LOS ANGELES (AFP)
British actress Helen Mirren, Spain's Javier Bardem and 1970s
rock icon Janis Joplin are among celebrities set to get their
stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame next year, organizers said
Friday.
Chat show host Ellen DeGeneres and actress Jane Lynch are also
among the 24 honorees for 2013, while music stars include The
Backstreet Boys, Usher and Luther Vandross, the Hollywood Chamber
of Commerce announced.
"The Walk of Fame committee is proud to announce next year's
honorees whose additions to the world famous Hollywood Walk of
Fame will bring everlasting memories of their star power, talent,
and popularity," it said.
The Chamber of Commerce meets every June to select roughly 20
honorees from hundreds of nominations. Those picked get the glory
but also have to pay $30,000 for the upkeep of the stars, which
line Hollywood Boulevard and nearby streets in downtown
Tinseltown, drawing millions of tourists every year.
One star whose absence was noted recently was that of the singer
Whitney Houston, found dead in her Beverly Hills hotel bathtub on
February 11, aged 48.
Houston was selected for a star in 1995, but neither she nor her
managers organized a star inauguration ceremony within five
years, after which her selection expired.
Ana Martinez, spokeswoman for the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce,
said Houston's family had not requested to have her Walk of Fame
star nomination revived.
"Her family has not contacted us, there's nothing we can do," she
told AFP.
But she said: "We would absolutely reinstate her, the committee
would just have to take a little quick re-vote."
The full list of new nominees for 2013 is:
-- Movies: Rick Baker, Javier Bardem, Viola Davis, James Franco,
Ron Howard and Helen Mirren.
-- Television: Simon Baker, Bryan Cranston, Ellen DeGeneres, Jane
Lynch, Katey Sagal and Matthew Perry.
-- Music: The Backstreet Boys, Jennifer Hudson, Jane's Addiction,
Janis Joplin (Posthumous), New Kids on the Block, Usher Raymond
IV, Thalia and Luther Vandross (Posthumous).
-- Live theater: Olympia Dukakis and Penn & Teller.
-- Radio: Steve Harvey and "Shot Gun" Tom Kelly.
