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06-20-08 EUR ALL ON ONE PAGE
JANET JACKSON TO STAR IN MTV REALITY SHOW: Singer to mentor aspiring singers and dancers.
*Janet Jackson is the latest celebrity to step into the world of reality television. The superstar is joining 25/7 Productions to develop an as-yet-untitled music competition series for MTV, reports Variety.
The show, which has already begun casting, will feature Jackson mentoring a group of aspiring singers and dancers in the months leading up to her world tour, which launches on Sept. 10.
"It's really about finding who's the next Janet Jackson or Justin Timberlake or Usher," executive producer Dave Broome tells Variety. "And we'll find it from a pool of people who you wouldn't typically find it from.
We'll go to YMCAs, church groups, local community centers and try to cast the show."
The program will be shot in various street locales, rather than on a studio soundstage. Producers are still ironing out the prize - but it could potentially relate to Jackson's tour.
WOMAN WITH PACMAN DURING MELEE FOUND DEAD: Stylist Sadia Morrison believed to have been thrown off Bronx building.
*Fashion stylist and publicist Sadia Morrison, the woman who was with NFL star Adam "Pacman" Jones during his Las Vegas strip club melee last year, was found dead in New York on Friday after possibly being thrown from a roof.
Police are still investigating the June 13th death, saying they are "looking at any and all possibilities." But various media outlets are quoting sources who say she was tossed from a building in the Bronx.
Morrison is a Fashion Institute of Technology graduate and has worked with such artists as Kanye West, Young Jeezy and Fantasia. According to TMZ.com, she had recently organized a celebrity PlayStation tournament at Jay-Z's 40/40 Club to raise funds for at-risk youth.
Her funeral service was held yesterday (June 19) in the Bronx.
Morrison had pleaded no contest to her role in the Pacman Jones brawl that left a security guard shot and paralyzed from the waist down.
FEDS WANT SNIPES TO PAY FOR HIS PROSECUTION: Actor receives bill totaling more than $217,000.
*Federal prosecutors sent Wesley Snipes a "cost of prosecution bill" that demands repayment for the money they spent convicting him on tax charges.
The government wants Snipes to pay $217,363 – which includes $21,052.19 for the time and travel expenses of witnesses, many of whom were IRS employees; $193,716.98 for the cost of scanning, printing and copying documents used in the case (including 260 boxes of documents seized from the Florida firm that prepared Snipes' responses to the IRS) and $2,456.40 for daily trial transcripts, according to the report sent to the judge.
Additionally, $138.18 is owed by Snipes for making certified color copies of trial exhibits, the report says.
The Orlando-born actor was convicted on three misdemeanor counts of failing to file a federal tax return for the years 1999, 2000 and 2001 and sentenced in April to 36 months in federal prison. He remains free while his case is on appeal.
50 PLANS DEFAMATION SUIT AGAINST SHANIQUA: Rapper upset with baby mama for telling everyone he started house fire.
*Rapper 50 Cent is reportedly planning to sue the mother of his 11-year-old son for defamation, claiming she's telling people that he masterminded the fire that destroyed the Long Island home at the center of their legal fight.
"There comes a point where you can no longer sit on your hands and listen to her spread these falsehoods," 50's lawyer, Brett Kimmel, tells New York Daily News column Rush & Malloy of Shaniqua Tompkins. "Besides hurting his reputation, they have a damaging impact on their son."
At the time of the fire, the Dix Hills residence was occupied by Tompkins and Marquise, her 11-year-old son with 50. Arson investigators called the blaze "suspicious," but Tompkins took things a step further and blamed 50 for orchestrating the whole incident.
"He tried to kill me and his own child," Tompkins told reporters after the fire. "I know this came from 50 Cent."
In the defamation complaint – currently being drafted, according to Kimmel – 50 also charges that Tompkins has refused to let him see Marquise or tell him where he's living ever since the fire. Tompkins has "made it practically impossible" for 50 to speak to or see his son, according to a petition filed this week in Suffolk County Family Court.
When 50 learned Marquise's cell phone was destroyed in the fire, the rap star sent him a new one, along with a duffle bag of new clothes. Tompkins has "failed and refused to give the cell phone to Marquise," 50 alleges. "The only way [50] can communicate with his son is to call [Tompkins'] cell phone. On June 11 ... [she] did permit [50] to speak with his son. However ... she was hovering over Marquise, monitoring the conversation and, after a short while, she interrupted the conversation by taking the phone from Marquise and began yelling at [50]," who eventually hung up on her.
