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George Jones, come on down! You're the next recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors. The Ol Possom, considered by many to be the greatest living country singer, joins an elite group of country icons who have already won the prestigious award. Those include Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, Roy Acuff and Willie Nelson.

The enduring Texan had this to say about the announcement:
"Since I was a young man, I have just done what I love and that is sing country music, and I never dreamed that something this special would happen to me."

In addition to Mr. Jones, other Kennedy Center honorees this year are Barbra Streisand, Morgan Freeman, Twyla Tharp, Pete Townshend and Roger Daltry.

The gala will be broadcast Dec. 7 on CBS-TV.

Photo: Way to go, Jones! (Louis DeLuca/DMN)

We created a new category on our arts blog called "Event news" because we were starting to get buzz about weekend events that were either canceling or postponing. Darn Ike.

There are a few outdoor events that have already been affected and several more still on the schedule, so keep checking the arts blog to help with planning.

Anything music related will get posted right here, too. Someone commented on the arts blog asking if they should continue with plans to fly in from Virginia for the Eagles concerts at AAC. Since it's an indoor event, we don't anticipate any changes to the two-night stand. But we'll let you know if we hear of anything. Mike suggests you check AAC's site and Ticketmaster, too, if you're über-concerned.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Police say they have arrested Kanye West at Los Angeles International Airport on suspicion of vandalism after an altercation with a photographer.

An outtake from yesterday's story about local folk-rock duo Jackopierce:
When the band recorded with producer T Bone Burnett in late '93, he was apparently gun-shy of being labeled a pop Svengali after the runaway success of Counting Crows' August and Everything After. Says Jackopierce singer Cary Pierce "We had a song called 'Get to Know Me Better' and T Bone was like 'Oh, man. This could be a hit.' He was lamenting the fact that there could be a pop song on the record, so he put it last of 10 songs."
The tune never did become a hit, but Mr. Pierce says he was "fine" with the decision not to lead-off the CD with it: "I learned a lot from T Bone as a producer. We were two babes, and he was the man."

Images of flaming red lips flashed across the backdrop of the Nokia Theater stage Wednesday night as Aventura, the opening act for Enrique Iglesias, sang one of its hit songs, "Un Beso" to a crowd of screaming fans. Girls threw lingerie at Romeo, the band's lead singer, and hung up signs saying, "Will you marry me?" He responded by serenading a female fan on stage and singing sensual song lyrics to her as he gyrated his hips and gave her a kiss.

By the time Mr. Iglesias got on stage after Aventura's hour-long performance, it was just past 10 p.m. In almost every song he played -- "Bailamos," "Dimelo," "Hero" and more -- Mr. Iglesias pointed the microphone toward the audience and raised his arms, encouraging them to sing along. Toward the middle of his act, two couches, a table and a lamp were brought on stage. Mr. Iglesias and his band sat on the couches and talked to the crowd before inviting six fans on stage for some shots (poured by Iglesias), photos and hugs. Talk about making your fans feel at home ...

See the official review here.