New url for Peach Buzz
Bookmark this new url for Peach Buzz.. We have moved to Wordpress!
Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2006 > May
May 2006
Singer Candi Staton will belt out a few at home
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For the first time in 30 years, Atlantans will have the rare opportunity to see soul singer Candi Staton perform in her hometown this week.
The veteran vocalist will perform a mini concert at 3 p.m. Saturday at Aurora Coffee in Little Five Points. The Criminal Records-sponsored gig will help introduce local fans to Staton’s new, critically acclaimed album, “His Hands,” her first secular recording in 24 years.
“I call them my life songs,” the Stone Mountain resident told Buzz Tuesday. “It’s about dealing with the relationships in your life.” She paused, laughed and added: “And I’ve had a lot of failed ones, so I know what I’m talkin’ about, too!”
Staton is trying to adjust to her quiet life here in the American South, where she remains virtually unrecognized after a much-heralded tour in Europe, where U.S. soul singers are hugely popular.
“They treat me like royalty,” Staton said. “There were maybe 15 different reporters in the hotel lobby all lined up, waiting to talk to me over there. It’s really amazing.”
Overseas, a dance version of Staton’s “You Got the Love” remains lodged on the charts after 15 weeks as well.
Slowly but surely, Staton and veteran soul singer Bettye LaVette, who recently released her own comeback album, “I’ve Got My Own Hell to Raise,” and also performed a sold-out show in Little Five Points, are receiving their “propers” in their native country.
“Back in the day, we were competing with Aretha Franklin and Gladys Knight,” Staton explained. “That’s some tough competition, especially when your record label isn’t lobbying for you. Now, we’re finally being heard, and it’s wonderful. Sometimes, the seasons just come a little later. I’m hoping my season has finally arrived.”
Staton’s Saturday concert is free. Aurora Coffee is at 468 Moreland Ave.
Chris Tucker to star in Bollywood remake
Atlantan Chris Tucker will star in a Hollywood remake of a Bollywood hit about a gangster who enrolls in medical school, according to a newspaper report.
“Munnabhai M.B.B.S.,” a hit in India and among South Asians living abroad, will be remade as “Gangster M.D.,” director Mira Nair was quoted as telling the Mumbai Mirror in Monday’s editions.
“Chris Tucker will be playing the main character in the film,” said Nair, adding that she may cast some actors from the 2003 Bollywood original.
Filming is expected to begin after Tucker, 33, finishes work on “Rush Hour 3,” to be directed by Brett Ratner and co-starring Jackie Chan.
Nair, who splits her time between homes in New York and Uganda, directed “Vanity Fair,” “Monsoon Wedding,” “Mississippi Masala” and “Salaam Bombay!”
Sick bay
A complication from back surgery has forced Luciano Pavarotti to postpone five June dates on his worldwide farewell tour, his manager said Tuesday.
Performances in the Canadian cities of Calgary, Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto, and a U.S. date in Washington, have been delayed until October, said Terri Robson, Pavarotti’s London-based manager.
Last month, the 70-year-old tenor released a statement saying he expected to recover in time for the June dates.
“However, he went on to develop an infection during his stay in the hospital,” Robson said. “This condition has unfortunately delayed his recovery time.”
Pavarotti was staying in New York to continue with intensive physical therapy, his manager said.
His farewell tour was expected to resume in July with shows in the United Kingdom. Tickets from the postponed dates will be good for the October shows.
“Luciano apologizes to his many disappointed fans for having to reschedule these concerts,” Robson said. “Happily, he is now well on his way to recovery and very much looks forward to continue celebrating his career with the Pavarotti Worldwide Farewell Tour.”
Celebrity birthdays
Actor-director Clint Eastwood is 76. Singer Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary is 68. Actress Sharon Gless (“Cagney and Lacey,” “Queer as Folk”) is 63. Actor Gregory Harrison is 56. Actor Tom Berenger is 56. Comedian Chris Elliott is 46. Actor Kyle Secor (“Commander in Chief,” “Homicide: Life on the Street”) is 46. Actress Lea Thompson (“Caroline in the City”) is 45. Singer Corey Hart is 44. Rapper DMC of Run-DMC is 42. Actress Brooke Shields is 41. Actor Colin Farrell is 30.
Contributing: news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. 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.
Permalink | |
McConaughey’s jog turns into starring role at picnic
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This just in: “We Are Marshall” actor Matthew McConaughey is just as nice as we’ve all feared.
Last week, a class of disabled children from Laurel Ridge Elementary School in Decatur were enjoying a picnic at Stone Mountain Park when McConaughey jogged past. When he saw the kids, he stopped by to chat with the students and their teachers.
According to Laurel Ridge Elementary principal Mark Gordon, McConaughey told them he has a relative with cerebral palsy and was able to “talk” with the kids who rely on communication devices.
We’re told that before resuming his run, the actor even helped to load the school’s coolers back on board the bus.
Noted Gordon in an e-mail: “The teachers really enjoyed it!”
The lyrical response goes on
Words continue to roll into Buzz Central as readers seek to assist “It’s Buckhead!” singer Melanie Massell as she takes us up on our offer to pen a theme song for the relaunched Woodruff Park downtown. Here’s another entry e-mailed into Buzz: “I’m as happy as a lark/When I take off to Woodruff Park/As the summer breeze whistles through the trees/I sit playing chess/Or crunching on ‘cumbers, tomatoes and watercress/You can lay in the grass/Watching the people pass/As they go from place to place/Looking for the ideal space/To rest before going back to the rat race.” Have your own ideas? E-mail them to us at buzz@ajc.com.
Free ‘Prairie Home’ passes
Public radio listeners don’t normally get the truckloads of freebies normally reserved for commercial radio. Garrison Keillor and film director Robert Altman are altering that by offering free passes to their upcoming big-screen comedy, “A Prairie Home Companion.”
Starting today during her famed “Second Cup” concert segment, WABE-FM’s Lois Reitzes will be giving away passes to an advance screening of the flick. The tickets also will be offered on Wanda Yang Temko’s “Afternoon Classics” show on the station all this week.
Celebrity docket
The drunken-driving case against country singer John Michael Montgomery is heading to trial in Kentucky.
Jack Miller, assistant Fayette County attorney, said he is pushing forward with all the charges — including carrying two loaded handguns in a vehicle without a permit and carrying prescription drugs in an improper container. “We think there is sufficient evidence to go forward,” Miller said.
Defense attorneys say Montgomery has a permit for the guns and a prescription for the drugs.
A trial date will be set at another hearing June 12. Montgomery, 40, won’t attend that hearing, but he must attend the trial.
Montgomery’s attorney, Brent Caldwell, said prosecutors had originally indicated the charges might be dropped. He said the credibility of the arresting officer could be a factor.
Why, you ask, dear reader?
Well, officer Joshua Cromer was forced to apologize for postings on his MySpace.com Web site.
The site included comments from other police officers congratulating him on the arrest as well as an altered picture of Montgomery and a fan, with Cromer’s head superimposed over the fan’s.
In addition, Caldwell says he has witnesses who will testify Cromer was off duty and in the same bar as Montgomery the night of the arrest.
Ang Lee to take on ‘Lust’
Oscar-winning director Ang Lee will next film a Chinese-language spy thriller set in World War II-era Shanghai, film company Focus Features has announced.
Set to begin production this fall, it will be Lee’s first movie since “Brokeback Mountain,” which failed to win the best picture award but won Lee his first Academy Award for directing.
The movie, titled “Lust, Caution,” also marks the director’s return to Chinese-language cinema after “The Hulk” and “Brokeback Mountain.”
“Lust, Caution” will reunite Lee with the team behind his 2000 kung fu hit “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.” Focus, a division of NBC Universal, and which released “Brokeback Mountain,” did not announce any casting choices.
Celebrity birthdays
Actor Ted McGinley (“Hope and Faith”) is 48. Actor Ralph Carter (“Good Times”) is 45. Country singer Wynonna is 42. Guitarist Tom Morello of Audioslave and Rage Against the Machine is 42. Rapper Cee-Lo with Goodie Mob is 32.
Contributing: news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. 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.
Permalink | |
No one will mistake Jim Belushi for Dr. Phil
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jim Belushi, star of ABC’s “According to Jim,” readily admitted to a packed house at Barnes & Noble in Vinings on Friday evening that he was promoting a book for one reason: “I thought it would be easy money.”
In the end, Belushi said, “I’m going to make about 27 cents an hour.” The book, “Real Men Don’t Apologize” (Hyperion, $21.95), features his observations about life, love and relationships. He’s on his third marriage and realizes now why he failed the first two times: “Men need three things — a sense of humor, a sense of compassion and a sense of strength. I didn’t have enough of the third.”
The actor gabbed for nearly an hour before he signed books, touching on everything from his Blues Brothers gigs to his children to his late, great brother John, who died of a drug overdose in 1982. “People still stay, ‘I’m sorry about your brother,’ ” Belushi said. “Most people can hide from that, but because of who I am, I could never hide.”
On a brighter note, he said he’s happy to have his sitcom back for a sixth season this fall — moved to a time slot away from “American Idol.” “You’re going to get a lot more of me,” he said, “whether you like it or not.”
Speaking of funny guys …
Brian Regan is one of the few stand-up comics who can sell out 2,000-seat theaters without the benefit of movie roles or a TV series, à la Ray Romano or George Lopez. And as Buzz watched Regan work the sold-out Tabernacle crowd Saturday in a loose-fitting Tommy Bahama shirt, it was clear why: He’s gut-busting funny.
Like many solid stand-ups, his humor derives as much from his energizing delivery as his jokes, which touch upon familiar staples such as food, family life and gender differences. Of cooking shows, Regan noted that of course they make it look easy: “Everything is already in pre-measured bowls!”
Plus, he does a local joke about I-285, which can be used in virtually any major city. “People are either going 3 miles per hour or 119. There really is nothing in between!”
And when it comes to Pop-Tarts, he’s bemused by the instructions on the box: “Why is there more than one step?”
Stork report
Joining Brangelina in parenthood, pop star Gwen Stefani birthed Kingston James McGregor Rossdale by Caesarean section at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on Friday, according to Stefani spokesman Dave Tomberlin. The baby weighed 7 1/2 pounds. “Both mother and child are doing well,” Tomberlin said in a statement. It’s the first child for Stefani, 36, and rocker Gavin Rossdale, 38, who were married in 2002.
‘Georgia’ on Idol’s mind
“American Idol” winner Taylor Hicks told Buzz during a news conference Friday that he wanted to sing his hero Ray Charles’ signature song, “Georgia on My Mind,” on the show but never got the opportunity.
“That would have been a tough fit” with the themes “Idol” gave him, Hicks said. “Who knows? Maybe I’ll sing it on tour.”
He said he also wanted to sing “Try a Little Tenderness” during “love song” week but had to do “Easy” instead. He also requested songs by Van Morrison and Paul Simon but couldn’t get clearance on certain songs.
As for his worst performance, Hicks said John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” didn’t click. “I think I was flat the whole song. I should have sung ‘Country Boy Can Survive’ ” by Hank Williams Jr.
If you’re interested in going to the “Idols Live” tour at Gwinnett Arena on Aug. 3 or Sept. 12, the dates are sold out, so you’ll have to try eBay or ticket brokers. And speculators have had a field day. Buzz checked several broker sites, and there are hundreds of seats available at prices from $110 to $250.
Alley Cat gets a second life
Last week, we reported that Charlie Brown’s Cabaret is leaving the struggling entertainment district at Underground Atlanta. Another original concept there has shut down as well: the Alley Cat, a rock club with exposed brick and a cool vibe. But operator Andy Adler said he couldn’t draw enough of the rock crowd and is moving to more compatible East Atlanta in late summer. “It just wasn’t the right place for our genre,” Adler said. “If nothing else, we got a lot of notoriety. We have a built-in customer base. It’s not like starting a whole new business.”
Celebrity birthdays
Singer LaToya Jackson is 50. Actress Annette Bening is 48. Actor Rupert Everett is 47. Singer Melissa Etheridge is 45. Guitarist Noel Gallagher of Oasis is 39. Cartoonist Aaron McGruder (“Boondocks”) is 32. Singer Melanie Brown (“Scary Spice”) of the Spice Girls is 31.
Contributing: news services. 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.
Foxy Brown has a rap, one she’d like to beat
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Rapper Foxy Brown, accused of assaulting two nail salon workers in a fight over payment for a manicure, will go on trial in July, a judge said Friday.
