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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, February 20, 2009

Big stars booked to launch Fallon

Photo gallery: In The Spotlight

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Jimmy Fallon

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Phil Spector

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Willie Nelson

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Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Carlos Marin

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NEW YORK — If Jimmy Fallon is nervous about the premiere of his new gig as "Late Night" host, he'll have show-biz heavyweights Robert De Niro and Van Morrison to lean on.

They'll be the guests on Fallon's March 2 debut as host of the NBC late-night show.

Fallon replaces Conan O'Brien, who does his final show today before heading out west to take over the "Tonight" show from Jay Leno in June.

Morrison will perform material from his "Astral Weeks" album.

NBC says Tina Fey, Jon Bon Jovi, Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, Donald Trump and Serena Williams are also scheduled as guests for Fallon's first week on "Late Night."

SPECTOR JURY GOES TO DEATH SCENE

LOS ANGELES — The jury in Phil Spector's second murder trial spent an hour yesterday touring the music producer's Alhambra mansion, the site of the fatal shooting of Lana Clarkson.

The 12 jurors and six alternates inspected areas of the home connected to the 2003 death, including the foyer where the actress died.

The blood-stained chair in which Clarkson was sitting was brought from the courtroom to Spector's residence for the jury visit.

At the conclusion of the tour, the jurors conferred out of earshot of the attorneys and then submitted nine questions to the judge.

The music icon, 69, faces a minimum of 18 years in prison if convicted of second-degree murder.

He says Clarkson's death was suicide; prosecutors say he shot her when she tried to curtail a romantic evening.

His 2007 trial ended in a hung jury, which voted 10-2 in favor of conviction.

NELSON'S NEW CD ALL WESTERN SWING

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — When Ray Benson says the idea for his new western swing album with Willie Nelson goes back a ways, he isn't kidding.

Benson, leader of the western swing group Asleep At the Wheel, says the project dates to the 1970s, when Nelson was recording with famed producer Jerry Wexler for Atlantic Records.

Wexler wanted to record a whole album of western swing music with Nelson and even hand-picked the songs, but Nelson left Atlantic for Columbia Records in the mid-'70s and the project fell apart.

Fast-forward to 2008. Wexler, retired and living in Florida, contacted Nelson and Benson about resurrecting the project and the CD "Willie and the Wheel" was released this month, its 13 tracks roughly spanning the history of western swing.

FRIENDLY DIVORCE FOR BARITONE

NEW YORK — The fairytale romance of Il Divo's Carlos Marin is over.

The 40-year-old has divorced his wife, Geraldine Larrosa. They had been married for three years but were together for more than 13 years.

They got hitched in a surprise ceremony at Disneyland in 2006. The Cinderella-themed wedding featured a horse-drawn carriage as well as Mickey Mouse and Minnie on hand.

Il Divo's representative says the split is amicable and that the pair remain good friends — so close that Marin is going to continue to produce for Larrosa, who is a singer.

Il Divo, a platinum-selling classical crossover quartet, will kick off a U.S. tour May 8.