The rapper, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, also seeks a court order that allows him to see his son.
In other 50 news, Taco Bell is offering to make a $10,000 donation to a charity of his choice if he agrees to change his name to either 79 Cent, 89 Cent or 99 Cent for one day this summer.
The moniker change would promote the fast food chain's new "Why Pay More" value menu. As part of the deal, 50 would also have to appear at a Taco Bell location and rap his order in the drive thru with his new name. So far, 50's camp has not responded.
COURT TO HEAR SONJA NORWOOD VS. KARDASHIAN: Kim K and siblings get a trial date in lawsuit brought by ex-boyfriend's mom.
*Socialite Kim Kardashian, her sisters Kim, Kourtney and Khloe, and their brother Robert Jr. have been ordered to stand trial in a lawsuit brought by Sonja Norwood, the mother of Kim K's ex-boyfriend Ray-J.
The case is scheduled to begin on Feb. 17, 2009, according to E! Online. The Kardashians were accused of spending $120,000 in unauthorized charges on Norwood's American Express card in 2006 and 2007, when Kim was dating Ray-J and working as a stylist for his sister, R&B star Brandy.
The famous Kardashian siblings, who have their own E! reality series "Keeping Up with the Kardashians," have denied, "generally and specifically," every allegation in Norwood's suit, saying they had her permission to make the purchases.
Norwood is seeking complete compensation for the charges, plus 10 percent interest. A final status conference has also been set for Feb. 11.
YOUNG BUCK ADDRESSES LEAKED PHONE CALL: Rapper records dis track after tape of him crying to 50 Cent is exposed.
*Young Buck hurried up and recorded a track that disses 50 Cent and G-Unit in the wake of a leaked phone conversation in which he sobs while begging 50 to allow him back into his G-Unit rap group.
The song, titled "Taped Conversation," includes the lines: "B**ch n**gas do b**ch thangs/ Look at 50, what he do just to get fame/ Record my phone call when I spoke from the heart/ That was a year ago, this was a joke from the start/ You a ho, I know/ The only people that record conversations is 5-0."
Addressing his emotional breakdown, Buck raps in the song: "If a real n**ga cry then it's real pain/ So on the real, my n**ga I don't feel ashamed."
Buck's response also jokes that 50 and G-Unit member Tony Yayo are having a love affair, and that Lloyd Banks, also of G-Unit, has issues with the group but is too afraid to speak up.
As previously reported, 50 Cent released the taped phone conversation Tuesday via his Web site.
To hear Young Buck's "Taped Conversation" click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at2IvHQAFEo&feature=related
KIMORA AND DJIMON 'KIND OF' ENGAGED?: Fashionista sorta doesn't deny that wedding bells are in their future.
*While working a red carpet this week, Kimora Lee Simmons told People magazine that she is "kind of" engaged to her boyfriend, actor Djimon Hounsou.
Asked point blank if they were engaged, Simmons said, "Kind of."People followed up by asking if Hounsou had given her an engagement ring. Simmons replied, "Well, kind of," then added, "not quite."
The cryptic exchange took place Wednesday as the couple entered the Bel Air home of Maria and William Bell for the third annual Loveday celebration, hosted by Cartier. Janet Jackson and her beau Jermaine Dupri, Ashanti and Rosario Dawson were also in attendance. Diana Ross performed.
Once inside the party, Simmons explained her attendance by saying, "My honey created a bracelet last year, and we're here for [the orphans' charity] SOS Children, and we're really good friends and supporters of Cartier and their charitable initiatives."
Besides, she said, "It seemed like a great time to have fun and see lots of friends." And, with a good cause involved, to boot, "there's nothing better than that."
CHARLIE SHEEN CALLS EX DENISE THE N-WORD: Actor issues public apology – especially to his black friend, actor Tony Todd.
*Charlie Sheen had a combination Michael Richards/Dog the Bounty Hunter moment and dropped the N-word on his ex-wife Denise Richards during a tirade left on her voicemail three years ago that emerged this week.
The audio recordings are from April 2005, when the former couple was going through a nasty divorce. He ends one of his voicemail messages by telling Richards: "I hope I never f**king talk to you again you f**king c**t. You're a coward and a liar and a f**king n**ger alright, so f**k you."
