Knight Ridder Newspapers

Chris Rock wants to clarify what he meant when he said straight men don’t watch the Oscars.

“I did not say that. I said only gay people watch the Tonys,” he joked Monday on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.”

But later he stuck to his guns.

“I really don’t know any straight men who aren’t in show business that have ever watched the Oscars,” he said.

The Emmy-winning comedian has taken some heat for an Entertainment Weekly interview in which he called the notion of giving awards for art “idiotic” and added: “What straight black man sits there and watches the Oscars?”

He also offered Leno some toned-down criticism of Oscar hype.

“The awards don’t really affect anybody’s lives in the crowd,” Rock said. “Meanwhile, the Nobel Peace Prize, there’s no one there. Nobody cares what the scientists are wearing. What are you wearing Professor Allen? “Pants!”‘

Rock, asked if he was rooting for anyone to win, said he would favor Don Cheadle, who is up for best actor for his role in “Hotel Rwanda.”

“I like it if the award will affect the person’s life,” Rock said. “If he wins, he’s gonna get better scripts, he’s gonna work with better directors.”

And he had some advice for acceptance speeches.

“Don’t thank God,” Rock said. “God’s busy working on the tsunami, so leave him alone.”

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He did it in “Evita” and recently as Puss in Boots in “Shrek.” Now, Antonio Banderas will sing once more – this time at the Oscars with legendary guitarist Carlos Santana, reports the Spanish news wire Agencia EFE.

Banderas and Santana will sing “Al otro lado del rio” (On the Other Side of the River) – the theme song to “The Motorcycle Diaries.”

The Mexican foreign film nominated for an Oscar narrates Ernesto “Che” Guevara’s first trip through Latin America in 1952.

The Academy Awards air at 8 p.m. Sunday EST on ABC.

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Apparently, Cher is not a fan of the younger generation of pop stars, reports The New York Post.

During a concert in Auckland, New Zealand, last weekend, she told 20,000 fans: “I’m not going to give up show business, but I’m going to give up touring because, you know, there are all of these young girls coming out like Britney Spears and J.Lo.”

The crowd booed at the names and, according to New Zealand wire reports, Cher smirked: “I know – they are ho’s, aren’t they?”

A rep for Spears and Lopez told The Post’s Page Six: “For someone who has had their fair share of bad press, it is surprising she would comment on two women she hardly knows.”

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