Independence pays off for salsa singer Manuelle (Reuters)

Reuters - On February 19, salsa star Victor Manuelle co-hosted Univision's Premios lo Nuestro Awards, looking dapper before a live audience of millions. The figure he struck had little in common with the painfully shy singer with braces who first gained national attention in the '90s as a new face of tropical music.

Polanski lawyers seek inquiry into misconduct (AP)

AP - Roman Polanski's attorneys filed an appeal Thursday asking that a special counsel be appointed to investigate alleged judicial and prosecutorial misconduct in the director's 32-year-old sex case.

Geneva's 'Parsifal' ends in embrace (AP)

AP - Geneva's new "Parsifal" production escaped the boos heard after several recent Richard Wagner opera premieres at the Grand Theatre, with a richly colored staging accompanying music that was at times so sensuous the allegory of Christian salvation seemed destined to end in embrace.

`Butterfly' back, and so is New York City Opera (AP)