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Elizabeth Taylor smiles as she arrives at the Moulin de Mougins restaurant, May 22, 2003. Taylor dedicated the UCLA Clinical AIDS Research and Education Center.

Swathed in jewels and bathed in the spotlight, Elizabeth Taylor made a rare but regal public appearance to dedicate the new UCLA Clinical Research and Education Center. The 73-year-old actress, who has had severe back problems in recent years, was dressed in a cream-coloured jacket over a billowy black pantsuit. Dozens of bracelets hung from her arms and a massive diamond lit up her left hand. In front of an intimate crowd that included rocker Tom Petty and actress Carrie Fisher, Taylor, who was in a wheelchair, cut a red ribbon to signify the centre's official opening and announced the creation of the Elizabeth Taylor Endowment Fund. The endowment will support the centre through grants and private donations. Taylor, who won Academy Awards for 1960's Butterfield 8 and 1966's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, said she has traded in the life of an actress for that of an activist. "Acting is, to me now, artificial," she told The Associated Press. "Seeing people suffer is real. It couldn't be more real. Some people don't like to look at it in the face because it's painful. But if nobody does, then nothing gets done." Taylor helped establish the American Foundation for AIDS Research in 1985 and created the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation in 1991. The two organizations have raised a combined $243 million US to fund research and improve the lives of people with HIV and AIDS. "There's still so much more to do," Taylor said. "I can't sit back and be complacent, and none of us should be. I get around now in a wheelchair, but I get around." The new centre will conduct research and bring innovative treatments to patients, bridging Taylor's two charities, said Dr. Edwin Bayrd, director of the UCLA AIDS Institute. He called the actress "the Joan of Arc of AIDS activism." Although the subject was serious, Taylor, married eight times to seven men, lightened the mood when UCLA Chancellor Albert Carnesale confessed to having had a "puppy love" infatuation with the actress. "Are you married?" she asked him.

Canadians have a warmer attitude towards Americans than news reports sometimes suggest, says U.S. Ambassador David Wilkins. In a sometimes light-hearted speech delivered in his home state of South Carolina on Thursday, Wilkins said Americans nonetheless have to be mindful of what they say. The new ambassador, who arrived in Ottawa last June, said he learned that lesson when comments he made about U.S. tariffs on softwood lumber made headlines for weeks. "They give great importance to what we say and what we do," Wilkins said. "Anything you say is scrutinized and given attention to," he told business leaders at the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce. The former South Carolina House speaker may have shocked his former colleagues when he greeted them in French, but he later went on to explain the language barrier also applies to English-speaking people in Canada who may not understand some Southern ways of saying things. "There's no Canadian equivalent of 'y'all,' " Wilkins said. "So I have to explain to my Canadian friends that the plural of y'all is 'all y'all.' " Wilkins also said he once spent 15 minutes explaining about a campaign event called a "peanut boil." Things got a little clearer when the Canadian reporters he was talking to realized he wasn't saying "bowl."

Yoko Ono poses in New York's Central Park near the Strawberry Fields memorial to her slain husband, John Lennon.

Yoko Ono has apologized to Paul McCartney for insinuating that his songs are trite. Accepting an award on behalf of John Lennon last month, Ono said Lennon had sometimes felt insecure about his songs, asking "why they always cover Paul's songs and never mine." "I said, 'You're a good songwriter, it's not June with spoon that you write."' After reports of the apparent slight circulated, Ono apologized in the latest issue of Rolling Stone magazine, now on newsstands. "I certainly did not mean to hurt Paul, and if I did, I am very sorry," she says. McCartney has sometimes clashed with Ono, Lennon's widow. She objected when McCartney reversed the traditional "Lennon-McCartney" songwriting credit on his 2002 album, Back in the U.S. Ono's spokesman accused him of attempting to "rewrite history." McCartney had earlier complained that Ono wouldn't let him take credit for Yesterday, a song written entirely by McCartney.