Brown, 26, whose real name is— shut up! — Inga Marchand, is charged with misdemeanor assault in the Aug. 29, 2004, incident. New York City prosecutors allege she kicked one worker and hit the other in the face.
During her last court appearance in December, Brown was to have entered a guilty plea to a misdemeanor. But the session was derailed when Judge Melissa Jackson accused the rapper of disrespect and making faces at her.
“I don’t like her attitude,” Jackson then told Brown’s lawyer Joseph Fleming.
A ruckus also developed when Brown was handcuffed during the December session. She shouted at a female court officer that her numerous bracelets were “in the way” and allegedly struck the officer.
Jackson said Brown could either apologize or serve up to 30 days in jail. Brown apologized but did not enter the plea. Assistant District Attorney Gary Galperin had said the statement was legally and factually flawed and indicated that Brown had not accepted enough blame for the nail salon fracas.
On Friday, Brown appeared before Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Gerald Harris, without incident. She arrived in court wearing her hair in two long pigtails, brown knee-length pants, stiletto heels and a clinging T-shirt with a tiger image.
Harris set a hearing and trial date for July 17 and extended orders of protection for the nail salon workers.
She knows the wine list
Chantelle Grilhot, the Ritz-Carlton Buckhead’s sommelier, who was pictured here Friday, has a busy summer ahead.
Not only did she just pass the Advanced Sommelier Certificate test — which included questions on everything you want to know about wines, spirits and beers — but her drinkable concoction, Siren’s Call, was named the signature cocktail for the Georgia Aquarium.
The cocktail contest — recently judged by movers and shakers in the city — was held to celebrate the hotel’s exclusive partnership with the big tank. The winning drink is being offered in the hotel’s Lobby Lounge for $15. It features rooibos red tea, coconut Malibu rum, grenadine cointreau, orange juice and fresh plum.
At 24, Grilhot is one of the youngest sommeliers in the country to be invited to take the final test for the Master Sommelier Diploma, which is like getting a master’s degree in wine knowledge.
And how will she prepare for this grueling, weeklong event? “I will either be drinking wine, reading about wine or dreaming about wine all the time,” Grilhot said.
Stork report
Actor Kevin Dillon has a new addition to his personal entourage.
The 41-year-old star of the HBO show “Entourage” became a first-time father last week when his wife, 28-year-old model and actress Jane Stuart, gave birth to a daughter, Us Weekly magazine reported on its Web site Thursday. Ava Dillon was born in a Los Angeles-area hospital, the magazine said.
Uncoupling
Two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank will file for divorce from actor-husband Chad Lowe, People magazine reports. “Hilary Swank and Chad Lowe have jointly decided to divorce,” an attorney for the couple, Jeffrey A. Bernstein, told the magazine in a story posted on its Web site Friday. “They continue to be friends and have the utmost respect for one another.”
The female side of Dylan
Oscar winner Cate Blanchett, who has portrayed Queen Elizabeth and Katharine Hepburn, will add another legend to her résumé: Bob Dylan. The 37-year-old Australian actress is one of seven actors to play Dylan at various stages of his career in the biopic, “I’m Not There,” tentatively scheduled for release next year. She’ll portray a specific aspect of Dylan’s personality, embodied by an androgynous singer-songwriter character named Jude, according to Killer Films, the movie’s production company.
Celebrity birthdays
Today: Actor Christopher Lee is 84. Actress Lee Meriwether is 71. Musician Ramsey Lewis is 71. Actor Louis Gossett Jr. is 70. Actor Richard Schiff (“The West Wing”) is 51. Actor Todd Bridges (“Diff’rent Strokes”) is 41. Rapper Andre 3000 of OutKast is 31. Rapper Jadakiss is 31.
Sunday: Singer Gladys Knight is 62. Singer John Fogerty is 61. Actor Brandon Cruz (“The Courtship of Eddie’s Father”) is 44. Actress Christa Miller is 42.
Contributing: Marylin Johnson and news services. If you have a tip, 404-526-2749. 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.
Permalink | |
Drag show prepares to exit Underground
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On June 4, a little over a year and a half after a jampacked New Year’s Eve debut, Atlanta drag queen “matriarch” Charlie Brown will hurl her final insult onstage at Charlie Brown’s Cabaret at Underground Atlanta downtown.
“It’s just time to go,” Brown confirmed to Buzz on Thursday. “There’s just not enough business for us to continue.”
Ironically, Underground insiders say that during the nightclub industry’s slowest months, January and February, the newly reinvented nightlife scene there did OK. However, after an article about Underground ran in the AJC in March, crowd numbers continued to dwindle.
While Charlie Brown’s Cabaret was one of Underground’s success stories, especially on Thursday nights when it hosted its popular “Drag Idol” competitions, Brown says business has continued to evaporate.
“I really enjoyed working with the people down there,” Brown said. “It’s a shame it didn’t work out.”
Underground general manager Dan O’Leary didn’t immediately return calls to Buzz on Thursday.
Naturally, with two decades under her/his garter belt, Brown is busy securing the cabaret’s next home.
“We’re looking at a dinner theater concept,” Brown hinted. “It’s going to be an elaborate, Las Vegas-outfits kind of thing. It’ll be a proper dinner theater ‘La Cage’-type show.” An October launch is being planned.
In the interim, according to Brown, the Charlie Brown Cabaret cast will move its show to WETBar in Midtown every Friday night, beginning June 16.
Overscene
“We Are Marshall” actors Matthew Fox, Matthew McConaughey, the film’s director McG and some guests having a quiet dinner in one of Pricci’s private rooms Wednesday night in Buckhead. We’re told the party dined on authentic Italian from Pricci’s chef Piero Premoli, a native of Milan, Italy. So, unlike the rest of us, Fox presumably was relaxing and not throwing stuff at his TV screen and screaming “What the [expletive]?!” at 10:59 p.m. during the final moments of “Lost.”…
When Steven Eisenstein, catering sales manager at Omni Hotel at CNN Center, was busy offering directions and assistance to guests this week, he remarked to one woman on the elevator, “You look just like one of the actresses on ‘Desperate Housewives.’ ” Turns out, it was Bree Van De Kamp, herself, Marcia Cross, who was in town for a few hours for an interview at CNN. We’re told that Eisenstein quickly figured out who Cross was when he spotted a stash of “Desperate Housewives” DVDs in her arms. Cross also popped into KEF Media’s studio in west Atlanta to chat via satellite with 16 TV stations across the country to discuss the malady of migraine headaches.
There was no immediate word whether Cross had the opportunity to pop into MetroFresh in Midtown for the eatery’s tribute sandwich, the Brie Van de Kamp (brie cheese, tomato chutney with basil on raisin nut [case] bread, natch). …
Former Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell at V-103’s “Love Jones: Night of Music & Poetry” concert Wednesday at EarthLink Live in Midtown. Also in the capacity audience was DeKalb County CEO Vernon Jones, for whom V-103’s Wanda Smith and Miss Sophia performed their original poem, “Can a Black Man Get a Little Peace?”
Lowe: I’m no no-show
Lowe Gallery owner and charity auctioneer Bill Lowe was surprised to learn in this space this week that he had been characterized as a “no-show” at the UNICEF “Designs of Hope” gala over the weekend. “I’ve never even heard of this event,” Lowe told Buzz on Thursday. “It was total news to me.” Lowe said that not only was he in town and available for the event, he was out, taking in “The DaVinci Code” on the night in question. “Designs of Hope” organizers contacted by Buzz, meanwhile, continue to maintain that Lowe was indeed scheduled for the event through a Lowe Gallery employee. Still, we continue to wonder how a Lowe-led auction would have fared. After all, at a 2004 Rainforest Foundation-U.S. benefit, Lowe managed to get Sting to take off his shirt for moneyed females in attendance.
Sick bay update
PBS host Charlie Rose says he’s a lucky man.
The “Charlie Rose Show” interviewer was traveling in Syria in late March when he unexpectedly developed heart trouble that required surgery in Paris and a monthlong hospital stay.
He’s still recuperating, and grateful that things aren’t worse.
“You’re talking to someone who’s very, very lucky. It could have gone the other way,” Rose told The Daily Dispatch of Henderson, N.C., his hometown, for a story published this week.
The 64-year-old said his doctors in the United States were aware of a weakness in his heart but didn’t expect trouble to crop up so soon. It did just after he boarded a plane from Damascus to Paris on March 24.
“It just deteriorated faster than we thought,” Rose said.
Celebrity birthdays
Actor James Arness is 83. Singer Stevie Nicks is 58. Actress Pam Grier is 57. Country singer Hank Williams Jr. is 57. Singer Lenny Kravitz is 42. Actress Helena Bonham Carter is 40. Actor Joseph Fiennes is 36. “South Park” co-creator Matt Stone is 35.
Contributing: Sonia Murray and news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. 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.
Unlike most vampires, Elton’s ‘Lestat’ dies easily
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In the end, it wasn’t so much a wooden stake but dismal reviews that killed “Lestat” on Broadway.
The $10 million Elton John-Bernie Taupin musical inspired by Anne Rice’s “The Vampire Chronicles” will close Sunday after a disappointing run of 39 performances. It was the third Broadway show for the Peachtree Road resident and the first for Warner Brothers’ theatrical arm.
The show opened April 25 to mostly critical pans and has seen its box-office grosses steadily sink since then. Last week, for example, the expensive show, which stars Hugh Panaro as the vampire, grossed $448,525, playing to only 53 percent capacity at the Palace Theatre.
“Lestat” didn’t fare well with Tony nominations either. It received only two, one for Carolee Carmello (who plays Lestat’s mother) in the featured-actress category and the other for Susan Hilferty’s lavish costumes.
Adding to Sir Elton’s woes, at last week’s television network upfront sessions, the annual media circus designed to tout this fall’s new shows, John’s sitcom pilot, “Him and Us,” which chronicles the adventures of a gay rock icon and his staff, failed to net a slot on ABC’s fall schedule. The pilot starred “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” actor Anthony Head and “Sex and the City” star Kim Cattrall.
In ABC’s defense, when your bar is set as loftily as “According to Jim,” you have to protect your network sitcom legacy.
On the upside, the Elton John AIDS Foundation will likely soon see a check for $188,000. That’s the settlement the pop star received Wednesday (about 100,000 in UK pounds) in libel damages over allegations that he asked guests not to approach him at a charity ball.
Associated Newspapers, which publishes The Daily Mail, paid the damages, according to John’s attorney, Hanna Basha. The Sunday Times, which reprinted the Mail article, agreed on a confidential settlement this year, Basha said.
The allegations surrounded John’s behavior at his annual Tie and Tiara annual charity ball. The Mail claimed in its June 24 article that the singer had issued a “bizarre” edict for guests not to approach him at the ball.
Having attended a number of Sir Elton’s fund-raisers through the years, we can attest that the performer’s actions at such events are actually the polar opposite of what was reported overseas. If the guy stops chatting up and thanking guests even for the length of a bathroom break, we have yet to detect it.
The Varsity earns rave
Ever since that whole Jayson Blair whoopsie, we find ourselves reading The New York Times more closely. But on Wednesday, we read a certain paragraph three times, and still it failed to completely register.
On his cross-country fast-food pigout (affectionately dubbed “TransFat America”) published Wednesday, Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni gave Atlanta’s Varsity a rave review. Bruni spent nine days in 15 states and made 42 pit stops at burger joints across the land and lauded the Varsity here (along with a stop at a Culver’s in Texas) as “my favorite stop.”
Raving about the emporium’s chili slaw dog, Bruni writes: “Cole slaw atop chili turns out to be a bold idea, cooling and adding texture to it. And the dog beneath the condiments had a meaty, smoky appeal.” He also liked the onion rings there, marveling: “Steakhouse quality, with pleasantly greasy — but also thin and crunchy — shells that slipped off to reveal real, thick onion slices that weren’t overcooked.”
We spent most of Wednesday at Buzz Central awaiting the inevitable Overscene report on where the top of Guenter Seeger’s head landed after he read that Bruni actually visited our fair city and chose to dine at a venue best known as a Georgia Tech undergrad hangover remedy.
Stones postpone tour
The Rolling Stones have postponed the first 15 dates of their European tour, as guitarist Keith Richards recovers from a head injury.
Stones publicist LD Communications said Wednesday the European leg of the band’s “A Bigger Bang” tour, which had been due to start Saturday in Barcelona, Spain, would now begin in July at a venue and city to be announced.
