Stevie Nicks headlines Couture Design Awards

MAY 11, 2006 - Las Vegas -- Stevie Nicks will take the stage as the
headline act when the winners of the Town & Country 2006 Couture
Design Awards are announced at the Wynn Las Vegas on June 1.

Nicks, the acclaimed singer/songwriter who gained fame as the lead
singer of Fleetwood Mac before going solo, will be performing an
intimate concert for the Couture community during the award program.

Hosted by the Couture Jewellery Collection & Conference and Town &
Country magazine, this is the 11th year that a special evening gala
has been held to announce the awards, which recognize those in the
jewelry industry who shine not only with their designs, but with
their marketing and public relations initiatives.

For the first time, luxury car company Bentley Motors will be
sponsoring the awards. Bentley also aims to help raise funds and
awareness for Jewelers For Children and its Caring for Katrina's
Kids fund-raising program, set up to help the youngest victims of
Hurricane Katrina.

Bentley will auction a weeklong, chauffeured luxury trip through
England to benefit children impacted by Katrina. The itinerary,
including luxury hotels, airfare, top-notch dining, and
transportation will be planned by Bentley and Town&Country Travel
magazine.

Each entry ticket for the vacation, valued at $20,000, is $100, with
all proceeds going directly to JFC's Legacy Charities for their
Katrina-related support programs.

"As the industry's premiere jewelry event, we at Couture are
delighted to have such esteemed partners in Town & Country and
Bentley, to both support Jewelers for Children and bring Stevie
Nicks to Wynn Las Vegas," Lee Arevian, vice president of the VNU
Jewelry Group said in a press release. "This is the fifth year that
the Couture community has participated in the JFC initiative and we
look forward to continuing to work together and most-importantly,
raise money, for years to come."

The gala will be held on June 1 at Wynn Las Vegas, during the
Couture Jewellery Collection & Conference which takes place May 30-
June 2.
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For Nicks imitator, it all comes down to contest
FORREST HARTMAN
RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
Posted: 5/11/2006

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CANDICE TOWELL/RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL


Charlene Coran, a Stevie Nicks impersonator, is going to New York to
perform in a big event called "A Night of 1,000 Stevies."


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Reno's Charlene Coran has a dream, and step one is less than a month
away in New York.

That's where she'll perform at Night of a Thousand Stevies, a May 19
event featuring 30 Stevie Nicks impersonators from around the nation.

Coran learned about the event watching "Gypsy 83," an independent
film about a would-be Nicks impersonator, and knew she had to apply.
She referred the show producers to her Nicks-heavy MySpace page
(www.myspace.com/charlenecoran) -- complete with a clip of her
singing -- and she was accepted as one of this year's impersonators.

"I'm very excited," Coran said. "I'm really hoping something comes
out of it because I want to put together a Fleetwood Mac tribute
band."

Coran, 32, said she's been singing karaoke since she was 21 and that
she's won numerous contests. Although Night of a Thousand Stevies
doesn't pay, Coran said her participation offers five minutes of
fame and it might help forward her music career.

"Basically, I'm just getting started," she said. "I did a gig a
couple years ago in Sacramento on New Year's Eve. Other than that, I
went up on stage with Steel Breeze a few weeks ago at the Reno
Hilton."

Coran is trying to find local sponsors to help fund her trip. Anyone
interested can e-mail her at dreamcat_4444@....
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Home > Life & Arts
5/4/06
Quaid brings charity to Austin
Veteran actor hosts poker, golf tourneys for children's hospital


By Daniel K. Lai
PrintEmail Article Tools Page 1 of 1 This weekend roughly 30
Hollywood celebrities will converge in Austin. No, there isn't a
music or film festival going on. This weekend is for charity. Actors
from television and film will be battling it out for a good cause in
friendly but competitive golf and poker tournaments.

Every year, Austin resident and veteran actor Dennis Quaid, as well
as several of Quaid's Hollywood friends, gather in Austin to raise
money for local children's charities.

Quaid started the fundraiser after working several years with The
International Hospital for Children, which brings medical care to
needy children in Third World countries. Since its inception in
2003, the event has raised over $700,000.

