June 30:
Paper: Dolly On Tap For Bluegrass Fest
Although it has yet to be independently confirmed by Dollymania, The San Francisco Chronicle on Wednesday reported here that Dolly has been added to the line-up for October's free Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival in town. The concerts, now in their fifth year, run from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 1, and Sunday, Oct. 2, in the Speedway Meadows of San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Admission is free, and there are no tickets required for entry. The festival's Web site does not yet list Dolly on its roster of performers, but others scheduled to appear include Dolly collaborators Emmylou Harris, Rhonda Vincent, Ricky Skaggs and Ralph Stanley, bluegrass stars the Del McCoury Band, Doc Watson, Earl Scruggs, Gillian Welch and Hazel Dickens, and alt-country performers Rodney Crowell and Steve Earle, among others. Look for more details here as they become available.

Library Partnership Ends First Year
The Governor's Books from Birth Foundation, Tennessee's state partnership with Dolly's Imagination Library aiming to bring the literacy program to every county in the state, celebrated its first anniversary this week. According to a press release, in its first year the program is already available to 70 percent of the state's 375,000 eligible children, whose parents may sign up to receive one free, hardcover, age-appropriate book per month from birth to age 5. "The Imagination Library has developed such a devoted following so quickly, and they have built this program in counties across the state with such enthusiasm," said Gov. Phil Bredesen (D-Tenn.), whom Dolly affectionately calls "King Phil." "But that really isn't surprising when you think about it – Tennesseans just know a good thing when they see it." The partnership has led to the program being adopted thus far in 60 of the state's 95 counties, with 25 additional counties currently in the planning stages. Using $2 million in state funds, it provides matching grants to help counties defray the local costs of offering the program to its children, roughly $27 per child annually. All administrative costs are handled by the Dollywood Foundation. Including the 60 affiliates in Tennessee, the program is active in more than 500 communities across 40 states nationwide. "We know that the very first years of our childhood are the most fundamental to our development as adults," Bredesen added. "Our partnership with the Imagination Library builds on that fact, and is focused on seeing books and reading become not only a family tradition, but a real cornerstone of each Tennessee community." Dolly started the program in her native Sevier County, Tenn., in 1996, making it available nationwide in late 1999. At the end of 2003, it distributed its 1 millionth book. Today, it issues more than 2.2 million books annually. Read an additional story based on the press release here from Knoxville television station WBIR. Image at left of Bredesen reading to Franklin County Imagination Library members at the county's public library last month. Courtesy the Governor's Books from Birth Foundation. Used with permission.

Lovin' The 'Essential Dolly'
Blogcritics on Wednesday published a great review of the Dolly compilation CD The Essential Dolly Parton, released by BMG Sony this week, although it also offers several suggestions of some of her more recent work that the reviewer says no collection would be complete without. Noting that Dolly is one of the "couple dozen greatest musical artists in the history of American popular music" and one of the "half dozen top songwriters in country music history," the reviewer says the two-disc set "rates as probably the best Dolly Parton starter kit going." He adds: "It won't cover all your Dolly needs, but it mostly pretty well covers her 20th century solo career." Read more here, and get your copy of the collection here.

Aussies Make Interview Available
The Australian Broadcasting Company's radio division on Wednesday made available online an MP3 version of a fairly lengthy telephone interview Dolly did in March 2003 to promote her CD Halos & Horns, which was released the previous summer. Take a listen here.

June 29:
ABC: Dolly On CMA Special
At least one Dolly performance from this month's CMA Music Festival in Nashville is expected to be included in a network television special airing in five weeks, it was announced Tuesday. Although a preliminary press release from the Country Music Association on Monday announcing the date and time of the broadcast only listed Big & Rich with Cowboy Troy, Alan Jackson, Rascal Flatts and Gretchen Wilson as confirmed for the special, promotional materials released by ABC Television on Tuesday stated that it will also include performances by Dolly, Dierks Bentley, Sara Evans, Jo Dee Messina, Sugarland, Keith Urban, Lee Ann Womack, Wynonna and Trisha Yearwood, as well as additional yet-to-be-announced entertainers who participated in the four-day festival earlier this month. The two-hour CMA Music Festival: Country Music's Biggest Party special, culled from 70 hours of live performances before 130,000 fans, will premiere on ABC at 9 p.m. Eastern on Aug. 2. During her segment of the festival's opening night concert, Dolly performed "Train, Train," "Orange Blossom Special," "Viva Las Vegas" and "Rocky Top" with The Grascals. No word yet on which song or songs may be included in the televised portion. Image at left of Dolly at the festival provided by the Country Music Association. Used with permission.

