Wednesday, May 21, 2003 | 8:21 a.m.
What will be the highlight of this year's "VH1 Divas" concert at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Thursday?
An appearance by the legendary Stevie Wonder, who will be honored in the concert's finale?
A performance by Elvis Presley's only child, Lisa Marie Presley, who recently released her first CD, "To Whom it May Concern"?
A special appearance by Celine Dion, who in March began a much-ballyhooed, three-year engagement at Caesars Palace?
Or perhaps it will be a duet to be performed by Whitney Houston and her controversial R&B vocalist husband, Bobby Brown.
"They will be singing 'My Love,'" said Lee Rolontz, executive producer of MTV's sixth annual lovefest of female recording artists.
Academy Award-nominated actress and Grammy-winning rapper Queen Latifah will host this year's event, "VH1 Divas Duets," which will air live on MTV's VH1 at 9 p.m. (Cox Cable Channel 33).
Also scheduled to perform are Chaka Khan, Jewel, Beyonce Knowles, Mary J. Blige and Ashanti.
This will be Dion's third appearance with the "Divas" series. She performed on last year's program, and on the first one when it debuted in 1998 at New York's Beacon Theatre.
Rolontz said during a telephone interview from New York City that other performers might be added to the list before the curtain goes up at 9 p.m.
MTV brought the concert to Las Vegas last year.
"We love Vegas," Rolontz said. "There are always good things happening there."
Rolontz says there is no plan to keep "Divas" in Las Vegas on a permanent basis, but who knows? It could happen.
"It's something we would like to continue for a while," she said.
One of the reasons MTV executives decided to bring the show to Vegas after four years, Rolontz said, was because the title, "Divas Las Vegas," "sounded fantastic."
Also, she said, moving to Vegas "was a nice change for the show. There are some amazing venues there. Vegas has some of the best crowds we have ever seen."
From time to time, the concerts are used to pay tribute to individual artists. This year Wonder will be honored.
"We do it when it's appropriate," Rolontz said. "Our second year we honored Elton John.
"The way we define 'appropriate' is anybody with an incredible voice."
In 2000 Diana Ross was the honoree, followed in 2001 by Aretha Franklin.
The concert will mark the first time Houston and Brown have appeared onstage together in Las Vegas since they performed at the Aladdin in November 2000.
Brown has had a public battle with drug- and alcohol-related problems. He spent eight days in a DeKalb County, Ga., jail in January for a number of traffic violations.
Houston's first commercial success was in 1984 when "Hold Me," a duet with Teddy Pendergrass, crept into the Top 50.
"I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)," released in 1987, debuted at No. 1 on the album charts in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Ashanti, whose full named is Ashanti Douglas, 23, an urban R&B artist, signed her first recording contract at age 14, but didn't make her debut album, the self-titled "Ashanti," until April 2002.
The CD sold 500,000 copies in its first week of release. Most of its songs were written by Ashanti.
Beyonce Knowles, 21, was a founding member of Destiny's Child. Their first album, "Destiny's Child," was released in 1998.
Destiny's Child's second CD, "The Writing's on the Wall," was released in 1999 and reached triple platinum by the end of the year.
Knowles was also a featured performer in the Austin Powers film, "Goldmember" (2002).
Mary J. Blige was signed to Uptown Records by Sean "Puffy" Combs. She was promoted as "The original queen of hip-hop and soul," and her 1992 debut album sold more than 2 million copies.
Jewel (Jewel Kilcher), 28, began to sing professionally at the Innerchange coffee shop in San Diego, an establishment serving the local surfing community. Warner Bros. Records won her signature, leading to the release of her February 1995 debut album, "Pieces of You."
Her second single release, "You Were Meant For Me," became one of the most successful singles in U.S. chart history, remaining on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles list 59 weeks and selling more than 8 million copies.
"Spirit," her follow-up album, debuted at No. 3 in December 1998, and included the Top 10 single, "Hands."
Rolontz said VH1's "Divas" specials were created to honor women and to help raise funds for the VH1 Save the Music Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to restoring instrumental music programs in public schools, and to raising awareness of the positive impact that music participation has on students.
Since VH1 Save the Music was created, more than $25 million worth of musical instruments have been donated to about 1,000 public schools in about 80 cities.
The Clark County School District has benefitted to the tune of about $250,000 worth of musical instruments since the VH1 "Divas" concerts began in 1998. The donation was made in conjunction with Cox Communications, the local broadcaster of VH1 and MTV.
Marcia Neal, coordinator of the district's Secondary Fine Arts programs, says she has been told by VH1 executives that "the Clark County School District is the national model for music programs.
"The first year, in 1998, they donated more than $50,000 worth of instruments," she said. "Last year they donated a lot of mariachi instruments. This year they have adopted Bridger Middle School, which will receive a donation."
Bob Morrison, executive director of the VH1 Save the Music Foundation, praised the Clark County School District's music program during a telephone interview as he prepared to fly to Las Vegas for the concert.
"Over the years the school district has really developed a great fine-arts program," Morrison said. "It has a well-developed, well-thought-out music program to assure that all of the children, regardless of the school they attend, have access to music.
"In many communities, districts will have some schools that have music programs and some that won't."
Morrison says he sees a correlation between the overall quality of a school and its music.
"As I go around the country and look at schools and school districts, most of the time I can predict which schools have well-defined music and arts programs. They are the high-performing schools, where students do well in reading, math and other subjects."
Neal said donations also have come from VH1 through charity golf tournaments held in Las Vegas.
"They ask us how they can help and we send them a list of instruments we need," Neal said.
The school district's music program was on the budget chopping block this year, along with dozens of other programs facing cutbacks.
Neal said the school board announced last week the program would not be cut.
"We're part of the education program, like math and science," she said. "The music program here is not something extra."
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