Around The Arts

Russia: no plans for 'N Sync's Bass\nMOSCOW -- The Russian space agency said Wednesday that it had no plans to give 'N Sync's Lance Bass a ride to space, and that no other space tourist has secured a seat on a Russian rocket set to blast off to the international space station in October. \n"The Russian Aerospace Agency has had no contacts whatsoever with Mr. Bass," agency spokesman Konstantin Kreidenko said. "We have received no requests from either him or his representatives, not to speak about signing any contracts.'' \nThe 23-year-old boy band member said in February that he hoped to travel into space, following in the footsteps of an American businessman and South African Internet magnate who have flown Russian rockets to the international station. \nLast week, Moscow's Institute of Biomedical Problems, Russia's premier space medicine center, said Bass and former NASA employee Lori Garver were being evaluated for their space travel fitness. \nBut on Wednesday, Kreidenko said: "Anyone has the right to undergo tests in the Institute of Biomedical Problems. But that doesn't mean that such person is considered to be a candidate for space flight." \nKreidenko said no decision had been made about the next space tourist, and wouldn't comment on possible candidates. \nBass has the support of a Los Angeles TV production company, Destiny Productions, to help fund his bid and to film the training and trip for a TV special. He and Garver were scheduled to hold a news conference in Moscow later this week to discuss their plans. \nOsbourne Mom to cover Queen's jubilee\nNEW YORK -- VH1 has picked Sharon Osbourne, the foul-mouthed matriarch of the Osbourne clan, to help pay tribute to a royal matriarch -- Queen Elizabeth II. \nOsbourne will be the host of VH1's broadcast of the all-star concert celebrating the queen's Golden Jubilee. Osbourne's husband, Ozzy, will perform at the June 3 concert, along with Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Aretha Franklin and Paul McCartney. A taped performance by Elton John, who will be on tour, will be shown. \nVH1 will air highlights from the concert on June 9. \nThe pop concert will be held in the garden of Buckingham Palace as part of a weekend of festivities to mark the queen's 50 years on the throne. \nSharon Osbourne has become a household name since this year's debut of her family's wacky hit reality show, "The Osbournes,'' on MTV, VH1's sister network. \nArtists aim to engergize downtown NYC\nNEW YORK -- What was once an indoor mall at the World Financial Center will become artist studios under a program designed to draw tenants and visitors back to the battered complex. \nNine artists, who will move into space vacated after the World Trade Center attack, toured the financial center on Tuesday to see where they will work in coming months. Starting in October, the artists will exhibit works ranging from a computer-rendered history of downtown development to handcrafted artificial trees. \nThe World Views program, which provides free space and small stipends to the artists, is meant to draw tenants by making the financial center more lively and appealing for employees and theirfamilies, center spokeswoman Karen Kitchen said. \n"It's really to energize or enliven the public areas of the complex,'' she said. "We want to project that this is a new time, a new space." \nThe artists will produce works ranging from collections of found objects to detailed digital drawings of New York buildings. All are expected to respond in some way to their immediate surroundings and the devastation of the trade center attack. \n"We have a moral responsibility to think about our city and think about what happened to us," said Moukhtar Kocache, the cultural council's director of visual and media arts initiatives.