Once A Hottie, Always A Hottie!
The AARP's Modern Maturity magazine's July-August issue has announced its new list of "The Hot Fifty," its judging of the world's sexiest celebrities over the age of 50 as part of its sex survey, and, of course, Dolly made the cut. In the category "Coolest Crooner," Dolly shows up alongside Tina Turner, Stevie Nicks, Sting, Julio Iglesias, Harry Belafonte and David Bowie. Others in the publication's top 50 include Kim Basinger, Pierce Brosnan, Bill Clinton, Liam Neeson, Susan Sarandon, Patrick Stewart and Denzel Washington, among others. Readers of the magazine may also rank its selections in each category via online voting here. As of Tuesday evening, 59-year-old Dolly held a strong lead in the "crooners" category with nearly half of all votes. Tina Turner was second with 15 percent.

European Chart Update
Dolly's duet of "Thank God I'm A Country Boy" with Roy Rivers slips two places to No. 4 in the new European CMA country singles chart, reflecting airplay through June 3. The song had peaked at No. 1 for four weeks. In individual countries, the duet falls out of the top 20 for country airplay in Belgium, down from No. 17; Germany, down from No. 10; and Holland, down from No. 19. Get the CD here!

She Blinded Me With Science: Music Mansion Gets A Buyer
Strange science is coming to a former Dolly-owned building in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., The Knoxville News-Sentinel reported Tuesday. Wonder Works, an interactive science-themed entertainment center in Orlando, Fla., has selected the city where Dollywood is located for its second facility. The $15 million-$18 million center will be housed in the former Music Mansion, a complex built by The Dollywood Co. to house entertainer James Rogers' show in 1994. The park sold the theater to controversial singer Anita Bryant in 1999, but it closed two years later when lack of attendance forced Bryant into bankruptcy and has remained vacant since. Developers tell the newspaper that they anticipate up to 800,000 visitors a year in the 50,000-square-foot center, expected to open next summer. For comparison, Dollywood, Tennessee's most-visited tourist attraction, sees about 2.5 million visitors a year. Read more here.

June 28:
The Latest Tid-Bits On 'Days' CD
Aussie hunk Keith Urban is thrilled to be cutting a track with Dolly for her upcoming Those Were The Days CD. On his official Web site here, he says: "I'm looking forward to it. I really am. I grew up playing a lot of Dolly's songs, so it's still a little bit surreal to get contacted by her about coming in and performing with her. I think we're gonna do it this month. She's doing a lot of old standards and we're doing 'Twelfth Of Never,' bluegrass style, of course." Members of his online fan club, Monkeyville, can listen to an audio clip on the site of him talking about the project. Also, Manhattan's Avatar Studios has posted a shot here of Dolly with producer Steve Buckingham and jazz darling Norah Jones in the studio there, apparently cutting Jones' contribution to the project, which is reportedly a duet with Dolly on "Where Have All The Flowers Gone." Thanks, Tony!

Bluegrass Charts Heat Up
Bluegrass Unlimited on Monday released its July bluegrass charts, and several Dolly-related projects remain on the tally. Her duet with The Grascals on "Viva Las Vegas" moves up four places to No. 16 for the month, while her duet with Randy Kohrs on "It Looked Good On Paper" gains two spots to No. 25. The CD The Grascals rises two notches to No. 5, while Kohrs' I'm Torn slips one to No. 11. All projects are at their chart peak thus far, except Kohrs's album, which had peaked at No. 6 in May.

Another Ky. County Gets Library
It's no accident, but Dolly's Imagination Library literacy program is coming to Carroll County, Ky., thanks to the Educational Excellence Foundation of Carroll County and the local school district, The Madison Courier reported here Monday.

