Sponging controversy

Los Angeles — Hide the kids and take cover! A “gay alert” has been sounded by conservative groups over a children’s video starring that ubiquitous and incorrigible baggy-pants-wearing imp, SpongeBob SquarePants. The music vid, which shows Bob singing the cloying ’79 hit “We Are Family” with a host of other ‘toon characters, is to be sent to 61,000 U.S. schools in March and is being touted as a way to encourage acceptance and diversity.

Christian groups aren’t offended by the lameness of the song. They say the vid’s maker, the We Are Family Foundation, has a pro-gay message on its Web site, which “is not only unnecessary but … crosses a moral line,” according to James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family.

Songwriter Nile Rodgers, who set up the foundation, takes exception: “You have really got to look hard to find anything in this that is offensive to anyone.”

New Serbian president requests ‘Orange Crush’

Belgrade, Serbia-Montenegro — Greeting members of the rock band R.E.M. in his Belgrade office, Serbia’s President Boris Tadic said he’s a fan and requested that his favorite song, “Orange Crush,” be played at the group’s Friday concert.

Youthful and soft-spoken, Tadic, 46, is at the helm of a democratic leadership striving to open the troubled Balkan republic to the West after years of ostracism and isolation during the rule of Yugoslavia’s ex-President Slobodan Milosevic.

Bringing world-famous artists to the country is part of that effort, said Nebojsa Krstic, head of Tadic’s press team.

Krstic said Tadic had been a fan of R.E.M. since the band’s early days in the 1980s.

On Thursday, R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe presented Tadic with a copy of the band’s new CD and Tadic gave the band a CD of Serbian ethnic music, “Serbia Sounds Global,” saying he hoped the exotic sound might inspire new hits.

R.E.M.’s sold-out concert has been billed as the main rock event this year in Serbia.

Newton’s Mr. Nice Guy

Los Angeles — Wayne Newton says he won’t need a panel of judges to decide the winner of his new talent contest, “The Entertainer,” which debuts Sunday on E! Television Network, Sunflower Broadband Channel 59.

Newton is the only judge, but the 62-year-old singer promises that he won’t be as nasty as, say, Simon Cowell, the tart-tongued judge on Fox’s “American Idol.”

“You can be difficult on them as long as it’s not crushing to them, as long as what you’re telling them is not mean-spirited,” Newton said in a recent interview.

The winner of the talent contest will appear in Newton’s Las Vegas show.

Green Day, U2, Alicia Keys among Grammy performers

Los Angeles — Green Day, Alicia Keys, Tim McGraw and U2 will perform at the 47th annual Grammy Awards next month.

They are the first group of performers to be announced by the Recording Academy. The announcement was made Thursday.

Keys is nominated for eight Grammys. Green Day has six nominations, U2 has three and McGraw has two nominations.

The Grammys will be presented Feb. 13 at the Staples Center, with Queen Latifah as host. Presenters include Ellen DeGeneres and John Travolta.

Birthdays

Actress Diane Lane is 40. Actress Piper Laurie is 73. Actor John Hurt is 65. Actress Linda Blair is 46. Actor-rap DJ Jazzy Jeff is 40. Actress Olivia d’Abo is 38. Pop singer Willa Ford is 24.