Sheen's use of the racist term, as well as the C-word and F-bomb, were fully documented in court papers at the time, but the leaked audio this week has prompted the "Two and a Half Men" star to issue a public apology.
"I deeply apologize by my choice of words to all I have obviously offended, especially to Tony Todd, an African American, who was my best man at my first two weddings," Sheen said in a statement released Wednesday by his publicist. "And for the record, my children did not show up today for a custodial visit without explanation. So three and one-half years later, the reasons that caused the anger and frustration displayed on that voice mail continue to be manifested on a daily basis."
Richards told "Access Hollywood's" Billy Bush that she has nothing to do with the release of the voicemails, and has no idea who's behind it.
Celeb blogger Perez Hilton posted a transcript of Charlie Sheen's offensive voicemails, which are listed below.
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
Message Received at 12:46pm
• I guess I should just get used to the fact that you know, you fire off your nonsense and you're lawyer bullsh** and your f**king emails and then you don't answer the phone, and you know, you don't have the f**king courage or the wherewithal to like confront me or deal with me or just be f**king honest. And the forthright and I guess I just gotta stop being disappointed by that because that's just who you are and what you do. And I guess once I accept that, I won't be frustrated by your chicken sh** f**king behavior, so whatever. I'm just really f**king mad and you owe me a phone call. Okay.
Cause again, if I did the same sh** to you, you'd be f**king furious.
Alright, so whatever.
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
Message Received at 1:00pm
• Yea, I just got your other email and I am a little confused because you told me that was something you only told a couple of people, and this and that, and I just, again you continue to be deceitful and mischievous and sneaky, and you're a f**king liar. Okay. You're a f**king liar. So, you know what it's like, f**k you. Okay, I hope you rot in f**king hell. You're a piece of sh** f**king liar and I hope you f**king rot in hell. So f**k you.
I hope I never f**king talk to you again you f**king c**t. F**k you. You're a coward and a liar and a f**king n**ger alright, so f**k you."
SNOOP OFFERS DOSE OF COUNTRY 'MEDICINE': Rapper releases video for his new single feat. Willie Nelson.
*Snoop Dogg's country track "My Medicine" is the latest single from his latest album "Ego Trippin'," released in March. The video, seen below, is dedicated to the late country legend Johnny Cash, Snoop tells People magazine.
"His music touched people like myself, which you probably didn't know," the rapper explained at the CMT Awards in April.
The Everlast-produced single, largely about marijuana, includes contributions from fellow smoker Willie Nelson, "Dancing With the Stars" champ Julianne Hough and country star Brad Paisley. The video features Snoop sing/rapping the tune in a cowboy hat and boots.
"Country music is the most underrated music in the world," he said. "It always has the test of time, it's great, it's heartfelt, and it touches people no matter what color they are or where they're from."
Snoop Dogg feat. Willie Nelson - My Medicine [Music Video]: http://youtube.com/watch?v=c9zOq0oQGlg
J-HUD TALKS SEX, BOOBS AND 'BEES': Oscar winner discusses current film; upcoming projects and her big bosom.
*Jennifer Hudson is on a roll with her career – having just shot a video for her new single "Spotlight," as well as preparing for the release of her debut album and enjoying attention from her turn in the current film "Sex and the City."
"I guess God gives me the strength," Hudson tells E! Online of her nonstop schedule since becoming the breakout star of "Dreamgirls" two years ago. "In this field you just sleep when you can."
The 26-year-old is putting the finishing touches on her anticipated self-titled album, due Sept. 30 from Arista. "I still have a few more songs to go before it's complete, but I think we're kind of halfway there," she said of the project guided by music veteran Clive Davis. "I want to tour," she added. "I want to get out there. I'm looking forward to that."
As for rumors of a sequel to the spring's hottest film "Sex and the City," which co-stars Hudson as an assistant to Sarah Jessica Parker's Carrie Bradshaw, the "American Idol" vet says she hopes that her character Louise would also return. "I think she'd be married with a family," Hudson says. "And she'd probably move next door to Ms. Bradshaw."
One thing Louise won't be doing is a sex scene. When asked if she would consider baring as much as Cynthia Nixon and Kim Cattrall did in the movie, Hudson said: "I only have one answer for that question. Nope!"
But that doesn't mean she's not proud of her body, particularly her bosom.