'Miss' Takes A Tumble
As would be expected the weekend after it was released on DVD, Sandra Bullock's Miss Congeniality 2: Armed And Fabulous, featuring its Dolly cameo, plummeted at the box office, dropping 24 spots to No. 48 for last weekend's U.S. gross. Taking in just $45,000 for the weekend and about $55,000 for the week, its American cumulative total now stands at $48.4 million. It saw about the same amount of action overseas, with $100,000 in ticket sales bringing that to $52.9 million for a combined total since release of $101.3 million.

Older Galleries Updated
Thanks to a couple of readers, Scott and Chris, several of the site's recent photo galleries have been updated. These include this year's Dollywood Season Opening galleries here, last year's Dollywood Harvest Celebration galleries here and last year's "Hello I'm Dolly" Tour galleries here. Thanks, guys!

June 27:
A Few More KidsFest Pics Submitted
Thanks to Scott and Chris for sending a few shots from this month's KidsFest opening at Dollywood. They have been added to that section of the site here. Scott also sent in several images from other appearances over the past year or so, and look for those to be added in coming days. Thanks, guys!

'Essential,' 'Angel' Releases Are Here
Don't forget that the new The Essential Dolly Parton compilation and a re-issue of Unlikely Angel on DVD will both hit stores on Tuesday. Get Essential here and Angel here!

Porter Gets New Exhibit
Dolly's former longtime duet partner and fellow Country Music Hall of Fame member Porter Wagoner is being honored next month with an informal exhibit at the Hall of Fame in Nashville, it was announced last week. The exhibit, "Porter Wagoner: The Rhinestone Troubadour," will feature several of his famous costumes and instruments to tell his life story. The exhibit, which opens July 15, will remain on display through January. Thanks, Frank! Porter & Dolly were one of country music's all-time most popular duos. He offered Dolly her first regular national exposure as a member of his weekly television show and touring show for seven years beginning in late 1967. During that time, they recorded 15 albums, earned three CMA Awards, garnered four Grammy nominations and logged 13 top 10 country singles. After an acrimonious split in the mid-'70s which included a multi-million lawsuit, they released one final album in 1980 which produced two additional hit singles. They buried the hatchet by the late 1980s and have remained close friends since, performing together again several times, although they have yet to record another album together. Image at left of Porter & Dolly at The Grand Ole Opry in April © 2005 Duane Gordon/Dollymania.net.

June 24:
'Viva' Continues Chart Run
Dolly and The Grascals' "Viva Las Vegas" is still a top country seller, getting a 25th week in the top 10 country singles sales chart in the July 2 tally released by Billboard on Thursday. The song inches down one notch for the week to No. 8, but the CD which contains the duet, The Grascals, falls back out of the 15-position bluegrass albums chart, down from No. 11 last week in its 12th on the chart. Ralph Stanley's gospel collection, Shine On, with its Dolly-written title track, remains steady at No. 6 on the bluegrass albums chart in its second week, and Rhonda Vincent's Ragin' Live, featuring her cover of "Jolene," also remains steady at No. 3 bluegrass in its 14th chart week. Norah Jones' Feels Like Home, with Dolly on "Creepin' In," drops five places to No. 191 pop in its 71st chart week. Toby Keith's Honkytonk University remains at No. 1 country and No. 7 pop in its fifth week, while Rascal Flatts' Feels Like Today remains at No. 2 country and rises two to No. 14 pop in its 38th week. The American Idol finalists' cover of the former Dolly and Julio Iglesias duet "When You Tell Me That You Love Me" drops one to No. 4 on the pop singles sales chart in its 10th week.

KidsFest Photos Added
What may be the final Dollymania gallery from last weekend's KidsFest kick-off at Dollywood has been added to that section of the site here showing some non-Dolly images from the events.

