President Obama will appear in a back-to-school television special with singer Kelly Clarkson and basketball star LeBron James next month.

The 30-minute show will air Sept. 8 on BET, MTV, VH1, CMT, Comedy Central, Spike TV and Nickelodeon, all of them Viacom networks.

In the program, the president says education is the key to living out your dreams.

The program marks the kickoff of an education initiative by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Viacom. The five-year Get Schooled campaign is aimed at improving this country's dismal high school and college completion rates.

MICHAEL WILL BE BURIED IN GLENDALE

The King of Pop will be buried on what would have been his 51st birthday, a spokesman for Michael Jackson's family said yesterday.

Jackson will be buried Aug. 29 at a private ceremony at Forest Lawn-Glendale, spokesman Ken Sunshine said in a statement. Guests will be limited to family and close friends, Sunshine said.

Details about the ceremony and the whereabouts of Jackson's body have been tightly guarded.

The announcement came a day after the New York Daily News reported comments by Jackson's father, Joe Jackson, that his son would be buried on his birthday.

The cemetery is in the city of Glendale, about eight miles north of downtown Los Angeles. It is not the Hollywood Hills cemetery where Jackson's family was seen gathering days after his death June 25.

BRITNEY GOES PRESIDENTIAL IN A BIKINI

What would a President Spears administration be like? Apparently, very tasty.

Britney Spears appeared on David Letterman's "Late Show" yesterday to deliver a Top Ten list of ways the country would be different if she were president.

"Free pie for everybody," Spears declared.

For No. 10 on the list, Spears said she'd be "the first president since Nixon to wear eyeshadow."

The pop star appeared eager to show off her buff body: She delivered the list in a bikini.

TWAIN TO BE 'AMERICAN IDOL' GUEST JUDGE

Shania Twain is joining the ranks of "American Idol" guest judges.

A spokesman for the show said yesterday that the country singer will take part in the Chicago auditions in late August.

Kelly Clarkson, the original "American Idol," and one of the Jonas Brothers also may become guest judges. But they had yet to be confirmed yesterday.

"American Idol" began enlisting celebrity fill-ins after a contract dispute led Paula Abdul to announce she was quitting the show.

There's been speculation that Abdul still could reach a deal and return for the ninth season, starting in January.