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Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2006 > February > 21 > Entry
Suwanee woman factors in a debate with O’Reilly
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Suwanee resident Christy Mellinger was selected from among 4,500 pundit wannabes to debate Fox News gabber Bill O’Reilly on his show today, in what’s being called the “Bloviate With Bill” contest.
The award: Bloviating with Bill. Mellinger plans to debate him on the subject of “Jessica’s Law,” which requires mandatory sentences for first-time sex offenders, about 8 p.m. on “The O’Reilly Factor.”
In preparation, “my husband [James] is drilling me on the subject,” Mellinger told Buzz. A serious O’Reilly fan, she noted her 18-month son, Michael, always calms down when he hears O’Reilly’s voice. “I think it’s because he heard O’Reilly so much in utero,” she said.
Beaux Arts Ball ‘sparkle’
More than 580 Mardi Gras revelers, including a king and queen and a bevy of princesses, danced and made merry Saturday night at “Carnival 2006,” the 29th Beaux Arts Ball. Black-tie clad guests feasted on chicken and beef piroshkis, fillet of sole and filet mignon, plus fruit dipped in a chocolate fondue fountain, at the Hilton Atlanta. WSB-TV’s Monica Kaufman — looking party perfect in hot pink satin paired with harlequin-patterned sequin pumps — was mistress of ceremonies for the event, a benefit for the Atlanta College of Art, while Marianne Broadbear chaired the ball.
Ed Reynolds, president of Network Services for Cingular Wireless, served as carnival king and his wife, Peggy, reigned as queen. They were attended by princesses dressed in white gowns: Ashley Brooke Brady, Julia Kemp, Nina Mustafa and Cassidy Beeman Russell.
Some guests wondered whether this might be the swan song for the Beaux Arts Ball, since the Atlanta College of Art will merge with the Savannah College of Art and Design at the end of the school year in June. Not so fast, said SCAD President Paula Wallace. She attended the ball with her husband, Glenn, and was host to two tables of friends and colleagues. “We helped out with the idea this time and are now seeing if people want to continue it [the ball],” Wallace told Buzz. “We might tweak it a bit, but it is a fund-raiser that has a sparkle to it. I’m here to learn and lend my support.”
Odds are good, said John Spiegel, the chairman of the Atlanta College of Art’s board of directors, that the ball will continue. “SCAD has expressed interest in carrying the ball forward,” Spiegel said. “Although it might not have older supporters from previous balls, it has a new influx of young people.”
Polyester pants required
Two-thirds of the Bee Gees, Barry and Robin Gibb, reunited onstage for a Miami charity concert Saturday, their first performance since the death of brother Maurice three years ago. The Brothers Gibb performed a private concert Saturday night at the Diplomat Hotel to raise money for the Diabetes Research Institute at an annual benefit for the organization, Paul Bloch, Barry Gibb’s publicist, said Sunday.
The brothers performed dozens of Bee Gees hits spanning 35 years, including “Stayin’ Alive,” and “How Deep Is Your Love.”
Maurice Gibb died at age 53 in January 2003 after emergency surgery for an intestinal blockage. He had been admitted to Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami four days earlier and had suffered cardiac arrest before the operation. The Bee Gees’ younger brother, Andy, who had a successful solo career, died in 1988 at age 30 of a heart ailment.
The Bee Gees had nine No. 1 songs and sold more than 110 million records — placing them fifth in pop history behind Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney.
Celebrity docket
Former British rocker Gary Glitter, currently cooling his heels in a Vietnamese slammer, will stand trial in early March on charges he committed obscene acts with two underaged Vietnamese girls, the head of the Vietnamese provincial People’s Court said Monday. Glitter, 61, who won fame as a flamboyant glam rocker in the 1970s, has been accused of kissing and fondling a 10-year-old and 11-year-old and “engaging in other physical acts” at his rental home in the coastal resort city of Vung Tau last year.
Nguyen Van Co, head of the provincial People’s Court in southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, said the date for Glitter’s trial would be set this week. If convicted, he faces between three and seven years in prison. Glitter, whose real name is Paul Francis Gadd, has been in police custody at a jail near Vung Tau since Nov. 19, when he was seized in Ho Chi Minh City trying to board a flight out of the country.
Glitter was convicted in Britain in 1999 of possessing child pornography and served half of a four-month jail term. He later went to Cambodia and was permanently expelled in 2002, but Cambodian officials did not specify any crime or file charges.
No word on whether his sports stadium anthem “Rock and Roll (Part 2)” will be cut from rotation at the Ted.
Roundup
Berne Poliakoff, aka “Frenchy” from the swinging gal-harmony trio Cowboy Envy, rode herd on a crowd of guest musicians Sunday at Eddie’s Attic, where she showcased a selection of solo tunes. No one was trampled on the tiny stage at the Decatur nightspot as a host of musicians trooped on and off, bringing along the sounds of fiddle, accordion, trumpet, tuba, ukulele, pedal steel and assorted stringed instruments.
The show included performances by Caroline Aiken, Mick Kenny, Sue Wilkinson, Mark Van Allen and Poliakoff’s cowgirl colleagues DeDe Vogt and Kathleen Hatfield. “I feel like Ed Sullivan up here,” said the mistress of ceremonies, “except I don’t have Topo Gigio with me.”
Celebrity birthdays
Opera star Charlotte Church is 20; actress Jennifer Love Hewitt (“Ghost Whisperer”) is 27; alt-country star Mary Chapin Carpenter is 48; television actor Kelsey Grammer (“Frasier”) is 51; actress Tyne Daly (“Gypsy”) is 60; record executive David Geffen is 63.
Contributing: Rodney Ho, Marylin Johnson and news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-5688 or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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