Pavarotti picks retirement date

Tenor Luciano Pavarotti has picked a date to sing his last note - his 70th birthday, October 12, 2005.

He told Connie Chung on CNN that he would be busy for two or three more years and then would retire. He said he would not sing again, "not even when I'm taking the shower."

Pavarotti, 66, cancelled his last scheduled performances at the Metropolitan Opera in May, citing an illness.

The Italian opera star - renowned for his concerts with fellow luminaries Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras, billed as the Three Tenors - is scheduled for Thursday in Japan at the World Cup with Domingo and Carreras.