"Hey, mine are real," she declared. "People pay to get them like this and then let them hang out. They pay for what I got naturally. Why can't I flaunt the real ones? They're the real deal."
Hudson will follow up "Sex and the City" with a part in the upcoming film "Winged Creatures" and the recently-wrapped "The Secret Life of Bees" opposite Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys and Dakota Fanning.
"Queen Latifah is like a big sister to me," Hudson said of the friendship that developed on the North Carolina set. "I honestly feel that. I just saw her and I feel like, God, I'm with my big sister and I got to make sure I'm on my best behavior."
LIL WAYNE, T-PAIN CONSIDER JOINT CD: Artists think about full album follow-up to current single 'Got Money.'
*Lil Wayne and T-Pain may join forces to record a duet album on the heels of their single "Got Money," which is No. 45 this week on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
"They've been speaking on it," Cash Money head Ron "Slim" Williams tells Billboard of the album. "I wanted to get past 'Tha Carter III.' Now we can sit down and get to the business of different collaborations. I just want to make sure that we have a good record."
"Tha Carter III," Wayne's new album from Cash Money/Universal, sold 1 million copies in its first week of release. It's the first album to break the million-copy mark in its first week since 50 Cent's "The Massacre" (1.14
million) in 2005.
The set also has as the 14th biggest sales week of all time, and it's already the No. 3 bestseller of the year just one week out, trailing Mariah Carey's nine-week-old "E=MC2" by just 17,000 copies. (Jack Johnson's "Sleep Through the Static" is No. 1 with 1.2 million in sales to date.)
NE-YO, KEYSHIA COLE AT REGGAE SUMFEST: Annual event in Jamaica to take place next month.
*Ne-Yo and Keyshia Cole will headline this year’s international night on Friday, July 18 for the 16th staging of Reggae Sumfest, set to take place at Catherine Hall in Montego Bay, Jamaica, July 13-19.
The festival showcases the best of Dancehall and Reggae music, as well as top R&B/Hip Hop performers, and each year attracts in excess of 30,000 patrons to the tourist capital of Montego Bay.
“The Jamaica Tourist Board is again pleased to lend its support to Reggae Sumfest, one of Jamaica’s premiere music events, which has sought to showcase the island’s musical genius while promoting Montego Bay and Jamaica as a vacation destination," said Basil Smith, Jamaica’s Director of Tourism.
Prices are $15 for July 13; $29 for July 17; and $50 for July 18 and 19. Tickets can be purchased online at www.islandstubs.com. For travel packages and additional information on Reggae Sumfest, visit www.reggaesumfest.com. The Festival Schedule is listed below:
Sunday, July 13
• The opening Beach Party for the festival will feature the two sound systems Classique and Danger Zone.
Thursday, July 17
• Fans will enjoy performances from Beenie Man, Bounty Killer, I Octane, Elephant Man, Lady Saw, Vybz Kartel, Demarco, Anthony B, Wayne Marshall, Macka Diamond, Ninja Man, Voice Mail, Shane O, Assasin, Busy Signal, Spice, Serani, Harry Todler, Erup and Munga.
Friday, July 18
• Featured performers include Jah Cure, Courtney John, Richie Spice, Queen Ifrica, and Pressure.
Saturday, July 19
• The festival’s curtains come down with a number of Jamaican artists with international acclaim, including Beres Hammond, John Holt, Brick & Lace, Tarrus Riley and Etana.
WOMAN SUES VICTORIA'S SECRET OVER THONG: Macrida says a panty malfunction nearly took her eye out.
*A Los Angeles woman is suing lingerie manufacturer Victoria's Secret claiming that a faulty staple linking a jeweled-heart decoration to her thong caused her permanent eye damage.
Macrida Patterson, 52, said she was putting on her new Victoria's Secret "low-rise v-string" thong when a design problem caused the decorative heart to pop off and hit her in the eye. Claiming permanent damage to her cornea, Patterson filed a product liability lawsuit against the popular chain on June 9 in Los Angeles Superior Court.
Patterson and her lawyer were interviewed on NBC's "Today" show Thursday morning. Host Meredith Vieira repeatedly asked her attorney to disclose the monetary damages being sought, to no avail.
XZIBIT 'ALIENS DON'T LIKE BLACK PEOPLE': 'X-Files' star explains why abduction stories never involve African Americans.
*The question was sure to come up during press interviews for the upcoming "X-Files" movie.