Library Video Being Produced
KidsFest last weekend was also the annual Homecoming Weekend for Dolly's Imagination Library literacy program, where representatives of the program's participating communities are Dolly's honored guests at the park. And Michigan's Bay City Times reports that some of the visitors were involved in filming a new promotional video on the program including their own local school superintendent. The newspaper said he was chosen because the Michigan chapter is seeing 50 percent enrollment in the program, compared to the nationwide average 20 percent enrollment seen in the first year. The superintendent also said his goal for the program's results is to see a 90 percent "readiness rate" for children in the community entering kindergarten, compared to his community's current rate of about 35 percent. It was noted that a Georgia community raised its readiness rate from that same level to 90 percent after three years of participation in the program. Read more here.

June 23:
New KidsFest Galleries Available
Your next set of Dolly photos in Dollymania's coverage of the third annual Dollywood KidsFest kick-off has been posted in that section of the site here. Tonight's galleries focus on her appearance following the performance of the Clifford the Big Red Dog stage show in the Celebrity Theatre. Image at left of Dolly at Dollywood's KidsFest opening © 2005 Duane Gordon/Dollymania.net.

R&B Artist Covers 'Sparrow'
Dolly's Appalachian ballad "Little Sparrow" is getting a soulful treatment, it was announced this week. Bettye LaVette, known as "The Great Lady Of Soul," has recorded an R&B cover of the song for her upcoming album, I've Got My Own Hell To Raise, due out Sept. 27 on the Anti-Records label, Billboard magazine reported in its online edition here Wednesday. Having charted her first R&B hit in 1962, LaVette continued with moderate success in the genre throughout the 1960s and 1970s, performed the lead role in Broadway's Bubbling Brown Sugar, worked with Dolly producer Steve Buckingham in the '80s and has enjoyed a steady comeback in the past few years. Last year she was honored by Living Blues magazine as the Best Female Blues Artist of 2004 and took home the coveted Memphis W.C. Handy Award for Best Comeback Blues Artist of 2004. The disc will also feature covers of songs written by Aimee Mann, Fiona Apple and alt-country artist Lucinda Williams, among others.

Lynne Loves Dolly
Dolly is "one of the pioneers of women in songwriting," says singer-songwriter Shelby Lynne in an interview published Wednesday on CMT.com here. Lynne, who recorded Dolly's "The Seeker" on the 2003 tribute CD Just Because I'm A Woman: Songs Of Dolly Parton, says it was a great honor to be included in that project. "I think Dolly's the greatest star in the business, of all time," she continues. "She's got it all -- the talent, the look, the personality, the sense of humor, the drive. She's everything I would ever want to be."

Library Adds Another Tenn. County
Sumner County is the latest in Tennessee to join Dolly's Imagination Library literacy program, The Gallatin News Examiner reports here. The paper states that nearly 9,000 children live in the county of the birth-to-5-years age eligible to receive free monthly books from the program, currently active in more than 500 communities across 40 states.

June 22:
Dolly Talks Of Tour, Upcoming CD
Although she's apparently keeping the final details quiet until they're finalized, Dolly has revealed to Dollymania a little more about both her upcoming tour and CD. "The 'Vintage Tour' will start mid-August and will include around 40 dates," she tells the site. It is being promoted by House of Blues Entertainment Inc., the same group responsible for her sold-out "Halos & Horns" Tour back in 2002, but will extend beyond just the HOB venues. In addition, she reveals that her Sept. 24-25 benefit concerts at Dollywood will "be basically the same show, so fans who have already bought tickets will get a real bonus." She says the concert will include "lots" of her older classic songs as well as her covers of older songs made famous by other performers, hence its "Vintage" title. As for the album, Those Were The Days, she confirms it should be in stores in October. Although some tracks expected to appear on the album have been mentioned in the press (including "Imagine," "Me And Bobby McGee," "If I Were A Carpenter," "Twelfth Of Never" and "Where Have All The Flowers Gone"), a final track listing has yet to be released. And while she's not saying which song it is, Dolly says she's included one public domain tune on the project which she'll put her own stamp on. Thanks! Also, kudos to The Daily Smoky Mountain Herald in Dolly's own Sevier County, Tenn., for its great coverage on both projects from Dolly's CMA Music Festival backstage chat with the press. See their full article from last Tuesday's edition here.

