Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

Jordin Sparks segues from the New Kids on the Block/Backstreet Boys tour to a special engagement in Washington, D.C., this coming week, performing on PBS's live "A Capitol Fourth" Independence Day celebration concert. Talk about a sudden change.

"It's going to be so different — from the wardrobe to the audience to the stage. The thing that's going to be the same is that I'm going to try to perform the best that I can," says Jordin, who recently shed 30 pounds and is looking gorgeous. She's singing "Beauty and the Beast" — accompanying a dance by Mark Ballas and Chelsie Hightower in honor of the 20th anniversary of the Disney animated classic. She is also set to sing the national anthem — one of the two most nerve-wracking performances she can imagine, she says, the other being a return to "American Idol."

"I'll be on the steps of the Capitol building, in our nation's capital, singing the national anthem on the day of our nation's independence," she points out. It doesn't get much more American than that. The concert, hosted by Jimmy Smits, also features Steve Martin, Josh Groban, Matthew Morrison, Little Richard and Broadway's Kelli O'Hara.

At 21, the youngest ever "American Idol" winner (she won at age 17) feels her newly svelte shape is part of a metamorphosis she's undergoing that has to do with, well, growing up. "I'm just now discovering who I am and what I can do. It's a transition. I'm coming into my own. I sort of have a different approach on stage now. The dancing, the choreography is definitely different from what I did last year," she tells us. "It's been really fun, discovering who I am and what I can do."

Her saucy "I Am Woman," with its driving beat, is completely different for her, Jordin points out. It's also completely different from the Helen Reddy feminist anthem of the same name decades ago. (Sample lyric: "It ain't easy walkin' in stilettos, but somebody gotta do it.") Combined with the right video — one has yet to be made — it could capture the zeitgeist for the young 2010 woman in a big way. Jordin loves seeing girls get up and dance to it at concerts, as they have been.

She'll soon take off on a string of one-off dates, then a Euro trip.

As for what's next after that? "I did Broadway for a couple of months last fall — 'In the Heights.' I loved it.

I'd love to do Broadway again if the right part and story came along." She's also been working on her acting skills and says, "I'd love to do a TV show or a movie."

CAPER SHAPER: You have to know the gang at Timothy Hutton's "Leverage" is in a celebratory mood — with the TNT series attracting a 10 percent ratings increase for its season opener last Sunday over its season premiere last year. Hutton is very happy with the ratings gain, of course. "It definitely feels good. We're very happy to be on at nine o'clock on Sundays. This year, to return to the same timeslot turned out to be a good decision for the show."

Demographic breakdowns also show that younger viewers have been cottoning to the series that follows the high-tech, high-risk capers of a group of modern Robin Hoods. Notes Hutton, "I think we always felt, TNT and the producers always felt, that the appeal of the show couldn't be pinpointed to any one group."

As this season unfolds, not only will his Nate Ford character be dealing with the ramifications of his romance with sexy grifter Sophie Devereaux (Gina Bellman) — but also with "a shadowy group that is following the Leverage team. That's a strong arc."

MUSICAL NOTE: With Billboard breaking news of a Temptations Broadway musical in the works — which will have to follow a Berry Gordy/Motown Broadway musical being planned for next year — we await word on several other B'way musical prospects. There's the Cher musical, for instance. Writer-producer-director Andy Fickman told us, "We'll be making announcements about that project coming together shortly. She's a fairly phenomenal character, Cher — as a human being, I think she's one of the great icons of all time, a force to be reckoned with." Another such force, indeed, would be the late reggae icon Bob Marley. There's a proposed Bob Marley Broadway musical about him, too. Songwriting greats Holland-Dozier-Holland were talked for a musical, as well. If this trend continues, it could be that the Great White Way will be filled with the sound of golden oldies. Hey, it worked with Jersey Boys.

YOUNG GUN: A mid-October production start is being planned for "The Lone Ranger" reboot starring Johnny Depp as Tonto and Armie Hammer as the famous masked man, and casting is underway for subsidiary characters. Those include a 7-year-old boy named Danny who is sensitive — but also capable with a gun. Shooting will take place in Texas and New Mexico.

To find out more about Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith and read their past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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