Rapper Xzibit, who plays an FBI agent in the film, was asked if he believes in the existence of other life forms in the universe.
"I don't believe in aliens," the 33-year-old tells People magazine. "I don't think aliens or ghosts like black people. We never get abducted; our houses never get haunted. It always happens in rural areas, where no ethnic people live. The day I see somebody from South Central Los Angeles say, 'Man, I got abducted yesterday,' then I'll believe it."
"The X Files: I Want To Believe," due in theaters July 25, is directed by Chris Carter and is intended to be a stand alone film, apart from the "mythology" of the television series that ran for eight seasons on Fox. View movie trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5HrxAXvQ6A
MUSLIM WOMEN KEPT OUT OF OBAMA'S CAMERA SHOT: Campaign apologizes to two young ladies wearing hijabs at Detroit rally.
*A Muslim woman said she and another woman were told by the Obama campaign that they couldn't sit directly behind him — and in front of TV cameras — at a Detroit rally because they wear head scarfs.
Hebba Aref said she and Shimaa Abdelfadeel were among 20,000 supporters at the Joe Louis Arena Monday when the groups they were with were separately invited by Obama campaign volunteers to sit behind the podium, reports the Associated Press.
But Aref said the volunteers told members of both parties in separate discussions that women wearing hijabs, the traditional Muslim head scarves, were not allowed to sit behind the podium. Aref, a 25-year-old lawyer, said the volunteer cited "a sensitive political climate" in making the decision.
Obama spokesman Bill Burton said in a statement such actions are "not the policy of the campaign. …It is offensive and counter to Obama's commitment to bring Americans together and simply not the kind of campaign we run. We sincerely apologize for this behavior."
Aref said she thanked Burton and will continue to supoprt Obama, but requested that the Illinois senator apologize directly to her and Abdelfadeel, and extend invitations to sit behind him at a future campaign event. Obama spokeswoman Amy Brundage said the campaign has apologized.
MORE OBAMA BITS: Barack O-Red Bull; Michelle's 'View' dress; racist GOP pin; J-Hud's support; 'Country I Love' ad;
*Houston artist Sergio Aleman Jr. created a portrait of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama made entirely from recycled Red Bull cans -- in a party-appropriate blue color scheme. The University of Houston art student's piece is one of 47 selected to be part of the 2008 Red Bull Art of Can exhibition, which will be on display in a unique custom-designed art space at the Houston Galleria July 12 - 25. View photo of piece here:
http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=783044
*The makers of the black and white dress worn Wednesday by Michelle Obama during her appearance on "The View" have issued a press release stating more details. The Florida-based company, White House | Black Market (whitehouseblackmarket.com), says Obama's Tank Leaf Print Dress retails for $148 and is available in its 322 boutiques and 19 outlets nationwide or by calling 1.877.948.2525. "White House | Black Market offers an assortment of stylish, yet affordable clothing and accessories inspired by the latest trends," the statement read.
*Dallas Morning News reports that the Republican Party of Texas has shut down a vendor that sold a racist campaign pin at the state convention last weekend. In a pavilion adjoining the convention hall in Houston, Republicanmarket.com was selling a pin that said, "If Obama is President ...will we still call it The White House?" The pin was noted in a Dallas Morning News blog post and gained national attention Tuesday. "We were stunned," said state GOP spokesman Hans Klingler. "That vendor will never be at another Republican convention again."
*Jennifer Hudson, who hails from Obama's home state of Chicago, says she's ready to do whatever is necessary to get her senator into the White House. "I sang for Obama after I did [American] Idol," Hudson tells E!
Online. "I'm so proud and excited for him. I haven't gotten a call from [the campaign] yet, but he does have my support."
*The campaign's first general election ad was revealed Thursday in 18 states. The 60 second spot, “Country I Love,” is auto-biographical and features Obama speaking directly to the camera–interspersed with photographs and clips of him on the campaign trail–discussing his up-bringing. The ad will run in Alaska, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Virginia. View ad here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylVTBiGh00c
ITTY BITTY BITS: D'Angelo's album; Lawrence joins CAA; Gospel Music Month; noose bill in Louisiana; Celtics ratings; Brenda Jefferson guilty; Babyface star; Hancock's Jazz Award
*D'Angelo's J Records debut is due early next year and so far features a collaboration with Raphael Saadiq. The crooner also plans to work with John Mayer, a source tells Billboard.com. A single may be out before the end of the year. The Virginia native has been off the scene since his 2000 debut album "Voodoo," which spawned the hit single "Untitled (How Does It Feel)." On Tuesday (June 24), his former label Virgin will release a CD/DVD retrospective, "The Best So Far...," featuring hits, rarities and previously unreleased videos.
