Country music stars the Dixie Chicks have cancelled some US tour dates after slow ticket sales. Concert industry magazine Pollstar says shows have been dropped in Republican states such as Oklahoma and Tennessee. The group faced a backlash in 2003 after singer Natalie Maines said the band were "ashamed" President Bush is from their home state of Texas. The band has yet to comment, while their website is still advertising some of the pulled tour dates. "Basically, they're having to rethink the entire tour at this point," said Gary Bongiovanni, editor of Pollstar. Bongiovanni added that some country music radio stations, who have banned the Dixie Chicks' records, have also refused to carry advertisements for the tour. According to the magazine, dates in Memphis, Oklahoma City, Indianapolis, and Fresno, California, have been dropped from the tour schedule for now. Box office sales for a concert in Houston, Texas have also been cancelled. But the band have encountered no problems in Canada. Tickets for a Toronto appearance sold out in just eight minutes, and a second date has been added. Dixie Chicks are scheduled to play in the UK next week before embarking on their US tour. The band's latest album, Taking the Long Way, has been number one in the US charts for the last two weeks.

R&B star Beyonce Knowles is holding open auditions for an all-girl band to play on her forthcoming world tour. The singer will audition musicians - including drummers, keyboard players, bassists, guitarists, horn players and percussionists - from across the US. The tour, which starts this month, will support the release of her second solo album, B'Day, released in September. Knowles has enjoyed global success as a solo artist as well as with her band Destiny's Child, who split last year.

Awards: The open auditions will be held on Monday in Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Burbank, California, and Weehawken, New Jersey. Finalists from the local auditions will have to travel to New York to perform for Knowles later in the week and to begin performing on tour by 20 June, Columbia Records said. Aspiring band members must be 18 or older and will be asked to play Knowles' Work It Out, as performed on the Beyonce: Live At Wembley DVD. Knowles, 24, won five Grammy Awards for her debut solo debut Dangerously in Love, which was released in 2003.

Actor Sir Sean Connery has been honored in Hollywood with the American Film Institute's annual lifetime achievement award in Los Angeles. The former James Bond star was cheered by director George Lucas and actor Mike Myers at the Kodak Theatre ceremony. Sir Sean is the 34th recipient of the award, which is the Institute's highest honor for a career in film. Past recipients include Bette Davis, Alfred Hitchcock, Sidney Poitier, Elizabeth Taylor and Clint Eastwood.  Sir Sean, who also starred in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, The Hunt for Red October and The Untouchables, thanked the audience. "I got my big break when I was five years old, and it's taken more than 70 years to realize it," he said. "At five I learned to read, and I would not be standing here without the books, plays and scripts." Speaking before the ceremony, Star Wars director Lucas praised Sir Sean, saying he was "extremely professional" and "very talented".