People

MICHAEL JACKSON TO GET 'EQUAL TIME'

Fox Network has won the bidding in "selling" Michael Jackson time to rebut accusations made in that recent British documentary. The New York Post, in announcing the network's decision, says Jackson intends to show his own home movies to put a different slant on the account by reporter Martin Bashir that aired recently in several countries. Additionally, Jackson says his tapes prove Bashir actually was impressed with the way he conducts himself, especially as a parent. He even notes Bashir is heard on his tape being downright complimentary. Apparently both ABC, which ran the original documentary, and NBC were vying for rights to a rebuttal show. NBC actually had run promos that promised it would run one but Fox apparently stepped into the bidding, upping the ante to $2.5 million for rights to Jackson's 30 minutes of time.

TWAIN HONORED WITH JUNO NOMINATIONS

The group that presents the Canadian equivalent of the Grammys has nominated north-of-the-border entertainer Shania Twain with five Juno nominations. Twain has been nominated in the Artist of the Year category and in the following areas: Album of the Year, Songwriter of the Year, Country Recording of the Year and a special award called the Juno Fan Choice honor. Some time ago the Juno Awards announced Twain also will host the event. It will be telecast on April 6.

FORTY GREATEST MEN TO BE HONORED

First CMT honored the "40 Greatest Women in County," now it's about to do the same for the "40 Greatest Men in Country." The network says it will premiere the show honoring the country greats in late March. The broadcast will be hosted by Emmy Award-winning actress Megan Mullally from "Will & Grace." As was done with the initial "Women" show, the cable network will present clips of performances and a slew of interviews. Historic photos also will be used. The interviews surrounding the honorees will feature chats with photographers, fellow musicians, engineers and others from various musical genres. The salute to the ladies garnered a huge audience for CMT -- more than 7.1 million people tuned in. A third special is in the works. This one will look at the 100 greatest country music hits of all time.

CLOONEY SUFFERING FROM BRONCHITIS

The usually verbose actor George Clooney is unusually quiet this week due to a bout of bronchitis. Gossip columnist Liz Smith says Clooney, one of her favorite lunch companions, became ill while visiting Berlin. He was to have flown to England this week to hype his two latest movie ventures, "Solaris," a movie he directed and "Confessions of A Dangerous Mind." Doctors, though, have told him not to fly until he feels better. He was well enough several days ago to hold court at a Berlin news conference. It was during that session he reportedly swung and hit a wire service reporter after the correspondent noted he thought "Solaris" was "boring." The language Clooney apparently used in front of the cameras can't be printed here.

TETZLAFF TACKLES SIBELIUS REPERTOIRE

Popular young violinist Christian Tetzlaff has completed recording of the works for violin and orchestra by composer Jean Sibelius. The 36-year-old Tetzlaff did the work with the help of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Thomas Dausgaard. Virgin Classics has just released the impressive multi-CD set this week. The artist's first "compilation recording" involved the taping of all of the Bach solo sonatas for violin. His publicist says among the works on the new CD are: "Sibelius Violin Concerto (Opus 47)," "Two Serenades," "Two Humoresques" and the "Sibelius Suite for Violin and Strings." Tetzlaff was born in Hamburg and now lives in Frankfurt with his wife. She, by the way, is a clarinetist with the Frankfurt Opera.

RAPPER HITS CHARTS IN NO. 1 POSITION

Controversial rapper 50 Cent's CD, "Get Rich or Die Tryin'," has hit the top of the Billboard 200 chart in the lead position. Achieving the debut top spot was not unexpected. The entertainer has been the subject of what Billboard magazine calls a "hailstorm of publicity" in recent months. In addition to the top album debut, 50 Cent also has two tracks in the top 20 of the Hot 100 chart.

UPI DAILY SURVEY QUESTION NO. 524

Here's today's question: "How many people are there in your local phone book with the same name as yours?" Put PHONE in the subject line and send to [email protected] via the Internet.

RESULTS OF QUESTION NO. 519 (YEAR)

Last week we asked in what foreign country you'd like to live for a year, were that possible. From our usual random dip in to the e-mail inbox, here are the results:

-- Some 45 percent said Australia.

-- 20 percent noted they thought that England or Ireland would be wonderful.

-- 10 percent said Switzerland.

Other countries getting votes were: Borneo, Italy, Sweden and Finland.

TOMORROW: The real mix-up. GBA