*Martin Lawrence has left his longtime agency UTA and signed with CAA for representation, reports Variety. The actor/comedian, most recently seen in "College Road Trip," gives CAA another player in its growing comedy division, the trade reports.
*Lawmakers are attempting to pass a bill that would designate September as Gospel Music Heritage Month. Senators Blanche L. Lincoln, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Patrick Leahy, Congresswomen Sheila Jackson Lee and Mary Bono Mack have teamed with the Gospel Music Channel and The Recording Academy to push legislation in the House (H.Con. Res. 370) and the Senate (S. Res. 595). The month would honor gospel music for its valuable long-standing contributions to American culture.
*A bill passed unanimously by Louisiana's House and Senate would make it a crime for a person to place a hangman's noose, or a picture of one, on another person's property or on public property with "the intent to intimidate." A 37-0 vote in the Senate late Monday, following a 97-0 House vote earlier in the legislative session, sent the measure to Gov. Bobby Jindal for his signature. Conviction could bring fines up to $5,000 and up to a year in prison. House Bill 726 by Rep. Rickey Hardy comes on the heels of a 2006 incident at Jena High School in central Louisiana, where three students were suspended after nooses were found hanging from a tree on campus. That incident led to a civil rights march that drew some 20,000 demonstrators to Jena last September.
*Ratings for the NBA Finals featuring the Los Angeles Lakers and their longtime rivals the Boston Celtics were the highest the league has seen in eight years. Tuesday's Game Six, in which the Celtics annihilated the Lakers to win the championship, drew 9.3% of U.S. households, according to Nielsen, a 51% increase from the San Antonio Spurs' sweep of the Cavaliers last season, which ended up being the lowest rated NBA Finals in history.
*The sister of Louisiana congressman William Jefferson pleaded guilty Wednesday to misprision of a felony for helping to conceal a crime, reports the AP. Prosecutors say Brenda Jefferson received about $90,000 for clerical work for three family members accused of defrauding a federal government program by stealing more than $600,000 in state and federal grant money intended for charitable and educational projects. The 52-year-old woman faces up to three years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Rep. William Jefferson was indicted last year on unrelated bribery charges. He has denied wrongdoing and is awaiting a trial.
*The Miracles and Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds are among the celebrities who will receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2009. The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce's Walk of Fame Committee chose the recipients, who were ratified by the board of directors Thursday. Other celebs getting stars are Hugh Jackman, Ben Kingsley, The Village People, fictional Tinker Bell, Felicity Huffman, William H. Macy, Cameron Diaz, Robert Downey Jr., Tim Burton, Leslie Caron, Charles Durning, Ralph Fiennes, William Petersen, Kyra Sedgwick, John Stamos, Mark Burnett, Chuck Lorre, Dave Koz, Doug Morris, Rush, Shakira, KFI radio personality Bill Handel and KCRW host Harry Shearer, who also provides voices for characters on "The Simpsons."
*Pianist Herbie Hancock took home the top prize at this year's Jazz Awards, held Wednesday at the Jazz Standard club in New York City. The artist was named musician of the year for his Grammy-winning album, "River: The Joni Letters." The night's big winner, however, was Maria Schneider with four trophies collected for her big band CD "Sky Blue," including album of the year. Drummer Roy Haynes and sax player Ornette Coleman were both double winners. Pianist Marian McPartland, 90, was recognized with the award for Lifetime Achievement in Jazz.
MD POLITICS HAS GOOD NEWS AND BAD NEWS: State elects first black woman to congress; prosecutors raid home of Baltimore mayor.
*In Maryland politics Tuesday, one African American woman made history while another had her home seized by state prosecutors.
Democratic lawyer and nonprofit executive Donna Edwards won a special election Tuesday to become Maryland's first black woman elected to Congress. She beat Republican Peter James in the race to serve the remainder of former U.S. Rep. Albert Wynn's term in Maryland's 4th District.
Wynn left office May 31 to take a lobbying job after losing to Edwards in February's Democratic primary by 22 percentage points. The 49-year-old will hold the seat for the rest of the year. James also won his party's primary in February, meaning he and Edwards will face each other again in November's general election.
