Gomer Pyle will be "promoted" to the rank of honorary corporal in a sunset ceremony beginning at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 25, at Fort DeRussy's Kuroda Field. The event is open to the public.

The ceremony honors actor Jim Nabors, who played the bumbling but adorable character in the "Gomer Pyle, USMC" CBS TV series that premiered in 1964. Lt. Gen. John F. Goodman, commander of the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Pacific, will bestow the honor on Nabors, a Hawai'i resident for years.

Nabors was made an Honorary Marine on Aug. 9, 2001, receiving an honorary promotion to lance corporal. Pyle was originally a private.

— Wayne Harada, Advertiser entertainment writer

KANYE RAPS MTV FOR BRITNEY FLOP

NEW YORK — Kanye West blames MTV for Britney Spears' less than stellar performance at the Video Music Awards.

"Man, they were just trying to get ratings, and they knew she wasn't ready and they exploited her," the rapper said yesterday on Sirius radio's "The Morning Mash Up."

West, 29, said he should have gotten to kick off Sunday's event in Las Vegas with his new single "Stronger."

Spears, 25, looked unprepared while performing her new song, "Gimme More," to a bewildered audience of her music industry peers. She seemed nervous and, at times, stopped singing altogether.

Meanwhile, Justin Timberlake — under a doctor's orders to rest for a few days after straining his voice at the MTV show amid months of touring — has canceled two California concerts.

FRENCH HONOR ASIAN FILM STAR

PARIS — Michelle Yeoh, one of Asia's biggest film stars, will receive France's highest civilian honor.

Yeoh will be awarded the Legion of Honor in an Oct. 3 ceremony in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, French Foreign Ministry officials said yesterday.

She began her career in Chinese action movies and leapt to international fame in the 1997 James Bond movie "Tomorrow Never Dies," and Ang Lee's 2000 hit, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon."