Fifteen minutes in Milan

Milan, Italy — Some 200 paintings by Andy Warhol went on display in Milan in one of the largest shows of his works ever held in Italy.

The exhibit, which opened Wednesday, also features sketches, pictures, fashion illustrations and covers from Warhol’s Interview magazine. A section of the show is devoted to the artist’s style and fashion.

At the center of the Pop Art movement in the 1960s, he turned commonplace objects such as dollar bills and soup cans into works of art. He died in 1987.

Highlights of the Milan exhibit include portraits of Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor and Elvis Presley, as well as the famous still-life Campbell’s soup can.

A blast from the past

New York — It’s Hammer Time — again.

MC Hammer will perform at VH1’s inaugural Hip Hop Honors next month, the cable station announced Tuesday. The Beastie Boys, Public Enemy and others are already set to appear, as well as newly announced performances by Ice-T, Kid Rock, Fat Joe and Grandmaster Flash.

Vivica A. Fox and Mos Def will be hosts for the awards show, which pays tribute to groundbreaking hip-hop artists. Among those in the first group of honorees are the Sugar Hill Gang, KRS-One, Run DMC and Tupac Shakur.

The show, scheduled for taping Oct. 3 in New York, will air Oct. 12 on VH1, Sunflower Broadband Channel 58.

More awards, more Usher

New York — R&B singer Usher, whose album “Confessions” steamed up the charts with songs about sex, affairs and breakups, will perform at the American Music Awards.

Usher has a leading four AMA nominations. The awards will be presented Nov. 14 in Los Angeles. Kanye West, Josh Groban, Jessica Simpson and others are scheduled to perform, it was announced this week.

Jimmy Kimmel will host the show, to air live on ABC.