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Justine Jordan admires an ambitious debut novel with a razor-sharp vision of teenage lifeThis astonishing debut novel from young New Zealander Eleanor Catton is a cause for surprise and celebration: smart, playful and self-possessed, it has the glitter and mystery of the true literary original. Though its impulses and methods can only be called experimental, the prose is so arresting, the storytelling so seductive, that wherever the book falls open it's near-impossible to put down.Through two different time schemes, in fragmentary scenes shuffled together like a pack of playing cards, Catton juxtaposes the aftershocks of an affair between a high-school student and her music teacher with the local drama school's appropriation of the scandal for a theatre project. As well as darting about chronologically, the narrative makes surprising leaps in register and tone, so that characters speak in a mixture of world-weary teenspeak, pitch-perfect realism, and mannered theatricality, sometimes w

Can You Duet8 pm/ET CMTThe hunt for America's next great country-music pairing is down to five duos, and it'll be down to four when the night is over. But before that happens, the remaining hopefuls are coached by a formidable duo: Naomi and Wynonna ...

In 1996, American composer john Adams wrote a whirligig of a piece called 'Scratchband.' In its short running time, woodwinds and brass chase each other through thrashing figures so drunk on high spirits that the electric guitar, bass, and percussion can barely keep up. It would be the perfect track to play for anyone who thinks classical music is plodding or stuffy beyond saving-except for the fact that no one owns a legal recording of the music. It's not as though Adams is ashamed of his daring 12-minute essay in sound. He's simply been at a loss, for more than a decade, when it comes to identifying a major symphonic work or concerto that 'Scratchband' would make sense next to on an 80-minute CD. 'I've been kind of hedging,' Adams admits, 'because it's hard to find a spot.'

With a new CD set to be released in less than a month, Ghost Pilot plays to Chicago-area crowds looking for rock-jam-experimental music.Source: Eric MatthewsPublished: Jul 17, 2009

Film News: Sting, Bocelli stage impromptu performances -- Hollywood and Italo stars disembarked by the boatload at the 7th annual Ischia Film & Music Global Fest on the Southern Italo isle.

International News: Broadcast giant gains 10.2% in net sales -- Mexican broadcast giant Televisa posted a 10.2% gain in net sales to $962.6 million in the second quarter, but net income dropped by 0.7% to $138.7 million in the face of increased financing costs as new competition cooled rapid feevee growth.

International News: Paramount sequel breaks box office record -- 'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen' has broken China's box office record with receipts of 400 million yuan ($58.5 million), sinking the $52.7 million record held by 'Titanic' since 1998.

Family matriarch Katherine Jackson filed papers in the L.A. Superior Court on Friday asking the judge in her son Michael Jackson's probate case if she might be allowed to contest certain elements of his will. Michael's 2002 will, naming Mrs. Jackson as an indirect beneficiary of the estate, also includes a clause cutting anyone out of the will who tries to contest it. Mrs. Jackson's question for the court boils down to whether she can possibly object to specific elements of the will, namely the appointment of longtime financial advisor John Branca and music executive John McClain as executors without losing her beneficiary rights.

International News: Film-themed attractions, hotel to adorn new project -- Paramount and Sun Capital Management, an Osaka-based real estate fund manager, are partnering on a $1.34 billion theme park.

Now the cast of the award-winning show Louis & Keely Live at the Sahara has even more to sing about. The toe-tapping musical is announcing an unprecedented fourth extension and will run in the Geffen Playhouse's Audrey Skriball Kenis Theater through August 30, 2009. The extension comes on the heels of the news of the upcoming July 22 release of an audio CD featuring the music of Louis & Keely: Live at the Sarhara.