New KidsFest Photos Posted
The next group of photos in the Dollymania coverage of Dolly's appearances at the opening of the third annual KidsFest at Dollywood have been posted in that section of the site here for your enjoyment. They include shots from her Imagination Playhouse appearance and her parade through the park. Look for even more in coming days! Image at left © 2005 Duane Gordon/Dollymania.net.

Dolly In Print
Although nearly two months old now, a photograph of Dolly and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on the stage at the Grand Ole Opry from Dolly's April hosting gig on the country music institution gets a spot in the July 4 issue of Country Weekly on newsstands this week.

And Closer To Her Home
I'm told Dolly is featured in the new issue of Blue Ridge Magazine, which also includes a contest to win a trip to Dollywood! Thanks, Brandon!

Another Tenn. Community Signs On For Library
As was expected, the Benton County Commission on Monday night approved that Tennessee county's signing up for Dolly's Imagination Library literacy program, which provides one free, hardcover, age-appropriate book per month for every child birth to age 5 whose parents sign up in a participating community. Read more from The Camden Chronicle here.

June 21:
KidsFest Kicks Off With A Bang
Dolly made hundreds of children's day (and hundreds of fans') with her appearances at Dollywood on Friday to kick off the third annual KidsFest. See the full Dollymania coverage of the events starting in that section of the site here, and look for additional photos to be posted throughout the week. Also see a story from The Mountain Press here and a press release issued by the park on Monday here. Readers who attended and would like to submit pictures for publication, please e-mail them here. Thanks! Image at left of Dolly at this year's Dollywood KidsFest opening © 2005 Duane Gordon/Dollymania.net.

CMT Notes Tour, Album, Jokes
CMT Insider on Saturday broadcast the majority of Dolly's brief Q&A with the press from her night at the CMA Music Festival earlier this month as the show's second-lead story of the week. As has been previously reported, she announced she plans to hit the road again this fall (specifically around August after rehearsing throughout July) and release her new CD of classic folk-rock cover tunes, Those Were The Days, around October, with special guests including Keith Urban on "The Twelfth Of Never." She also noted that the outfit she had on backstage was made from an old swimsuit and pretended she was going to strip to show the press her swimsuit before saying: "No, you're not gonna see me in a bathing suit. I'm as white as Bill and Chelsea Clinton," later adding when asked if she intends to fulfill her one-liner that she'll pose for Playboy on her 100th birthday, "Maybe in my bathing suit." Look for additional details on the tour and album here soon.

Lending A Helping Hand
Dolly is among several celebrities who have donated an autographed wine glass for a charity auction to benefit Performing Arts Studio West, an Inglewood, Calif., center providing artistic training for individuals with disabilities. The auction will be held at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday night at The Garden of Eden in Hollywood. If not taken at the auction, the glass, which features a butterfly in addition to Dolly's signature, will be sold afterward. E-mail rsvp@creativeactors.com for more information, and see a photo of the glass here. Thanks!

Dolly Chats Up Shania
Dolly was featured throughout the new episode of A&E's Biography: Shania Twain, which premiered Friday night. Cited by Twain as her idol, Dolly offered commentary from both that perspective and as an expert observer of the younger singer's career. "She looked up to me," Dolly said. "I was her mentor. She tells me stuff like that, and it just makes me tear up because you never know what you're going to mean to somebody." She also called Twain one of the greatest songwriters in country music and discussed the importance that singing one's own songs is to singer-songwriters such as herself and Twain, the attention paid to Twain's physical attributes (showing her navel and sharing her characteristic of having a very small waist), her humility at fame and how some reacted to her crossing over to pop, among other subjects. The show is not currently scheduled for a repeat broadcast, but they do tend to show up again and again months after they originally air, so keep an eye out for it returning sometime in the future!

'Miss' DVD Reminder
Don't forget that Miss Congeniality 2: Armed And Fabulous, the Sandra Bullock hit with a hilarious Dolly cameo, makes its way to DVD store shelves on Tuesday. Get your copy here with the soundtrack and here without the soundtrack. In related news, the film topped $100 million in worldwide gross last week. It came in at No. 24 in U.S. cinema standings over the weekend, earning $160,000. Combined with about $250,000 for the week, cumulative American ticket sales reached $48.3 million. Overseas, it took in another $1 million for the week to push that total to $52.8 million, bringing its combined worldwide gross to $101.1 million.