"You can't save the whole world, but you can save one little soul at
a time," Quaid said.

Some of the local children's charities who benefit from the event
include: Any Baby Can, which provides services for families with
children that suffer from chronic illness; Austin Children's Center,
which provides a temporary home and safe haven for infants and
children up to 17 years old who are removed from abusive households;
the Dell Children's Medical Center and The International Hospital
for Children.

"Children are the most vulnerable people in our society," Quaid
said. "By helping children, we're also helping to build stronger
families. The Austin community is one that gets involved, and the
people here have great hearts."

In the past, the charity weekend was held in mid-June, but due to
extreme heat the past two years, organizers moved the event to early
May. This year, celebrities including Quaid's co-star in "American
Dreamz," Hugh Grant, as well as Greg Kinnear ("The Matador"), R. Lee
Ermey ("Full Metal Jacket"), Carl Lumbly ("Alias"), Chris McDonald
("Happy Gilmore"), Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac and Don Felder of
The Eagles are all scheduled to attend.

In addition to the golf tournament, there will be a new Texas
Hold 'Em poker challenge, a fashion show featuring the stars of the
television show "America's Next Top Model," and a party and auction.
Quaid's band, The Sharks, will perform live at the fashion show.

The event is open to the public and tickets can be purchased online
at www.quaidcharityweekend.com or at any local HEB grocery store;
100 percent of the profits will be donated.
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EDGE OF SEVENTEEN
New Yorkers prepare to twirl at Night of a Thousand Stevies

By Tony Phillips


Spring, to paraphrase Tennyson, is the time when a New Yorker's
fancy turns to Stevie Nicks. And only New Yorkers buried under a
mound of antique shawls for the past 16 years will not have heard of
nightlife impresario Chi Chi Valenti and her annual Nicks bacchanal,
Night of a Thousand Stevies.

Valenti strolls down St. Mark's Place featuring a cholo gangster
ensemble—a frilly black tuxedo shirt and a matching black headscarf
with her blonde mane tucked underneath is itself tucked under a
black straw hat with a serious cock—she is, to borrow a phrase from
the legendary trope at her nightclub Mother, working a look.

As we grab an outside table at Café Orlin, Valenti orders breakfast
and asks our waitress if it's OK to smoke. It's two o'clock in the
afternoon. If I sound impressed with her, it's only because I am.
It's a serious exhibition of the rock and roll lifestyle. But she
protests that it's nothing compared to the Bella Donna we've
gathered to discuss.

And this year's Nicks theme, Stevie in Wonderland, takes its cue
from one of her more out-there Alice in Wonderland phases. Stevie's
Alice-in-red motif really opens up the event for Valenti.

"Alice is one of her greatest visions of herself at her most
demented and coked up," Valenti begins. "And all that red really
lends itself to not just doing the room in purple and baby's breath."

Nicks' Alice phase culminated in 1989's The Other Side of the Mirror
album and Valenti, who began her career producing professional body
building events, expects no holds barred this year. "The great thing
about my show," Valenti begins, "is you may see someone trundle
onstage with a big mirror full of coke and blow it up someone's
pussy. So if you're not into all sides of the mirror, this might not
be the show for you."

With such bold delving into the Nicks' urban legend, one has to
wonder if the enchantress herself if aware of the evening. "We think
she was actually there one year," Valenti says. "One of my regulars
came up to me and said, `I know it's her. I know her irises!'"

Valenti also says "the large bodyguard escorting a tiny woman" who
didn't interact with anyone during a prior event was later ID-ed
escorting Nicks to and from a local concert.

"She's also talked about the event in interviews," Valenti adds. "I
think she learns from it. She also sent someone to film it, but the
most fabulous connection we have with Stevie is her liaison to the
event, who is also her aroma therapist."

Over the years, the event has continually transformed, much like the
songstress. "Once an event is 10 years old," explains Valenti, "you
find ways to reinvent it or you stop doing it. Or else you're just a
hack."

