CELEBRITY WATCH
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November 2, 2000
Web posted at: 4:26 p.m. EST (2126 GMT)

From staff and wire reports

Today's buzz stories:

• Fox puts boyfriends on the spot
• Kathie Lee releases pop album
• Horror writer Stephen King pens scary opera

Fox puts boyfriends on the spot

LOS ANGELES, California -- Fox is hoping the second time's a charm when it comes to weddings.

On November 2, the Fox network is heading back to the prime-time altar with "Surprise Wedding," a two-hour special that will feature five women who propose to their unsuspecting, commitment-phobe boyfriends on national TV.

Last year, the network's first trip down the aisle on "Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire" ended in a scandal and an annulment. Darva Conger and Rick Rockwell, the couple who got hitched on the show, had their TV marriage annulled after allegations Rockwell had slapped and threatened a former fiancee surfaced.

This time, if the "Surprise Wedding" doesn't work out, the unhappy couple can always appear on Fox's game show special, "I Want a Divorce," which the network plans to air in February.

Kathie Lee releases pop album

NEW YORK -- It's been about two months since Kathie Lee Gifford's last day on "Live! with Regis & Kathie Lee," but audiences haven't heard the last of the perky TV personality.

Her album, "Heart of a Woman," was released October 24. The album marks her first foray into pop music and it took a bit of persuasion to get Gifford to record it. Her first reaction to Universal Records' offer was, "You're kidding me!" she said.

But Gifford says the offer to do something she's never done before was one of the main reasons for leaving the show. "It was just what I needed to feel like there will be life after Regis," she told CNN's Showbiz Today.

She says she misses "Reege" and people from the show, but that she "doesn't miss the everyday gig at all."

Horror writer Stephen King pens scary opera

PORTLAND, Maine -- Stephen King has been scaring people with words for decades, but now he hopes to frighten audiences with music.

King's spokesman said the horror writer has collaborated with rocker John Mellencamp on a macabre opera. Mellencamp wrote the score for the show.

The musical is set in a cabin in the woods and features two brothers who hate each other, reports the New York Post.

King apparently hasn't been scared off by his previous foray into the theater. The 1988 Broadway adaptation of his novel, "Carrie," closed after five performances and lost $8 million.