I think Chicago is referred to as Chi-town, not Motown. But “Motown: The Musical” will start its national tour in Chicago next April and not in its bankrupt hometown. A casting call went out this morning for all the main characters from “Motown” from Berry Gordy and Diana Ross to Smokey Robinson, Martha Reeves, Marvin Gaye, and Stevie Wonder.

An open call will be held here in New York on September 13th at the Lunt Fontanne Theater and another in Chicago on September 14th. Open calls rarely produce unknown superstars but they’re very good for publicity. Think of local news crews roaming up and down lines of little Michaels and tuxedo’d Marvins.

The announcement of the national tour starting in Chicago was actually made to the theater press right before the Tony Awards and well before Detroit announced its bankruptcy. But starting the national tour in Detroit would have been a significant boost to a depressed city. There’s hope that Detroit will be the second stop on the tour. Many Motown original performers still live in Detroit and all of them have their roots in the Motor city.

Was there anything redeeming about the MTV Video Music Awards? Not that I could tell. And I watched it from a very nice party thrown by Republic Records over at what used to the Lotus nightclub on West 14th St. There were lots of young people, all guests, and you know what they told me? They don’t watch MTV. And if they do, they don’t see music videos on it.

Sunday night’s show came from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn but it could have been anywhere, outer space, Kansas City. It had no personality, very little artistry, and a lot of noise. Lots and lots of noise. Miley Cyrus seems determined to destroy whatever fanbase she had by going from Hannah Montana to Madonna. She wore very little and raunched it up in her segment with Robin Thicke– who looks old enough to be her father. It didn’t work. I did like her singing “Blurred Lines.” Maybe she should stick to singing.

Maybe they all should try sticking to actually singing. The painful truth about pop in 2013 is that is freeze dried, presented in perfectly produced packages. All of them– Taylor Swift, Katy Perry– they are like windup dolls in a store window. Someone has conceived and styled them. They all sound vaguely the same which is why Perry’s new single sounds like one released by Sara Barielles a few weeks ago. They are all the same.

With some exceptions: Lady Gaga, god bless her, changed outfits, makeup and wigs around 5 times in four minutes at the start of the show. I give her a lot of credit because at least she’s trying something different. It may not always work. And you can her frustration.

And Justin Timberlake: the material may not always be great, but he’s a stellar showman. His music is not going to stand the test of time. But he’s goodnatured about it. And as with Gaga, the work ethic is obvious. Bringing on NSync was a nice gesture even if it wasn’t their finest moment. They’re like old war buddies trying to relive some old skirmish.

But the sum of the MTV VMAs is that this dreadfully humorless stuff is what pop music is now–at least the pop that is celebrated by MTV. You really had the feeling that the songs were there to hold up the commercials. And what other awards show gives awards on the red carpet during the pre show? That was too much. But of course then these people — these so-called “artists” — would have to speak. And boy that would be a terrible mistake.

Ha ha. Well, all the old farts like yours truly declared the song of the summer of 2013 as either “Get Lucky” by Daft Punk or “Blurred Lines” from Robin Thicke. Not on tonight’s MTV Video Music Awards. You see the “fans” vote for Song of the Summer online. And rabid pre-teen fans of One Direction, the British boy band, have already made “Best Song Ever,” a throwaway single, the song of their summer.

Right now “Best Song Ever” has over 7 million votes. Seven million. By 9pm , when the show starts, One Direction could be up around 9 or 10 zillion. How many times can you vote? Early and often I’d say.

The runners up are Miley Cyrus–4 million for “We Can’t Stop.” Selena Gomez has 2 million.

And then the also rans: Calvin Harris with Elle Goulding “I Need Your Love” has 51,936; “Get Lucky” has 37,251′ and “Blurred Lines” is at a mere 34,081.

Biggest teen fan club wins, and cutest Tiger Beat guys.

Does MTV still play music videos? It must be at 3 in the morning because everytime I’ve sailed past it, it’s either “Real World” or the teen mom, or some other reality stuff. I thought the ‘M’ stood for marketing. Or merchandising. Or Meshugenah.

PS One Direction has had one great song, no kidding. That “What Makes You Beautiful” will be their legacy, the way “I Want it That Way” was for Backstreet Boys and “Bye Bye Bye” was for NSync and “Build Me Up Buttercup” was for The Foundations and “Sugar Sugar” was for the Archies.

Julie Harris has passed away at age 87. She won 5 Tony awards, 3 Emmys, and a Grammy. The 3 Emmys came from 9 nominations. She had one Oscar nomination in 1953. She was known for playing “The Belle of Amherst” on Broadway as well as for a long, memorable run on the nighttime soap “Knots Landing.” She was awarded a 2002 Lifetime Achievement award from the Tonys, and a Kennedy Center honor. According to Wikipedia she was married three times, and had one son. The announcement of her death came from long time friend, actress and producer Francesca James. Harris had been failing health for some years. I’ve no doubt the lights of Broadway houses will be dimmed this week for Julie Harris, and that she will be remembered at the Emmy Awards on September 22nd. She was one of our greatest actresses. RIP.

the whole “The Belle of Amherst”:

“East of Eden”

Knots Landing (starts at 2:00)

Several hundred people traveled out to Brooklyn this morning for a fake Jay Z-Justin Timberlake show. The word was spread on Twitter with help from Sean (Diddy) Combs’s @RevoltTV twitter account. The show was supposedly taking place at noon at an obscure address — 421 Troutman Street in Bushwick.

There had been lots of rumors on Twitter, but when RevoltTV picked it up, the story gained credence. Since then RevoltTV has deleted the original Tweet and posted this:

Please disregard our previous statement about the Jay Z show. We will keep you updated with further details. Apologies to all waiting in BK.

— #FYFFEST X #APFEST13 (@RevoltTV) August 24, 2013

The concert “news” was picked up by lots of other outlets too including Russell Simmons’ Global Grind and the Twitter account for the Bushwick Daily. Is the show happening? Probably not. It’s sort of amazing that three hours have passed as of this posting and no one looking like Jay Z has shown up. There’s no stage and no indication of any entertainment. More than one fan posted a Tweet like this:

Walking by all the angry people who have been waiting for the “surprise” Jayz and Beyonce concert in Bushwick for 3 hours.

— Lindsey Neyman (@Lindsey_Neyman) August 24, 2013

I can’t wait to see footage of everyone who showed up in Bushwick for the “secret Jay Z show” on Revolt’s takedown of Punk’d this Fall.

— Noah Callahan-Bever (@N_C_B) August 24, 2013

We’ll update if anything materializes…

Now we know why Linda Ronstadt stopped singing some time ago: she says she has Parkinson’s Disease. Ronstadt reveals this in AARP magazine, and at www.aarp.com. But not in her forthcoming memoir, “Simple Dreams” which concentrates on her musical career. I told you that Ronstadt had already decreed she wouldn’t be singing on her “Simple Dreams” book tour. She tells AARP: “No one can sing with Parkinson’s disease. No matter how hard you try.”

Ronstadt says she thinks the Parkinson’s may have started seven or eight years ago. She’d had a lyme-related disease and thought her condition, which included shaking hands, might have been caused by that. “Parkinson’s is very hard to diagnose, so when I finally went to a neurologist and he said, ‘Oh, you have Parkinson’s disease,’ I was completely shocked. I wouldn’t have suspected that in a million, billion years.”

For the last few years Ronstadt has been asked by everyone — from the Songwriters Hall of Fame to the Grammys and others– to come accept a lifetime achievement award. She’s refused and declined all invites. She should know that she’s welcome at all of them and doesn’t have to sing. She’s beloved. And we can always play the records.