks for sending that one in!
April 7: First Reader Shots Available The first reader-submitted galleries of Dolly's appearances at Dollywood's 25th season opening are now viewable in that section of the site here. More to come -- and you may send yours here! Thanks, Chris!
Dolly TV Mentions Dolly has been mentioned on television a few times this week. On Monday night, The Late, Late Show With Craig Ferguson introduced a prototype for a running gag of a skeleton robot army. The robot sidekick named Geoff was programmed with nine different phrases, including for some reason: "My favorite is Miss Dolly Parton." Check out a YouTube clip from the show here. Thanks, Chris and Don! And on Tuesday morning, Live With Regis and Kelly got its Dolly mention on. Regis noted he would be in Pigeon Forge Thursday for the opening of the new Titanic attraction and said if he has time he wants to visit Dollywood. Kelly interjected she'd love to visit the park because she loves Dolly so much. Check out a transcript of the exchange in Terry Morrow's blog at Knoxville News Sentinelhere.
April 6: New Dolly Images Posted More galleries by Dollymania correspondent Harrell Gabehart from the Dollywood 25th season opening have been added to that section of the site here.
Dolly Director Nominated Although Dolly didn't receive any nominations in this year's CMT Music Awards, Trey Fanjoy, the director of her "Backwoods Barbie" video last year, is one of eight directors to receive nods for their work in 2009, it was announced Monday. She also directed Steel Magnolia's "Keep On Lovin' You," Lady Antebellum's "American Honey," Lee Ann Womack's "Solitary Thinking" and Reba McEntire's "Strange" and "Consider Me Gone" last year. See all nominees here and vote here!
More Louisiana Kids Get Library The Capital Area United Way in Baton Rouge, La., is prepping its launch of Dolly's Imagination Library literacy program in three of its four parishes, The Advocate reported here Monday. Local organizers noted that on average only four books are found in the home of a child born into poverty in the state.
April 5: More Opening Shots Available The next galleries from Dollymania correspondent Harrell Gabehart of Dolly at Dollywood's 25th season opening have been posted in that section of the site here. Still more to come!
'Very Best' Returns Down Under Sony's 2007 compilation The Very Best Of Dolly Parton, Vol. 1 re-enters this week's Australian country albums top 20, coming in at No. 18 to mark a 49th chart week there.
Sacramento Gets '9 To 5' Another city has been added to the national tour of Dolly's 9 To 5: The Musical: Sacramento, Calif., where it will play March 9-20 as part of Broadway Sacramento in the Community Center Theater, Broadway World reported here Sunday.
April 3: Next Dollywood Pictures Available The first gallery of shots from Dollymania correspondent Harrell Gabehart from last weekend's Dollywood appearances has been uploaded to that section of the site here. More to come!
'9 To 5' Head Talks Of Dolly Jeff Calhoun, the tour director and choreographer for Dolly's 9 To 5: The Musical, was in Nashville this week to promote the show, which will kick off its national trek from Music City in September. He noted how thrilled he is to work with Dolly again (the last time was nearly 30 years ago) and spoke of his meeting with her while in town. Read more from The Tennesseanhere.
Latest Library News Andalusia, Ala., is trying to get Dolly's Imagination Library literacy project off the ground locally, according to The Andalusia Star-News. Read about it here.
April 2: Dollywood Coverage Concludes Your Dollymania News Video Report from the weekend's 25th season opening of Dollywood has been posted in that section of the site here. (A higher resolution version should be available on the official DollymaniaYouTube Channel shortly.) This marks the final piece in the coverage directly from your webmaster, but we have some additional photos from correspondents for the site still to be posted and then we move to reader-submitted images (send yours in here!). In related news, check out a story on the opening weekend from The Bristol Herald Courier posted Thursday here.
Stripes Disc With Dolly Song Drops The White Stripes' concert album with their live cover of Dolly's "Jolene" takes a tumble on the April 10 Billboard charts released Thursday. The collection, Under Great White Northern Lights, plummets 50 places to No. 61 in its second week on the top 200 pop albums tally, also dropping 17 to No. 20 Internet sales, five spots to No. 6 soundtracks and completely off of the 25-position digital album downloads chart, down from one week at No. 7. In Canada, the set dips 14 to No. 18 pop. Steve Martin's The Crow - New Songs for the 5-String Banjo, featuring a Dolly appearance, remains steady at No. 3 bluegrass albums in its 58th chart week. Lady Antebellum's Need You Now holds steady at No. 1 country but dips three to No. 4 pop with 78,000 copies sold in its ninth week, while The Zac Brown Band's The Foundation holds on at No. 2 country and rises two to No. 13 pop in its 71st week.
April 1: More Dolly Shots Posted The next set of galleries from Dolly's appearances at Dollywood over the weekend have been added to that section of the website here. Next to come: the Dollymania video report! In related news, check out DIY at 9 p.m. May 9 to see the channel's "King Of Dirt" redesign the park's Showstreet Gardens in honor of the anniversary.
'9 To 5' Auditions Announced Wanna sing and dance in Dolly's 9 To 5: The Musical tour? Casting agents Tesley & Co. have announced the call for equity dancers to audition for the show's chorus on April 12. The listing in Playbillhere notes that rehearsals begin Aug. 16 in New York before moving Sept. 6 to Nashville, where the tour opens Sept. 21. As a reminder for those in cities where the show will visit this year or next, Dollymania is the only media outlet thus far to compile and report all of the dates as they are announced:
Nashville, Sept. 21-26
Atlanta, Sept. 28-Oct. 3
Charlotte, Oct. 5-10
Tampa, Oct. 26-31
Memphis, Nov. 2-7
Houston, Nov. 9-21
San Antonio, Dec. 7-12
Indianapolis, Jan. 11-16
Chicago, Jan. 18-31
Dayton, Feb. 1-6
St. Louis, Feb. 8-20
Seattle, April 5-24
Costa Mesa, May 10-15
Tulsa, June 14-19
Minneapolis/St. Paul, July 12-24
Ft. Worth, July 26-31
Napes, Fla. (date TBA)
Another Warhol Exhibit With Dolly Dolly is among the icons spotlighted in "Quick Pics and Pop Icons," an exhibit of Andy Warhol's work to be shown April 11 through June 20 at the Hearst Art Gallery in the San Francisco Bay area, according to a press release here.
Sis Covers Dolly Song Dolly's sister Stella recently released a new CD, American Coal, featuring a cover of a Dolly song. In the themed concept album about coal workers, she's recorded "Blackie, Kentucky," which Dolly originally did back in 1975. Download the album from iTunes here and Amazon's MP3 store here.
"Night Of 1,000 Dollys" is coming back! Knoxville's Dolly-centric party will take place Friday, May 7, after founder Christopher Hamblen turned the reigns over to show bar 
Los Angeles residents Gary and Larry Lane, twin actors shown at left with Dolly, will visit 