The postponed gigs were scheduled for Barcelona and Madrid, Spain; Brussels, Belgium; Paris; Bergen, Norway; Horsens, Denmark; Gothenburg, Sweden; St. Petersburg, Russia; Brno, Czech Republic; Warsaw, Poland; Vienna, Austria; Milan, Italy; Athens, Greece; and Zagreb, Croatia.
The postponement of the two Paris shows on June 3 and July 2 was announced Tuesday by French organizers.
Richards, 62, was injured April 27 in Fiji. News reports variously claimed that he fell out of a palm tree or from a jet ski. Richards later had surgery in New Zealand to relieve pressure in his head. The Stones’ official fan Web site said in a statement Monday that Richards had returned to his home in Westport, Conn. — and was “feeling great.”
Celebrity birthdays
Songwriter Hal David is 85. Actor Ian McKellen (“The Da Vinci Code”) is 67. Actress Dixie Carter is 67. Actress-singer Leslie Uggams is 63. Actor-comedian Mike Myers is 43. Actress Anne Heche is 37. Actor Justin Henry (“Kramer vs. Kramer”) is 35. Singer Lauryn Hill is 31. Actor Ethan Suplee (“My Name Is Earl”) is 30.
Contributing: Wendell Brock and news services. If you have a tip, 404-526-2749. 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.
Permalink | |
Play brings back beloved writer
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We’re not exactly the sort to enlist “Ghost Whisperer” thespian Jennifer Love Hewitt anytime soon, but there were more than a few coincidences when Buzz arrived in the square in Marietta on Sunday afternoon.
It was the very first table reading of “Turned Funny,” the theatrical adaptation of our much-loved, late AJC colleague Celestine Sibley’s memoir. The world premiere of this “play with music,” thoughtfully adapted by Atlanta playwright Phillip DePoy, will open the venerable theater’s 25th season Aug. 9.
As strong, freshly brewed coffee (one of the columnist’s favorite beverages) scented the rehearsal space above Powder Springs Street, Theatre in the Square’s Palmer Wells, Jessica Phelps West and M.J. Conboy gathered with actors and staff to conjure up the script.
At times, actress Jackie Prucha, reading the lead role for the workshop, was an eerie reminder of the legendary scribe. The Southern accent she used, her spirit and the oversized horn-rimmed glasses she wore were all reminiscent of the writer.
While we assumed Prucha was using the glasses as a prop, she sheepishly conceded later that her regular glasses had broken. She dug out Celestine-like specs just before the reading.
The play’s first act focuses on Sibley’s eccentric upbringing in Alabama and Florida. The act ends with the young reporter being hired at the Atlanta Constitution. The second act focuses on Sibley’s expansive 60-year AJC career.
For the columnist’s many admirers, the play’s opening scene packs an emotional wallop. It opens in 1999 with Sibley reading a newspaper at her beloved Sweet Apple log cabin. Her first words?
“Well, I’m dead. I know this because I’m reading my obituary. That’s what you might call a dead giveaway.”
As if we needed any further evidence that Sibley’s spirit was in the air? When we arrived, the single available parking space on the entire square was directly in front of a bright blue AJC newspaper box .
T.I. tour continues
Atlanta rapper-actor T.I. resumes his concert schedule tonight in Anaheim, Calif. The tour came to a tragic stop May 3 in Cincinnati when his longtime friend and personal assistant Philant Johnson was killed. On BET’s “106 & Park” Monday, the 26-year-old, born Clifford Joseph Harris Jr., said that “Big Phil would kick my [behind]” if he stopped.
Other dates include Thursday in San Diego and Friday in Los Angeles. The tour tentatively ends June 5 in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. No arrests have been made in Johnson’s death.
More lyrical ideas for Woodruff Park
Lyrics continue to arrive at Buzz Central for the city’s forthcoming Woodruff Park theme song, celebrating the park’s recent renewal. “It’s Buckhead!” belter Melanie Massell has agreed to take some of the sample lyrics from Buzz readers and integrate them into the final ditty. Here’s another batch of ideas submitted by a reader. “A six-acre park was given a hand/By an unknown donor named Woodruff/ Who saved a piece of the land/Through plantings and sculptures and fountains by two/An effort was made to make everything bright and new.” If you’d like to try your hand, e-mail buzz@ajc.com.
Celebrity birthdays
Musician Bob Dylan is 65. Singer Patti LaBelle is 62. Actress Priscilla Presley is 61. Actor Eric Close (“Without a Trace”) is 39. Rapper Heavy D is 39. Guitarist Rich Robinson of the Black Crowes is 37. Country singer Billy Gilman is 18.
Contributing: news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. 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.
Permalink | |
Sir Elton vs. photogs, Round 2
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Must remember to keep photographers away from pop star Elton John. Two years ago, he paused at a Taiwan airport to call a group of reporters and photographers “rude, vile pigs.” Then, just Saturday, Sir Elton launched into an expletive-laden tirade against the press in Cannes during the annual film festival. At a ceremony held by luxury jeweler Chopard, everything seemed to be going smoothly enough as John presented the Chopard Trophy to young Canadian actor Kevin Zegers, who co-starred in the film “Transamerica” with Felicity Huffman. “He [Zegers] is only 21 years old, already he showed incredible talent and maturity,” said John, wearing dark glasses and accompanied by actress Elizabeth Hurley. “I sincerely believe he will be a huge star and a great actor for many, many years to come.” Then, as photographers called out during his address, he added: “If you saw ‘Transamerica’ … I’m talking … you [expletive], [expletive] photographers you should be shot, you should be all shot. Thank you.”
Where’s Whitney?
Bobby Brown showed up, as expected, at the New Edition concert Friday at Chastain Park, where Hot-107.9 personality Akini asked him “How’s Whitney [Houston]?” Brown’s answer: “I don’t know! Ask Whitney. Whitney, when you get this, give me a call!”
48-hour film? No problem
Trying to make a film in two days can be beneficial for the imagination but dangerous for the circulatory system, according to recent Atlanta College of Art graduate Miranella Taoushiani. The 21-year-old filmmaker said she enjoyed her first outing in the 48 Hour Film Project, in which teams compete to produce the best short film in a single weekend. But she worried about suffering a major heart incident when, at the last minute, her laptop wouldn’t burn the file to disc. “I can laugh about it now, but at 7:27 p.m. Sunday I wasn’t laughing,”she said. “I almost had a stroke.” Taoushiani and her team of about 15 (including four actors and 10 crew members) shot in four or five locations, including her Marietta home, writing the script for the story in the car on the way to pick up the crew. Her assigned genre, romance, morphed into what she called a “pretty twisted” story called “Dead Romance.” They were one of 30 Atlanta teams in the competition, which will feature more than 1,000 teams in 35 cities in the United States and elsewhere. In the end, her computer cooperated, and her entry came in under the 48-hour wire, which she celebrated with a drink and a long nap.
Winging it
Sally Dorsey is not only a sought-after organizer in the city’s fund-raising game, she has some quick-witted friends who came to the rescue Sunday night at the fourth annual Designs of Hope dinner and fashion show at the InterContinental Hotel in Buckhead. The evening, a benefit for UNICEF’s global program that assists orphans and other children made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS, started with a migrane-inducing tribal drums display designed to direct attendees into the ballroom. Then, as guests dined on grilled veal tenderloin medallions with marsala sauce, the gala’s organizers quietly panicked backstage when it was discovered that Atlanta art gallery owner and auctioneer pro Bill Lowe was a no-show. Emcee and WSB-TV anchor Monica Kaufman immediately pressed old pals Tony Conway, the owner of A Legendary Event catering company, and Carey Carter, the co-owner of Carter-Barnes Hair Artisans, into service.
The trio then proceeded to delight the crowd by singing, dancing the tango together, yanking guests up on the catwalk from the audience and, through good-natured mortification, coaxing their customers into handing over large sums of cash. A trip to Greece and an elaborate dinner at Kyma Restaurant donated by Pano Karatassos Jr. and his wife, Angela, fetched $19,500. A trip to the U.S. Open went for $6,500 and a trip to Buenos Aires and tango lessons scored $13,000. (The event had already raised about $450,000 before the auction even began.)
A thoroughly impressed Barron Segar, UNICEF’s Southeastern regional director, just shook his head and conceded: “I can’t imagine anyone else doing a better job than the team of Monica, Tony and Carey. It’s by far the most entertaining live auction I’ve seen probably ever. And they’re up there completely improvising!”
SCADs of fun
Fashion, design and entertainment were on the menu Saturday night — along with rabbit, halibut and tarte tatin — at the Savannah College of Art and Design’s first SCAD Style Étoile Gala at the Atlanta campus. The 350 guests honored trendsetters and designers chosen by school President Paula Wallace: retailer Jeffrey Kalinsky; furniture designer Dakota Jackson; entertainment executives and philanthropists Judy and Michael Mauldin; Veranda magazine editor and style journalist Lisa Newsom; and SCAD alumnus Santiago Barberi Gonzalez. Kalinsky, director of designer merchandising for Nordstrom and a former Atlantan who now lives in New York, acknowledged, it was “great to be in Atlanta and to be honored in your hometown.” Also, A Dream of a Dress fashion show featured bridal gowns designed by SCAD students and a professor from the Savannah campus. They were worn by models who sported “lace makeup” and Swarovski crystal patterns on their arms and faces — done by the Carter-Barnes Hair Artisans. Although proceeds for the evening were not available, the silent auction raised $20,000, which supports scholarships for study at SCAD’s campus in Lacoste, France. Notables attending the gala included a judge on UPN’s “America’s Next Top Model,” J. Alexander; jewelry designer Mark Edge; Atlanta Ballet’s John McFall; honoree Kalinsky’s parents Morris and Sybil Kalinsky; and charity circuit regulars Nancy and Jeffrey Gallups, Aida Flamm, Sandra Baldwin and Randee and Bill Lieppe. Log onto: www.scad.edu /scadstyle for more information.
Celebrity birthdays
Television comic Drew Carey is 48; actress Joan Collins is 73; actress Karen Duffy (“Dumb and Dumber”) is 45.
Contributing: Marylin Johnson, Richard Eldredge, 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.
Permalink | |
He’s a morning person after all, Kicks jock says
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Given opportunities in the past to take the crucial morning slot at country radio station Kicks 101.5, afternoon jock Cadillac Jack said he didn’t feel right about it. He passed.
But after Craig Cornett’s brief, unsuccessful morning stint, Kicks gave Cadillac (real name: Hyde Choate) another trial run. This time, things were different. He liked it. He officially starts today.
“At some point, you have to take the job,” Cadillac told Buzz. “This time around, I knew I was ready.”
Kicks has had problems finding a go-to morning show since it dropped old-school jock Moby in 2002. The amiable Bandy & Bailey lasted three years but couldn’t agree on a renewal deal. That led to the short-lived Cornett experiment. But now Kicks is going with someone with whom listeners are familiar.
“They deserve to be comfortable and depend on someone they know,” Cadillac said.
His boss, Victor Sansone, said Cadillac never wastes words and has good timing and great cadence.
Cadillac, 33, will have to work with a team for the first time: former Star 94 producer Kristen Gates and veteran traffic guy Jim Vann. (News gal Jill Kelly was ousted Friday, told that Gates filled the female role without her.)
“He’s comfort food,” Sansone told Buzz. “Listeners relate to him.”
Cadillac, who is married with three children, has worked at Kicks and Eagle over the past decade. He knows he’ll be under far more scrutiny from now on.
“I’ll have to get tough skin,” he said. “I’m not a very tough-skinned person. You have to expose yourself to everything you do.”
Live-band karaoke takes off
For guitarist Curtis Clark, live-band karaoke was a bit of a lark three years ago, a way to fill the usually dead Monday nights at Virginia-Highland’s 10 High.
But Metalsome Mondays, in which the band focused on ’80s metal hits from the likes of Guns N’ Roses and Whitesnake, quickly caught on. Soon, upwards of 300 people were crowding into the tiny basement space as the band reeled off a marathon of 36 songs a night. Artists from Butch Walker to Skid Row bassist Rachel Bolan have hit the stage.
Tonight, the Metalsome quintet— which now knows 185 songs — will celebrate its unlikely success with a third-anniversary party featuring a karaoke awards show and a renovated stage. “And we got new ceiling fans that work!” Clark said. (Details at www.metalsome.net.)
