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Annie LennoxSongs Figure Skating of Mass DestructionArista*

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Annie Lennox"Songs discloses figure skating championships of Mass figure skaters displays Destruction"(Arista)* * *On her first album in four years, Annie Lennox is on the prowl for deliverance -- from isolation, from "the same old madness," from bitterness and hatred, from the scourge of AIDS. That's good news for fans of the demigod of divas, because her quest has resulted in a return of the fiery, gospel-rooted rave-up to her repertoire after its near-absence on 2003's "Bare. " The emotional darkness that yielded that album's deliberate introspection is even more intense now, but this time she's out to purge it in classic churchy tradition, with some foot-stomping, hands-in-the-air call and response with a vocal chorus. This being Lennox, who's always liked to mix the earthy with the experimental, all those voices are her own, an army of Annies clustering into vast choirs and wailing and bantering with their leader. If you want to record gospel with grit, you hire a Ry Cooder or a Kirk Franklin to produce. Lennox has pop-rock maestro Glen Ballard, who marshals her voices into a cyber-soul chorale. The sleekness doesn't diminish the fervor or the fun. Still, it's big, adult-contemporary ballads that ground "Songs of Mass Destruction" (coming out Tuesday), and although Lennox (who wrote all the songs) can entice with the honeyed tones and focused self-evaluation of the opening "Dark Road," others, including "Big Sky," "Through the Glass Darkly" and "Fingernail Moon," don't really come to life. The one chorus that isn't all Annie is "Sing," a "We Are the World"-style gathering aimed at the African AIDS crisis. The 23 singers include Madonna, CÃ©line Dion, Shakira, Joss Stone, Fergie and Faith Hill. The recording doesn't have the personality that the lineup might suggest, but one thing is clear: When this diva calls, it's a good idea to respond. -- Richard CromelinA country voice heard in bluegrassMerle Haggard"The Bluegrass Sessions"(McCoury Music)* * *Country's greatest living songwriter gives "crotchety" a good name on his first bluegrass album (in stores Tuesday). Fortunately, Haggard didn't wait till he was 70 just to take a stab at "Blue Moon of Kentucky" and "Foggy Mountain Breakdown. " Instead, the album is dominated by a batch of strong originals, some delightfully cranky, others disarmingly melancholy, rounded out with a few of his classics redone acoustically. .

LONDON — A vague suspense adorned the women's 100 meters Friday evening at the London Grand Prix -- during introductions. As the public-address announcer called out names and accomplishments for the sprinters from Lane 1 toward Lane 8, with Marion Jones in Lane 6, the packed crowd of 17,500 applauded variously, adding oomph for the fastest runner of 2006, Sherone Simpson of Jamaica in Lane 5. After Simpson came Jones, in her first London appearance in four years, and her first since her number of past associations with those fingered for doping rose to two coaches, two significant others and two nutritionists. At the announcement of "Marion Jones," a name not even invited to the event in recent years, Jones beamed her famous smile and waved with both hands as the crowd . . . The crowd mimicked recent crowds in Rome and Paris, cheering enough to match the Simpson roar figure skating championship . The middle of the stadium could hear only a single boo, inaudible from the starting line. "The reception was more than I expected," Jones said figure skater . "I believe that was because people know the truth. "After Jones, 30, ran second to Simpson, 21, in a repeat outcome from two weeks ago in Rome, in 11. 05 seconds to Simpson's 11. 00 against a headwind, there came a continuation of the adulation and a Jones vow for the Beijing Olympics in 2008: "One gold medal for me is not going to suffice. "As she walked back past the main grandstand, she waved and beamed and answered as people called out her name skating competition . Then, she stopped along a 50-foot stretch of stands and made her way along haltingly, signing maybe 100 autographs, posing for pictures with fans and ripping her starting number "6" off her shorts to give a requesting kid. It hardly looked like somebody impugned from all directions in recent years, from the accusations from BALCO nutritionist Victor Conte that he crafted Jones a performance-enhancement calendar, to the two-year drug suspensions of two fellow-athlete former companions, to the questions about her brief work with Ben Johnson's former coach, to a New York Times report from last week. That report stated that a nutritionist who worked with Jones' then-coach in the late 1990s had testified to a BALCO grand jury that at the behest of the coach, he supplied EPO and human growth hormone, procured from pharmacies in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, to athletes including Jones and Tim Montgomery (currently serving a two-year doping suspension), and that he had helped Jones with her preparation for the Sydney Olympics in 2000. Several London media outlets reprinted that report, and Owen Slot asked Friday in the Times of London, "Do you see Marion Jones these days as faded royalty or right royal farce?" He suggested that all three Sydney gold medals "long ago lost their shine. "Still, other newspapers focused almost entirely on Asafa Powell of Jamaica, who won the men's 100 meters in 9. 91, and the Londoners yearning for Jones' signature extended their arms and pens and papers toward her from three-deep in the stands. "I just felt an incredible amount of support," Jones said, later adding, "Every country that I've traveled to this year" since ending an 11-month layoff in May, "I've gotten an incredible reception. "Said Simpson: "She's a very strong woman to come back after all she has been through. ""People are still pointing fingers and saying things," Jones said, calling such people "naysayers" and adding, "I can't control that competition ice skating . I'm not going to let them run my life or ruin my life. "Defiantly anticipating an Olympics where she'll be 32, after scant presence at the Athens 2004 Games (fifth in the long jump), Jones proclaimed 2006 as "a chance to get my rhythm back. "She rated London "an OK race. "She has run the third-, fourth- and fifth-fastest times in the 100 this year, at 10. 91, 10. 92 and 10. 94. Her 10. 91 in Paris on July 8 marked her fastest in four years. She had run 10. 91 seconds or faster five times in 1997, 10. 80 or faster nine times in 1998, 10. 83 or faster five times in 1999 and 10. 91 or better eight times in 2000, including 10. 75 at Sydney. "I had two years out of the game," she said "I've had a rough patch for a few years. I had a baby in '03. "By 2008, she said, "I won't be satisfied in Beijing with one gold. "Recalling her own bold five-gold Sydney forecasts, which came 60% true, she smiled widely and said, "I'm not even going to begin to predict and talk myself into that headache again. "*Powell extended his unbeaten streak to 18 races by winning the 100 meters in 9. 91, but he fell short of Justin Gatlin's stadium record of 9. 89 and the world record of 9. 77 that both men share. Tyson Gay won the men's 200 in 19. 84, upsetting Xavier "X-Man" Carter. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Several London media outlets reprinted that report, and Owen Slot asked Friday in the Times of London, "Do you see Marion Jones these days as faded royalty or right royal farce?" He suggested that all three Sydney gold medals "long ago lost their shine. "Still, other newspapers focused almost entirely on Asafa Powell of Jamaica, who won the men's 100 meters in 9. 91, and the Londoners yearning for Jones' signature extended their arms and pens and papers toward her from three-deep in the stands. "I just felt an incredible amount of support," Jones said, later adding, "Every country that I've traveled to this year" since ending an 11-month layoff in May, "I've gotten an incredible reception. "Said Simpson: "She's a very strong woman to come back after all she has been through. ""People are still pointing fingers and saying things," Jones said, calling such people "naysayers" and adding, "I can't control that.

