A May 22 screening of the musical drama "De-lovely" will be the centerpiece of film studio MGM's 80th anniversary celebration at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. Starring Kevin Kline and Ashley Judd, the film about the life of composer Cole Porter also features Alanis Morissette, Robbie Williams, Lara Fabian, Natalie Cole, Sheryl Crow, Elvis Costello and Diana Krall. Fireworks and a concert featuring several of the musicians from the film will follow the non-competitive special Cannes screening.

Originally dubbed "Just One of Those Things," the Irwin Winkler-directed film takes its name from Porter's song "It's De-lovely." A limited June 25 U.S. release in select theaters is planned; details of a wider release have not been announced.

-- Barry A. Jeckell, N.Y.

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Southern rock stalwart Lynyrd Skynyrd will be on hand April 22 to headline a welcome home concert for American troops returning from service in Iraq. The Tribute To Heroes event at Fort Hood, Texas, will honor the Army's 4th Infantry Division. The concert will cap a daylong event that is expected to draw about 100,000 people, made up of troops and their families; 30,000 will be able to see the concert.

"The members of the band and I feel it's an honor and a pleasure to be able to perform for such a prestigious group of individuals who played a key role in Saddam [Hussein's] capture," Skynyrd singer Johnny Van Zant says.

The band is winding down a U.S. tour that plays Waterloo, Iowa, tonight (March 10), Council Bluffs, Iowa, Friday and Paducah, Ky., Saturday. The Fort Hood show will kick off what is expected to be a summer-long tour for Skynyrd.

-- Barry A. Jeckell, N.Y.

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Mercury Rev, R.E.M.'s Peter Buck, Jim O'Rourke, Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo and Steve Shelley, Mike Watt and Wilco's Jeff Tweedy are among the acts that will contribute tracks to the "James Joyce Chamber Music Project," due in April via Fire Records. Each artist was given one of the 36 verses from James Joyce's 1907 poem "Chamber Music" and asked to set it to music.

Also confirmed to appear are the Minus 5, Flying Saucer Attack, Bardo Pond, Bark Psychosis, Califone, Jessica Bailiff, Alan Licht, the Green Pajamas, the Silent League and Wayne Kramer. The album will be released as a double-disc set and on 12-inch vinyl.

-- Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

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Red House Painters frontman Mark Kozelek is employing an unusual band to back him on the inaugural tour of his latest project, Sun Kil Moon, Billboard.com has learned. Kozelek will be joined by Red House Painters guitarist Phil Carney, Indianapolis based guitarist Matt Boyer and a viola and violin player for the six-date trek, which begins March 20 in Philadelphia.

Sun Kil Moon will be touring in support of its Jetset debut, "Ghosts of the Great Highway," which topped college radio airplay charts earlier this year. Following the April 2 finale in Los Angeles, he will make up three canceled solo gigs in mid-April in Florida and Georgia.

Here are Sun Kil Moon/Kozelek tour dates:

March 20: Philadelphia (Theatre of Living Arts)
March 21: New York (Bowery Ballroom)
March 23: Boston (Paradise Rock Club)
March 25: Chicago (Park West)
March 30: San Francisco (Great American Music Hall)
April 2: Los Angeles (Troubadour)
April 17: Tallahassee, Fla. (Club Downunder; Kozelek solo)
April 19: St. Augustine, Fla. (Cafe Eleven; Kozelek solo)
April 22: Atlanta (Echo Lounge; Kozelek solo)

-- Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.