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Hawaii
LOOKS like there may be bad blood among some heretofore friendly isle entertainers. Back in November, a quartet composed of Dick Jensen, Nephi Hannemann, Iva Kinimaka and Jimmy Borges sang on the taping of Emme Tomimbang's Christmas TV special as "Waikiki's Best." All except Borges had been promoting an upcoming show as "Hawaii's Very Best" on radio, TV and in public performances. Now Hannemann is huhu, claiming Jensen has usurped the glory and covertly changed the name of his Waikiki Terrace Hotel appearance as "The Dick Jensen Show with Hawaii's Very Best." Horsehockey, said Hannemann, and he's now publicly declaring he and Iva are no longer involved in any way with the show. No billing, no cooing ... Hawaii’s Very Best break up
HANDSOME Rick Yune was a Wall Street trader who dabbled in modeling before being cast in "Snow Falling on Cedars," a fact not lost on KITV's Gary Sprinkle. When Sprinkle interviewed Yune, the topic was mostly about the film, but when the cameras shut down, the talk turned to the stock market, and the next thing you know the two were discussing stock tips ...
Short story
AFTER the Star-Bulletin story about 16-year-old Jesse Spencer getting mauled by a shark at Kailua-Kona, People magazine showed a definite interest. It didn't hurt that sister Time magazine's ace photog, P.F. Bentley, was on the Big Isle at the time and got some photos. The story is running in the current edition of People, and that's attracted the attention of the producers of the Martin Short TV show. A feeler has gone out to get Jesse on the show. As for Bentley, thelensman is currently traveling with and photographing Bill Bradley for Time ...
RATINGS are the lifeblood of radio and TV performers everywhere, even in Japan. Localite Bob Zix, who appears on Osaka's FM802 as Kamasami Kong, has been No. 1 in his time period for 11 years in a row, coming in last week with a 38 per cent share. He's especially happy to be No. 1 in the 16-34 age group, his prime demographic ... Maybe Kong can interview the 35 Leeward school kids who earned a trip to Japan through both their report cards and an essay writing contest sponsored by sumo champ Konishiki. He'll be accompanying the students and seven chaperones on the trip tomorrow which will enable them to play in the snow at Karuizawa, one of the Nagano sites at the Winter Olympics, dine with Mike Piazza of the New York Mets, ride on the Shinkansen (bullet train) and take in Tokyo Disneyland as well as a sumo arena. United Airlines donated the air tickets to the Konishiki Kids Program for the third year ...
ONE of the top flicks playing movie theaters these days is "The Hurricane," a highly fictionalized and dramatized account of the life of boxer Rubin (Hurricane) Carter, portrayed by Denzel Washington. Promoter Tom Moffatt recalls when Carter fought Hawaii's Stan Harrington at the Arena (then the H.I.C.) and lost a 10-round decision in 1966. His recollection is that Carter didn't care to fight and that it was a boring event ...
Long life celebrated
SERVICES will be Saturday for longtime isle entertainer Leina'ala Simerson, mother of singer Nohelani Cypriano and friend to both Hollywood stars and local folks alike during her many years of entertaining. She started Nohelani singing at age 4 at the old Waikiki Sands. Think happy thoughts about that landmark as well as Leina'ala ...
Dave Donnelly has been writing on happenings
in Hawaii for the Star-Bulletin since 1968.
His columns run Monday through Friday.Contact Dave by e-mail: ddonnelly@starbulletin.com