
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, April 12, 1991                   TAG: 9104120621
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

THE PEOPLE COLUMN

Paula Abdul went on the offensive Thursday in the biggest musical flap since Milli Vanilli proved to be phony baloney, insisting the lead vocals on "Forever Your Girl" are forever hers.

The singer-choreographer appeared at a Hollywood news conference to counter claims by backup singer Yvette Marine, who alleged in a Superior Court lawsuit she had "substantial participation" in some songs on the top-selling album.

"This angers me," Abdul said in her first appearance since the lawsuit against Virgin Records was filed Monday. "I sing the lead on every single song on `Forever Your Girl.' "

\ Ella Fitzgerald gets the Cole Porter Centennial `You're the Top" award at Radio City Music Hall this weekend.

Margaret Cole Richards, a cousin of the composer, will present Fitzgerald with an engraved crystal sculpture during the jazz singer's concert Saturday night at Radio City.

She'll be honored for "outstanding achievements for sustaining the Cole Porter legend." The award is named after one of the composer-lyricist's most popular hits. The event is one of many marking the 100th anniversary of Porter's birth in Peru, Ind.

\ Michael Landon has an experienced ally in his fight against cancer.

Justin Singer, 12, of Bath Township, Ohio, said he has never known anyone having the same kind of cancer that almost took his life eight years ago. So he penciled off a letter to Landon.

Justin wrote: "I easily understand your stomach pains. When I was 4 years old I had a pancreatic tumor. I take 34 pills a day. I'm missing three-fourths of my pancreas and lots of my intestines. I'm fine now, just a little thin and have a big scar across my stomach but it's almost gone.

"I can do everything I did before my tumor. They told my parents before my surgery that after my surgery I wouldn't be able to eat for a year. A week after my surgery I ate a fish sandwich."

Landon, 54, has inoperable cancer of the liver and pancreas. Only 3 percent of pancreatic cancer patients and 5 percent of liver cancer patients survive more than five years after diagnosis.

by CNB