Other bands have copied Metalsome but failed to capture the zeitgeist.
“We have created a family” on Monday nights, Clark told Buzz. “The crowd knows we are sincerely enjoying what we’re playing. It’s not a goof.”
Metalsome has since added a second night at 10 High, on Saturdays, and a weekly Thursday night gig at the Wild Wing Cafe in Alpharetta. The band also gets corporate gigs, from Motorola to the Cartoon Network. A radio station flew them to Baltimore for a festival and paid them $12,000.
“We were saying, ‘What’s going on?’ ” Clark said. “I never got any of this playing original music.”
Strange encounter
Fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger went ballistic on Axl Rose last week, though not because Rose hasn’t released a Guns N’ Roses album in more than a decade.
At a birthday party for Rosario Dawson at a New York City nightclub, Rose told an L.A. radio station that he had moved the drink of Hilfiger’s girlfriend so it wouldn’t spill. Hilfiger got angry, began punching Rose’s arm and swore at him. Club security, Rose said, kicked Hilfiger out.
Rose described the incident as “the most surreal thing that has happened in my life.” No comment from Hilfiger.
Chicks’ Maines still defiant
The ever-defiant Dixie Chicks will hit Philips Arena on Oct. 17. The trio sold it out in 2003 — before Natalie Maines dissed President Bush on the eve of the war in Iraq. In Time magazine’s cover story out this week, Maines wasn’t ready to make nice. “I apologized for disrespecting the office of the president, but I don’t feel that way anymore,” she said. “I don’t feel he is owed any respect whatsoever.” Her record label execs must be popping a lot of Valium.
Celebrity birthdays
Songwriter Bernie Taupin is 56. Singer Morrissey is 47. Singer Johnny Gill is 40. Model Naomi Campbell is 36.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
Permalink | |
Elvis and other legends ready to rock Chastain
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Chastain Park Amphitheater fans should be readying their credit cards today and Sunday. That’s when tickets go on sale for the second half of this summer’s lineup at the venerable venue via promoter Live Nation and Classic Chastain series with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
The concerts put on by Live Nation roll out with Elvis Costello & the Impostors featuring Allan Toussaint with the Crescent City Horns and Anthony “AB” Brown on guitar July 17; Willie Nelson, July 24; Steely Dan and Michael McDonald (sans tables), Aug. 7; James Gang Rides Again, Aug. 24; Chris Isaak, Aug. 29; Earth Wind & Fire, Aug. 31; Styx and Foreigner, Sept. 22; Santana, Sept. 30; and John Mayer, Oct. 14.
The 2006 Delta Air Lines Concert Series B will go on sale at 10 a.m. Sunday. For tickets, call 404-233-2227 or go to www.livenation.com.
Meanwhile, the 2006 Classic Chastain Summer Concert Series will present Los Lonely Boys, June 16; B.B King with the Neville Brothers and Dr. John, June 21; Doobie Brothers, June 24; Kenny Rogers, June 30; Gipsy Kings, July 1; Peter Frampton, July 12; the Beach Boys, July 26; India Arie, July 29; George Benson, Aug. 4; Bruce Hornsby, Aug. 9; Hootie & the Blowfish, Aug. 12; John Prine, Aug. 18; Lyle Lovett, Aug. 25; and Amy Grant, Aug. 26.
Debuting in the Classic Chastain line-up this season are Toni Braxton, June 23; Ian Anderson, July 22; Anita Baker, July 14-15; Paul Simon, July 19; Guster, July 21; Fiona Apple, Aug. 2; Raul Midon, Aug. 4; Chris Botti, Aug. 11; Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Aug. 16; Collective Soul, Aug. 19; Spyro Gyra/Fourplay, Aug. 23.
Tickets go on sale this morning. Call 404-733-5000 or go to www.classicchastain.com.
Still chastising Chastain
Alas, one name is missing from both Chastain lineups this summer. “A Prairie Home Companion” host Garrison Keillor is still a might mad at those chatty chardonnay sippers who irritated him last season. Recently on prairiehome.org, Keillor fielded this question from an Acworth fan who wrote: “Are you mad at Atlanta? I know with the unpleasantness at Chastain Park last year you may think we are all uncouth rascals, but really there is a large contingency of ‘PHC’ lovers here… . Have you forever crossed us off your list of tour destinations? Please don’t punish the 98% of those of us who love your show because of the 2% who act like goobers. Come back to the Fox. We were all civilized there.”
Keillor responded, writing: “I don’t hate Atlanta. I just feel that rudeness should be pointed out and I find the rudeness of wealthy drunken people especially irritating… . The evening at Chastain sticks in my craw. An apology would’ve eased the situation, but none was offered, and that, to me, is an enormous insult.”
The folksy radio host did tell fans he has nothing against the South, pointing out an enjoyable recent trip to Columbus, where he sat “on a screened porch, talking about the South with some of the nicest people you’d ever want to meet. They may have been rich and they might have been drunk but they didn’t yell at me. I look forward to going back.”
Star Fest at Atlantic Station
Hoping to fill the void left by the on-hiatus Music Midtown, Star 94 is throwing Star Fest on July 22 at Atlantic Station. The one-day, two-stage outdoor festival will feature Train, Pink, Nickel Creek, Aqualung, Mat Kearney and the Whigs. We’re told more acts will likely be added before tickets going on sale June 3. The price? An economical $35 per person.
Sick bay
Lynyrd Skynyrd frontman Johnny Van Zant had his appendix removed in emergency surgery, the band’s manager said.
Van Zant, 46, came out of surgery at Stanford University Medical Center in Palo Alto, Calif., on Thursday night, said manager Ross Schilling. His condition was not immediately available.
“He had been feeling bad the past couple of days,” Schilling told The Associated Press. “He had performances Tuesday and Wednesday and sucked it up last night as far as performing with some pain.”
Celebrity birthdays
Today: Singer Joe Cocker is 62. Singer-actress Cher is 60. Guitarist Jane Wiedlin of the Go-Go’s is 48. Actress Mindy Cohn (“Facts of Life”) is 40. Rapper Busta Rhymes is 34. Actor Matt Czuchry (“Gilmore Girls”) is 29.
Sunday: Singer Ron Isley of the Isley Brothers is 65. Comedian Al Franken is 55. Actor Mr. T is 54. Actor Judge Reinhold is 49.
Contributing: news services. If you have a tip, 404-526-2749. 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.
Permalink | |
Elton’s glam jacket will raise cash for kids
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Peachtree Road resident Elton John didn’t neglect his American hometown prior to purging his wardrobe last month at his massive Elton’s Closet fund-raiser in New York.
Before the event, which ended up raising more than $700,000 for his Elton John AIDS Foundation, the singer allowed local UNICEF fund-raisers to select an article of clothing to auction off at this weekend’s “Designs of Hope” gala at the InterContinental Buckhead hotel.
The Versace cotton twill orange blazer with silk barocco lining was custom-made for the pop star. The jacket comes with a Versace leopard button-down shirt with silver buttons. Organizers are also throwing in Sir Elton’s personal seats to the “Red Piano” concert at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and two first-class Delta Air Lines tickets. (One fashion note: Buzz advises that the winning bidder reconsider actually wearing the frock to the performance, as the part-time Atlantan prefers being the sparkliest-dressed individual in the Caesars Colosseum.)
At Sunday night’s dinner, the jacket will serve as the centerpiece of the live auction to raise funds for UNICEF’s programs that provide care and support for children orphaned and made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS.
On today’s 6 p.m. newscast, we’re told that WXIA’s chief meteorologist Paul Ossmann will attempt to squeeze into the jacket to give viewers and potential bidders a sneak peek.
For tickets to the gala, call 404-881-2700.
Crafty like a Cox
Bless her heart, gubernatorial candidate Cathy Cox dutifully lined up next to Sonny Perdue and Mark Taylor in fine red-state solidarity against gay marriage Wednesday after a Fulton County judge struck down that hilariously flawed (not to mention redundant) constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in Georgia. But on Saturday night, Cox wasn’t above trolling for votes at the 19th annual Human Rights Campaign Dinner at the Marriott Marquis downtown. The HRC, mind you, is the nation’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender equality.
Cox’s name was among those announced from the dinner’s dais off the list of influential politicos in attendance. Cox campaign spokesman Peter Jackson told us that a scheduling conflict prevented the candidate from attending. Thankfully, there was a lovely letter signed by Cox in the dinner program, where she extended “warm greetings” to attendees and commended the HRC for “its tireless dedication to social and civic outreach” and wished the organization “best wishes for a productive and successful” event.
Buzz, meanwhile, was politely informed that HRC Atlanta dinner organizers would not be commenting on Cox’s same-sex marriage stance. Presumably, they’re still too busy counting the wheelbarrows of money raised last weekend.
Overscene
Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani and entourage, including NFL Hall of Famer Fran Tarkington and Georgia politico Art Morris, enjoying cigars and Scotch on Wednesday night at the Club at Chops in Buckhead. We’re told that Giuliani was in town to coax some greenbacks from local pockets for the state GOP campaign coffers. As the former mayor’s security detail looked on, Giuliani happily posed for pictures with club general manager Jim Monteleone and the cocktail serving staff in the facility’s room-size humidor.
Dining for Dimes
If you’re susceptible to power dining for a good cause, you’ll want to pop into one of Atlanta’s A-list restaurants tonight for the 22nd annual March of Dimes Dining Out fund-raiser. While there’s a special “Stepping Out: An Entertainment Experience” event at Atlantic Station’s Twelve hotel (tickets range from $75 per person to $1,250 for a table of 10), dozens of the city’s busiest restaurants like Atlanta Fish Market, BED, Dantanna’s, Fogo de Chao, Park 75, Rathbun’s, Taurus, the Capital Grille, the Oceanaire, Two Urban Licks, Woodfire Grill and many others will also be supporting the cause (for a complete list, go to www.marchofdimes.com
/georgia). Brian Ziegler, the March of Dimes state director, credits this year’s re-imagining of the event to its energetic 2006 trio of chairs: Angela Karatassos, the wife of Kyma executive chef Pano Karatassos Jr., honorary chair Sean McGinnis, the publisher of Atlanta magazine, and honorary chef Doug Turbush, who doubles as Bluepointe’s executive chef. For tickets: 404-350-9800, Ext. 203.
A lyrical response
As sample lyrics for the upcoming Woodruff Park theme song continue to arrive at Buzz Central, we’re opting to share some of the reader-created lines here.
As you’ll recall, the downtown park recently was reintroduced with less litter, patio tables and chairs for lunchtime dining and free Wi-Fi.
“It’s Buckhead!” songstress Melanie Massell has graciously offered to help craft a song celebrating the park. All this week, we’ll be running excerpts from the submissions we’re receiving. Think you can do better? Send your lyrical ideas along to buzz@ajc.com. Here’s the first sampling of the submissions:
“In the afternoons I drift / ‘Cause something seems to shift / To whatever’s goin’ on in Woodruff Park / Expand my mind on chess / Or maybe get a little rest / Something always sounds so good ‘bout Woodruff Park.”
Celebrity birthdays
PBS newscaster Jim Lehrer is 72. TV personality David Hartman is 71. Musician Pete Townshend is 61. Singer-bassist Dusty Hill of ZZ Top is 57. Singer-actress-model Grace Jones is 54. Actor Steven Ford is 50.
Contributing: news services. If you have a tip, 404-526-2749. 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.
Permalink | |
‘Will & Grace’ actor lets a few finale tidbits slip
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s always a plus when dish-dense celebrities blatantly disregard those pesky confidentiality agreements. So, naturally, we were only too happy to apply our speed-scribbling techniques over lunch with “Will & Grace” actor Leslie Jordan recently.
Over salsa and chips at Zocalo in Midtown, the character actor, who has portrayed the prissy, pompous Beverley Leslie on the NBC sitcom for most of its eight-year run, spilled like ice dancers Federica Faiella and Massimo Scali at the Winter Games in Turin.
“Oh, please, ” Jordan said, waving his hand, “what are they gonna do? Fire me?”
Jordan told us that tonight’s one-hour series finale was shot over three nights with audiences earlier this spring. The sitcom’s creators, David Kohan and Max Mutchnick, were lured back to write the episode directed by “W&G” vet James Burrows.
“Debra [Messing] just fell apart,” Jordan confided. “She cried the entire week. But you could not have dreamed a more perfect ending for the show. There’s flashbacks, flash-forwards, you laugh, you cry. It was amazing to be asked back for the finale.”
