Rare Beatles Items in London Pop Auction

The first draft of the lyrics for "I'm Only Sleeping," written by John Lennon in 1966 for the Beatles' groundbreaking album "Revolver," is expected to fetch more than £200,000 ($366,407) at Christie's in London on Sept. 28. Other likely highlights of the pop memorabilia sale are the only existing recording of a Beatles concert at Hong Kong's Princess Theater in Kowloon in 1964 and a recording of an hourlong interview with Lennon and Yoko Ono, conducted by the freelance journalist Ken Seymour in 1969 at the "Bed-In for Peace" in Montreal. The sale also features items from other musicians, including Pete Townshend's 1967 Coral Hornet guitar in flame red, which he gave to Frank Cornelli, lead guitarist of the punk band the Skunks, and Eric Clapton's signed 1981 Fender Lead I guitar.

Denis Leary to Perform in Comedy Festival

Denis Leary will be among the headliners in the second annual New York Comedy Festival, which begins Nov. 1. The weeklong celebration of stand-up comedy is a group effort by Carolines on Broadway, the City of New York, NYC & Company and Alliance. After a kickoff benefit for the Scleroderma Research Foundation, the festival will continue with a week of performances in several locations around the city, including the Hammerstein Ballroom and, of course, Carolines. Other comedians scheduled to perform include Joy Behar, Mario Cantone, DL Hughley and Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, starring Robert Smigel. Full schedule and ticket information: www.nycomedyfestival.com.

Hurricane in Prime Time

CBS, NBC and ABC each broadcast a news special devoted to Hurricane Katrina on Wednesday night. On CBS, "48 Hours" was broadcast first, at 8 p.m., drawing 8.21 million viewers in Nielsen's estimates. "Dateline," on NBC at 9 p.m., brought in 11.8 million. And at 10 p.m., an ABC News special drew an audience of 9.22 million. Over all, NBC was No. 1 in total viewers and tied with CBS in the 18-to-49 demographic. On Sunday night, both "The 4400" and "The Dead Zone" concluded their seasons on USA. "The Dead Zone," starring Anthony Michael Hall, attracted 3.32 million viewers. "The 4400" drew 3.67 million, a huge drop from its first season finale last summer, which brought in 6.1 million viewers. Both USA series finished in basic cable's top 15 shows of last week among 18-to-49-year-olds. KATE AURTHUR

Poker Site Joins Katrina Charity Drive

Individuals, arts organizations and businesses are pitching in to help in the wake of the devastation in the Gulf Coast region in the last few days, donating money and organizing concerts, fund-raisers and other charitable events. Now, an online poker room, Absolute Poker, says it will match donations through a number of online tournaments to benefit the International Committee of the Red Cross's relief effort. Instead of cash prizes, all proceeds will be donated to help the areas hit by Hurricane Katrina. Players who want to donate without playing can do so directly through www.absolutepoker.com. Earlier this year, Absolute Poker raised more than $14,000 for victims of the Asian tsunami.

Western Art in Iran

The Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art has put on display an exhibition that art experts call the most important collection of modern Western art outside Europe and the United States, Reuters reported. Spanning the 1870's to the 1980's, the exhibition, titled "Modern Art Movement," includes works by Picasso, Monet, Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollock (whose "Mural on Indian Red Ground" is above). "It's a sensational show for all of us," said Alireza Samiazar, the museum's director, "and considering the political situation, it could be quite a controversial show as well." The museum's collection of Western art was largely amassed in the 1970's by Farah Pahlavi, widow of the Shah of Iran.

Pop All Over the World

The trio Destiny's Child, due to disband this month, was named world's best-selling pop group at the 2005 World Music Awards on Wednesday, The Associated Press reported. The annual event selects winners on the basis of their worldwide record sales. Destiny's Child also took home awards for best-selling R&B group and best-selling female group of all time at the ceremony, scheduled for broadcast Sept. 13 on ABC. The Game and Gwen Stefani took honors for the best-selling new male and female artists, respectively, at the awards show at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood. Mariah Carey was another big winner, garnering awards for best-selling R&B artist, best-selling pop female artist and female entertainer of the year. ... Ms. Carey has two singles in the top slots of the Billboard singles chart this week, making her one of only five acts to have done so since the chart, the Billboard Hot 100, was begun in 1958. Ms. Carey's song "We Belong Together" is No. 1, and "Shake It Off" is No. 2. The only others to have scored the two top singles at once are OutKast, in 2004; Nelly, in 2002; the Bee Gees, in 1978; and the Beatles, in 1964.

Classical Notes

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra musicians' contract expired yesterday, The Star-Ledger of Newark reported. While the two sides have not reached an agreement after several weeks of talks, both management and the musicians expected to have a new contract by the time the 2005-6 season begins on Sept. 29. ... The clarinetist Richard Stoltzman was presented with the Sanford Medal by the Yale School of Music at the school's annual convocation ceremony. ...Donald Runnicles, above, music director and principal conductor of the San Francisco Opera, has been named music director of the Grand Teton Music Festival in Jackson Hole, Wyo. ... The Los Angeles Philharmonic Association has announced that the Grammy Award-winning jazz bassist Christian McBride will succeed Dianne Reeves as its creative chair for jazz. Mr. McBride will oversee jazz programming at both the Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Hollywood Bowl during his two-year tenure. ... Natalie Forbes has resigned as executive director of the Pittsburgh Chamber Music Society to assume the same title at the New Haven Symphony Orchestra. She replaces Michael McLeod, who left New Haven in June to become executive director of Glimmerglass Opera.

The Boss Adds Tour Dates

Bruce Springsteen has added an extensive third leg to his North American tour, with 17 newly announced fall concerts. This part of his solo acoustic tour will begin Oct. 6 in Rochester, N.Y., and span 11 states before its ends on Nov. 21 in Trenton. On Tuesday, Columbia Music Video will release an expanded and completely re-edited DVD version of Mr. Springsteen's "VH1 Storytellers" concert.

Footnotes

The inaugural scholarship in the name of Fred Rogers, of "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" fame, was awarded to Michelle Lyn Banta, a graduate student at the U.C.L.A. School of Film, Theater and Television. ... Martin Scorsese's biography of Bob Dylan, "No Direction Home," and Cameron Crowe's next film, "Elizabethtown," are part of the lineup at CMJ FilmFest 2005, the screen companion to the annual New York City music marathon. ...Elaine Stritch has added a preview performance on Sept. 10 before her solo cabaret debut at the Cafe Carlyle in Manhattan on Sept. 13.