June 16:
Dollywood Premieres New Site, Announces Parade
Dollywood late Wednesday unveiled a brand new design for its Web site here just in time for Friday's KidsFest kick-off. The new site is jam-packed with little extras, such as exclusive computer wallpapers, e-cards and more. The site also announced that Dolly will lead a KidsFest Parade through the park with characters from the children's festival. The listing said the afternoon parade would be held "tomorrow" (which on Wednesday would be Thursday), but the parade will actually be held late in the afternoon on Friday. (Image of Dolly and Barney at left from last year's KidsFest opening © 2004 Duane Gordon/Dollymania.)
Ed. Note: The Dollymania daily updates will experience a brief hiatus for a few days as your webmaster travels to the park to cover the events this weekend. Look for full coverage of the festival and Dolly's appearances upon my return as well as a recap of any news which becomes available between now and then. Thanks for your understanding.

'Viva' Still On The Chart
"Viva Las Vegas" by Dolly and The Grascals earns a 24th week on the country single sales chart in the June 25 numbers released Thursday by Billboard as it slips three places to No. 7 for the week. The album on which the song appears, The Grascals, gets a 12th week on the bluegrass albums chart, dropping two spots to No. 11. Ralph Stanley's new gospel CD, Shine On, featuring his cover of the Dolly-penned title track, debuts at No. 6 on the bluegrass albums chart, while Rhonda Vincent's Ragin' Live, with its live version of "Jolene," remains steady at No. 3 bluegrass in its 13th chart week. Norah Jones' Feels Like Home, featuring Dolly on "Creepin' In," inches up five notches to No. 186 pop in its 70th chart week. Toby Keith's Honkytonk University remains at No. 1 country and falls three to No. 7 pop in its fourth week, while Rascal Flatts' Feels Like Today remains at No. 2 country and drops three to No. 16 pop in its 37th week. The American Idol finalists' cover of the former Dolly and Julio Iglesias duet "When You Tell Me That You Love Me" remains steady at No. 3 on the pop singles sales chart in its ninth week.

More On Dolly's Library In Tennessee
Dolly's Imagination Library literacy program was in the news again Wednesday, with a lengthy profile in the Knoxville News-Sentinel here, which notes that nearly a quarter of all eligible children in the very large Tennessee county have signed up. It was also noted in The Camden Chronicle here that the Benton County Board of Commissioners is expected on Monday to authorize that Tennessee county's addition to the program. Dolly's literacy program provides one free, hardcover book per month to every child birth to age 5 in a participating community whose parents sign up. It is active in more than 500 communities across 40 states and distributes more than 2 million books annually.

Mindy Talks Dolly
Dolly pal Mindy Smith tells Richmond.com this week that she walks a fine line between being a fellow artist/collaborator and a major fan of Dolly's. You may recall that Smith's debut single was "Jolene" from the tribute collection Just Because I'm A Woman: Songs Of Dolly Parton, which Dolly liked so much that she recorded harmony vocals for the song as a bonus cut on Smith's debut album, One Moment More. Read the interview here.

Stella And Strippers?
Dolly's sister Stella, a star in her own right in the Christian music genre, is supposedly in talks to possibly host a reality television program about strippers, the gossip column of The Philadelphia Daily News reported Wednesday. Read more here.

June 15:
More On CD, Tour Planning Confirmed
Cable network Great American Country (GAC) on Tuesday afternoon posted some more information on Dolly's upcoming CD on its Web site here. The report quotes her as having said in a "chat" with members of the press backstage at last week's CMA Music Festival that the next album, Those Were the Days (formerly called Blue Smoke), will be out in October. The network also said she announced that Tommy James joins her on a cover of "Crimson And Clover" (a song he co-wrote and originally recorded with his band, The Shondells) and that the song that previously-reported guest Keith Urban duets on is the classic "Twelfth of Never" (which she had previously performed on her mid-1970s television show). An earlier report on the site listed Norah Jones as singing with her on "Where Have All the Flowers Gone" and Sarah McLachlan as another likely guest performer, but those items were removed shortly after being first posted, suggesting that part of the GAC report may not have been correct. In related news, Dollymania has independently confirmed earlier reports that the project's title has, indeed, changed to Those Were the Days and that Dolly is in the early stages of planning a new fall tour. Hopefully there will be some additional details available in coming days. Thanks!