While Jordan didn’t disclose major plot points, he did let slip that Beverley Leslie figured prominently in the final night’s last shot, when he was left dangling over the soundstage.
“My character flies out the window,” he recalled, laughing. “All that’s left are his opera slippers. It jolted me so much that the next thing I knew I was dangling above everyone in a Cathy Rigby harness. I looked down and all four of them — Eric [McCormack], Debra, Megan [Mullally] and Sean [Hayes] — were all clapping in slow motion. It took me a moment to focus and to get my senses back, it all happened so fast. I kinda got teary-eyed. I mean, what a way to go out.”
The foursome presented Jordan with a signed, silver-framed photo of themselves blowing him a kiss.
Said Jordan: “It was very sweet. I’m just proud to have been a part of a show that, through laughs, battled homophobia.”
Tonight, he’ll co-host an invitation-only Q100 “Will & Grace” viewing party at Red Chair in Midtown.
And somehow the 14th Street Playhouse has found a way to squeeze in another week of the actor’s hit one-man show, “Like a Dog on Linoleum.” Now the run will end May 28.
45 years of Atlanta
Atlanta magazine publisher Sean McGinnis put the city’s weighed-down news racks into comic perspective Tuesday night at the Atlanta History Center. Taking a good-natured poke at the recent glut of inaugural parties for the Atlantan, Atlanta Peach and Skirt! magazines, McGinnis kicked off the glossy’s 45th-anniversary party by announcing: “This isn’t a launch party!” (Skirt! operates under an Atlanta licensing agreement with Cox Newspapers, which owns the AJC.)
Among the notables hanging out, alongside the large silk renderings of Atlanta magazine covers: Spanx founder Sara Blakely, CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta, V103’s Frank Ski, Dave FM’s Holly Firfer, the Zone’s Steak Shapiro and WSB-TV anchors Collins Spencer and Jovita Moore.
B.E.D.’s VIP top bunk
Across town on Tuesday night, we took a gander at B.E.D.’s new rooftop bar on Marietta Street. Aside from finding a spectacular snooping perch into Ted Turner’s Luckie Street penthouse across the way, we were able to glean a few details from the club-eatery’s co-owner, Parnell Delcham. The rooftop will be frequented by “B.E.D.’s biggest supporters, who can help us reach our goals,” he told us. Translation: A-list celebs and well-dressed guys with black AmEx cards, looking to buy bottles of bubbly for scores of hot females.
After stumbling a bit out of the block since its February debut, B.E.D. has a freshly installed chef and menu. Delcham conceded that the Miami-New York brand’s Atlanta location earned its early reputation for making prospective patrons feel like they were pledging a fraternity or sorority.
“We have to control the environment,” he reasoned.
Come again?
“If we had just opened the floodgates to everyone, we’d be done in a year,” Delcham explained. “We’d become Shout. We’ve got to have a proper dress code, and we’ve got to have the right ratio of females to males. Atlanta is an incredibly diverse city. We want to celebrate that.”
Uncoupling
Ex-Beatle Paul McCartney and his wife, Heather Mills McCartney, are planning to separate after four years of marriage.
Making matters worse, the kaput couple, via a statement e-mailed to Buzz Central from publicist Paul Freundlich, inevitably blamed the media: “It is with sadness that we have decided to go our separate ways. Our parting is amicable and both of us still care about each other very much but have found it increasingly difficult to maintain a normal relationship with constant intrusion into our private lives.”
For the record, Buzz’s last “intrusion” into the couple’s private life was on Oct. 31, 2003, when we announced the birth of the pair’s daughter, Beatrice.
Coupling
Actress Nicole Kidman and country singer Keith Urban will tie the knot, the country music star’s publicist has finally confirmed. And you’ll never guess who their flack is.
“They are very happily engaged,” said publicist Paul Freundlich, who we’re assuming scored massive amounts of overtime Tuesday. He declined to discuss details, while no doubt figuring out a way to blame us when Urban starts his inevitable couch-jumping phase.
Celebrity birthdays
“Maude” actor Bill Macy is 84. Keyboardist Rick Wakeman of Yes is 57. Country singer George Strait is 54.
Contributing: news services. If you have a tip, 404-526-2749. 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.
Permalink | |
Star promises ‘Lost’ has hatched great finale
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
OK, “Lost” fans, straight from the mouth of the good doctor, Jack Shephard:
The last two episodes of the season will answer a lot of questions, said “Lost” star Matthew Fox, who is in town filming the movie “We Are Marshall.”
Fox told Buzz on Tuesday that the season finale, a two-hour episode May 24, tops last season’s, which saw a group of creepy pirates kidnap Walt on the high seas.
“A lot of stuff is revealed, much more so than last year,” Fox said. “It leaves the island and a lot of people on the island in some difficult spots.” Of course, Fox wasn’t telling exactly what would be revealed.
One knock on the show has been that it raises questions that never seem to get answered. But Fox said he loves it that way. “When I’m reading a great book, I savor it,” he said. “I make myself read only one chapter a night because I don’t want it to end. ‘Lost’ is like a good book. It’s tantalizing to enjoy. In no way does it try my patience.”
Fox will be in and around town for much of the next month shooting “Marshall.” The movie co-stars Matthew McConaughey and revolves around the 1970 plane crash that killed the entire Marshall football team and all but one of the coaches. Fox portrays Red Dawson, the coach who drove home from the East Carolina game instead of flying.
Most of the football and locker room scenes, as well as the crash site shots, are being filmed in Atlanta. Parts were filmed in Huntington, W.Va., the home of Marshall University. The movie is set to be released in early December.
More talk on FM dial
R&B station 102.5/WAMJ-FM has dropped music during middays for two syndicated African-American talk shows led by Michael Eric Dyson and the Rev. Al Sharpton.
Dyson, an outspoken University of Pennsylvania professor and author, began airing Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. His latest book, “Come Hell or High Water,” is a sharp condemnation of the government response to Hurricane Katrina.
Sharpton, the controversial civil rights activist and former Democratic presidential candidate, is on from 1 to 3 p.m. Both are heard on 20 stations nationwide but mostly on AM signals. Atlanta is unusual because the pair are on an FM station here.
A rival for iTunes
Viacom Inc.’s MTV cable-television music channel is starting a song-downloading service this week, aiming to compete with Apple Computer Inc.’s iTunes by offering a monthly subscription fee.
The service, which begins today, will be available through Microsoft Corp.’s new version of its media-player software, Van Toffler, president of MTV Networks Music, Films and Logo group, said in a briefing. The music service will cost $99 for full-year access or $9.99 a month, he said. Consumers also can purchase songs for 99 cents each.
“Only 5 percent of music is sold digitally,” Toffler said. “We will concentrate on people who don’t have iPods.”
Celebrity birthdays
Actor-director Dennis Hopper is 70. Actor Bill Paxton is 51. Comedian Bob Saget is 50. Singer Enya is 45. Musician Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails is 41.
Contributing: Bill Sanders, Rodney Ho 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.
Permalink | |
John Lewis remembers King’s support for gays
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The city’s 19th annual Human Rights Campaign fund-raising dinner, held Saturday night at the Marriott Marquis downtown, was among the most emotional in the event’s history.
The mere mention of U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) resulted in a spontaneous standing ovation before the civil rights icon ever strode onstage.
Lewis paid tribute to the late Coretta Scott King for her work on behalf of gay and lesbian rights even after she was criticized by folks within the civil rights struggle who questioned her decision to link the two movements.
“She took a stand,” Lewis told the crowd, “not just for civil rights but for human rights. She believed in the dignity and the worth of every human being. That’s why she attended one of the first [Human Rights Campaign] dinners here. She never gave up and never gave in. And in her beautiful way, she got in the way.”
In his keynote address, campaign President Joe Solmonese managed to localize his national stump speech to include former Republican gubernatorial candidate Linda Schrenko, who pleaded guilty last week to corruption charges.
“Linda Schrenko learned something recently,” quipped Solmonese. “Something we could have all told her — there’s no such thing as free plastic surgery!”
Tony Conway, owner of A Legendary Event catering company, was awarded the Dan Bradley Humanitarian Award for his philanthropic contributions to the city.
The emotional centerpiece of the evening came when Q100 “Bert Show” staffer Melissa Carter, in a gorgeous red gown, accepted the Community Leadership Award for her work as the city’s first openly gay Atlanta morning radio personality.
Tearfully recalling her high school years in Tennessee, Carter said she hid her sexuality as another female classmate — referred to as “Beth” — braved being out at school. Carter dedicated the award to that student. She said the experience inspired her to “start telling the truth about my life.”
“I just hope,” said Carter, “that I’m worthy of this award.”
The sheer volume of folks blubbering into their dinner napkins and tuxedo jacket sleeves should have answered Carter’s question for her. Buzz will formally present the DJ with our dry-cleaning invoice today.
Ecco opens in Midtown
Over the weekend we got an advance taste of Ecco, Fifth Group Restaurant’s latest concept. The former site of Haze nightclub and the Atlanta Fencing Club at 40 Seventh St. in Midtown has been transformed into a comfortable, European-inspired neighborhood eatery. Among the appetizer offerings are imported meats and cheeses and a fried duck egg with truffle and potato. The inviting bar was busy serving up signature pear martinis, made with vodka, pear liqueur and pear puree. Wood-fired pizzas and paninis (served with pommes frites) also proved to be early favorites as did entrees of braised veal with grana potatoes and balsamic marinated quail with pine nuts and roasted cauliflower entrees. Ecco makes its official public debut at 5:30 p.m. today. Call for info: 404-347-9555.
Oprah benched for Bush
Because of President Bush’s immigration speech Monday night, ABC postponed airing of the one-hour “Oprah Winfrey’s Legends Ball” until 8 p.m.on May 22.
Winfrey, one of the most powerful women on television, held a three-day celebration a year ago to honor 25 notable women in various fields. The special will feature highlights, including moments with legends such as Maya Angelou, Shirley Caesar, Roberta Flack, Lena Horne, Gladys Knight, Toni Morrison and Tina Turner. Two civil rights icons who have since died — Rosa Parks and Coretta Scott King — were there as well.
Plenty of younger stars came to honor the “legends,” including Mariah Carey, Angela Bassett, Janet Jackson and Alfre Woodard. Winfrey hosted a private luncheon, a white-tie party and a Sunday gospel brunch.
Celebrity birthdays
Actor Pierce Brosnan is 53. Singer and part-time Atlantan Janet Jackson is 40. Actor David Boreanaz (“Bones”) is 35. Actress Tori Spelling is 33. Actress Melanie Lynskey (“Two and a Half Men”) is 29.
Contributing: news services. If you have a tip, 404-526-2749. 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.
Permalink | |
DeGarmo coming to Fox in ‘Brooklyn’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Former “American Idol” runner-up Diana DeGarmo took a day off from her Broadway stint in “Hairspray” to belt out a few tunes for an adoring hometown crowd of 500 at the Rialto downtown Friday night.
With her eight-piece backup band, the Snellville teenager mixed covers (“Chain of Fools,” “Funkytown”), originals from her album (“Blue Skies,” “Emotional”) and the highlight of the night, a powerful “Once Upon a Time” from the musical “Brooklyn.” (She’ll be on the national tour this summer as the lead, hitting the Fox Theatre July 11-16.) Unfortunately, the sound mix was muddled and tinny, failing to fully showcase her pipes.
DeGarmo did provide some good news: “Hairspray” has invited her back for six more months starting this fall.
Georgians top music charts
After Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles helped Bon Jovi hit the top of the Mediabase 24/7 country music charts with “Who Says You Can’t Go Home,” Macon’s Jason Aldean last week knocked the rock group off the perch with his midtempo ballad “Why,” his follow-up to his memorable debut single, “Hicktown.” Meanwhile, on the urban chart, new Atlanta rapper Yung Joc is No. 1 with “It’s Goin’ Down,” knocking out fellow hometown favorite T.I.
‘Friends’ smart aleck plays against type
After “Friends” ended in spring 2004, Matthew Perry admits that he didn’t feel any pressure to work immediately.
He did do one movie, “The Ron Clark Story,” which will air on TNT in August. Clark, who will open an academy bearing his name in south Atlanta this fall, is a teacher who inspired a group of tough Harlem students in the late 1990s.
What appealed to Perry was that Clark was the utter opposite of Chandler Bing, his signature role on “Friends.”
