Entertainment briefs

For nearly 78 years, the Opry has been broadcast exclusively on Friday and Saturday nights on WSM-AM radio. The station, which created the country music program, has a signal heard in about 38 states.

Beginning in April, "America's Grand Ole Opry Weekend," a two-hour weekly show distributed by the Westwood One radio network, will feature performances by country music stars recorded live from the Opry stage.

Affiliates that carry the show also will receive a daily two-minute feature, "Backstage at the Opry," with behind-the-scenes stories about memorable Opry performances.

Country music recording executives on Tuesday cheered the decision by Opry owner Gaylord Entertainment to go nationwide.

The syndication announcement comes a little more than a year after Gaylord Entertainment raised an uproar among country stars like Vince Gill and George Jones by considering switching the format of WSM from country music to sports. Speculation then was that Gaylord wanted to syndicate the Opry.

'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' wins at U.S. Comedy Arts Festival

ASPEN, Colo. -- The gifts keep piling up for "My Big Fat Greek Wedding."

The low-budget box-office smash took two of the four honors at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival's first-ever film awards. "Greek Wedding" was chosen in voting by Hollywood professionals as last year's best independent comedy film and won the audience award for comedy film of the year, an honor given through online fan voting.

Shot on a tiny $5 million budget and lacking a big-studio advertising campaign, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" grew into a $240 million blockbuster through audience word-of-mouth. The film earned a screenwriting Academy Awards nomination for writer-star Nia Vardalos, who based the romance on her boisterous Greek upbringing and marriage to a non-Greek man.

"About a Boy," starring Hugh Grant as a womanizer hitting on single moms, won the festival's award for best studio comedy. Burr Steers took the honor for best first-time director for "Igby Goes Down," a dark comedy about a dysfunctional family.<