Entertainment Briefs for July 2, 2010

Franklin, Rice team up for Philly musical benefit

PHILADELPHIA - Aretha Franklin will take the stage next month with an accomplished accompanist more famous for diplomacy: Condoleezza Rice.The pair will play at Philadelphia's Mann Center for the Performing Arts on July 27 in show that will feature Franklin's music and classical composers.

The Mann Center's website says former Secretary of State Rice will accompany Franklin on piano for "Say A Little Prayer," ''Natural Woman," selections from Mozart and more.Franklin says in a statement that "Rice is a consummate classical pianist" and that since I sing the arias, I thought that we could do something, a bipartisan effort for our favorite charities."

The venue says the performance is a benefit for programs that support inner city children and its own education initiatives.

Barbara Eden fans can soon read of Jeannie, too

NEW YORK - Barbara Eden says she's been bottled up long enough.The 75-year-old former star of "I Dream of Jeannie" is writing a memoir to be published by Crown Archetype.

Crown Archetype Vice President Tina Constable says "Jeannie Out of the Bottle" will be published next spring. Eden co-starred with Larry Hagman in the '60s TV series about a beautiful genie named Jeannie. Hagman played the astronaut who found her on a beach and is constantly trying to keep her existence a secret.

She said Tuesday in a statement that "it's time for me to pop the cork and talk about the amazing people I've been fortunate enough to meet along the way."Archetype is an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group of Random House Inc.

Rascal Flatts' DeMarcus and wife expecting child

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Jay DeMarcus of Rascal Flatts and his wife, Allison, are expecting their first child.

The bass player recently joked that he felt left out of baby discussions with bandmates Gary LeVox and Joe Don Rooney, both fathers. But he won't be excluded any more.A news release says the child is due in January. The couple was married in 2004.

DeMarcus says he's confident his wife, a former Miss Tennessee and CMT personality, will be a great mother "because she has done an incredible job raising me over the past six years."DeMarcus' band is on the road this summer and plans to release an album in September.

Minister rejects Jamie Oliver approach to health LONDON - Britain's new health minister has rejected celebrity chef Jamie Oliver's approach to improving school food and tackling childhood obesity.

Andrew Lansley has told the British Medical Association that the chef's campaign to improve nutrition among students did not result in more children eating school meals.Oliver has campaigned since 2004 to ban junk food in Britain's schools and reform children's unhealthy diet. He has recently taken his campaign to West Virginia.

Lansley says Wednesday "constantly lecturing people" and telling them what to eat is counterproductive.But Oliver says Lansley's comments are not accurate. The chef also says the comments were an "insult" to the school lunch ladies and others who worked hard to feed better meals to children.