Will adoring little girl be able to take her eyes off of Frankie Valli?

Chris and Libby Rupp had been telling their daughter Isabella that big girls don't cry, but it wasn't until Frankie Valli sang it that she took the message seriously.

The 7-year-old's fondness for the vocals of a certain Jersey boy is going to get tested up close at the Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons concert for the PACER Center on May 2. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famers, an inspiration for the Broadway musical "Jersey Boys," are headlining the 27th annual fundraiser for the organization, which helps families with kids who have disabilities.

"She has autism -- multiple disabilities, but that's one," said Isabella's mom. "She is very motivated by music, but something about Frankie Valli has really struck her. She gets very excited. She laughs a lot."

"The very first time Isabella heard 'Big Girls Don't Cry,' she had this look on her face like They DON'T?" Rupp said with a laugh. "It was a very moving time for her. As a 7-year-old, we're trying to tell her about being a big girl and she's like, Wait a minute."

But when Isabella heard Valli say it, the expression on her face became, Whoa, I better listen to my parents! "Exactly," said Rupp, when we discussed how kids tend to believe some messages when reinforced by someone other than a parent. "It was hilarious. Her eyeballs were huge."

Isabella's eyeballs may get even more huge when she sees the group perform. And her eyes may not return to their usual size until days later because Paula Goldberg, executive director of PACER, said: "We're going to make sure she meets him, too."

Rupp is not promising that to her daughter in advance. "But she's going to the concert. We are hoping it doesn't set a trend where she thinks just because she likes someone she will get to see them. That could be a bad thing," Rupp said with a laugh.

At a roadside news conference near Interstate 94 in St. Paul to announce a statewide cleanup campaign, the governor's ring was visible even before he raised his hand and wiggled his fingers for my camera.

Perhaps because the subject was trash -- or maybe because he was fantasizing about seeing me in prison overalls at the news conference conducted with Corrections Commissioner Joan Fabian -- the guv was in the mood to play nice.

"You can see in many places across Minnesota the need, it's obvious. It's important that we get as much of it picked up before the weeds grow up because you then can't see it as easily as well, so we are trying to push as hard as we can on this right before that happens. Perhaps you have some questions or comments," Pawlenty said to the gathered media. Nobody jumped to ask a question, so his next words were, "C.J., how are you?"

Told him I was sent over to see where his ring was. "You're always on the cutting edge of the most important news developments," Pawlenty said, smiling. I'm not, but as readers know, the disappearance of a wedding band, like the inability to return phone calls, sometimes means something. In this case, it was apparently a false alarm.

Had his ring still been absent, I told the guv as he walked to his car, my next move would have involved locating his wife, Mary, and checking out her ring finger. "You are the limit," Pawlenty said, smiling.

Sharing the credit Friends at Fox 9 jokingly insist that the "Morning News" dominated three of the four hours that the show is on, in the latest ratings, in no small part because of my weekly appearance on the show.

Being all about sharing the credit, I am so sure that viewers are also connecting with Alix Kendall, Tom Butler, Keith Marler and Juli Jay. Of course, what that means is that we're beating the network programs "Today," "Good Morning America" and "The Early Show." But who can't beat "The Early Show," despite how sexy Harry Smith is? What this really means is that the next time I Twitter about Matt Lauer, he should respond (or at least get one of his minions to do so).