Alison Scott has been incredibly magnanimous about losing the big musical break she was informed she'd won -- opening for Bon Jovi at St.Paul's X.

A local radio station told Scott she would open tonight, the final stand of the rocker's two-night stop here. "Big Break Contest -- KQRS 3/29/10," reads a blurb on Alisonscott.com. "There was a mistake made with tallying the votes. We did not win after all. :( Thanks for voting. We were close!"

Station GM Marc Kalman did not return my Tuesday call seeking an explanation of this mixup.

"We're obviously disappointed, but everybody messes up," Scott said. "They were so nice about it; I'm not going to hold it against them. They did everything they could to get us on the show but couldn't make it happen."

I'm told fans of facebook.com/alisonscottmusic were livid! While we were on the phone and I was trying to access the page, Scott downplayed the rumored anger until she got to the page. "Oh, I found them. Wow. They are pretty mad," she said softly before adding with a laugh "I didn't even see this. Holy cow."

Playpen pal connection A couple of days before the radio station goof-up, I heard Scott playing the piano and singing at the Orpheum, where she was the "while-the-people-were-climbing-into-their-seats music" at the United Way's "Best of Awards."

I told Scott that she was terrific as I told myself I should write about her. Just as in song-writing, gossip often needs a hook. Thanks, radio station!

Her manager, Kevin Bowe, discovered Scott while judging a song-writing contest at McNally Smith College of Music in St. Paul, where he formerly taught. He usually declines judging requests "because your choice is to be mean or lie because they are beginning songwriters and it's pretty brutal," Bowe said "Ali was in the contest and her song-writing just blew my mind. It turns out that Ruth [Whitney-Bowe, his wife who famously opened Glam Slam for Prince and was the original owner of the Fine Line] knew Ali's parents, and Ruth's daughter, Laura, played with Ali in a playpen. We started working together and I produced an album on her. I realized 'This is my next project I could really sink my teeth into.'" Bowe has written songs for Jonny Lang, Etta James, Three Dog Night and Lynyrd Skynyrd. "Now Ali's sold out the Dakota six times in a row, sold almost 6,000 albums and signed a national booking agency deal. But she doesn't really get a lot of press because the kind of music we do has more to do with Laura Nyro and Carly Simon -- Ali doesn't have a lot of tattoos," Kevin said wryly. "Guys down in your neck of the woods aren't going to write about her until we don't need press anymore."

Big bats, no corkage fee Some MLB heavy-hitters located a downtown Minneapolis hang-out last weekend that's much nicer than a dugout. Word has it that Harmon Killebrew, Mark McGwire and Tony LaRussa were at Subo, the Filipino restaurant with the name that translates "To feed."

Killebrew was there with a large group. McGwire and LaRussa reportedly dined their twice when the Cardinals played exhibition games with the Twins. La Russa, a big wine connoisseur, brought in a little something from Napa, a 1983 Far Niente. One source told me it was a $500 bottle, but a wine website puts it closer to $100.

LaRussa was not charged a corkage fee because he was being so affable with fans as he and McGwire sat at the bar drinking, sampling delicacies and adding some celebrity sparkle to the hot spot.

Update on Folstrom Irene Folstrom, the Bemidji, Minn., woman who says she dated Tiger Woods at Stanford, was back in court this week.

On April 1, I wrote on startribune.com that Folstrom pleaded guilty in March to a gross misdemeanor third-degree DWI. Sentencing was stayed and Folstrom was looking to spend no more time in jail beyond time spent after this arrest.

On April 5, her attorney, Jason Pederson, said they were in court to address an allegation that Folstrom had violated her probation by consuming alcohol. "At this point we have not entered an admission or denial," Pederson told me Wednesday when he also noted that Folstrom was not in custody. Her next court date is scheduled for Aug. 2.

C.J. is at 612.332.TIPS or cj@startribune.com. E-mailers, please state a subject -- "Hello" doesn't count. Attachments are not opened, so don't even try. More of her attitude can be seen on Fox 9 Thursday mornings.