Etheridge hears wedding bells

Los Angeles — Rocker Melissa Etheridge plans to tie the knot at the end of this year with her companion of two years, actress Tammy Lynn Michaels.

“This is the first wedding for both of them,” Etheridge’s publicist, Marcel Pariseau, said Tuesday. He declined to reveal plans for the ceremony except to say it would take place in Los Angeles.

Etheridge, 41, has been dating Michaels, 28, for about two years, Pariseau said.

The musician shares custody of a daughter and a son with former partner Julie Cypher. The two made news in 2000 when they revealed that musician David Crosby was the sperm donor for their children, who were delivered by Cypher.

Ryan to sit in Cannes jury

Paris — Meg Ryan and Steven Soderbergh will sit on the nine-member jury awarding the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival next month, organizers announced Wednesday.

Ryan, the star of romantic comedies including “When Harry Met Sally …” and “Sleepless in Seattle,” and Soderbergh, director of “Erin Brockovich” and “Ocean’s Eleven” who won an Oscar for “Traffic,” will take part in the jury headed by French director Patrice Chereau.

Cannes president Gilles Jacob is scheduled to announce this year’s official film selection on April 23. The jury will award the prestigious Palme d’Or at the May 25 closing ceremony.

Hope’s star unveiled

Los Angeles — Bob Hope, whose 100th birthday is next month, was too frail to attend the rededication of one of his stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

But comedian Dennis Miller said Hope probably wouldn’t have come anyway. “I know if he was up-and-about he would have made a beeline for Iraq to entertain our brave men and women over there,” said Miller, one of several celebrities at the gathering Tuesday.

At the event, an embedded plaque describing Hope as “citizen of the century” was unveiled on the star. Others in attendance included Hope friends Phyllis Diller, Eva Marie Saint and Cindy Williams, and his daughter, Linda Hope.

The ceremony coincided with the Universal Studios Home Video release of the “Bob Hope 100th Birthday Tribute Collection,” 12 DVDs featuring 17 of his movies.

Robbins speaks his mind

Washington — One casualty of the war with Iraq is the First Amendment right to oppose it, actor Tim Robbins says.

Robbins and his longtime companion, actress Susan Sarandon, are war opponents whose scheduled appearance at baseball’s Hall of Fame was canceled last week by former Reagan administration aide Dale Petroskey, now the hall’s president.

“A chill wind is blowing in this nation,” Robbins told a National Press Club luncheon Tuesday. “Every day the airwaves are filled with warnings, veiled and unveiled threats, spewed invective and hatred directed at any voice of dissent.”