Elton John

If you really want to understand what "Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida" is, start by looking at what it's not.First of all, "Aida" is not a rock opera. True, it draws from the same story that gave us Verdi's opera about the doomed love affair between the Egyptian general Radames and the Nubian slave girl Aida. But as rewritten by Tim Rice and Elton John -- the same team that gave us Disney's "The Lion King" -- this "Aida" has no arias and no triumphant march, just a string of plot-related pop songs.

It was never about Elton John's glasses or his silly costumes. It was more, much more that spoke to me, inspired me and launched me on the road to fanaticism.I don't offer the term lightly. I've joined fan clubs, attended nearly 100 concerts and paid ticket brokers hundreds of dollars for prime seating (I'm seeing him again tonight at the Baltimore Arena). I've driven eight hours in summer heat in a non-air-conditioned car to make it to a concert in Albany, N.Y. I've planned a vacation to New York City around a talk-show appearance by Elton John and waited five hours in line to get in, only to be turned away at the last minute.

Taking a big step in shoe designShoe designer Todd Welsh wants men to think more creatively when shopping for shoes and not pick the same old tasseled loafers on co-worker's feet."

Stamp showBuy, sell, trade or just examine stamps and other items of philatelic interest this weekend at BALPEX '98, a national stamp show sponsored by the Baltimore Philatelic Society at Marriott's Hunt Valley Inn. Exhibitors from around the world will display rare collections. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. tomorrow and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. A three-day pass is $4; free for seniors and those under 18. Call 410-655-5556 or 410-375-1656.'Touchdown Baltimore'Celebrate the official opening of the new NFL Stadium at Camden Yards with a "Touchdown Baltimore" festival tomorrow through Sunday in and around the stadium.

One of the running gags in "Spice World" features George Wendt as an American producer keen on getting the Spice Girls into a movie. So Wendt spends the film pitching idea after outlandish idea to the group's manager (Richard E. Grant), until he eventually sells Grant on the plot that is "Spice World."Wacky, huh? But not as wacky as some of the ideas that weren't in the movie."The Spice of Music": Misfits in an Austrian convent just before World War II, the Spice Girls are hired as governesses by Baron Von Klapp-Trapp (Elton John)

Boyz II MenEvolution (Motown 314 530 819)For a quiet storm album to succeed, it needs both storm and quiet -- that is, there must be some emotional intensity burning beneath those mellow melodies. There are moments on the new Boyz II Men album, "Evolution," that could be textbook examples of how to get that balance right. In another group's hands, the dulcet beauty of the Jimmy Jam/Terry Lewis tune "4 Seasons of Loneliness" could easily have turned saccharine, but the Boyz convey the tartness of romantic regret while still savoring the full sweetness of its melody.

Organization helps dyslexics learn to readMichael Olesker's Sept. 9 column about 82-year-old Betty Mandell was very interesting. However, he should have ended with this note: Today, we are so fortunate to have an organization called May Day Inc. (which stands for Maryland Association for Dyslexic Adults & Youths Inc.) Had this been in existence in Ms. Mandell's youth, she would have been taught to read.I think this is a worthwhile organization that needs everyone's support.Shirley MilnerBaltimoreAge no hindrance to determinationMichael Olesker's Sept.

Elton John will sing "Candle in the Wind" -- a song about beauty, vulnerability and dying too soon -- at tomorrow's funeral for Princess Diana, Buckingham Palace announced as it released the order of the service yesterday.The pop song, first recorded in 1973, was written by John and Bernie Taupin as a tribute to Marilyn Monroe, who died at 36 in 1962. "Goodbye Norma Jean," the lyrics began, using Monroe's real name.The words have been reworked to honor the dead princess, who was a friend of the singer.

It sounds like a depressing new dimension in self-promotion even by the standards of star-controlled, pop-music, video journalism: a documentary about a superstar filmed and directed by the star's current lover.But "Tantrums and Tiaras," a look at the life of Elton John by David Furnish, is anything but. In fact, it's one of the most pleasantly surprising documentaries of the year. If nothing else, it demolishes those hoary bromides about the importance of objectivity to nonfiction film-making.

In 1973, the pianist and the princess-to-be unwittingly bonded over a pop song that took maybe 30 minutes to compose.The subject was old, and the song title wasn't original. At the time, the song wasn't even released as a single in this country. But in Great Britain, the ode to Marilyn Monroe struck a chord with British teen-agers. The tune peaked at No. 11 on the British charts before burning out.Nearly 25 years later, "Candle in the Wind" is ablaze.Elton John's reworked version of the song premiered during the funeral for his friend Princess Diana.