Valenti points out that it's on its third venue, originating
as "just another night at Jackie 60," then migrating to Don Hills
and ending up at its current Knitting Factory venue.

"It really is a thousand now," Valenti laughs. "As opposed to the 30
people that showed for the first one."

In addition to regular Stevies like Dean Johnson and Joey Arias,
who've been with her since the beginning, Valenti is excited about
the six slots they leave open for new performers. And this year, her
money is on Jazmen Flowers. "She's this tranny from Jackson,
Mississippi," Valenti explains. "And the shots she sent are in full-
on red with just the slightest trace of a five o'clock shadow."
She's also excited for a local Butoh dance troupe called Vangeline
Theater. "I'm expecting some really slow Stevie twirls from them,"
Valenti laughs.

But most of all, Valenti is looking forward to seeing the people who
drive all night from small towns to make it to this annual event.
Although she has many problems with Todd Stephens' 2001 feature film
set at her event called Gypsy 83, she thinks that sense of community
and the validation her performers get is one of the things the film
got right.

They set to work on next year's event as soon as the current one
ends. "Some of the packages from returning performers with pictures
and song choices come in a month after the last event," Valenti
explains. "Gowns are being made as we speak."




"Night of a Thousand Stevies 16: Stevie in Wonderland" takes place
May 19. The Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard St. (betw. Broadway &
Church St.), 212 219-3132, ext. 3; 9 p.m.-4 a.m., $20.



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MUSIC COLUMN: Tom Petty concert
THE BEAT: Petty takes on a tour, tickets and playlists

MELISSA RUGGIERI
MUSIC CRITIC Jun 8, 2006


Imagine this pairing: In 1976, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
kicked off their first major tour . . . opening for KISS.

Thirty years later, both are still regularly cashing paychecks,
touring extensively, fighting ticket scalpers and, in the case of
Petty, creating deep, insightful music. (No offense, KISS fans, but
face it, your boys are more about the spectacle than the sound.)

With the "Highway Companion" tour launching tomorrow in Charlotte,
N.C., and snaking through the region the next few days -- Saturday
in Manassas and Monday in Portsmouth -- Petty and his legendary band
are celebrating their three-decade anniversary the only way they
know how. With a lot of rock'n' roll.

A handful of compatible guests are set to open most dates. Trey
Anastasio is handling the Virginia shows, while Pearl Jam and The
Allman Brothers Band will take the stage in other cities. A recent
addition to the first eight shows -- yes, including here -- is
longtime Petty pal Stevie Nicks, expected to join him and the
Heartbreakers on stage for several songs.

This road trip will last through mid-August, and even though
rumblings have surfaced that these might be Petty's last miles on a
tour bus, that isn't accurate. Petty's spokesperson (neither he nor
the band are doing press for the tour, instead "opting to let the
music speak for them") says that future outings will merely see them
paring down the size and the length of their runs, rather than the
old days of 100 dates in 100 days.

But don't take that to mean that at 55, Petty is getting creaky.

TOM PETTY
Tom Petty and the HeartbreakersWith: Stevie Nicks; Trey Anastasio
opening

When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Nissan Pavilion in Manassas; 7:30 p.m.
Monday at nTelos Pavilion in Portsmouth

Tickets: $32.50-$75 at Nissan; $39.50-$65 at nTelos

Info: (804) 262-8100 or www.ticketmaster.com


A third solo album, also called "Highway Companion," is slated for
later this summer and Petty and the Heartbreakers are working with
esteemed director Peter Bogdanovich on a rockumentary about the
band's career.
Then there's Petty's side project, his second season as host of "Tom
Petty's Buried Treasure" on XM satellite radio. The point of the
hourlong weekly radio show is to experience "the songs you would
hear in Tom Petty's living room," says Lee Abrams, Chief Creative
Officer at XM.

Recent playlists (available at www.tompetty.com) span the genres and
tastes you might expect from a Petty library -- Carl Perkins' "Dixie
Fried," The Beatles' "For You Blue," Led Zeppelin's "The Girl I Love
She Got Long Black Wavy Hair," Sam Cooke's "Chain Gang."

