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Kiefer Sutherland, the star of hit TV show 24, and rock group The White Stripes have been confirmed as the newest guests set to appear on The Simpsons upcoming season.

According to the BBC, the Detroit-based band will play themselves in an episode that sees Bart organizing a benefit concert. Sutherland, however, will voice an original character — a tough colonel in an episode that finds Homer accidentally joining the army.

Natalie Portman, Eric Idle and television’s most famous psychologist, Dr. Phil McGraw, are also set to appear throughout the 18th season of the animated show.

The new set of Simpsons episodes will begin airing on September 18, with the 400th episode to be shown the following May.

A feature-length Simpsons film is also being produced and is set for a 2007 release to celebrate the characters’ 20th anniversary.

Jack White may look the part of a wild rocker but it seems that The White Stripes singer is ready to become a father.

White and his wife, model Karen Elson, are expecting their first child, reportedly due next spring. Elson?s publicist confirmed the news to MTV yesterday. Her spokesperson added that the couple are “ridiculously happy” about the baby news.

White and Elson married in June in Manaus, Brazil. They exchanged vows in a canoe where three rivers ? the Rio Negro, the Solimones, and the Amazon ? met, according to a post on the White Stripes? web site.

White was previously married to bandmate Meg White, who is supposedly also his sister.

The Land Down Under will be getting a big blast of music in 2006.

The White Stripes, Franz Ferdinand and veteran rockers Iggy & the Stooges are just a few of the big-name acts confirmed to appear at the 2006 Big Day Out festival tour, which will traverse Australia and New Zealand next January and February.

The event kicks off Jan. 20 in Auckland and then moves into Australia for shows in Gold Coast (Jan. 22), Sydney (Jan. 26), Melbourne (Jan. 29), Adelaide (Feb. 3) and Perth (Feb. 5).

The initial list of performers also includes Kings Of Leon, the Mars Volta, AFI, Sleater-Kinney, Soulwax/2ManyDJs, the Magic Numbers, the Living End, Cut Copy, the End Of Fashion and Youth Group.

Among other homegrown acts confirmed to appear are Gerling, Magic Dirt, Faker, Wolf & Cub and the Grates.

A second line-up announcement is expected in December.

Tickets for the event go on sale Oct. 14.

The upcoming Big Day Out will mark the White Stripes? return to the BDO tour after their last appearance in 2002. Since then, the Detroit duo has released two critically-acclaimed albums and sold a quarter of a million albums in Australia alone.

“For 2006 we searched the globe for just the right acts to come and hang out with everyone,” event organizers Ken West and Vivian Lees said in a statement, according to the Daily Telegraph.

“It is after all the world’s biggest travelling summer camp.

“Let’s hope we all get along, have fun and hear some great music along the way.”

The annual festival costs between $21 million and $25 million to produce, and is now in its 14th year.

Last year’s Big Day Out featured the Beastie Boys, System of a Down, the Chemical Brothers, the Hives, the Donnas and the Polyphonic Spree. Other acts who have performed in previous years include Foo Fighters, Jane’s Addiction, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Metallica, the Strokes, the Streets and Black Eyed Peas.