THE BUZZ BOSS JOINS CARAVAN FOR KERRY.

Byline: - Compiled by Valerie Kuklenski

Bruce Springsteen has signed on to the ``Vote for Change'' tour along with more than 20 artists, including the Dave Matthews Band, Dixie Chicks, Pearl Jam, R.E.M., and John Mellencamp, it was announced Wednesday. The tour will kick off Oct. 1 and bring its message to 34 cities in nine of the 17 key electoral battleground states. (No, California isn't considered a swing state.)

``I feel this is one of the most critical elections in my lifetime,'' Springsteen told the Associated Press in the most overtly political statement of his career. ``This wasn't one that a concerned citizen felt comfortable sitting out.''

The tour, which will launch in Pennsylvania, will have as many as six concerts on a single day in cities across the states expected to decide the November presidential race. Other stops on the tour are North Carolina, Ohio, Michigan, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Wisconsin and the key state in 2000, Florida.

The money generated will go to America Coming Together, which promises on its Web site to ``derail the right-wing Republican agenda by defeating George W. Bush.'' The anticipated millions of dollars will be spent in the swing states before the presidential election, said ACT president Ellen Malcolm.

Others in the lineup include Babyface, Bright Eyes, Jackson Browne, Death Cab for Cutie, John Fogerty, Ben Harper, Jurassic 5, Keb' Mo', My Morning Jacket and James Taylor.

The big-screen factor

``Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism'' has been a hot ticket among DVD buyers and now it is getting a theatrical release. The Robert Greenwald film, which criticizes Fox News as a mouthpiece for the Bush administration while promoting itself as ``fair and balanced,'' opens Friday at the Laemmle Fairfax and will get a wider release later. The film also has been available on DVD, currently ranking No. 2 on Amazon.com's best-seller list. Hoping for another piece of the political-moviegoers' pie, Cinema Libre Distribution on Aug. 27 also will release Greenwald's ``Uncovered: The Whole Truth About the Iraq War,'' which includes interviews with government and foreign service experts who fault the administration's reasoning in deciding to attack Iraq

Moore the merrier

In the strange bedfellows department, some conservatives were actually cheering for Cuba a couple of days ago when it looked as if a telecast there of ``Fahrenheit 9/11'' could prevent controversial filmmaker Michael Moore from competing for another Oscar. However, Moore remains in the running. The film's distributor, Lions Gate, argued to the motion picture academy that the broadcast was unauthorized and was made from a bootleg copy of the film, which remains in theaters with $109 million in tickets sold. The academy agreed there was no rule violation, allowing ``Fahrenheit'' a shot at the best documentary prize. If Moore wins, don't expect him to try to top or even match his notorious anti-Bush rant when he won the 2002 honor for ``Bowling for Columbine.'' As he said recently on ``The Tonight Show With Jay Leno,'' he would be more inclined to thank his wardrobe people and then leave the stage.

Synchronized sitting

When is being a couch potato an Olympic event? When NBC decides to assist someone in setting a Guinness world record for uninterrupted TV viewing.

NBC is very proud of its ability to telecast the Athens Olympics around the clock, courtesy of cable partners such as MSNBC, Bravo and USA, so it's inviting 22 hard-core viewers, chosen through radio station contests and essay submissions, to park it in front of a television at Universal Orlando starting at 8 p.m. EDT on Aug. 13, when the Opening Ceremonies commence. Time to beat: 50 hours, 5 minutes.

Prizes include a trip to the 2006 Winter Games in Torino, Italy, and a high-definition home theater. Anyone interested should check out www.nbc.com.

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More than 20 recording artists will hit the road in October to drum up support for John Kerry on the ``Vote for Change'' tour - including Bruce Springsteen, center.