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BLUES AND BOOGIE-WOOGIE
Special: The scene is a South Pacific island. A chanting native chorus is hauling a giant clam onto the beach. Slowly, the clam opens, and from it emerges Bette Midler, sarong clad and singing "Oklahoma!"  

That's how Bette Midler opens her first TV special, a musical hour in which she displays her flair for the dramatic as well as her flair for song. 

Her selections range from melancholy ballads ("Shiver Me Timbers," "La Vie en Rose" and, sung to Emmett Kelly in clown makeup, "Hello in There") to upbeat numbers, performed with Bette's backup group, the Harlettes ("Do You. Want to Dance?" "Friends" and "Higher and Higher"). 

And in a highlight of the show, Dustin Hoffman accompanies Midler on piano as she sings "Shoot the Breeze," a bittersweet love song he composed (Bette did the lyrics). (60 min.)

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What's behind the Paul Simon-Bette Midler feud?
The Divine Miss M and Rhymin' Simon fell out over one of his songs, "Gone At Last," which she recorded with him. When the record was released, Phoebe Snow was the female lead, not Bette. "To this day I don't exactly know what happened," Bette says. "One day the record came out but I wasn't on it. . . I was very hurt." Simon says simply: "I changed the concept with Phoebe and tried a gospel approach because she was perfect for it. Bette I and I have no plans to do any other work together."

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BETTE MIDLER, The Divine - Mr. J??
A controversy is brewing as to whether or not The Rose real­ly marks Bette Midler's film debut.  In the wake of her success in that film, a movie has surfaced that she supposedly appeared in some six years ago. The film, The Divine Mr. J., is described as a religious satire and was scheduled to go into re-release in January. 

Advertising for the film features a full-figure silhouette of The Divine Ms. M and a copy line stating, "Bette Midler In Her Film Debut." Bette's lawyer, Clair G. Burrill, has charged the distributors with false advertising and states that the promotion "false­ly suggests that Ms. Midler stars in or appears prominently in the film." 

Countering these charges is Rich­ard Ellman, head of the company which is handling the release of The Divine Mr. J. "She is very much the star of the film," states Ellman, "and is not in a small portion of it." Unless litigation halts the release, The Di­vine Mr. J plans to open as sched­uled. Ellman contends that the com­pany that now owns the rights to the film, Rochelle Films Inc., has "com­plete authorization” to use the name and likeness of Bette Midler. So per­haps soon, moviegoers can decide for themselves if The Divine Ms. M really is the star of The Divine Mr. J.

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WINNER: Bette Midler presents Grammy for Best Album of the Year to blind singer-composer Stevie Wonder on March 1, 1975

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Good news: The Divine Miss M decided to play small clubs again. Tho' her concert hall venues astro-bucks, she misses old cabaret days in N.Y.

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Beltin' Bette Midler revived the Dorthy Lamour sarong look for TV spec, displaying her inimitable brand of "trash with flask," dears.

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MIDLER: Looking for the right film.