‘Idol’ winner signs record deal

New York – Taylor Hicks has taken step two on his “American Idol”-fueled career, signing the record contract that comes with winning the hit show.

The gray-haired 29-year-old crooner inked a pact with music mogul Clive Davis in conjunction with 19 Recordings Unlimited, the label managed by “AI” creator Simon Fuller, it was announced Wednesday.

Two tunes – “Do I Make You Proud,” which he performed in the show’s finale, and a soulful cover of the Doobie Brothers classic “Takin’ It to the Streets” – will be released in stores and through digital outlets on June 13.

Master of the Web

New York – Prince will be honored with a lifetime achievement award at this year’s Webby online awards for his use of the Internet to distribute music and connect with audiences.

In a statement Wednesday, Tiffany Shlain, founder of the awards, described Prince as a “musical genius” and “a visionary, who recognized early on that the Web would completely change how we experience music.”

The 47-year-old pop superstar was the first major artist to release an entire album, 1997’s “Crystal Ball,” exclusively on the Web, according to the announcement, and “long before MySpace and iTunes, Prince used the Web as a new way to distribute music, premiere videos and build his relationship with his fans.”

His Web site, www.npgmusicclub.com, has more than seven full-length CDs of music unavailable elsewhere.

The awards ceremony will take place June 12 at Cipriani Wall Street in Manhattan. Rob Corddry of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” will host the show.

Monroe exhibit challenged

Los Angeles – A lawsuit claims that Marilyn Monroe had no connection to many of the items in an exhibit that claims to showcase her possessions.

The exhibit aboard the Queen Mary, which is moored in Long Beach, features items including hair rollers, suitcases, a lipstick holder and a “red shiny dress” that the iconic sex symbol supposedly owned. Thousands of people have paid $22.95 each to see the exhibit since it opened in November.

The lawsuit filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, however, claims that Monroe had nothing to do with many of the items and that some were made after she died from an overdose of sleeping pills in August 1962.

A spokeswoman for the Queen Mary and the exhibit declined to comment Tuesday to the Los Angeles Times, and the newspaper said it was unable to reach the items’ owner, Chicago collector Robert W. Otto. He has previously insisted the items are authentic.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of two people who attended the exhibit – Ernest Cunningham, author of “The Ultimate Marilyn,” and Emily Sadjady. It asks that the Queen Mary and exhibit organizers be forced to refund admission fees and also seeks unspecified punitive damages.

Today would have been Monroe’s 80th birthday.

Reunion rumors snuffed

Concord, N.C. – Those rumors about an on-screen reunion of Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong? Reefer madness, Marin says.

The 59-year-old actor – half of the Cheech & Chong comedy duo that embodied 1970s and 1980s marijuana humor – said there will be no future joint efforts with Chong.

“We’ve tried to do it a bunch of times and we always end up at the same place,” said Marin at a recent press tour to promote the animated film “Cars,” set for release June 9. “All the old animosities resurface.”

In “Cars,” Marin voices Ramon, a vintage low-rider who befriends lead character Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson).

“I’m real comfortable leaving Cheech & Chong right where it is,” Marin said.

“I was a big Laurel & Hardy fan when I was a kid. I used to watch them on TV all the time and then one time I saw a Laurel & Hardy film they made when they were a lot older and it creeped me out. I just never wanted to do that.”