Kate Moss is the subject of four paintings by Stella Vine now on show at a London exhibit, including one based on a tabloid photo that allegedly shows her preparing a line of cocaine. A portrait titled Must Be the Season of the Witch is based on a photo of the 31-year-old supermodel that was published in a London tabloid in September. Vine said Friday she usually bases her work on press photos. Moss entered the Meadows rehab clinic outside Phoenix, Ariz., after the photo was published. She left the clinic in late October and has resumed her modelling career. Two of Vine's other paintings of Moss are also portraits. One shows a wide-eyed Moss holding a champagne glass. Another, titled Holy Water Cannot Help You Now, shows her holding a cigarette in her hand as paint drips from her face. The fourth shows Moss waving from a window in the Priory clinic where she was treated for alcohol and drug problems in 1998. It also features her boyfriend Pete Doherty, ex-boyfriend Johnny Depp and other celebrities. Vine said she became interested in painting Moss because of the spirit she saw in her eyes. "She's like Mona Lisa; she may not be the most beautiful woman in the world, but something comes through her eyes. ... There's a bravery in Kate's eyes," the 36-year-old British artist said. Vine gained attention last year with her painting of Diana, Princess of Wales, with blood dripping from her mouth. It was sold to Charles Saatchi, one of Britain's most influential collectors of modern art. The paintings of Moss are on display until Jan. 1 at Hiscox Art Projects, an exhibition space located in the office of a fine art insurer in East London.

Shania talks about everything but perfume

For a girl who had to cook for herself at the age of five and sang with aspirations of one day being a backup singer for Stevie Wonder, being awarded the Order of Canada was not even part of Shania Twain's wildest dreams. "Yeah, (the honor) is overwhelming and I don't even believe it," Twain said, letting out a loud guffaw Thursday towards the end of a daylong media blitz in Toronto. "So, I'm pretty excited." Twain was in town to promote her new fragrance, Shania by Stetson. But when a reporter has less than 10 minutes with one of Canada's biggest stars, questions must be chosen carefully and quickly. Fragrance didn't make the cut. "We ran out of time, I don't know what happened, but I gotta catch a plane," she said, apologizing for ending an interview to get to the airport. She was flying to Ottawa where she'll receive the Order of Canada today alongside others who have made a difference to the country, including former B.C. premier David Barrett and athlete Catriona Le May Doan. Despite her international success as a country singer, pop star and spokesmodel for Revlon, Twain has not forgotten her less-than-humble beginnings. While she admits to having had a rough childhood in Timmins, Ont., where she basically raised herself, she won't get specific other than admitting sometimes going to bed with an empty stomach. "Hunger is one I can share comfortably . . . there are a whole host of problems that come with poverty," said Twain. Like almost any mom, she wants to protect her four-year-old son from just about everything bad. But she absolutely never wants her son to go through what she knew too well: wondering where the next meal is coming from. "I don't have any regrets," she said of her childhood, adding that a lot of times she simply couldn't depend on her parents -- not because they didn't want to be there, they just weren't always able to be there.

I am 83 year old, but I can still kick asses and see clear, or at least sense and visualize how people portray and describe personalities likable to some and ridiculous to many others. Valerie is much younger. However, she is more observant, for she can afford to wear a more expensive pair of eyeglasses. Usually, celebrities, super rich people and politicians are more frequently criticized and or ridiculed by us than obscure figures. In America, stand up comics, comedians and TV talk shows hosts and varieties guests make a living out of mocking politicians and making fun of them. Jay Leno, Joan Rivers and David Letterman are notorious for that. Funny enough, nobody dares to make fun of Letterman and Leno because they are powerful and can fight back by using their TV shows. A tremendous tool at their disposal. Today, in America, comedians are not short of funny material. Especially in virtue of what is going on the current presidential primaries arena, political speeches and charades, the �I have a scream today, I have a scream�, the Martha Stewart�s scandal, Michael Jackson�s affair, and many others, ad infinitum. Having said that, we would like to throw a couple of stones at this big tree of funny branches and niches on the American human landscape and politely hit some sticking heads. The list of people, we would like to caricature is endless. But, we chose those celebrities who are more recognizable to us than others. Here is a part of this list.

