Star brightens Lucci’s day

Los Angeles — Rain halted just long enough for Susan Lucci to be honored with the unveiling of a star on the Walk of Fame in honor of her 35 years of playing the conniving Erica Kane on the ABC soap opera “All My Children.”

“When I was a kid, I used to dance around the house and sing songs like ‘Nobody is going to rain on my parade,'” she said at Friday’s ceremony. “And today is a sunshiny day!”

Lucci joined the show in 1970, just after graduating from college. She famously was snubbed for a daytime Emmy Award for 18 years, finally winning the honor in 1999.

“I have watched her grow from a teenage vixen to a worldly woman,” said show creator Agnes Nixon.

Lucci, 58, was joined by several “All My Children” cast members as well as Robert Iger, president of The Walt Disney Co., which owns ABC.

Lucci was more gracious than her character might have been in similar circumstances.

“Thank you for welcoming this New York girl to your wonderful community of Hollywood,” she said.

Rock enjoyed stealthy tour of Bush White House

Burbank, Calif. — Comedian Chris Rock says he spent an impromptu tour of the White House hiding from the president.

Rock was filming a movie in Washington a year ago when, during a break, he walked past the White House.

“A black security guard spotted me and took me into the White House,” Rock said recently. “I was walking around the whole White House. It was weird because (President) Bush was there and they were hiding me from Bush.”

The 39-year-old actor, who made his screen debut in “Beverly Hills Cop II” and became a comic to watch during his three years on Saturday Night Live, will host the Oscars for the first time on Feb. 27, giving him the biggest audience of his career to date.

“Let’s hope there’s something bigger,” he said. “I look at everything like ‘Oh, this is big,’ but let’s hope this isn’t it.”‘

Knowles ready to share fashion sense with collection

New York — Beyonce Knowles is planning a new release — her own fashion collection.

The Destiny’s Child singer has signed a licensing agreement with the Tarrant Apparel Group to produce a line of clothing for young women. She named the House of Dereon collection after her grandmother Agnes Dereon, who worked as a seamstress.

The first fashions will be in stores this fall, and the look will be “a mix of vintage things with contemporary things. It’ll be fur with denim, classic with street,” Knowles said.

The collection also will include party dresses, sweaters and tailored jackets.

“I have pretty broad taste. I’ve been all over the world — thank God I’ve had the chance to do that,” the 23-year-old said.

Knowles will design the line with her mother, Tina Knowles, who along with her daughter formed Beyond Productions, a joint venture with Kids Headquarters. They’ll work with co-creative director Heather Thomson Schindler.

“I think my mother and I both have a good idea of what people who are fashionable like,” the singer said. “I love clothes from my grandmother’s generation, my mother’s generation and contemporary stuff.”

Mandela agrees to attend AIDS benefit concert

Oslo, Norway — Nelson Mandela has agreed to attend an AIDS benefit concert in the Arctic city of Tromsoe for his charity 46664, named for his prison number under apartheid, the city announced Friday.

Organizers said no program has been set for the concert scheduled for June 11, but they expressed hope they could draw some of the world’s biggest stars to the Norwegian city about 217 miles north of the Arctic Circle.

Since stepping down as South Africa’s president in 1999, Mandela has campaigned to raise awareness about AIDS, especially in Africa where about 25 million of the world’s 40 million HIV-infected people live.

Mandela, 86, hosted a star-studded AIDS awareness concert in 2003.

Mandela shared the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize with then South African President F.W. de Klerk for their efforts to end apartheid.

Marie Osmond’s radio show dropped from network

Salt Lake City — Marie Osmond’s five-hour radio show has been canceled after less than a year on the air.

“Marie & Friends,” which started in February 2004, featured adult contemporary music and conversation geared toward women. It was Osmond’s first foray into radio.

It was dropped by Jones Radio Network, but Salt Lake City-based KBEE, the show’s flagship station, said it was negotiating to keep Osmond on the air in some capacity. Reruns of the show continue to air from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays on KBEE.

Osmond’s show was ranked first in the Salt Lake City market last summer in the afternoon among female listeners ages 25-54, according to estimates from Arbitron, a media research company.