Ann McCormack, veteran club singer and stage actress and now a resident of Las Vegas, will be named "Woman of the Year" by Ms. Senior Nevada America Inc. in a ceremony at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Suncoast Hotel & Casino. At 87 years young, she's still strutting and belting.

McCormack, mom of Hawai'i actor Don Stroud, has been a show biz staple for 68 years ... and counting.

"I'm real pleased with the award," McCormack said. "Can you believe it? I was so surprised when they told me; usually, it's political, honoring a governor or a mayor."

McCormack still does a lot of chirping, quite often on the retirement-home circuit. She also is the regular featured guest singer in Ms. Senior Nevada America's annual Woman of the Year program. "I guess that's a reason I'm picked this year," she said.

McCormack will offer two songs: "That Ol' Black Magic," a standard in her jazz repertoire, and "My Way," which she's restructuring as "She Did It Her Way," in memory of Patty Ogren, founder-director of the Ms. Senior Nevada America project, who died Oct. 31. "There won't be a dry eye in the house," said McCormack. "She was loved." ...

HERE 'N' THERE: Kata and Janet Maduli, longtime show producers and talent managers, are proud parents these days. Daughter McKenna Maduli, 26, appears in the latest Colbie Caillat music video, which was shot on Kaua'i in June; it had been on VH1 and debuted last week on MTV. McKenna is one of the cuties seen throughout the shoot, in the group of Caillat friends. She is ensconced in the entertainment scene in Los Angeles but was able to return here for the shoot. The Maduli parents are also proud of Justin Young, who has worked with their Mt. Kalihi Productions since he was a teen heartthrob in Caillat's band (locals know him as a recording star in his own right), traipsing around the world in tours with such groups as the Pussycat Dolls. ...

Manoa DNA, which performed in Sapporo, Japan, recently, likened the temps to the Pacific Northwest's or New England's, with residents forsaking business dress for more Hawai'i-acclimated casual stuff. "We saw people in surf shorts, Hawai'i T-shirts and tanks, rubber slippers, you name it," said Lloyd Kawakami. "We even saw a few 'Iolani aloha shirts," referencing the family label of aloha wear. The trio also headed to Nagoya and Osaka, where there's more traditional business attire. ...

idol talK: Aaron Yamasato, the Kaua'i-based creator of "Blood of the Samurai" and "Ninja EX," still is stoked about attending the San Diego Comic-Con, where he encountered several childhood idols who've inspired him toward filmmaking. Among them: Robert Rodriguez ("Spy Kids," "Desperado," "Sin City," "Planet Terror"), whose book "Rebel Without a Crew" and laser disc "El Mariachi/Desperado" provided guidelines to shape Yamasato's "Samurai"; Roy Kaufman ("Toxic Avenger"), who was an inspiration during Yamasato's teen years; Pierre Spenger, producer of the original "Superman" films with Christopher Reeve; Kevin Eastman (co-creator of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"), who sketched Raphael for Yamasato; and Martin Hsu, character designer for "Ni Hao, Kai-Lan," the Nick Jr. show that is a favorite of Yamasato's 3-year-old daughter Sophie. Hsu did a sketch of Kai-Lan expressly for Sophie; it's now a framed keepsake . ...

Rose Freeman, widow of "Hawaii Five-O" creator Leonard Freeman, still receives residuals from the original series and endorses the projected movie and welcomes any resurrection, like CBS' plans to update "Five-O" next year. She says Freeman "must be guiding things from up above." ...

about people: Chelsea Lynne Michel, a budding actress who is a Maryknoll School third-grader, spent the summer not only as a Munchkin in "The Wizard of Oz," but also became the youngest performer to receive a Po'okela Award (featured female in a musical) for last season's "Meet Me in St. Louis" — both productions at Diamond Head Theatre. When she turned 8 last Wednesday, she was gifted with a custom T-shirt with "Cosetteponine," a reference to the combined two roles Chelsea is portraying (Little Cosette and Little Eponine), in DHT's fall season opener beginning Sept. 26. The other two who'll alternate: Lauren Nagamine and Ava Williams. ...

Good buzz coming from Danny Couch's Wednesday-only shows at the Ainahau Showroom of the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani hotel. A no-cover kama'aina special last week found him on stage nearly two hours despite a bit-scratchy throat, and he garnered three standing ovations from a crowd of about 180, which asked for specific tunes, eliciting abbreviated verses from the singer. ...

And that's Show Biz. ...

Show Biz is published Tuesdays and Thursdays. Reach Wayne Harada at 525-8067, wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com or fax 525-8055.