1- JOHN EDWARDS: A Calvin Klein fired male model having hard time convincing NABISCO to sell their products.

4- AL SHARPTON: Full time: Washington, DC. sewers commissioner. Part time: Presidential candidate funded by Zulu tribesmen and Idi Amin's former mistresses.

8- ALAN COMES: A Ph.D. in Irish literature working as a tour guide in an Australian zoo.

11- BILL O�REILLY: A citizen of the Czech Republic working as general inspector of screwed trains in south France.

12- JAY LENO: On Thursday, he looked like an adopted son of Janet Reno. On Friday, he looked like an Italian bodyguard in an after-hour Lithuanian restaurant.

13- GERALDO RIVERA: Director of traffic on location for the remake of Casablanca.

14- ANN COULTER: Eyelashes distributor working part time as floor manager at Liberace museum.

15- JOHN KERRY: A guy who is selling detergent and Palmolive soap bars to tribesmen in Ethiopia.

16- FBI�s ROBERT MUELLER: Official spokesman of �Dysentery and Laxatives Incorporated�.

17- PAT BUCHANAN: Weatherman who predicts weather only at the airport. For God sake, who lives at the airport?

18- BARBARA WALTERS: A mother superior who became umbrellas sales rep. in Tahiti.

20- MARTHA STEWART: CEO of the �Preservation of Wild Life and Crocodiles Corporation� in Panama.

21- AL GORE: Vice President of a bankrupt long-distance cellular phones company in Armenia.

22- HILLARY CLINTON: Compensated spokeswoman of the firm �EDSEL, PINTO & NOVA Incorporated�.

23- DONALD RUMSFELD: Professor of "Blackjack" and "night visions" at the University of Khartoum.

24- ROBERT NOVAK: Full time: Real estate adjuster in the north pole . Part time: Manager of the department "half price" at the gift shop of The Vatican.

25- ANNA NICOLE SMITH: Adjunct professor of nutrition and lipstick science at the "All You Can Eat University" in Walla Walla.

Conan O'Brien said he was looking forward to "being on at a time when people can see me" when he replaces Jay Leno as host of the Tonight show in five years. NBC announced last week that O'Brien, whose show airs at 12:35 a.m. Eastern, will move up an hour earlier when he takes over for Leno in 2009. The move by NBC - and endorsed by Leno - was to keep O'Brien from jumping to another network when his contract expired. "My parents have no idea what I do for a living," O'Brien joked Saturday night about his late, late gig. "They think I'm still in law school." O'Brien, who spoke at the New Yorker Festival, said he would likely leave New York, where his Late Night show is based, to Los Angeles, home of Tonight. "We have time to figure it out," he said. O'Brien, 41, was twice the editor of the Harvard Lampoon, worked as a writer on Saturday Night Live for three and a half years and was the supervising producer of The Simpsons. He debuted on Late Night in September 1993 after David Letterman moved to CBS for an earlier time slot when he was passed up for the Tonight show job. After some initial struggling, O'Brien's show attained success and came to dominate his time slot. Among its well-known features are Triumph the Comic Dog and In the Year 2000. It reaches 2.5 million viewers a night. O'Brien will become the fifth host of the 50-year-old Tonight show, following Leno, Johnny Carson, Jack Paar and Steve Allen. Leno has been the show's host since 1992.

Newton-John: 'The Pain is There'

Photo: Australian veteran pop star Olivia Newton-John .

Singer weeps as she tells of life after disappearance of boyfriend.

