POP/ROCKStewart’s Brazilian Influence: Rod Stewart said he...

POP/ROCK

Stewart’s Brazilian Influence: Rod Stewart said he was too drunk during a trip to Brazil in 1979 to realize he was copying his “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” from a Brazilian star. Stewart said in Friday’s Jornal do Brasil newspaper that he inadvertently copied the song, which turned out to be a hit, from Jorge Benjor’s popular “Taj Mahal.” Shortly after releasing the song in 1979, Stewart acknowledged the similarity and donated the royalties to the United Nations Children’s Fund. Stewart’s admission came just prior to his New Year’s Day show in Brazil where he played to a record crowd of 3.5 million at Copacabana Beach, but he was unable to perform an encore. He was taken away by ambulance after being given oxygen to combat exhaustion. Stewart blamed his malady on strenuous soccer games that morning and a large lunch of traditional Brazilian dishes. Ironically, Jorge Benjor held the most recent record for the largest open-air concert--an event that drew 3 million to Copacabana Beach last New Year’s Day.

TELEVISION

Cammermeyer Screening: Barbra Streisand and the real-life Col. Margarethe Cammermeyer will host a Jan. 23 premiere screening at Century City’s Cineplex Odeon Century Plaza Cinemas of the NBC-TV movie “Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story.” The 7:30 p.m. screening, which is open to the public, benefits the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, which works to protect the civil rights of lesbians, gay men and those with HIV and AIDS. Tickets, which are available through both organizations, are $50, $150 and $500, with the upper two ticket prices including admission to a VIP celebrity reception. The TV movie, starring Glenn Close and Judy Davis, and produced by Streisand and Close, airs on NBC Feb. 6. It is based on the story of Cammermeyer, the highest-ranking officer to be discharged from the U.S. military after admitting to being a lesbian.

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Skating Deja Vu: Women’s gold and silver figure-skating medalists Oksana Baiul and Nancy Kerrigan compete in their first head-to-head competition since the 1994 Winter Olympics on “Fox’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Skating Championships,” scheduled to air Jan. 17 on Fox TV. In what is being billed as “a skating competition with attitude,” the event--held in Memphis, Tenn.--also features two-time Olympic gold medalist Katarina Witt, former Olympic gold medalists Scott Hamilton and Viktor Petrenko, reigning U.S. silver medalist Mark Mitchell and world professional champion Gary Beacom. Performing before a panel of judges, including former MTV VJ “Downtown” Julie Brown, 1976 Olympic decathlon champion Bruce Jenner and U.S. women’s Olympic gymnastics coach Bela Karolyi, each skater will execute two different routines set to contemporary rock and pop music of their choice.

MOVIES

Grant’s Fame: Don’t call Hugh Grant an optimist. He plays alongside Robin Williams in the upcoming film “Nine Months,” but he is not expecting fame to last. “I’ve been acting for a decade, and I’ve seen so many dogs have their day,” said Grant in January’s Cosmopolitan magazine. “I just feel I’m having mine now--and though I’d love to go on and on, I suspect on the whole I’ll be back doing BBC radio dramas next spring.” Grant hit it big last year and has been nominated for a Golden Globe award for his portrayal of a reluctant bridegroom in the surprise hit “Four Weddings and a Funeral.”

STAGE

Yo! Rex: Rex Smith is turning back his 39-year-old clock to star as Danny Zuko in the touring production of “Grease!” opening tonight at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. Smith was a teen heartthrob in the late 1970s after the movie “Sooner or Later” and his hit song “You Take My Breath Away.” He also starred opposite Linda Ronstadt on Broadway and film in “The Pirates of Penzance.” Smith first played Zuko on Broadway in 1979. He’s glad to be back. “Who wouldn’t want to put on a leather jacket and walk around and be cool, with a cigarette hanging out of your mouth?” Smith said.

QUICK TAKES

Actress Sophia Loren (“Ready to Wear”) will receive this year’s Cecil B. DeMille Award for her “outstanding contribution to the entertainment field” as part of the 52nd Annual Golden Globe Awards, Jan. 21 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. . . . Amanda Donohoe, a Golden Globe winner for her portrayal of bisexual attorney C.J. Lamb on “L.A. Law,” will make her Broadway debut in the Circle in the Square’s next production, “Uncle Vanya.” Previews begin Feb. 4. . . . Award-winning broadcaster Dorothy Lucey joins KTTV Channel 11’s “Good Day L.A.” as entertainment reporter, starting today. Lucey most recently served as co-host of the CBS prime-time series “How’d They Do That” with Pat O’Brien from 1992-94.