SOUND BITES Of course, both sides may have seen their causes upstaged yesterday by Clive Davis's 27th annual pre-Grammy black-tie dinner party at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Last year, the J Records chief used the occasion to introduce the then-unknown Alicia Keys to the industry. A year later, as Keys returned to Los Angeles with a multiplatinum album and six Grammy nominations, everyone wanted to know who Davis' surprise performer would be this time. At press time, that performer's name remained unknown, but Davis promised to feature established performers (also secret), including a rapper, a classic R&B group, and a neo-soul princess.
Kurt Cobain's estate, controlled by widow Courtney Love, has sold the rights to publish his notebooks for $4 million. Penguin Putnam's Riverhead division will publish the Nirvana frontman's notes, journal entries, and drawings in November. Fans got a glimpse of the notebooks last year when Love let author Charles Cross use them as a source for his book, ''Heavier Than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain.''
TUBE TALK NBC has signed Conan O'Brien to another four years, ending worries that he would defect to Fox, which wanted to build a late-night show around him. ''I'm very excited to be staying at NBC,'' O'Brien said in a statement. ''By my 13th year, we should really know if this thing works or not.'' The new deal reportedly doubles his salary to around $8 million a year.
How will NBC defray the cost of Conan's paycheck? The network is angling to sell reruns to a cable outlet yet to be named. That's what it's doing with the show that follows O'Brien's, '','' which will be shown in next-day reruns on E!. Increasingly, the networks are subsidizing first-run shows this way, with recent reruns of ABC's ''Once and Again'' airing on Lifetime and the WB's ''Charmed'' episodes on TNT. The latest deal is for ABC's Denis Leary comedy ''The Job,'' which will find a second home on Comedy Central....
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