Janet Jackson will strut her stuff across the 50-yard line when she performs at the halftime show of Super Bowl XXXVIII February 1 in Houston. The big game will air live on CBS. Last year's halftime show featured Shania Twain, No Doubt and Sting. ...

Of course you saw this coming. After hearing its brand name shouted out in one of 2003's most popular songs, Outkast's "Hey Ya!," Polaroid has recruited Andre 3000 and Big Boi to bring out Polaroid cameras with them during their live shows. One hopes the company read all the press on the group in which Andre swore off touring -- and convinced him hitting the road would actually be a good thing. ... After 40 years of practice, who other than the Rolling Stones should have had the most successful tour of 2003. The Stones' Licks Tour grossed nearly $300 million this year, according to Billboard. Bruce Springsteen placed second, while the Dave Matthews Band, Kiss/ Aerosmith and Summer Sanitarium (featuring Metallica, Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park and Mudvayne) came in at seventh, eighth and ninth. ...

Mr. Cheeks has severed ties with Universal Records and is putting out his next LP independently. The former Lost Boyz frontman is currently recording tracks for the March release Ladies and Ghettomen. The first single is called "What We Do," but we'll hear new Cheeks lyrics before that: He has a dis track going at none other than 50 Cent hitting the streets soon. ... "O-kaaaaaaaayyyyyyy!" Lil Jon had a double-platinum party Wednesday night at Club Lobby in New York to celebrate the success of his LP Kings of Crunk. Ja Rule, David Banner and former New York Knick Anthony Mason showed the yelling producer love. ...

Audioslave's Tom Morello and System of a Down's Serj Tankian and their Axis of Justice organization are hosting a benefit concert Thursday (December 18) in Hollywood for striking grocery workers in Southern California. Morello (a.k.a. the Nightwatchman), Tankian, Audioslave's Brad Wilk, Slipknot's Corey Taylor, Phantom Planet, the Chambers Brothers' Lester Chambers and the Coup's Boots Riley will perform, while workers will speak about their struggle. ... Clay and Ruben are returning to TV. "American Idol" runner-up Clay Aiken will play himself and perform two songs in an episode of NBC's "Ed" slated to air next month. Then in February, winner Ruben Studdard, also playing himself, will guest star and perform on UPN's "One on One." ...

John Mayer is turning to the electric blues for a pair of shows on December 28 and 29 at New York's Irving Plaza. Mayer is teaming up with legendary blues guitarist Buddy Guy and Double Trouble, the former backup band for late guitar virtuoso Stevie Ray Vaughan, to play two nights of blues classics. ... Jamie Lynn Spears, who already stars on Nickelodeon's sketch comedy show "All That," is in negotiations to star in her own series for the channel, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Britney's 12-year-old sister will play a boarding school student in the comedy. ...

Sensitive rocker Conor Oberst and his group Bright Eyes are heading on a 10-day tour in February that will feature solo and collaborative performances among Oberst, My Morning Jacket's Jim James and young confessional crooner M. Ward. The tour starts in Oberst's hometown of Omaha, Nebraska, on February 19 and ends in Somerville, Massachusetts, on February 29. ... After three albums in seven years, Remy Zero are no more. Brothers Shelby and Cinjun Tate, who was briefly married to "Charmed" actress Alyssa Milano, are expected to release new material next year. ...

The much ballyhooed debut by Velvet Revolver, the supergroup featuring ex-Guns N' Roses members Slash, Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum and fronted by Scott Weiland, is now expected to drop in late April, after previous predictions saw its release in February. The album is currently in the final mixing stage. ... Cypress Hill have set March 23 as the release date for their upcoming album, 'Til Death Do Us Part. ...

12.17.03

Courtney Love takes on Fred Durst in the first single from her upcoming solo album, America's Sweetheart. The Celebrity Skin-esque rager "Mono," now available for download on her Web site www.courtneylove.com, is a murder fantasy seemingly justified by the sexual assaults at Woodstock that took place during Limp Bizkit's set: "Now he's gone/ I smashed his tires, I bled his brakes/ It had to be done ... You merciless villain/ We drowned them all in their swimming pools." ...

It's fitting that Clay Aiken, a man who rarely, if ever, drops the f-bomb, topped the list of the Ten Best-Mannered People of 2003, according to the National League of Junior Cotillions. Others in the company of Aiken include former Gen. Tommy Franks, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, first lady Laura Bush and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. ... It may take up to six months before the Prince of F---ing Darkness is back to his ruling ways. That's how long Sharon Osbourne reportedly predicted it would take for husband Ozzy to fully recover from injuries sustained last week when his ATV flipped over on him. Breathing on his own and joking with nurses caring for him in a U.K. hospital now, Ozzy broke eight ribs, his collarbone and a vertebra in the crash. When he's well enough to endure the three-hour operation, doctors will attach a supportive seven-inch steel plate to the back of his neck to prevent possible paralysis should he receive another neck injury, The New York Times reports. ...

Apparently when R. Kelly and Cassidy were passing out the card keys to their rooms, they sent one to Miami. Trina raps on a remix of "Hotel" along with Cass while Kelly sings some new lyrics. ... Perry Farrell and Deborah Harry duet on the song "The Patience Bossa," one of the tracks on the children's album A World of Happiness, due February 2. Similar to the 1972 LP Free to Be ... You and Me, the album, which also features contributions from Lisa Loeb, Isaac Hayes, Samuel L. Jackson and Magic Johnson, teaches kids virtues and life lessons. ...

Eve has made a habit of enlisting her musician friends to guest star on her sitcom, "Eve," and next up on her list is Jadakiss. The rapper will appear as himself in an upcoming episode in which Eve's character Shelly enlists his help to get her friends into a club. The episode airs February 16 at 8:30 p.m. on UPN. ... Systematic, the band Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich brought to Elektra Records, have parted ways with the label. But they seem to still be on good terms with Metallica, who invited Systematic to open their New Year's Eve show in Las Vegas. "We are very excited and will be happy to get the night started for those guys," guitarist Adam Ruppel wrote on Systematic's Web site. "I think those guys need to let us jump in a van and do their next tour." ...

Officials in Switzerland have dismissed a criminal investigation into the antics of Marilyn Manson that began after the religious group Christians for Truth complained about the rocker's stage show. The organization had claimed Manson incited violence and was offensive to the majority of the population. But on Monday, the Zurich district prosecutor's office announced that there was no evidence to support claims that Manson had violated laws protecting religion during the February 2001 concert in question. ... You can run to Canada to escape the draft and the reign of George W. Bush, but illegal file-sharers may still be snagged in the recording industry's web. The Canadian Recording Industry Association announced its plan to file legal action against music pirates, using the same tracking software as its American counterpart. A spokesperson for the organization did not specify when the wave of litigation would commence. …