Dion returns to stage

Las Vegas – Celine Dion has returned to performing at Caesars Palace after a viral infection that made her dizzy caused her to cancel six shows last month.

“I felt very bad,” the 38-year-old French-Canadian diva said in a recent interview. The singer had labyrinthitis, an inflammation of the inner ear often accompanied by an impaired sense of balance.

When a doctor said jittery movements in her eyes had stopped, Dion said she “took a chance” and returned to performing.

Dion says she’s “95 percent” better now. “It’s hard to do a show, but it’s harder not to do it,” she said.

Dion will put on her 500th show at Caesars Palace on Sunday. It is a benefit production to raise $1 million for 10 local charities.

Davis honored as ABC shelves ‘Commander’

New York – On the same day Geena Davis accepted an award for her portrayal of a female president, ABC shelved “Commander in Chief” for the crucial May ratings sweeps.

That’s an ominous sign for the series’ future. The remaining three episodes will air in June, the network said.

“Commander in Chief” started strong for ABC last fall but faded – to the point where it was briefly taken off the air before being given another chance this spring.

Meanwhile, Davis accepted an award for her portrayal of President Mackenzie Allen on Tuesday night at the United Nations from The White House Project, a nonprofit organization that works to promote women’s voting, political participation and leadership, with a goal of electing a woman president.

“So many countries have had a female head of state before us,” she told the 500 guests at a dinner in the U.N. Delegates Dining Room. “So it is certainly time.”

Fundraiser punted

Minneapolis – “A Prairie Home Companion” host Garrison Keillor said he is dropping out of a May 21 fundraiser for opponents of a proposed football field on a historic island.

Keillor told The Associated Press in an e-mail that he agreed to do the fundraiser for a friend, “not knowing what it was about.”

“On closer look, it seems to be one of those bitterly angry neighborhood land-use disputes in which outsiders have no useful role to play,” he said.

The Star Tribune reported Keillor became involved at the request of singer Prudence Johnson, who appears on Keillor’s radio show.

Johnson lives on Nicollet Island in Minneapolis. DeLaSalle High School wants to build a football field on the island, but some residents worry it would hurt the island’s ambiance.