We learned that Australian singer Olivia Newton-John wept as she told of coming to terms with the mysterious disappearance of her longtime boyfriend Patrick McDermott. In an interview aired Monday on Australian television's Nine network, Newton-John said her singing is helping her cope with the grief of losing McDermott, who failed to return from a June 30 overnight fishing trip off the California coast. "I didn't feel like singing and I didn't think I would ever sing again. The thought of it was terrifying to me," she said. "Singing is a part of me and it's my soul. It's how I can express myself and move through it. Music is a very healing thing." The Coast Guard in California has been investigating 48-year-old McDermott's disappearance as a missing person case, including the possibility that McDermott staged his disappearance. McDermott had filed for bankruptcy in 2000 and was embroiled in a legal dispute in April over late child support payments to his ex-wife, actress Yvette Nipar, with whom he has a 13-year-old son. Newton-John, who is scheduled to tour New Zealand and Australia in March next year, said she still feels the pain of her loss. "Things like this come in waves. Anyone who has gone through loss or a painful experience knows that," she said. "You think you're coping, then you hit a wall or a wave and you go down and come up again. The pain is there and you feel it ... and there is no escape."

"I remember definitely dressing up," said Hanson, 62, who now lives in Pratt, Kan. "I'd have a towel sash pinned to my shoulder and there was my crown, probably made from a colander or a strainer."

Photos from L to R: #1.Margaret Gorman, District of Columbia, first Miss America, 1921. Upon her return to Atlantic City the following year, Margaret was expected to defend her positions. However, with the Washington Herald having selected a new "Miss Washington, D.C.1922," Atlantic City Pageant officials didn't know what new title to award Margaret. Since both titles she won in 1921 were a little awkward ("Inter-City Beauty, Amateur" and "The Most Beautiful Bathing Girl in America"), it was decided to call her "Miss America". She is the only Miss America to receive a crown at the conclusion of her year. Margaret did compete in succeeding years unsuccessfully, but she always remained a favorite of Atlantic City crowds. In the mid-twenties, she married Victor Cahill, who was a real estate man. She enjoyed a happy marriage until his passing in 1957. She remained a life-long resident of Washington D.C. but enjoyed traveling as a favorite hobby. Near the end of her life, she said, "I've lived a charmed life. I've been very lucky. God has been very kind to me." Leaving behind several nieces and nephews who have fond and loving memories of Margaret, she passed away in early October 1995 at age 90.

#2. Mary Katherine Campbell Columbus, Ohio, Miss America 1922. At the time of her selection as Miss America 1922, Mary Katherine listed her birth date as May 1906. However, Mary later admitted to being only fifteen at the time. She became "Miss Columbus" over a field of 170 other women, and proceeded to Atlantic City where the Inter-City competition had grown to include a staggering number of 57 women from around the country. The selection of Miss America had truly become a national event. It would be the last time in Miss America history where "professional" (model, Dorothy Knapp) and "amateur" (West Philadelphia's Gladys Grenemeyer) winners would be judged as finalists against the "Inter-City" champion (Mary Katherine Campbell) and place as runners-up to the Miss America title. Mary Katherine was the first high school graduate to win the title, having received her diploma from East High School in February 1922, and entered Ohio State University as an Art Major immediately after her selection as Miss America. She would also attended Ohio Wesleyan.

She may be Miss America, but for 50 years she's been married to television. The tube was the contest's link from its Atlantic City, N.J., home to millions of heartland living rooms, and it turned the winners into stars. But lately, the relationship has gotten bumpy as ratings dipped and TV executives took more control. "If Miss America ever finds itself unable to be on television, I think it will probably go out of existence," said Leonard Horn, a former Miss America Organization CEO. "I don't think it can survive without television." As the pageant celebrates its golden anniversary on the small screen Saturday at 9 p.m. EDT on ABC, the show is getting its biggest makeover ever in hopes of reclaiming relevance in a world of multiplying entertainment options. The master of ceremonies will be Chris Harrison, normally seen hosting The Bachelor and its sister show, The Bachelorette.

Suzette Charles, Miss America 1984 - B

Photos from L to R: #1.Vannessa Williams Miss America 1984. #2. Suzette Charles, Miss America 1984. July 23: Vanessa Williams resigned the 1984 title before questionable photos of her appeared in print. She was replaced by New Jersey's Suzette Charles (the first runner up) who became the second African-American woman to wear the crown. Sharlene Wells, Miss Utah, won the 1985 title in September. Born in Paraguay, she was the first Miss America not born on American soil. Local, state, and national scholarship funds reached the $4 million dollar mark. The District of Columbia sent a representative for the first time since 1963.