“Most characters I’ve played in the past were rather cynical and trying to be funny all the time,” Perry told Buzz last week. “This guy is very earnest and very loving.”
How would Chandler do as a teacher in Harlem? “He’d make fun of one of the kids, they’d threaten to kill him and he’d run away,” Perry joked. “It’d be a very short movie.”
Perry also recently signed on to play a hotshot writer on “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,” a behind-the-scenes drama about a “Saturday Night Live”-type show. It’s set to air on NBC this fall and is helmed by “The West Wing” creator Aaron Sorkin.
“It’s a television show about how bad television is,” Perry said.
Would-be ‘Idol’ gets offer
On the entertainment news show “Extra,” members of the band Fuel last week offered a lead-singer position to ousted “American Idol” contestant Chris Daughtry. Daughtry said he’s not sure whether he’ll take such an offer or opt to go solo once he’s no longer tied to “Idol.”
Some people weren’t surprised by Daughtry’s departure, because of dialidol.com, which predicts “Idol” outcomes based on busy signals. The Web site, which has been amazingly accurate in recent weeks, showed Daughtry at the bottom before the results were announced.
On dialidol.com, Taylor Hicks of Birmingham has been the most popular “Idol” finalist every week since the top 12 and remains the favorite to win it all.
Air America leaving Atlanta?
Air America, the liberal talk radio network featuring the likes of Al Franken and Randi Rhodes, might be losing its Atlanta affiliate next month, when bakery magnate Joe Weber takes over the AM/1690 signal. Weber, who purchased 1690 for $12 million, told Buzz that he’s planning to move his eclectic music station at AM/1160 to 1690 because it has a better signal, especially at night. He’s negotiating with Air America to lease airtime on 1160. Atlanta-based Air America President Jon Sinton said the syndicate is pondering options.
Random bits
Actor Johnny Depp is considered the best A-list celebrity when it comes to signing autographs, while Cameron Diaz is the worst, according to this year’s survey by Autograph Collector magazine. Russell Crowe has improved in recent months, after being considered a grouch… .
So much for that panic over bird flu. Ratings for last week’s ABC film “Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America” were feeble, pulling in just 5.3 million viewers, fewer than the WB’s season finale of “Gilmore Girls.” …
Mediaweek.com is reporting that the WB’s sturdy drama “7th Heaven,” which had its supposed series finale last Monday, might be back on the combined WB/UPN network, the CW, this fall after all. Originally the show was canceled for financial reasons, but the trade publication said the new network might be able to afford the show.
Celebrity birthdays
Counterculture figure Wavy Gravy is 70. Actor Chazz Palminteri is 55. Actress Jamie-Lynn Sigler (“The Sopranos”) is 25.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
Permalink | |
Florida says T.I. short on community service
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The investigation into the shooting death of Philant Johnson, Atlanta rapper T.I.’s childhood friend and personal assistant, remained stalled Friday.
No arrests have been made nor have any significant leads emerged in last week’s post-gig shootout near Cincinnati. Johnson, 26, was killed when a van carrying him, T.I. and others was riddled with bullets.
T.I., also known as Clifford “Tip” Harris, helped to eulogize Johnson during his funeral here Monday.
The CD “King” is No. 14 on the Billboard Top 200. A tour to support it remains on hold. Harris was once again arrested Wednesday while he was in a Fulton County courtroom clearing up another legal matter. As he was leaving court, officials notified Harris that there was an outstanding warrant in Florida. According to a report in the St. Petersburg Times, Harris still has outstanding community service to perform in Florida after he pleaded guilty to a 2003 charge of battery on a police officer. Florida officials contend that Harris still owes them 215 hours of community service.
On Wednesday, the rapper was released on a $25,000 bond. According to the Times, he’s due to turn himself into Florida officials by Monday.
Cincinnati police reps did not immediately return our call Friday. Atlantic Records’ Ashley White at T.I.’s label was also mum.
According to the artist’s Web site and the Atlantic Records Web site, the rapper’s “King” tour is slated to resume May 24 at House of Blues in Anaheim, Calif., followed by dates in San Diego, Los Angeles, New York, Washington and a final date June 5 at House of Blues in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
O.J.’s Bronco prank
In a scene from “Juiced,” his straight-to-pay-per-view “Punk’d” ripoff, former double-murder defendant O.J. Simpson pulls a prank involving his infamous white Bronco, drawing criticism from the family of a man he was accused of killing.
As part of the pay-per-view show, Simpson pretends to sell the Bronco at a used car lot and boasts to a prospective buyer that he made the vehicle famous, according to a segment aired Thursday on “Inside Edition.”
“It was good for me — it helped me get away,” Simpson said, referring to the slow-speed, televised police chase that preceded his 1994 arrest on charges of murdering his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman.
Goldman’s father, Fred, told “Inside Edition” he found Simpson’s comment “morally reprehensible.”
Simpson was acquitted on the murder charges. A civil jury later held him liable for the deaths and ordered him to pay $33.5 million to the Brown and Goldman families.
Much of that judgment remains unpaid.
“Any money that he makes, I hope, will go to satisfy the multimillion dollar judgment made against him in the civil case,” said Brown family attorney Gloria Allred.
The hourlong program is airing on pay-per-view this month, and a DVD offering uncensored material will be made available soon, “Juiced” executive producer Rick Mahr told The Associated Press.
Other allegedly hilarious practical jokes include Simpson disguised as an Elvis impersonator, an elderly man leading a Bingo game and, in what might be a glimpse into Simpson’s future, Simpson playing a vagabond selling oranges for money
Simpson was not paid for the program, Mahr said.
Celebrity docket
A Santa Monica, Calif., judge is refusing to throw out a lawsuit against Nick Nolte and his son filed by a woman who claimed a partygoer drugged and sexually assaulted her at the actor’s home when she was 15.
Superior Court Judge Gerald Rosenberg has denied a motion to dismiss the case, which was filed by the girl’s parents on her behalf and is scheduled for trial next month.
A call to the 65-year-old actor’s attorney seeking comment Friday was not immediately returned.
Nolte’s publicist has said the actor wasn’t home during the party. However, the lawsuit claims he was negligent, contending that the home had “a long history of furnishing drugs and/or alcohol to minors.”
Celebrity docket II
Former teen heartthrob Leif Garrett has a captive audience for the next 90 days — his fellow inmates in a Los Angeles jail. The singer was sentenced to 90 days in jail and three years’ probation after opting out of a drug treatment program.
The 44-year-old was given credit Thursday for the jail time he had served since being taken into custody March 30 after a Los Angeles Superior Court commissioner determined he failed several drug tests while staying in a drug diversion program.
Garrett’s attorney, Andrew Flier, said his client decided to leave the program, which required frequent tests and daily counseling, because it was too strict.
Celebrity birthdays
Today: Actress Bea Arthur is 83. Singer Stevie Wonder is 56. Singer Darius Rucker of Hootie and the Blowfish is 40.
Sunday: Movie producer George Lucas is 62. Musician David Byrne (Talking Heads) is 54. Actress Cate Blanchett is 37. Actress Amber Tamblyn (“Joan of Arcadia”) is 23.
Contributing: news services. If you have a tip, 404-526-2749. 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.
Permalink | |
It’s like good old days on ‘General Hospital’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“General Hospital” actor Anthony Geary is hilariously succinct in describing his workplace environment.
In recent weeks, Geary’s Luke Spencer has been rejoined by his old co-star Tristan Rogers, who played superspy Robert Scorpio during the soap’s ratings heyday. Also back are Emma Samms as the pair’s ex-gal pal, Holly Sutton, and Finola Hughes, who literally drops in at 3 p.m. today to reprise her role as Anna Devane, Robert’s wife.
“Tristan and I were on the set for a couple of hours the other morning,” Geary recalls, laughing. “And one of the [veteran] stage hands told us, ‘If I had a quaalude and a couple of beers, it would be the ’80s all over again!’ It’s been fantastic.”
While the high-profile returns (and yes, Rick Springfield is even back as Dr. Noah Drake) have prompted profiles in The New York Times and Variety, the venerable ABC Daytime drama is also seeing a dramatic rise in ratings.
“Tristan and I picked it right back up,” Geary says. “And there’s no competition going on between us now that sometimes intruded on the work in the days when we were younger men.”
And like many of their viewers, the soap’s classic characters are saddled with kids intent on getting in the way. For Geary, one of Luke Spencer’s spawns — his now-adult son Lucky — also helped him snag his fifth Emmy as best actor last month.
In a series of gut-wrenching scenes last year, Geary pulled the plug on Lucky, who was on life support after an accident. What viewers didn’t realize was that Geary could have wrangled writing and producing credits for what made it onto the screen as well.
“Originally, the script called for Luke to come back after weeks away and immediately pull the plug on his son,” Geary explains. “He was essentially just being used as a grumpy old guy, a foil for the kids on the show. I told them, ‘I won’t play that for you. You have to give me a reason.’ We were also playing this just after Terri Schiavo as well. I felt a commitment to the issue.”
According to Geary, “after much consternation and blood on the walls,” the scripts were rewritten, per his specs.
As he ensures that his character’s rough edges stay intact, Geary paid tribute during his Emmy acceptance speech to the woman who gave him his signature role, late “G.H.” executive producer Gloria Monty.
“Gloria really created Luke, who was her male counterpart in many respects,” he says. “All I did was jump off the cliff with her.”
A question about New Birth
Hey, he was in Atlanta, after all. Home of many a megachurch. And his latest book, “I Say a Little Prayer,” is about a homosexual man dealing with an anti-gay experience in his church.
So it shouldn’t have surprised author E. Lynn Harris that the first question at his Chapter 11 bookstore signing Wednesday in Ansley Mall in Midtown was whether the book was based on something that happened here. Specifically, at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church or Victory Church. “No,” the part-time Atlantan said, with a not-so-convincing smile. “I’ve never been to any of the megachurches here.”
“I went to New Birth a long time ago,” Harris added. “But that was when it was small.” Turns out, the page-turner was based on his experiences in Arkansas, where he has been teaching and coaching the cheerleading squad. He’ll return for fall semester. But for now, he’s back in book mode, signing “Prayer” at 7 tonight at the Shrine of the Black Madonna Cultural Center and Bookstore (404-752-6125) and 2 p.m. Saturday at Outwrite Bookstore (404-607-0082).
Quote of the day
“Katie is a young girl’s name. Her name is Kate now; she’s a childbearing woman.” — The ever-increasingly creepy Tom Cruise at the London premiere of his latest explosion-filled piece of nonsense, on why he refuses to call Katie Holmes, well, Katie, from today’s US Weekly.
Celebrity docket
Rapper Snoop Dogg has accepted responsibility for using “threatening words or behavior” in a brawl last month at Heathrow Airport.
The 34-year-old rapper, whose real name is Calvin Broadus, appeared at Heathrow police station and “accepted a caution for a Section Four Public Order Act matter, using threatening words or behavior,” London police said Thursday.
A caution means a person has accepted responsibility for the offense, and a record will be made. No further action will be taken. Seven officers received minor injuries — mainly cuts and bruises — and one suffered a fracture to the hand.
British Airways has banned Snoop from travel on the airline.
Celebrity birthdays
Composer Burt Bacharach is 78. Talk show host Tom Snyder is 70. Comedian George Carlin is 69. Singer Steve Winwood is 58. Actor Ving Rhames is 45. Actress Kim Fields is 37. Actor Jason Biggs (“American Pie”) is 28. Actor Malcolm David Kelley (“Lost”) is 14.
Contributing: Sonia Murray and news services. If you have a tip, 404-526-2749. 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.
Permalink | |
Musical muses sought for Woodruff Park ditty
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sure, the city’s revitalized Woodruff Park downtown has spiffy new patio tables, chairs and 2 tons less litter, but last week’s successful Week at Woodruff extravaganza was still lacking, well, something.
And since Buzz Central is, after all, continually committed to community service, we felt it was our duty to contribute something to the urban renewal project.
The 6-acre park has two fountains, a bronze sculpture titled “Phoenix Rising” (symbolizing Atlanta’s rise back to prominence after the Civil War), 16 crape myrtles, “No Urban Camping” signage, food, sunglass and handbag vendors, free Wi-Fi and a dedicated chess playing space. But the missing element that could finally push the urban oasis over the top?
A theme song.
