Happy Birthday to Elvis Costello, who turns 48 today.

Burt is scheduled to appear on the Aug. 13 installment of American Idol. “Burt will come in and help the finalists choose their next song, and then they’ll stand up there and sing some of his,” co-executive producer Nigel Lythgoe told the New York Daily

News. Lythgoe was a producer of American Idol’s British forerunner, Pop Idol.

Burt and lyricist Cathy Dennis recently collaborated on “What’s In Goodbye,” a song for vocalist Will Young, winner of the U.K.’s phenomenally popular “Pop Idol” television series/contest. Young joined Burt onstage in London and Liverpool last week to sing the song, a live recording of which is available here: http://www.wbvm.co.uk/goodbye.mp3

The Guardian U.K. published this review of Burt’s performance at London’s Hammersmith Apollo on July 27.

Happy birthday to Mick Jagger, who turns 59 (!) today. I updated the media section with a trio of articles first brought to my attention by contributors to the Bacharach forum. Songs and Lovers, a feature on the Australian Bacharach-David musical What the World Needs Now, an interview with Burt from the U.K.’s The Independent on Sunday, and an interview with Dionne from This Is London. Thanks for the tips.

The Observer (UK) published this interview with Dionne Warwick, in which she discusses her love of Brazil, her fondness for soccer and her recent legal troubles, on July 14, 2002.

Rob Pingel sent in a few scans from his voluminous collection of Bacharach sheet music.

I finally got around to scanning some images from a 1971 Burt Bacharach souvenir program. Some of the originals were larger than the bed of my scanner, so you’ll just have to use your imagination to fill them out.

Australian Burt fans should keep an eye out for What the World Needs Now. The new musical, built around the songs of Bacharach and David, opens at Sydney’ s Theatre Royal on Augu

st 6, 2002.

Dave submitted these photos from the June 28, 2002, Bacharach/Warwick concert in Detroit.

Thanks, Dave.