Kanye West leads Grammy pack

Los Angeles (ap) — Producer-turned-rapper Kanye West collected a leading 10 Grammy nominations Tuesday, including album of the year, for his innovative debut, “The College Dropout.”

West’s disc stood out in the rap landscape because of its atypical prose. It avoided the usual plotlines about sex, money and violence and touched on everything from religion to his own insecurities.

Usher and Alicia Keys, who collaborated on the hit “My Boo,” followed West with eight nominations each, including album of the year for Keys’ “The Diary of Alicia Keys” and Usher’s “Confessions.”

Ray Charles, whose posthumous duets album, “Genius Loves Company,” became the biggest-selling album of his long career, had seven nominations, including album of the year and record of the year for “Here We Go Again,” sung with Norah Jones.

Green Day garnered six bids for its hard-driving rock-punk album “American Idiot” which satirized culture, politics and apathy. The group was nominated for record of the year and best rock song for the title track and best rock album.

Besides Charles’ and Jones’ “Here We Go Again” and Green Day’s “American Idiot,” other record of the year contenders were the mellow love song “Heaven” by Los Lonely Boys, the jumpy party song “Let’s Get It Started” by the Black Eyed Peas and Usher’s massive hit “Yeah!”

Bids for song of the year — which goes to songwriters — went to “Daughters,” written and recorded by John Mayer, “If I Ain’t Got You,” written and recorded by Keys, “Jesus Walks,” recorded by West, “Live Like You Were Dying,” by Tim Nichols and Craig Wiseman, recorded by Tim McGraw, and “The Reason,” recorded by Hoobastank.

Half of West’s 10 nominations were in the rap field, including best rap album. Also nominated for best rap album were Nelly’s “Suit,” LL Cool J’s “The Definition,” The Beastie Boys’ “To The 5 Boroughs,” and “The Black Album” by Jay-Z, which he has said will be his last.

In the rock category, Green Day’s “American Idiot” was named in the best rock album competition along with Hoobastank’s “The Reason,” The Killers’ “Hot Fuss,” Velvet Revolver’s “Contraband” and “The Deliveryman” by Elvis Costello & The Imposters.

Beach Boys frontman Brian Wilson’s album “Smile,” which was recently released, collected a bid for best pop vocal album. It competes with “Afterglow” by Sarah McLachlan, “Feels Like Home” by Jones, “Mind, Body & Soul” by Joss Stone and “Genius Loves Company” by Charles.

Hilton in Top 10

New York — Paris Hilton has been named one of the 10 “most fascinating” people of 2004″ by Barbara Walters.

Walters will be host to an hourlong ABC News special at 8 p.m. today highlighting some of the year’s most prominent names in entertainment, politics, sports and business. Besides Hilton, the list includes filmmaker Michael Moore, “Jeopardy!” champ Ken Jennings and Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling.

In an interview for “Barbara Walters Presents: The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2004,” Walters asks Hilton about the now infamous sex video with her then-boyfriend Rick Salomon. The tape surfaced just before the premiere of Hilton’s reality TV show, “The Simple Life.”

“I was in love with him and people, I think, do that sometimes,” Hilton says. “I never thought that it would get out and that I’d be hurt like that.”

Despite her fears, “The Simple Life” became a hit. “The Simple Life 3: Interns,” starring Hilton and her friend Nicole Richie, will premiere on the Fox television network on Jan. 26.

Charges won’t stick

Miami — Charges were dismissed for the second time against actress Robin Givens, who was ticketed for running over an elderly pedestrian’s leg.

County Court Judge Steven Leifman dismissed the case Monday because the Miami police officers who were present in court didn’t witness the accident and couldn’t testify to the cause of the accident. Also, a civilian witness didn’t appear in court.

Givens, a star of the 1980s TV comedy “Head of the Class” and the ex-wife of boxer Mike Tyson, struck Maria Antonia Alcover as she was about to step onto a sidewalk Jan. 28, police said.

After stopping at a red light, Givens turned the corner and hit the 89-year-old woman, sending her into a backward fall, police said. The back wheel of Givens’ Mercedes-Benz sport utility vehicle ran over Alcover’s right leg.

Alcover has filed a civil lawsuit against Givens, and trial is set for Jan. 3.

Kilborn’s replacement named

New York — Scottish actor Craig Ferguson, who played the boss on “The Drew Carey Show,” will be the new host of CBS’ “Late Late Show.”

Ferguson passed through a gauntlet of on-air tryouts set up by Worldwide Pants, David Letterman’s production company. He replaces Craig Kilborn, who announced in August that he was leaving the talk show after five years.

CBS announced that the “Late Late Show” will be in repeats for the last two weeks of December and then dark until Ferguson takes his place onstage Jan. 3.

The “Late Late Show” trails the time slot leader, NBC’s “Late Night” with Conan O’Brien, in the ratings.

Singer ordered to rest

London — Marianne Faithfull has canceled a European tour after collapsing last week before a show in Milan, Italy, her management said Tuesday.

A spokesman said doctors told the singer that she has chronic exhaustion and ordered her to rest for three months. A spokesman said Faithfull planned to reschedule the dates for next year.

Faithfull, 57, gained fame in the ’60s as the girlfriend of rocker Mick Jagger and as the pure-voiced singer of “As Tears Go By.” After battling drug addiction, she re-emerged in 1979 with the raw album “Broken English” and has since found a new audience as a sophisticated chanteuse.