And dear reader, that’s where you come in. To ensure success, Buzz has commissioned an expert for the job. Atlanta singer-songwriter Melanie Massell has agreed to help come up with a theme song for the downtown green space, utilizing lyrical ideas generated by Buzz readers.
After all, Massell wrote the 2000 Chamber of Commerce hit “It’s Buckhead!” the toe-tapping ditty that some say single-handedly rescued the tony utopia from the bad karma of day-trader shootings, nightclub slayings and an out-of-control party scene.
“And here all these years, I’ve been taking the credit for that!” cracked Buckhead Coalition President Sam Massell, Melanie’s proud papa.
Back when he was Atlanta’s mayor, Massell created the park for its $10 million benefactor, Coca-Cola magnate Robert Woodruff. When Massell cut the ribbon on that rainy April day in 1973, the park was dubbed Central City Park since Woodruff’s donation initially was anonymous. The space was renamed in 1985 after Woodruff’s death.
Said Sam Massell: “Since I’m the one who helped to get the park built, Melanie should be the one now to help save it.”
So, Buzz readers, hit the park at lunchtime this week, and jot down some lyrical ideas. (For more background on the park, go to www.atlantadowntown.com.) Oh, and do try to work in a mention of the park’s shiny new Baggit contraption, which dispenses environmentally friendly brown plastic bags for pet waste removal. (We’re just glad we don’t have the task of conjuring up a word that rhymes with “biodegradable.”)
E-mail your lyrics with the subject line “Woodruff” to buzz@ajc.com. We’ll pass along the most creative submissions.
Stork report
Let’s hope they invest in a better highchair or a more competent nanny. Singer Britney Spears told David Letterman on Tuesday that she is pregnant with baby No. 2. “Don’t worry, Dave, it’s not yours,” the pop princess quipped on “The Late Show.” Spears, 24, and her husband, backup dancer-turned-rapper Kevin Federline, 28, were married in 2004 and have an 8-month-old son, Sean Preston.
A stylish week, indeed
Bringing New York-based design phenom Vera Wang to Georgia later this month isn’t enough for the Savannah College of Art and Design. It’s just announced a weeklong series of “SCAD Style” events that will culminate in Wang receiving the Andre Leon Talley Lifetime Achievement Award at the Trustees Theater in Savannah on May 27.
The string of style-and-design events begins May 20 with an Etoile Gala honoring such luminaries as furniture designer Dakota Jackson, retailer Jeffrey Kalinsky, entertainment moguls Judy and Michael Mauldin, Veranda magazine founding editor and style journalist Lisa Newsom and SCAD alumnus Santiago Barberi Gonzalez.
“SCAD Style is one way for the college to support a number of the professions that our students enter after graduation,” President Paula S. Wallace said in an e-mailed statement. The invitation-only Etoile Gala will benefit students seeking scholarships to study at SCAD’s campus in Lacoste, France. For a listing of the week’s events, call 404-253-3250 or visit www.scad.edu/scadstyle.
Celebrity docket
Rapper Snoop Dogg returned to London on Wednesday for a meeting with police after getting involved in a brawl at Heathrow Airport last month.
The 34-year-old rapper and five other men were arrested on charges of violent disorder and starting a brawl, and spent the night in jail, after trouble flared when some of Snoop’s party were denied entry to British Airways’ first-class lounge.
The group had been en route to Johannesburg, South Africa, where Snoop, whose real name is Calvin Broadus, was due to perform. They clashed with officials after some were told they didn’t have the correct tickets to enter the lounge.
Snoop was to meet officers at Heathrow police station to see whether any action would be brought against him. Police said seven officers were injured in the brawl.
A British Airways spokesman said Snoop has been banned from travel on the airline.
Celebrity birthdays
Singer Eric Burdon (the Animals, War) is 65. Actress Natasha Richardson is 43. Actor Jonathan Jackson (“Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights,” “Tuck Everlasting”) is 24.
Contributing: A. Scott Walton and news services. If you have a tip, 404-526-2749. 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.
Permalink | |
Terry McMillan keeps groove in comfort zone
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Author Terry McMillan (“How Stella Got Her Groove Back,” “Waiting to Exhale”) cut to the chase before a packed crowd Monday night at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Midtown.
“I’ll take questions,” she said to an audience that was 90 percent women. “I prefer they don’t be about divorce. Or homosexuality.”
Everybody laughed. She added: “I have nothing against gay people, men or women. Just one. And he knows it.”
She was referencing her ex-husband, Jonathan Plummer, who came out of the closet in 2004 then tried to void a prenuptial agreement and seek alimony. His civil case accused McMillan of homophobia. She ultimately won the case.
Indeed, nobody dared throw out any divorce-related questions to McMillan, who recently finished a short book on tips for high school grads called “It’s OK If You’re Clueless.”
But when asked what future books she was working on, McMillan shared the title: “Don’t Pity the Fool.”
“It’s about what I went through in my divorce,” she said. “I spent $363,000 in legal fees. I had a prenup that was valid. He made 600-some-odd lies in court documents.”
She said Plummer’s accusations have harmed her irreparably: “What you can get away with in civil court that you can’t in criminal is unconscionable. What if I didn’t have the money? What if I had [young] children?”
McMillan’s complementary book idea, “The Low Down on the Down Low,” is about black men who secretly sleep with other men. “It’s not an indictment,” she said. “It’s just a plea to some extent that we be more accepting of people who are hiding and living a double life. … It’s nobody’s business how you love. Just don’t do it at everybody’s expense.”
The Kimmer’s team thins out
Stumbling news/talk station WGST-AM appears to be dismantling veteran afternoon show host Kim “the Kimmer” Peterson’s support team one piece at a time.
Last December, Jim Gossett, the comic who did celebrity impersonations on Peterson’s “newsmaker” line, quit after his girlfriend, newscaster Kari Dean, was fired. Then GST got rid of longtime sports guy Pete Davis in February. Last Friday, Peterson’s sidekick, Wayne Kitchens, was booted after nine years.
Kitchens, who produced the show, told Buzz that management was upset when he didn’t bleep out an anti-Muslim statement Peterson said on the air last week. Nonetheless, Kitchens suspected he had been on the chopping block for a while: “I knew I was next. And I think they’re trying to make the Kimmer quit.”
Program director Randall Bloomquist, who arrived last fall, said he couldn’t comment on Kitchens’ firing since it was a personnel matter. But he called the departures “side dishes. The steak and potatoes is the Kimmer.”
Peterson, a GST fixture for more than a decade, has seen his ratings drop sharply in recent months. “I have no comment,” he told Buzz Tuesday.
Blaine fails to break record
David Blaine — loosely dubbed a “magician” but more like an endurance stunt man — spent a week submerged in an 8-foot fish bowl at Lincoln Center in New York City. After seven minutes, eight seconds of holding his breath Monday night, rescue divers jumped into the 2,000-gallon saltwater tank and hauled him up. But he failed to break the eight minute, 58 second record.
Blaine, who experienced some liver damage and skin rashes, was moved to a New York hospital Monday night for observation but left Tuesday.
The spectacle, aired live on ABC Monday night, pulled in about 10 million viewers, slightly above average for the network.
Random bits
Clay Aiken, former “American Idol” runner-up, was recently disinvited to a local April 30 Christian Pure fashion show after organizers were inundated with e-mails alleging he was gay — something he has denied in the past. “He sounds like a great guy, but we didn’t have time to manage all the commotion,” organizer Brenda Sharman told Buzz Tuesday. Music producer David Foster had initially invited Aiken to sing a song at the event. …
Whoopi Goldberg is launching a morning radio show. The actress’ show will air weekdays from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m., said former Atlantan John Hogan, president and CEO of Clear Channel Radio. He didn’t indicate which markets will carry the show when it debuts July 31.
Celebrity birthdays
Sports announcer Pat Summerall is 76. Singer Donovan is 60. Singer Bono of U2 is 46. Model Linda Evangelista is 41. Rapper Young MC is 39. Actor and ex-Atlantan Kenan Thompson is 28.
Contributing: news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-5688 or e-mail: rho@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
Permalink | |
Marshall football film re-creates tragic crash
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s only proper that the plane crash portion of “We Are Marshall” filming through Wednesday night at Fulton County Airport-Brown Field is not being shot on its actual historic location.
The big-screen sports flick, starring Matthew McConaughey and Matthew Fox, depicts the inspirational rebuilding of the Marshall University football program. Most of the team, its coaching staff and multiple boosters were killed — 75 people in all — when a plane carrying the occupants crashed just short of Tri-State Airport in Huntington, W.Va., on Nov. 14, 1970.
Prior to location shooting here this month, the filmmakers spent time shooting exteriors in West Virginia. While most Atlantans don’t have an immediate working knowledge of the tragedy, there are plenty of folks up in West Virginia still affected by the crash.
And “We Are Marshall” producers are sparing no expense in re-creating the crash site at Brown Field, including situating the fuselage over a quarter acre of land adjacent to the airfield.
We’re told that it took production designer Tom Meyer’s art department, set decorators and a construction crew two weeks to re-create the carnage. Special effects fire and smoke will also be seen each night during the shoot.
Special effects guy David Fletcher and crew have laid over 3,000 feet of propane gas pipeline that will lend authenticity for the various fires set to erupt “in and around the site which will ignite flames throughout the set from 25 100-gallon propane tanks” brought in for the shoot.
The film crew wanted word spread of the overnight filming since they didn’t want nearby residents or commuters driving on Fulton Industrial Boulevard to fear the worst. Also, a reminder to overzealous film fans: The set is closed to the public.
Plus, McConaughey and Fox sightings would be scarce anyway since McConaughey’s character, coach Jack Lengyel, took over the program after the crash and Fox’s assistant coach Red Dawson survived the tragedy by driving home from the away game.
Overscene
“Sopranos” actor Joseph Gannascoli, who has given the HBO mob drama some added intrigue by getting himself outted while creatively attired in a leather gay bar, was spotted in town over the weekend. Johnny’s Hideaway’s Mike Casey reports to Buzz that the actor popped into the nightclub Saturday night and held court with his pallies. Allegedly, Gannascoli greeted Hideaway manager Chris Dauria, telling him that the Rat Pack-inspired watering hole is always “a must stop” for him in Atlanta. Then he added jokingly: “Now, get me a drink or I’ll break your legs.”
On Sunday night, Gannascoli, who portrays on-the-run gangster Vito Spatafore on the show, was ID’d at Joe’s on Juniper in Midtown. We’re pleased to report there were absolutely no sightings of him at the Eagle, Atlanta’s answer to the genre of nightclub Vito was patronizing. Offscreen, Gannascoli is married and the creator of the “A Sauce to Die For” pasta sauce line.
Fashion Fair helps students
Fashion helped fuel the dreams of 17 students from Atlanta Public Schools in the form of thousands of dollars in college scholarships.
For the past 45 years, the Atlanta Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. has hosted the Ebony Fashion Fair traveling fashion show. It’s one of the most popular stops on the tour and is the primary fund-raiser for the chapter’s scholarship program.
Last week the Atlanta chapter awarded more than $25,000 to high school seniors during the annual Hungry Club Forum, said event chairwoman Marie Baker Wilson. Jenise Davis of North Atlanta High School received the Effie Brooks/Alverna Greene Scholarship, a four-year grant of $3,000 annually. The remaining 16 winners earned one-time scholarships ranging from $500 to $3,000.
Scholarship applicants must meet stringent requirements, including a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0, a minimum SAT score of 970 and two letters of recommendation. Scholarship funds are remitted after recipients verify their college enrollment.
Sick bay
Aging Rolling Stones axman Keith Richards had surgery in New Zealand to relieve pressure in his head after a fall.
The guitarist was “up and talking” soon after surgery Monday at the Ascot Hospital in Auckland but was expected to take several weeks to recuperate, LD Communications said in a statement issued Monday in London.
“Last week Keith was under observation in Auckland following a fall in Fiji and was feeling well after being examined by doctors last week,” the statement said. “However after complaining of headaches yesterday, doctors thought it prudent to move ahead with a small operation to remove the pressure.” Richards, 62, suffered the injury April 27, but details have not been confirmed. News reports have variously claimed that he fell out of a palm tree or from a Jet Ski.
Celebrity birthdays
CBS News correspondent Mike Wallace is 88. Actor Albert Finney is 70. Producer-director James L. Brooks is 66. Actress Candice Bergen is 60. Singer Billy Joel is 57. Actor John Corbett (“My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” “Northern Exposure”) is 45. Singer David Gahan of Depeche Mode is 44. Rapper Ghostface Killah of Wu-Tang Clan is 36. Singer Tamia is 31. Actress Rosario Dawson (“Rent,” “Josie and the Pussycats”) is 27.