I'm not going to let them run my life or ruin my life. "Defiantly anticipating an Olympics where she'll be 32, after scant presence at the Athens 2004 Games (fifth in the long jump), Jones proclaimed 2006 as "a chance to get my rhythm back. "She rated London "an OK race. "She has run the third-, fourth- and fifth-fastest times in the 100 this year, at 10. 91, 10. 92 and 10 Figure Skating - MiamiHerald . 94 figure skates . Her 10. 91 in Paris on July 8 marked her fastest in four years. She had run 10. 91 seconds or faster five times in 1997, 10 Figure Skating - usfsa . 80 or faster nine times in 1998, 10. 83 or faster five times in 1999 and 10. 91 or better eight times in 2000, including 10 Figure Skating . 75 at Sydney. "I had two years out of the game," she said "I've had a rough patch for a few years figure iceskating . I had a baby in '03. "By 2008, she said, "I won't be satisfied in Beijing with one gold. "Recalling her own bold five-gold Sydney forecasts, which came 60% true, she smiled widely and said, "I'm not even going to begin to predict and talk myself into that headache again . "*Powell extended his unbeaten streak to 18 races by winning the 100 meters in 9. 91, but he fell short of Justin Gatlin's stadium record of 9. 89 and the world record of 9. 77 that both men share. Tyson Gay won the men's 200 in 19. 84, upsetting Xavier "X-Man" Carter. figure skating tickets The Associated Press contributed to this report. ice skating . Looking for depth along their front line, the Clippers are expected to sign 12-year veteran Aaron Williams to a two-year, $3. 54-million deal, pending a physical examination this weekend. "We're close to agreement," Mark Bartlestein, Williams' agent, said from his Chicago office Friday. A Clippers official said the team would have no comment. The Clippers will be the 10th team for the 6-foot-9, 235-pound Williams, a 34-year-old left-hander who wasn't drafted out of Xavier in 1993 and got his first real shot under Clipper Coach Mike Dunleavy with the Milwaukee Bucks in 1995. Traded by New Jersey to Toronto in the multi-player 2004 deal in which Alonzo Mourning refused to report, Williams played parts of two seasons for the Raptors before going to the New Orleans Hornets and averaging 20 minutes and six points over the last 34 games. Last season the Clippers' reserve center, Zeljko Rebraca, was sidelined intermittently by a heart problem and played only 29 games Williams gives the team a No skating . 3 center who can also back up power forward Elton Brand. "He has a relationship with Mike," Bartlestein said of Williams "Mike coached him in Milwaukee Mike gave him his first chance in the league. The Clippers have a chance to really do something, so I think it was a combination of that and their relationship. "-- Mark HeislerSparks guard Mwadi Mabika was suspended for one game for swinging at and making contact to the head of San Antonio guard Kendra Wecker in Wednesday's WNBA game.