Meanwhile, state prosecutors searched the home of Baltimore City Mayor Sheila Dixon Tuesday and seized "various documents." It was unclear what prosecutors were trying to find inside the brick residence in the Hunting Ridge neighborhood.
Dale P. Kelberman, Dixon's attorney, said agents of the state prosecutor's office issued a search warrant and arrived at the mayor's Southwest Baltimore house at 6:30 a.m. She was home with her two teenage children at the time.
"We have not yet seen the affidavit in support of the search warrant so we don't know what was authorized or why," Kelberman told the Baltimore Business Journal.
Dixon has been on prosecutors' radar for the past two years. The mayor, who previously served as City Council president, was dogged for approving a deal that provided financial compensation to a company that employed her sister, Janice Dixon.
OPENING THIS WEEK: Kam's Kapsules: Weekly Previews That Make Choosing a Film Fun
by Kam Williams
For movies opening June 20, 2008
BIG BUDGET FILMS
Get Smart (PG-13 for violence, profanity and crude humor) Screen adaptation of the Sixties spy sitcom stars Steve Carrell as Maxwell Smart, aka Secret Agent 86. Gadget-driven, slapstick adventure pits the bumbling Smart and fellow CONTROL agents against Kaos, an evil crime syndicate masterminded by Siegfried (Terrence Stamp) and bent on world domination. Cast includes Anne Hathaway as 99, Alan Arkin as the Chief, David Koechner as Larabee, The Rock
as Agent 23 and Bill Murray as Agent 13.
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (G) Depression Era drama, inspired by the illustrated children's novel of the same name by Valerie Tripp, stars Abigail Breslin as a spunky nine year-old who, with the help of her friends, sets out to solve the string of robberies around Cincinnati which has left her already cash-strapped family facing foreclosure. With Joan Cusack, Julia Ormond, Jane Krakowski, Stanley Tucci, and Willow Smith (Will and Jada's daughter)
The Love Guru (PG-13 for sexuality, profanity, slapstick violence, crude humor and drug references) Mike Myers comedy vehicle about an orphan abandoned at an ashram in India who employs some unorthodox therapeutic methods upon his return to the U.S. as a relationship advice expert. Cast includes Jessica Alba, Jessica Simpson, Jessica Barrow, Meagan Good, Sir Ben Kingsley, Vern "Mini-Me" Troyer and Justin Timberlake.
INDEPENDENT & FOREIGN FILMS
Brick Lane (PG-13 for profanity and sexuality) Cross-cultural drama, set in the Eighties, about an obedient Bangladeshi woman (Tannishtha Chatterjee) who emigrates to London where she ends up trapped in a soul-strangling, arranged marriage with a middle-aged Muslim (Satish Kaushik) twenty years her senior.
Expired (Unrated) Romantic comedy revolving around the dysfunctional relationship of a mellow meter maid (Samantha Morton) who hates her job and her short-fused colleague (Jason Patric) who delights in writing up parking tickets. With Teri Garr, Illeana Douglas and Jonny Mack.
Quid Pro Quo (R for sexuality and profanity) Psychological thriller about a wheelchair-bound, public radio reporter (Nick Stahl) who finds himself drawn into a surreal subculture of kinky fetishes by a weirdo (Vera Farmiga) with an erotic compulsion to become a paraplegic. Cast includes James Frain and Kate Burton (Richard's daughter).
EUR MOTIVATIONAL NOTE
"We tend to get what we expect." — Norman Vincent Peale
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
June 20: Singer Lionel Richie is 59.
June 22: Actor Donald Faison ("Scrubs") is 34. TV personality Jai Rodriguez ("Queer Eye For The Straight Guy") is 29.
WEBSITE OF THE WEEK
The hippest, smartest spot on the 'Net for African-American
intelligence is at www.urbanthoughtcollective.com.
Submit your favorite Web site to us along with a 15-20 word (or less) description to info@eurweb.com.
BLACK HISTORY
June 20, 1911: NAACP incorporated in New York.
June 21, 1923: Marcus Garvey was sentenced to five years in prison after his conviction on charges of using the mail to defraud. Garvey said the charges were political.
June 22, 1937: Boxer Joe Louis defeated James J. “Cinderella Man” Braddock to become the heavyweight champion. (source: www.BlackFacts.com)
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