The swimsuits will be provided by Speedo - and skimpier than ever. The program has been trimmed from three hours to two, but "off-the-cuff" backstage scenes have been added. And instead of seeing the talent performances of all five finalists, viewers will see only the final two. Acting Miss America CEO Art McMaster disputes the notion that ABC has forced the competition to change, but says that the television show is the essence of Miss America. "We've never shied away from the fact that television is the catalyst that promotes the whole Miss America system," McMaster said. "It shows America what we're all about." Alas, Miss America is no longer what it once was. In the 1950s and early 60s - before cable, satellite dishes and DVDs - the televised pageant was the Super Bowl of its day. Television's money enabled Miss America, first held in 1921, to withstand the feminist backlash of the 1960s. Horn said that's because the pageant's scholarships kept women competing, sometimes despite their political objections.

Photo: Deidre Downs from Birmingham, Alabama, is crowned by Miss America 2004 Ericka Dunlap. BACKGROUND & ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Rhodes Scholar Finalist; Magna cum laude graduate; University of Virginia Echols Scholar and Intermediate Honors.

Marie Hanson can testify to the power of those early broadcasts. A former longtime chaperone for Miss Kansas, Hanson met Miss America through TV, while growing up on her family's farm near a little town called Medicine Lodge. "I remember definitely dressing up," said Hanson, 62, who now lives in Pratt, Kan. "I'd have a towel sash pinned to my shoulder and there was my crown, probably made from a colander or a strainer." One of the most famous Miss Americas was the first to be crowned on television: Lee Meriwether, who in 1956 became one of the first women on NBC's Today show and played Catwoman in the 1966 Batman movie. Would she have gotten those breaks without her pageant being on television? "Probably not," she said, "because what it offered was more recognition." Today, the program is not reaching as many young girls - or anyone else - as it once did. Some 27 million viewers saw the first televised Miss America coronation, making it one of the highest-rated moments in the history of television to that date. By 1960, the viewing audience had grown to 85 million. But last year, 10.3 million viewers saw a scholarship competition won by Miss Florida, Ericka Dunlap. Pageant officials and TV experts say the general shrinkage of the network television audience is partly responsible for Miss America's long ratings slide. But the event isn't doing well compared with other programming. For example, prime-time coverage of the summer Olympics on NBC attracted at least 18 million viewers each night - and sometimes more than 30 million. Episodes of CSI competing with the Olympics drew bigger audiences than last year's Miss America. Robert Thompson, a professor of pop culture at Syracuse University, said it's remarkable that the show has lasted as long as it has. He said he watches because it's part of his job, not because he enjoys it. "What Miss America used to do, there were not a lot of opportunities to see that kind of thing that Miss America afforded: women parading across the stage in bathing suits and evening gowns," Thompson said.

Then came 1970s shows such as Charlie's Angles and Fantasy Island, full of scantily clad women, followed by plenty of cable programs that left even less to the imagination. On the other hand, Miss America has all the elements of some of today's most-watched reality television shows, from American Idol to Survivor, Thompson said: "It's a contest that eliminates people and features beautiful young women. Those are hardly the kinds of things that are the kiss of death of a television show." The competition has been trying mightily to tap that reality appeal. The organization has tried giving viewers a vote, but has now nixed the idea. A pop quiz was added in 2002 to dispel the myth that the beauties lack brains. Last year, the contestants for the first time competed in a casual-wear competition along with swimsuits and evening gowns, and there was live commentary from The Bachelorette couple Trista Rehn and Ryan Sutter as they watched on TV. While Miss America may be losing traction among the population as a whole, it's still the big time for the small universe of people who host major television events. "For me," said Harrison, the host, "it's a chance to play in Yankee Stadium, so to speak." - Geff Mulvihill