Being from Louisiana never hurt Britney Spears' music career, but the Cajun cuisine of her Nyla restaurant apparently wasn't palate-pleasing enough for the New York crowd. So Nyla has changed its menu and is now offering classic regional American food with an Italian flair at prices between $14 and $28. ... Quickie art creations by Bono and Spears based on seaside themes were auctioned off in Dublin, Ireland, for ICROSS, a group that provides home care for East African orphans stricken with AIDS. Spears crafted a beach scene with paper, glitter and glue, and Bono drew a Mermaid complete with tail. ...

Sheryl Crow, Kelly Rowland, Michelle Branch and Kelly Clarkson will perform on NBC's "Christmas in Rockefeller Center" special, airing December 4 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. Barry Manilow, Josh Groban and Carly Simon will also perform at the one-hour event. Viewers in the New York market will get an extra hour of festivities beginning at 7 p.m. ... Dave Matthews and Michelle Branch have joined the Levi's Staying Alive campaign in which jackets designed by the artists are auctioned to raise money to fight AIDS. Missy Elliott, Wyclef Jean and Elton John are also involved in the effort. ... Eminem wanted to make Jay-Z feel right at home in Detroit Sunday night, so the Shady One jumped onstage with Hovi to perform their collaboration "Renegade" at a party celebrating Jigga's The Blueprint 2. ...

Billy Guy, a baritone vocalist for '50s singing group the Coasters, died November 5, but his body has not been claimed by any living relatives and remains unburied. On November 20, Las Vegas entertainers held a benefit to raise enough to give the singer, who crooned on such hits as "Yakety Yak" and "Little Egypt," a proper burial. ... While working on his fourth album, the follow-up to Souljacker, Eels frontman E wrote the score for next year's "Levity," a feature film starring Billy Bob Thornton as a parolee searching for forgiveness. Two new Eels songs, "Skywritng" and "Taking a Bath in Rust," are slated to appear on the soundtrack to the movie, which also stars Kirsten Dunst and Morgan Freeman. ...

Powerman 5000's next record has been given a May 20 release date. The band was expected to release its third album, Anyone for Doomsday?, three months ago, but two weeks before its release they scrapped the disc and returned to the studio to write new songs. ... The Presidents of the United States of America, having recently reunited, will play their first show together in three years at Seattle's Crocodile Cafe on New Year's Eve. ... The trial for the lawsuit filed by film and music company Saregama India Ltd. against Interscope Records and others for the alleged unauthorized use of a sample on Truth Hurts' "Addicted" has been rescheduled to December 12. The initial complaint has also been amended to include Truth Hurts, DJ Quik and various writers and producers. ...

11.22.02

Jay-Z has canceled the final two dates on his Principal for a Day Tour. A spokesperson for the rapper's label said the radio stations selected to organize the dates in Los Angeles and San Francisco, where he was to play Monday and Tuesday, did not cooperate. ... 'NSYNC and Mandy Moore will receive the Male and Female Young Hero Awards at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles' Rising Stars Gala on Friday at the Century Plaza Hotel. The annual event salutes members of the entertainment industry who inspire young people. ...

The White Stripes will perform in Romania Saturday at the wrap party for "Cold Mountain," the Civil War period film for which Jack White is writing the soundtrack and appearing as a deserting soldier. ... No Doubt received the key to the city of Anaheim, California, Friday at a ceremony held in Disneyland. All four members of the group hail from Orange County. ... Destiny's Child and LeAnn Rimes will perform in front of the Kodak Theatre for Hollywood's annual holiday parade on December 1. The event, dubbed "The Blockbuster Hollywood Spectacular, A Holiday Tradition," will be broadcast December 8 on NBC. ...

Mötley Crüe singer Vince Neil had a pretrial motions hearing at the Beverly Hills Superior Court Tuesday in his misdemeanor battery charge stemming from an altercation with a record producer from April. He's due back in court December 9, at which point a trial date is expected to be set. ... Everclear's sixth album, Slowmotion Daydream, is due March 11. The band is filming the video for the first single, "Volvo Driving Soccer Mom," with director Francis Lawrence (P.O.D., Michelle Branch). ... Mixtape monster DJ Whoo Kid has signed a deal with Capitol records. He will release his solo debut next year. ...

Producer Aaron Espinoza (Grandaddy, Folk Implosion) and his band Earlimart are following up a recent tour with Lou Barlow by hitting the road with Rhett Miller beginning December 4 in Los Angeles. Earlimart are also recording an album due in the spring. ... Following his solo tour, Lou Barlow will return to record stores February 18 with The New Folk Implosion, the fourth album by Folk Implosion and Barlow's 20th overall, including LPs by Dinosaur Jr, Sebadoh and Sentridoh, among others. The "new" in the album's title is used to mark the first Folk Implosion effort without founding guitarist John Davis. ...

The collaboration between Wilco and moonlighting supergroup the Minus 5 (Scott McCaughey, Peter Buck, Ken Stringfellow) has been rescued from release limbo by indie Yep Roc Records, which will street Down With Wilco February 25. The now-defunct Mammoth Records was slated to release the album, which also features appearances by the Spinanes' Rebecca Gates and High Llamas' Sean O'Hagen, this fall. ... Following protests staged in England by Blur's Damon Albarn, Massive Attack's 3-D and Brian Eno, Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong is among the first U.S. artists to take an active stance against the possibility of war with Iraq. In an audio message on www.greenday.com, Armstrong directs visitors to a fan site where they can sign a petition intended for President Bush. ...

Eccentric rocker Lou Reed's next album will feature several actors, including Willem Dafoe and Steve Buscemi, reciting the poetry of Edgar Allen Poe over music created by Reed. Set for release in January, The Raven will also feature musical contributions from David Bowie and The Five Blind Boys of Alabama. ... More Brits would rather hear Afroman's excuse anthem "Because I Got High" when someone reaches out and touches them than hits by Kylie Minogue and Robbie Williams. "Because I Got High" ranked above all other ringtones in a U.K. poll. Williams and Nicole Kidman's duet of Frank Sinatra's "Somethin' Stupid" placed #2, Minogue's "Can't Get You Out of My Head" was third, followed by Jennifer Lopez's "Love Don't Cost a Thing." ...

The Recording Industry Association of America filed a motion of contempt Wednesday against Madster (formerly Aimster), a peer-to-peer file-sharing service it has a pending lawsuit against, for not complying with a preliminary injunction issued November 4 requiring the company to stop users from exchanging copyrighted material. The RIAA has also asked the court to fine Madster founder John Deep $1,500 per day for not observing the court order. ...