June 14:
CMT Will Air Part Of Dolly's CMA Announcement
CMT announced Monday that its next episode of CMT Insider next weekend will feature excerpts from Dolly's pre-concert press conference at last week's CMA Music Festival where she reportedly said she is planning a new fall tour and finishing her new CD, the name of which has apparently changed from Blue Smoke to Those Were The Days. The show premieres at 1:30 p.m. Eastern Saturday and repeats on Sunday and Monday.

A&E 'Biography' On Shania Features Dolly
That's not the only new Dolly on TV next weekend (which happens to also be the opening of this year's KidsFest at Dollywood). Cable channel A&E at 8 p.m. Eastern on Friday will premiere a new Biography episode on Dolly-admirer Shania Twain which will feature new interviews with Dolly, Elton John, Bob Oermann and more.

June 13:
Reporter: Dolly CD, Tour Getting Ready
Although the information has yet to be independently confirmed, Nashville entertainment reporter Jimmy Carter apparently revealed on his nightly news report Friday that Dolly announced at a CMA Music Festival press conference that she has been in the studio working to finish her next CD, its title has changed from Blue Smoke to Those Were The Days, and she is in the preliminary stages of planning a "Vintage" tour this fall. Carter's original report was recapped online at fan site Dolly.net Friday night. A longtime country music celebrity journalist, Carter has a nightly entertainment report on local television in Nashville, although it is not available online and no other reporters have published the news. Consequently, the accuracy of the information has yet to be determined, but look for more details here as they become available.

Dolly Cuts Another Duet
Dolly has recorded yet another guest appearance on another artist's album. Her Blue Valley Songbird co-star Billy Dean told The Cadillac News in Cadillac, Mich., over the weekend that she has recorded "Silent Night" with him for his upcoming holiday album. "People don't realize that she is 20 times the recording artist that I am," he told the paper. "It's either great or stellar -- those are the choices you have." Read the story here.

Reba Loves Dolly
In an interview from Saturday's The Oregonian newspaper, Reba mentioned how great it was to work with her longtime idol, Dolly, on a recent episode of her television show and discusses a few other Dolly facts. Read it here.

'Class Of' Honors Dolly
Dolly showed up briefly on CMT's Class of 1975 Friday night, which profiled important events in country music from that year. As was previously reported, Dolly's segment focused on her winning the CMA Female Vocalist Of The Year award, which the narrator said was her first major solo win (although, actually, she had won the Music City News and Cash Box magazine awards for Most Promising Female Artist back in 1968 and several songwriting awards from BMI and the Nashville Songwriter's Association throughout the early 1970s, but I guess they didn't consider those "major"). The show approaches the year as if it were captured in a high school scrapbook, so they titled Dolly's portion "Prom Queen." In addition to a handful of archival photos, she was shown singing "Love Is Like A Butterfly" and accepting her CMA trophy with: "Thank you. I hope I deserve this because it means more to me than I can ever say." She went on in the speech to thank former duet partner and producer Porter Wagoner, "who has worked very, very hard on my career." The pop-up notes during the show had one error, though. They stated that by 1975 she had logged three solo No. 1 singles, but actually she had scored four by then (five if duets are counted). The show repeats several times over the next few weeks.

June 11:
Dolly Brings Cheers For CMA Appearance
I'm told Dolly was "amazing" in her four-song set during Thursday night's CMA Music Festival in Nashville and the audience loved her. With The Grascals, she performed "Train, Train," "Orange Blossom Special," "Viva Las Vegas" and "Rocky Top" before the crowd welcomed Lee Ann Womack and Keith Urban. Donning a yellow fitted jacket and skirt, cowgirl boots and a large rhinestone "D" belt buckle, she thanked her fans for their continued support and loyalty, telling them she loves what she does and repeating her oft-told joke about "It costs a lot of money to look this cheap!" She added that she was having "a big time" in town and was very excited about the festival. Thanks, Christian! See more photos on Dollymania from her performance here! In addition, CMT's coverage is available here, including three Dolly shots in its photo flip-book, and one picture each is available from The Tennessean here and Reuters here. Image at left provided by the Country Music Association. Used with permission.