Guy Graham Babylon, a Grammy Award-winning musician and former New Windsor resident, who was a keyboardist with Elton John's band for more than 20 years, died of arrhythmia Sept. 2 at Los Robles Hospital & Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, Calif. He was 52. Mr. Babylon, who had been a member of the North Baltimore Aquatic Club when in high school and still enjoyed competitive swimming, was stricken while swimming and was pronounced dead later at the nearby hospital. Elton John, who was unable to attend Mr. Babylon's funeral that was held Sept.

HUSON, Mont. - When my husband and I retired and moved from Southern California to the Missoula, Mont., area, we imagined a quiet existence in a corner of the country that doesn't make national news. The local paper covers stories about whether to allow Hooters to build on a busy street corner, the reconstruction of a dam that threatens trout fishing season, and who can shoot wild turkeys on whose property. Ahh, the simple life, out of the media glare! But suddenly Missoula is a regular in the national headlines.

The 2006 concert landscape looked a bit like a pop music rest home, shaped for the most part by artists who have been at it for three decades and more, according to the 2006 North America tour rankings released by the trade magazine Pollstar. The Rolling Stones and Barbra Streisand topped the list, and the Top 20 was littered with old-timers, including Elton John, Billy Joel, the Who, Def Leppard, Journey and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. And the biggest thing on the 2007 horizon? A reunion of Genesis, featuring Phil Collins.

Aimee Mann gives an acoustic performance with Amy Correia at 9 tomorrow night at Rams Head Live. Doors open at 7 p.m. Mann has a storytelling musical style inspired by The Band, Elton John and Rod Stewart. Rams Head Live is at 20 Market Place. For tickets, Call 410-244-1131 or visit ramsheadlive.com. Mann also plays at 7:30 p.m. Sunday at the Birchmere, 3701 Mount Vernon Ave. in Alexandria, Va. For those tickets, call 410-547-SEAT or go to ticketmaster.com.

Aida - not the opera by Giuseppe Verdi, but a rock musical by Elton John - is the current production at Toby's Dinner Theatre. The show is a tragedy about doomed lovers in ancient Egypt. s Dinner Theatre, 5900 Symphony Woods Road, Columbia, presents Aida through Nov. 20. Information or reservations: 410-730-8311 or 800- 888-6297.

By name, he's Prince again, but on the concert trail he was king. Prince's Musicology tour grossed $87.4 million in 2004, tops among concert attractions in North America, according to Pollstar magazine. The concert-industry-tracking publication will finalize figures this week for some acts that are on tour through the end of the year, but no one will earn enough in the next few days to dislodge Prince, whose tickets averaged $61.04 on his stops in 69 cities. He also sold more tickets than any other act, more than 1.4 million.

There's no danger that anyone is going to mistake Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida for Verdi's opera. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. This Disney-backed show takes a tragic Italian opera and turns it into a pop Broadway musical - and a slick one at that. There's a driving Europop beat in much of John's music, and touches of updated humor in the book by Linda Woolverton, David Henry Hwang and Robert Falls (who does double duty as director). After an abortive 1998 Broadway tryout in Atlanta, Disney fired the show's original director and designer and brought in Falls, Hwang and designer Bob Crowley.

First there was Giuseppe Verdi, then came Elton John. Both composers have had a go at the story of Aida, the Nubian princess whose Egyptian captor falls in love with her. Verdi composed the opera Aida. More than a century later, John wrote the music for the pop Broadway musical of the same name. The touring production of the Broadway show, which has lyrics by Tim Rice, begins a six-week engagement at Washington's Kennedy Center Tuesday. Set partly in modern days and partly in ancient Egypt, the libretto (by Linda Woolverton, Robert Falls and David Henry Hwang)

The benefits of wearing a 'Glam' MAC lipstick Who'd have thought being glam could do so much good? In the last eight years, edgy MAC cosmetics has raised more than $23 million for people affected by HIV and AIDS through the sale of its Viva Glam lipsticks. But the campaign's success has less to do with lip color than the celebrity spokespeople promoting it. In the past, high-profile personalities -- including drag diva RuPaul, musician k.d. lang and hip-hopstress Lil' Kim -- have held the post, but this year's trio of talent might just prove the most explosive.

The horror began at the photo desk in a Wal-Mart, in Johnson City, Tenn. My scream could be heard at least as far as the shoe department, perhaps even domestics. Twelve years of my life had brought me to this moment. Earlier in the day, after years of exhaustive efforts, I had actually managed to spend a few moments with my musical idol -- Elton John. To my astonishment, he had even graciously offered to pose for pictures with my friend and me. And now this. Now I was staring, disbelieving, at four indistinguishable prints.