Cuban musician honored

Havana — With his trademark hat on his head, his guitar case at his side and a cigar in his slender fingers, a new life-sized statue of late Cuban musician Compay Segundo was unveiled in the patio of a hotel.

“We welcome Compay Segundo,” Cuban musicologist Lino Betancourt said Tuesday night at the presentation of the statue at the historic Hotel Nacional. “We thank him for his smile, we thank him for his example, we thank him for his ‘Chan Chan,”‘ Betancourt added, referring to one of the musician’s most popular songs.

The guitarist and singer skyrocketed to international fame with his performance on the 1997 Grammy-winning record “The Buena Vista Social Club.”

Segundo died July 13 at age 95.

Salvador Repilado, above center, Segundo’s son, gives the cigar to the sculpture of his father in Havana, Cuba.

J.Lo tops the ‘hot list’

New York — Jennifer Lopez tops the 2003 “Hot List” of celebrities compiled by syndicated TV show “Entertainment Tonight.”

The list is composed of celebrities who’ve received the most mentions on the show during 2003.

Rounding out the top 10: Jennifer Aniston, Michael Jackson, Ben Affleck, Nicole Kidman, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz, Britney Spears and Demi Moore.

A ‘Candy Man’ revival

New York — Auditions will be held this month in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles by producers casting a new musical about the life of Sammy Davis Jr.

The show will be called “Mr. Bojangles: The Ultimate Entertainer.”

Davis died in 1990. His hit songs included “Mr. Bojangles,” “I’ve Gotta Be Me” and “The Candy Man,” and his films included “Porgy and Bess,” “Ocean’s 11” and “Sweet Charity.”

The show will open in early 2004 and will tour major casinos across the country.

Meat Puppet accused of assault

Phoenix — Cris Kirkwood, bass player for the rock band Meat Puppets, was arrested Tuesday, accused of assaulting a guard at a local post office.

Kirkwood, 43, has been charged with one count of assault with a dangerous weapon at a federal facility. He was arrested as he left Good Samaritan Hospital, where he’d been taken after he was shot by a post office security guard on Friday.

Kirkwood allegedly shoved the guard and then punched him, taking away his collapsible baton, said FBI spokeswoman Susan Herskovits. He then allegedly hit the guard on the head with the baton.

Herskovits said the guard had been trying to mediate an argument between Kirkwood and a woman who apparently had been fighting over a parking space in front of the downtown post office.