KidsFest Is Coming!
We're less than a week away from the third annual KidsFest at Dollywood! This year's festival, which kicks off next Friday at the park, features the addition of "Dolly's Imagination Playhouse" from Penguin Group USA, which will bring to life three tales from Dolly's Imagination Library literacy program in musical theatre including songs written by Dolly herself! Other offerings include a live stage show from Clifford the Big Red Dog, a SpongeBob SquarePants Turbo Action Ride, MGM's Mad Science Movie Magic, the premiere of the new VeggieTales video Minnesota Cuke and the Search for Samson's Hairbrush, ASA Extreme Sports and more. Plus, Dolly is expected to be on the grounds for appearance(s) on Friday. (And don't forget that a few tickets remain available at 1-800-DOLLYWOOD for her Sept. 24 and 25 benefit concerts!)

Dolly On CMT
If you're catching this update early enough on Friday night, be sure to see CMT's Class of 1975, premiering at 8 p.m. Eastern and showcasing the year's events in country music. Apparently, Dolly will be included for her winning the CMA's Female Vocalist Of The Year trophy that year for the first time on her seventh nomination for the award (she had previously won three vocal group and duo honors with Porter Wagoner). Others on the show will be Conway Twitty's Russian version of "Hello Darlin'," Hank Williams Jr.'s mountain climbing accident, George Jones and Tammy Wynette's divorce, Charlie Rich's flaming reaction to John Denver winning an award, Emmylou Harris' debut single, Willie Nelson successful year, Reba's first record deal, Glen Campbell's "Rhinestone Cowboy," Marty Robbins' NASCAR crashes, Freddy Fender's big hit, Minnie Pearl's induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame and more. The episode repeats throughout the next week (see TV listings at left).

June 10:
Thanks To GAC Repeat, 'Viva' Jumps Up Chart
Dolly and The Grascals' "Viva Las Vegas" apparently got a push from the Memorial Day Weekend repeat of their performance of the tune on Great American Country's The Grand Ole Opry Live, as the song gains five spots to No. 4 in its 23rd week on the country single sales chart in the June 18 figures released Thursday by Billboard. The album on which the song appears, The Grascals, also re-enters the bluegrass albums chart for an 11th week, coming in at No. 9. Rhonda Vincent's Ragin' Live, featuring her concert cover of "Jolene," slips one place to No. 3 bluegrass in its 12th chart week. Norah Jones' Feels Like Home, with the Dolly duet "Creepin' In," inches down one to No. 191 pop in its 69th chart week. Toby Keith's Honkytonk University remains at No. 1 country and gains one notch to No. 4 pop in its third week, while Rascal Flatts' Feels Like Today remains at No. 2 country and slips one to No. 13 pop in its 36th week. And after seven weeks at No. 1 on the pop singles sales chart, the American Idol finalists' cover of the former Dolly and Julio Iglesias duet "When You Tell Me That You Love Me" falls two to No. 3.

'Top 100 Duets' Coverage Begins
Stories started to make their way to other media on Thursday about Dolly's No. 1 spot with Kenny Rogers in CMT's 100 Greatest Duets concert Wednesday night as she prepared for her Thursday night performance in the CMA Music Festival. CMT issued a press release Thursday morning (available here) and a story later in the day on its Web site here, although the position was announced on Dollymania moments after the concert taping ended Wednesday night. The network boasted it was the first time in 15 years that the duo sang the song together (apparently the last time being their 1990 TV special Kenny, Dolly & Willie with Willie Nelson). Briefs about the show began appearing Thursday afternoon in the online editions of a handful of newspapers. I'm told several other Dolly tracks made the top 100, including duets with Ricky Van Shelton, Vince Gill and three from her time with Porter Wagoner. The full top 100, and the broadcast premiere of the top 12 concert, will air on CMT Sept. 17. The top 12 performed in concert were as follow: