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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, October 12, 2006

Don Ho ready to return to work

Advertiser News Services

Don Ho

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Entertainer Don Ho, on hiatus since mid-September because of heart-related concerns, expects to resume his Sunday and Thursday performances this weekend at the Hoku Hale Showroom of the Ohana Waikiki Beachcomber hotel, an associate said today.

Ho, 76, was sidelined for 15 days in an undisclosed hospital when he had recurring heart-related issues. He had a new pacemaker installed and had been ordered by his doctor to get some rest; he was released from the hospital Sept. 28 to continue his recuperation at home.

His aide, Haumea Hebenstreit, says Ho seems "eager and ready" to resume his 7:30 p.m. performances this Sunday.

Last November, Ho traveled to Thailand to undergo a rare stem cell procedure to strengthen his heart muscle.

— Wayne Harada, Advertiser Entertainment Writer

BARKIN'S JEWELS BRING IN $20.3 MILLION

Actress Ellen Barkin, 52, who's currently filming "Ocean's Thirteen," and who reportedly received a $20 million settlement in her divorce from Ron Perelman, just cashed in for another $20 million. The "Sea of Love" star on Tuesday sold more than 100 pieces of her jewelry, including pieces by Bulgari, Cartier, and Joel Arthur Rosenthal (Ellen: "He's like the Matisse of our time"), which Revlon hotshot Perelman gave her during their six-year marriage.

In the sale at Christie's New York, a diamond oval-cut 22.76-carat ring by JAR went for more than $1.8 million and a 30.8-carat diamond ring ($1.47 million).

Christie's said Barkin was "thrilled" with the outcome of the sale.

The $20.3 million total "makes Ellen Barkin's collection the highest single-owner jewelry sale of the past 15 years in the U.S. and also places it among the top four ever worldwide," said Rahul Kadakia, head of the Christie's jewelry department.

DAVID BOWIE MEETS SPONGEBOB

NEW YORK — All it took was daddy's little girl to turn David Bowie from a rock star into the voice of a cartoon.

Bowie will be a guest on Nickelodeon's "SpongeBob SquarePants," playing a character called Lord Royal Highness in a show that will air next year.

Bowie, 59, said his 6-year-old daughter, Alexandria Zahra, is a huge SpongeBob fan and they watch the show together. He wrote in his blog that he's "hit the Holy Grail of animation gigs."

Bowie, who received a lifetime achievement honor at the Grammys this year, was also the voice of Boz in David Cage's 1999 "Omikron: The Nomad Soul."

He plays inventor and electrical engineer Nikola Tesla in Christopher Nolan's upcoming movie "The Prestige," in theaters Oct. 20.

BEFORE MEAT LOAF THERE WAS MARVIN

In an interview with Blender mag, the singer-actor known as Meat Loaf, who was born Marvin Lee Aday, says he adopted his comfort-food moniker as a way to resolve the severe emotional trauma he had as a kid.

"My real name is Marvin. And Levi's had a commercial on the radio that said, 'Poor fat Marvin can't wear Levi's.' And I was fat," he said. "It nearly destroyed me. I'm still not over it. If we had lawyers growing up, I would own that company," said Meat Loaf, whose "Fight Club" character poked fun at what he called his "man breasts."