THE BUZZ COUNTRY AWARDS SHOW DITCHES L.A. FOR VEGAS.

Byline: - Staff and Wire Services

The annual Academy of Country Music Awards is riding out of town and heading for Las Vegas.

The trophy fest, which has taken place in various Los Angeles locations since 1964 - most recently the Universal Amphitheatre - will broadcast from Las Vegas' 12,000-seat Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino on May 21.

Ten-time country awards winner Reba McEntire will return to host the 38th annual show, broadcast live on CBS during the highly competitive May sweeps ratings period.

Nominations are usually announced in March. Last year, Brooks & Dunn and Alan Jackson captured the most trophies.

REMEMBERING JIMI: If guitar legend Jimi Hendrix, who died in 1970, was still alive, he would be turning 60 on Nov. 27. On that date, prominent fans of the late guitarist will gather to celebrate that occasion at B.B. King's Blues Club at Universal CityWalk. Hendrix's younger brother Leon Hendrix, a guitarist in his own right, will host and perform at the tribute, which will also feature performances by the likes of Noel Redding, original bassist in the Jimi Hendrix Experience; Buddy Miles, drummer and vocalist with Hendrix's Band of Gypsys; Arthur Lee's new lineup of Love; and many other friends and fans of Hendrix. ``I want to show Jimi how much his family and friends and fans love him and treasure his music by putting on a show that he would be proud of,'' said Leon Hendrix in a statement. Tickets are available at the venue for $20.

FROM 'SOPRANOS' TO VH1: ``The Sopranos'' stars Michael Imperioli and Drea De Matteo have been tapped to host ``VH1 Big in 2002 Awards,'' the music network's new year-end special. The actors, who play mafia lovebirds Christopher and Adrianna, will hand out irreverent honors like ``Been Caught Scene Stealin','' which goes to 2002's most unexpectedly good movie performance. VH1 also announced that Christina Aguilera, John Mayer, Bon Jovi and Norah Jones have signed on to perform at the awards show, which airs Dec. 15.

NO MORE 'VIEW' FOR LING: ABC daytime talk show ``The View'' will bid adieu to co-host Lisa Ling, who will join the Emmy-winning documentary series ``National Geographic Explorer.''

``View'' executive producers Barbara Walters and Bill Geddie have not decided who will replace Ling or when a new appointment will be made. Celebrity guest hosts will fill in after her final episode Dec. 5.

Explaining her decision to leave ``The View'' on Monday's broadcast, Ling cited her interest in traveling abroad as a journalist.

``When I first started at 'The View,' I said at some point in the future I'm going to want to get back to doing international reporting,'' said Ling, who served in the early 1990s as senior war correspondent at Channel One News, a network for students.

Ling was selected from thousands of applicants during a four-month search in 1999 to round out the group of ``View'' hosts, which includes Walters, Star Jones, Joy Behar and Meredith Vieira.

Walters is not expected to launch another nationwide audition to replace Ling. The celebrity-guest spot, which Walters said will include Whoopi Goldberg, won't function as an audition, either. ``At this point, there is no timetable on replacing Lisa,'' an ABC spokesman said.

Early next year, Ling will join ``Explorer,'' a two-hour series that airs Sunday evenings on MSNBC. She replaces Boyd Matson, who will develop a new National Geographic series.

LATIN SENSATIONS: Juanes, Celia Cruz, Thalia, Enrique Iglesias, Alejandro Sanz, Paulina Rubio, Lupillo Rivera and Carlos Vives are among the artists nominated for the 15th annual Premio Lo Nuestro A La Musica Latina. The Latin music awards show will take place Feb. 5 in Miami, and be broadcast live via Univision. A total of 170 nominations in 32 categories were handed out Tuesday. Juanes and Cruz lead the field with six nominations, including one each for best artist.

Other best artist nominees include Enrique Iglesias, Chayanne, Shakira, Thalia (pop), Marc Anthony, Brenda K. Starr (tropical), Marco Antonio Solis and Pilar Montenegro (regional Mexicana). Song of the year awards, which will also be handed out in three genres - pop, tropical and regional Mexicana - include as nominees work by popsters Juanes, Shakira and Chayanne, tropical artists Cruz and Anthony, and regional Mexicana acts Montenegro, Banda El Recodo and Conjunto Primavera.

The awards honor the best in Latin music and music video released between Oct. 1, 2001, and Sept. 30, 2002. Record companies and Latin radio station program directors vote on nominations, except in the case of the premio del pueblo Internet (people's Internet award), for which eligible artists are nominated via online public voting.

ORANGE BOWL WITH A BEAT Pop-reggae artist Shaggy, country sibling act SHeDAISY, hard rock act Default, Colombian rock artist Juanes and Puerto Rican merengue star Olga Tanon will serve as the halftime entertainment for the 2003 FedEx Orange Bowl, set for Jan. 2 at Miami's Pro Player Stadium. Considered the national championship of the U.S. college football season, the Orange Bowl and halftime show will be broadcast live on ABC. Performances by all of the artists will in some way reflect the ``beat on the beach'' theme.

The halftime acts will also take part in a daylong New Year's Day Beach Bash/Pep Rally on one of South Florida's renowned beaches. Last year's participating talent included Jagged Edge, Jermaine Dupri, Bow Wow, Da Brat, Christina Milian and Frankie Negron.