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The morning papers

James Taylor, who plays the Tweeter Center Tuesday and Wednesday, tells Steve Morse in the Globe that he has passed on playing Fenway Park because he doesn't think "Fire and Rain" can "scour the corners" like the Rolling Stones can with "Brown Sugar." ... Both the Herald and the Globe seem pleased with the selection of Frances Botelho-Hoeg as the winner of the POPSearch contest. ... The Herald's Sarah Rodman lauds the new Dropkick Murphys disc and says don't let the neck tattoos fool you, the lads are indeed a wicked sensitive crew. "...you've got a band like us that sometimes gets mistaken as tough guys when we're really just regular guys, family guys and pacifist completely," singer/bassist Ken Casey tells Sarah.

The Patriot Ledger's Bob Jackman says Plymouth is enjoying "an art renaissance" with new collaboration between the Plymouth Guild for the Arts and the Plymouth Community Art Center, as well as a new gallery and studio opened by painter and teacher Andrew Kusmin.

Music: Principal of success

The 56-year-old elementary school principal Frances Botelho-Hoeg was named winner of the Boston Pops' 2005 POPSearch contest tonight, singing "When You're Good to Mama" from the musical "Chicago." She gets to sing with Keith Lockhart and the Pops - and on the same stage as country superstars Gretchen Wilson, Big & Rich and Cowboy Troy - before a half million or so people at the Hatch Shell on July 4. She'll also join the Pops for shows in Washington D.C. and Philadelphia.  It was the second shot at stardom for the Kingston, Mass., woman, who entered last year's competition but was knocked out in the second round. Last night she beat out Ellen O'Brien, a 43-year-old bartender from Winthrop, and Joseph Rucker Jr., a 32-year-old bartender from Brockton.

Wild Blue Night in Norwell

Two homegrown stars, Animal Planet's Jeff Corwin and blueswoman Susan Tedeschi, will co-host the $100-a-head "Wild Blue Night" fundraiser July 9 for the Eco Zone at the South Shore Natural Science Center in Norwell. The performer at the cocktail bash will be the James Montgomery Blues Band, but "other surprise celebrities" are promised, and I wouldn't be surprised to see Tedeschi on the bandstand. The Eco Zone is a center for teaching kids and families about the South Shore's wetlands ecology -- maybe they can do a crossover with "Frogz" (scroll down). Tix: (781) 659-2559. Corwin is also doing two performances at the South Shore Music Circus earlier in the day to benefit the center.

Music: BGMC to sing for huge crowd

The Boston Gay Men's Chorus will sing for 500,000 people at a festival in Berlin on Saturday, executive director Steven Smith reports in his Euro tour blog. The crowd estimate was an eyeopener for chorus members who arrived Thursday; they've already been interviewed by German television. But clouds still loom over the group's performance in Wroclaw, Poland. Local right-wingers there are calling for the removal of the director of the Philharmonic Hall, where the BGMC will sing, Smith reports.

The morning papers: Ribit

In the Herald, Dave Wedge gives a shoutout to the new generation of "Thrashachusetts" metal bands, like Killswitch Engage, Shadows Fall, Unearth and All That Remains. The latter two are on the bill for the Sounds of the Underground Tour show at Lowell's Tsongas Arena on Saturday. ... The Herald's Terry Byrne says the ART's "Amerika" offers a "breathtaking vision," while the Globe's Ed Siegel liked the production and performances but finds Kafka essentially undramatic. ... Both papers loved "Frogz" (left) at the ART's Zero Arrow Theatre. The Herald's Bob Nesti called it "wacky, thoroughly enchanting" while the Globe's Louise Kennedy called it "genuinely inventive" and "truly goofy fun."

The Worcester Telegram's Richard Duckett reports that city's Sarah Callinan won the Jenny Lind Competition for sopranos and will soon be touring Sweden. Tonight Callinan and her Swedish counterpart will sing in Bridgeport, Ct., home of the competition. The explanation is kind of long but interesting - P.T. Barnum is involved. ... Duckett also reports that The Munich Symphony Orchestra will highlight the 2005-06 Music Worcester series. For some reason, though, he omits the URL. ... In his review in the Berkshire Eagle, Derek Gentile says Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson were on their game at Waconah Park in Pittsfield. But the link for the front page feature on the big concert's impact on the little city leads to a blank page. Maybe they'll have it fixed by the time you get there. ... UPDATE: They fixed the link.

Music: 50's coming to Tweeter

Insert sounds of gunfire here. Street-cred-rich rapper 50 Cent hits the Tweeter Center Aug. 22 with Ludacris, Ciara and Lil John and the East Side Boyz in tow. Tix, $26-$49.50, go on sale Saturday at 11 a.m. at the box office, Ticketmaster, (617/508) 931-2000 or teapartyconcerts.com.

Music: Two generations of Yarrows at Newport

What we're supposed to call the Dunkin Donuts Newport Folk Festival added an interesting act today. The duo of Bethany & Rufus has been added to the Borders Stage lineup on Aug. 6. That's singer Bethany Yarrow and cellist Rufus Cappadocia, whose self-titled debut is due in September. Bethany's dad, Peter Yarrow, of Peter, Paul & Mary fame, will join them. Details here, tix here.

Music: 'Planets' aligned for Landmarks

The Boston Landmarks Orchestra opens its free summer concert season with Holst's "The Planets" at the Boston Common bandstand on July 8 and 9. And the ensemble, conducted by Charles Ansbacher, has added a couple of bonuses. Landmarks commissioned Boston composer Thomas Oboe Lee to write Pluto, the planet that hadn't been discovered when Holst wrote his piece. And there will be pre-concert talks at 7:45 before both 8 p.m. shows. On the 8th, Museum of Science astronomer Adam Weiss will give a short presentation on the planets. And on the 9th, Boston Phoenix "Moon Signs" writer Sally Cragin will let you in on some, well, astrological nonsense.

Music: BGMC meeting Polish resistance

Boston Gay Men's Chorus executive director Steven Smith emails from Berlin that resistance to the group's appearance in the Polish city of Wroclaw (formerly Breslau) is growing, "fanned by the local political party." He says the local party has pressured the Philharmonic Hall to cancel the show as a "disgrace," but he has been assured it will go on. Homophobia is apparently still strong in Poland; in Warsaw, gay-right marchers were arrested last week. But Germany, Smith says, has welcomed the group with open arms. His Euro-tour blog is here.

Theater: Lesbians everywhere!

In Bay Windows, Thomas Garvey profiles playwright Jess Martin and says she's an oxymoron: "a perky lesbian." Mmmm, OK. More importantly, Queer Soup's Martin just got a $5,000 Mass. Cultural Council grant to develop her new play, "My Yolanda Love." Garvey says it marks a turn toward seriousness after the "chatty six-foot dildos from Mars" and other comic contraptions in her previous work. Mmmm, OK. A staged reading is set for Aug. 15-16 at BU's Playwrights Theatre, with a full production possible in 2006. Click to the Queer Soup site for some other productions coming in July at the BU stage. ... Also in Bay Windows, R.J. Grubb tells us about the wonderfully demented Faith Soloway's latest "schlock operetta," a spoof of Showtime's "The L Word" called "The F Word," playing Sunday at the Milky Way. These lesbians are from Framingham, but that doesn't mean their lives are boring.