"He tells stories and does radio the way he thinks it should be
done," said Abrams. "A lot of DJs want to be rock stars and a lot of
rock stars want to be DJs. He's done a great job"

To prepare for his three-month absence while touring, Petty pre-
recorded enough shows to keep the satellite waves humming while he
bops from New York to Seattle.

But there's even more going on in the Petty universe right now.

Along with Petty the musician, the documentary star and the radio
host is Petty the Scalper Police. A few weeks ago, Petty and his
management made an unprecedented -- and hugely applauded -- move to
quash ticket scalpers.

About 800 tickets purchased from Petty's Highway Companions Club fan
club for the June 20 Madison Square Garden show were being resold
for up to $1,000 by online ticket brokers who procured fan club
memberships solely to purchase pre-sale tickets. Upon learning of
the scam, Petty's management, promoter Live Nation and the Garden
canceled all of the offending tickets and corresponding club
memberships. (Side note -- a pair of third-row tickets for the
Richmond "American Idol" concert is up for offer on eBay for $1,000).

To prevent the scenario from repeating, fan club members who
legitimately purchased their tickets during the pre-sale must show
identification and pick up their tickets at a special Will Call
window the day of the Garden show. Those tickets that promoters and
management canceled were re-sold to fan club members at face value.

Funny that in 30 years, some things, like others trying to make a
quick buck, never change.


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Contact staff writer Melissa Ruggieri at mruggieri@...
or (804) 649-6120.
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Article Last Updated: 05/24/2006 03:09:51 AM PDT

HARD looks hard at bond to keep C.V. park dream alive
District plans campaign in hopes of buying 24-acre hilltop site from
EBMUD
By Karen Holzmeister, STAFF WRITER



CASTRO VALLEY — Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow"
easily could be the theme song of the upcoming campaign to raise $30
million for Castro Valley park land and improvements.
The ink on June primary ballots will barely be dry on June 12, when
Hayward Area Recreation and Park District directors commit
themselves to placing a

$30 million tax measure before voters on Nov. 7.

The majority of the bond money, $15.5 million, would be used to
purchase a sublime, 24-acre west Castro Valley hilltop dominated by
meadows, slopes and trees.

Looking for a visual? Picture the opening sequence of "The Sound of
Music," in which Julie Andrews dances amid the Alps.

"I hope we can buy it," HARD Director Lou Andrade said Monday. "If
we can't do everything right away, at least we can get (buy) it.
We'll never have that opportunity again."

The 24-acre East Bay Municipal Utility District site surrounded by
Sydney Way and Stanton and Carlton avenues is the target of HARD's
fundraising efforts.

The use of the remaining $14.5 million would remain somewhat vague
so the money could help leverage other bond funds or grants, HARD
General Manager Eric Willyerd said. HARD is apparently dropping the
idea of specific improvements in the Palomares, Five Canyons and
Malabar areas as a means of drawing support in these neighborhoods.

Options include using the $14.5 million to develop the EBMUD
property for a variety of community uses, buying other park sites,
and improving existing park and recreation properties. All funds


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would be committed to Castro Valley.

Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley, whose district includes Castro
Valley, has formed a committee to raise upward of $50,000 for a
campaign.

Two-thirds of the voters casting ballots would have to approve the
measure for its passage. HARD administrators have been negotiating a
$250,000 good faith deposit with EBMUD to hold the property —

$40,000 of which would be nonrefundable. HARD also must pay between
$28,000 and $33,000 to place two measures on the November ballot.

Yet to be determined are the specific costs to property owners; the
amount of a separate park maintenance charge — which would require
the second ballot measure — and whether areas bordering Castro
Valley, such as El Portal Ridge and Fairmont Terrace, would be
included in the election and subsequent new tax district.

Directors on Monday viewed three preliminary architectural drawings
for the EBMUD site. One showed baseball and soccer fields, a walking
path, a park site, a community building and a terraced area. A
second, more passive design focused on more open space and less
grading. A third plan showed an amphitheater along with fewer
baseball and soccer areas.