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Cash checks out

Johnny Cash has been released from a hospital in Nashville, Tenn., after two weeks of treatment for bronchitis.

Cash checked out on Monday, hospital spokeswoman Jessica Etz said. He was admitted on Oct. 7.

The 69-year-old country singer suffers from autonomic neuropathy, a disease of the nervous system that makes him susceptible to pneumonia. He's been hospitalized with it four times since 1998.

A six-time winner of Country Music Assn. awards, Cash was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1980 and inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.

Mariah meets 'Ally'

Mariah Carey didn't exactly get glittering reviews for her first foray into acting, but she's trying it again with a guest appearance on "Ally McBeal."

Carey will play the key figure in a lawsuit involving a matchmaking service. She'll also perform "Lead the Way," a song from the soundtrack to her movie "Glitter," in which she made her acting debut and got universally panned.

She's expected to shoot her scenes this week. The episode, in which Jon Bon Jovi makes his debut in a recurring role as a potential love interest for Ally, is scheduled to air Jan. 7 on Fox.

Other celebrities doing guest spots during the fifth season of "Ally McBeal" include Elton John and Jacqueline Bisset.

Team performers



Country singer Clint Black and comedian Al Franken performed for U.S. troops at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, a staging post for the war on terrorism, kicking off a tour also taking them to bases in Italy and the Balkans.

About 2,800 people, Air Force personnel and their families crowded into a hangar draped with a huge U.S. flag for a bill that included other country stars on Monday.

Some 40,000 military personnel and their families live and work at Ramstein and the nearby U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl in rural western Germany. American soldiers injured or killed abroad often pass through.

Lending a helping hand

Neal McCoy says there's nothing better than helping fans in their time of need.

After learning that an Oct. 17 fire had destroyed nearly everything Peggy Yaney owned � including her tickets to his show � the country singer gave tickets to Yaney and eight family members.

"It's not something I have to do, it's something I get to do," McCoy said. "I think it's neat that I can brighten a person's life, whether it's with a phone call, tickets or whatever."

The show will be Nov. 1 at Veteran's Memorial Civic Center in Lima, Ohio.