Buskers no nuisance in St. John's Wanted: singers, actors, clowns and fire-eaters to perform on the street for pocket change. While some Canadian cities have moved to discourage street entertainers with bylaws and fines, the Downtown Development Commission in the Newfoundland capital offers cash and a guaranteed corner.

It even ran a ad for them. "Got plans for the summer?" asked the ad. "Interested in becoming a busker?" Today, the commission unveils its lineup of performers. They'll get an as-yet-unannounced but decidedly small stipend to perform downtown from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Thursday to Sunday all the summer. "They're guaranteed a little money every day and then they can put their hat out," said commission marketing co-ordinator Gaylynne Lambert.

Russian opera conductor dies

Yevgeny Kolobov, artistic director and chief conductor of the innovative Novaya Opera Theatre, died of a heart attack early yesterday at his Moscow home. He was 57. Kolobov, a conductor by training, was honoured as a People's Artist of Russia. He helped found the theatre -- "novaya" is Russian for new -- amid the Soviet collapse in 1991, when some of the country's big opera companies doing traditional works were considered artistically inert. His creed, according to the theatre's Web site, was "to revive undeservedly forgotten works and deliver new, modern interpretations of well-known compositions."

Critic Svyatoslav Belza called his death "a colossal loss for the Russian musical arts, because he was an outstanding conductor and a true innovator in his field." Among his innovations: placing musicians in the rafters and performing a shortened version of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin with no intermission and just two chairs as scenery.

Fish film hooks box office lead

The animated undersea film Finding Nemo regained top spot at the weekend box office with $29.2 million. Last weekend's leader, 2 Fast 2 Furious, fell to No. 2, with $19.1 million, by studio estimates yesterday. Another holdover movie, Bruce Almighty, was third with $14.2 million. The new animated Rugrats Go Wild took in $12.5 million to debut at No. 4. Josh Hartnett and Harrison Ford's buddy-cop comedy, Hollywood Homicide, was fifth with $11.7 million. Others in the top 10: Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd, with $11.1 million; The Italian Job, with $9.5 million; The Matrix Reloaded, $5.5 million; Daddy Day Care, $2.1 million, and X2: X-Men United, $1.6 million.