*Cirque du Soleil announces it'll be making a Michael Jackson-themed show for next year's tour. The show may feature unreleased songs and remixes (though God only knows what the masks and makeup will look like.)

*Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert extend their contracts with Comedy Central through 2012 and 2013, respectively. Stewart and Colbert remaining on TV, Conan O'Brien back in November of this year... my faith in television comedy is restored.

*WaPo's Going Out Gurus report Sixth & I Historic Synagogue is adding a music venue in its downstairs area (literally called "Downstairs"), complete with cash bar. The venue won't be in full use until after the summer, but the soft launch is this week.

*Alan Cumming drops out of the Green Goblin role for the Spider-Man Broadway musical, further confirming my belief that Julie Taymor's long-awaited adaptation of the movie for the stage will either be amazing or suck really hard (...emphasis on the latter).

*With Sam Mendes out of the picture for the new James Bond movie, he's now reportedly in talks to direct the Oz The Great and Powerful movie, an offshoot of The Wizard of Oz stories. Robert Downey, Jr. is currently the first choice to play the Wizard. So. freaking. awesome.

*Legendary Gang Starr MC Keith "Guru" Elam loses his battle with cancer at the age of 43.

*Several Hispanic musicians including Shakira, Juanes, and Alejandro Sanz release a song and music video to raise awareness about Haiti entitled "Ay Haití!" (And it's much better than the "We Are the World" remake.)

DCist notes that 94.7 FM switched from its classic rock format to its "fresh" top 40 format today. This means listeners woke up to Kelly Clarkson and Coldplay instead of Led Zeppelin. The Post writes about one DJ's fade out and the possible fade out of an entire genre (boomer rock):

"WTGB's end closes a chapter for FM radio in the Washington area. Until the rock era, AM radio was the dominant force, with narrow, Top 40 playlists. But in the late 1960s and early '70s, lured by the static-free FM sound, young people across the country turned in droves to the free-form, album-rock format pioneered by stations like WHFS. The music was introduced (and personally selected) by DJs such as Cerphe, Jonathan "Weasel" Gilbert and Damien Einstein, who became minor stars in their own right (Gilbert was let go by WTGB in October)."

Marc Fisher also seems to mourn the loss of classic rock. He also includes a potential playlist for the fresh format that should make most if not all Black Plastic Bag readers gag:

"Sugar Ray–Every Morning
Gwen Stefani–The Sweet Escape
Kelly Clarkson–Walk Away
Chris Brown–With You
Savage Garden–Truly Madly Deeply
Howie Day–Collide
Spin Doctors–Two Princes
John Mayer–Waiting On The World To Change
Rihanna–Hate That I Love You
Mr. Big–To Be With You"

This just makes D.C.'s lack of a viable college rock station that much more of a crime.