Contributing: Nedra Rhone and news services. If you have a tip, 404-526-2749. 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.
Permalink | |
Billy Joel’s daughter tests her musical wings
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
AP Photo/Hard Rock Cafe, Jenni Girtman
Singer/songwriter Alexa Ray Joel, 20-year-old daugher of Billy Joel, performs the Velvet Underground at the Hard Rock Cafe Atlanta on Saturday.
You can see it in her huge eyes: Alexa Ray Joel is her daddy’s girl. And at age 20 last year, the daughter of pop/rock legend Billy Joel and ex-wife Christie Brinkley dropped out of New York University to forge a musical career. She’s launched her first tour.
 |
| AP Photo/Hard Rock Cafe, Jenni Girtman |
| Singer/songwriter Alexa Ray Joel, 20-year-old daugher of Billy Joel, performs the Velvet Underground at the Hard Rock Cafe Atlanta on Saturday. |
“I want to prove I have something to say before I get a record deal,” she told Buzz before her first concert in Atlanta at the Velvet Underground in Hard Rock Cafe downtown Saturday night.
A classically trained pianist, Joel said she’s embarrassed when her proud papa brags she’s a better pianist than he is. But he’s wise enough to stay out of her way. “When I’m just starting out, it’s important to let me do my own thing,” she said. “If he were to come [to her concerts], it’d be about him.”
Like many sons and daughters of famous musicians, Joel has to grapple with the pressures of comparisons. (For irony’s sake, Buzz sat Joel down next to a framed Rolling Stone cover of Jakob Dylan, Bob’s son.)
“I have to block it out,” Joel said. She said she watches her dad in concert and realizes that “I have a different style, and I’m a different person. In time, I’d love to be as great a songwriter and performer as he is.”
For the curious, she evokes Norah Jones and Fiona Apple. She has two sampler songs at www.myspace.com/alexarayjoel.
Club opens — despite its drinking problem
For a decade, the Uptown Comedy Corner on Peachtree Road was the premiere black stand-up comedy club in Atlanta. It shut down in 2003, but nobody filled the void until original Uptown owner Gary Abdo and his partners found a spot on Marietta Street, formerly occupied by a Georgia Tech student hangout facetiously named the Library.
“We need a comedy home,” said local standup comic Dantee Ray, who did a few minutes on opening night last Thursday at the new Uptown before about 70 people. Developing black comics have had to make do hitting weekly comedy or open mike nights at places such as Frozen Palace and Barnacle’s, battling loud TVs and distracted drinkers.
But the new Uptown, which seats about 390 people, lacks a liquor license. The Library’s alcohol license was revoked last year after the city of Atlanta documented cases of underage drinking. To punish the landlord, nobody in that space is allowed to have a liquor license for 12 months.
Abdo, whose original club helped propel the careers of comics such as Monique and Earthquake, knows he needs a liquor license to make the club work. Still, he decided to open. His attorney, Hakim Hilliard, said the city technically didn’t have a license to revoke; the Library never renewed its license in 2005. But the city liquor license review board did not agree. It’s now up to Mayor Shirley Franklin to decide.
Abdo said he plans to file an appeal in Fulton County Superior Court in June if he doesn’t get the license. “For them to deny us is just ludicrous,” he told Buzz. “I feel like I’m in ‘The Twilight Zone.’ ”
Aparo across the spectrum
Angie Aparo is a dichotomous performer. The McDonough singer/songwriter, who performed to a rapt crowd at Smith’s Olde Bar Saturday night, embodies intensity while singing, tackling pain and loss. Yet between songs, he’s the ultimate quipster.
“I love you!” a fan yelled.
“I love you like my future ex-wife!” he responded.
At the same time, Aparo mocked and paid homage to various rock clichés. He noted that acts that say, “This is the last song” are lying. It’s merely a precursor to an encore. “I’ll do it anyway, because I’m [expletive] needy!” he cracked.
And he took fans’ requests for “Stairway to Heaven” and “Free Bird” to heart by doing a combo he dubbed “Stairway to Free Bird.”
Random bits
Atlanta rapper Bone Crusher joins the fourth edition of VH1’s addictive series “Celebrity Fit Club 4,” set to air in August. The other diet-seeking semi-luminaries include singer Carnie Wilson, former “Sopranos” mobster Vincent Pastore, R&B singer Angie Stone, former “NYPD Blue” star Nick Turturro, “Baywatch” babe Erika Eleniak and classic TV stars Tina Yothers from “Family Ties” and lovable “Love Boat” bartender Ted Lange …
Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott married Sunday on a private tropical island in Fiji, People magazine reported. “We didn’t want to wait another day to get married,” Spelling said. Spelling, 32, and McDermott, 39, met last year while filming the TV movie “Mind Over Murder.”
Star birthdays
Comedian Don Rickles is 80. Singer Philip Bailey is 55. Drummer Alex Van Halen of Van Halen is 53. Actress Melissa Gilbert is 42. Singer Enrique Iglesias is 31.
Contributing: news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-5688 or e-mail: rho@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
Permalink | |
Geting barefoot with Barbarella on Sunday
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
If your idea of dipping deep into Jane Fonda’s filmography is Netflix-ing the Poncey-Highland resident terrorizing J. Lo, you’ll want to spend some time getting yourself educated.
In a not-so-subtle attempt to wrestle away the “Television for Women (and gay men)” mantle from Lifetime, the Oprah-licious Oxygen network proudly presented “Jane Fonda Sunday!” starting with the 1968 camp classic “Barbarella.” It was followed by her Oscar-winning role in 1971’s “Klute,” 1979’s re-teaming with Robert Redford in “The Electric Horseman” and ended with the pair’s Neil Simon 1967 comedy, “Barefoot in the Park.”
Also, various news sources reported Friday that the veteran activist-actress-author, at the age of 68, will become the new spokeswoman for L’Oreal cosmetics’ Age Re-Perfect cream. It’s reportedly a six-figure deal.
Meanwhile, over at gcapp.org, the Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention has added a hilarious image of the nonprofit’s founder tied to a spit and dangling above a cartoon fire. The (hopefully) Photoshopped snapshot serves as an online billboard for the first-ever Jane Fonda Roast at 7 p.m. June 1 at the Georgia Aquarium, featuring Fonda, Big Boi, Jimmy Carter, Rosie O’Donnell, Debbie Reynolds, Eve Ensler, Wanda Sykes and “master of flames” Larry King. Some tickets remain.
And, as if it even bears mentioning, all phones at Buzz Central were turned off Sunday for the duration of “Jane Fonda Sunday!” (And yes, we too prayed that Ted Turner didn’t scorch the microwave popcorn this time. )
Getting grilled in Philly
Speaking of Ted’s Montana Grill’s namesake, the land of cheese steaks hasn’t as yet cozied up to the concept of bison burgers. This week, Philadelphia Inquirer restaurant critic Craig LaBan doled out a single measly star to the new Ted’s on Broad Street in Philly. In his review, LaBan complains about a waitress who requested his table’s assistance with the opening of a wine bottle.
Salads are described as “boring” and a bison burger “so loosely formed, ours fell apart in the bun.” LaBan was kinder to Turner’s fave dessert, the snickerdoodle cookie, and the eatery’s trademark pickles on each table.
Week at Woodruff: Day 5!
A lunchtime deluge dampened the first SunTrust Lunch on Broad concert with International Groove Conspiracy in the new, improved Woodruff Park on Friday. By the time we ventured out, work crews were gathering up the moistened plastic tables and chairs set up at the end of Broad Street. But strolling amid the park’s 16 new crape myrtles and the aromatic chanting urban campers this week gave us an idea on how to keep the Week at Woodruff momentum going. Check this space next week for details. In the meantime, do try and obey one of the park’s new posted rules: “Please Do Not Wade or Swim in the Fountains.”
Pershing Point Hotel lives
We’re working on a Sunday Living story with character actor Leslie Jordan about the late, great 1970s counterculture hangout the Pershing Point Hotel.
Jordan’s indie film “Lost in the Pershing Point Hotel” chronicles his many adventures there. We’d like to hear yours. Photos from the era would be a plus. Send your stories, name and a daytime phone number to reldredge@ajc.com.
Design chops
The Robert Brown and Carson Guest interior design firms were named 2006 Southeast Designers of the Year by the Atlanta Decorative Arts Center this week.
Brown, owner of Robert Brown Interior Design, won in the residential category, while Carson Guest Interior Design took top honors for commercial design.
This has been a busy month for Brown. In addition to acing out other designers in the contest, judged by editors at Veranda Magazine, he recently designed the dining room in the 2006 Decorators Show House & Gardens, sponsored by the Atlanta Symphony Associates.
Carson Guest, owned by Rita Guest, was recognized for designing such projects as the New York office of law firm Alston & Bird.
Stork report
It’s a girl for White Stripes frontman Jack White and his wife, model Karen Elson. The couple welcomed their first child, Scarlett, on Tuesday in Tennessee, where they recently bought a new home, says White’s representative Chloe Walsh.
Celebrity birthdays
Today: Singer Bob Seger is 61. Singer Jimmie Dale Gilmore is 61. Host Tom Bergeron (“Dancing With the Stars”) is 51. Actor George Clooney is 45.
Sunday: Singer Teresa Brewer is 75. Singer Jimmy Ruffin is 67. Actor Breckin Meyer (“Herbie: Fully Loaded,” “Road Trip”) is 32.
Contributing: Alma Hill and news services. If you have a tip, 404-526-2749. 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.
Permalink | |
‘Sopranos’ mobster learns a few manners
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Ritz-Carlton Buckhead is the perfect spot to sip afternoon tea, enjoy an after-work cocktail — or cultivate a wise guy.
Steve Schirripa, known to “Sopranos” fans as Bobby “Bacala” Baccalieri, was in the hotel Thursday afternoon during tea time, learning to unfold a linen napkin and hold a teacup.
“Don’t you lift your pinky? I thought that was classy,” he said as etiquette mavens Evelyn and Stephanie Matthews of Acworth offered their expert guidance.
A crew from “The Tonight Show,” for which Schirripa serves as a special correspondent, captured the crash course in courtly conduct on film. The Brooklyn, N.Y., native’s visit south included a stop at a children’s etiquette class at Marietta Country Club Wednesday evening, and a multi-course dinner was planned for later Thursday at the Ritz.
“We’re trying to culture him,” said Evelyn Matthews, owner of the Etiquette Co. (www.etiquetteco.com).
Viewers can decide how successful she and daughter Stephanie were when “The Tonight Show” airs clips from Schirripa’s introduction to proper manners. The piece should air in coming weeks.
Schirripa dropped a few hints about his “Sopranos” character’s upcoming escapades.
“This week, for the first time, you’ll see Bobby get a little angry,” he said. “It’s involving his family.”
We would have pressed for details but the Ritz frowns on nosy scribblers getting iced in their genteel Lobby Lounge.
Fish food at the aquarium
It was perhaps a little disconcerting Wednesday night to watch the whale sharks, golden trevally and grouper swim by as the Atlanta food community gorged itself on seafood, but such is life. Share Our Strength’s Taste of the Nation — an annual event to benefit organizations that fight hunger — migrated to the ballroom at the Georgia Aquarium this year, thanks to honorary chairs Bernie and Billi Marcus. The city’s chefs took this as a challenge to lord their positions atop the food chain to the aquarium’s denizens and pulled out their best fish recipes. Doug Turbush of Bluepointe seared scallops in tea, Bruce McQuain of Sia’s fried tasty shrimp rolls with holy basil, and Richard Blais of One Midtown Kitchen served what we think was salmon, but a bit hard to tell under its cumulus of foam. Wolfgang Puck conducted a cooking demonstration from the stage while founding chair Pano Karatassos dutifully circulated. A private tour with the facility’s founder was bought in auction for a whopping $22,000 by Peter T. Nicas.
Alas, some among the stretch-limo set were overheard complaining that they had to be dumped unceremoniously on the curb because their rides couldn’t fit inside the parking deck. Time for a Kia?
Week at Woodruff: Day 4!
The city’s reintroduction of Woodruff Park (or, as we’ve taken to referring to it, “Woodruff Redux ‘06!”) rolled on unabated Thursday as countless cubicle dwellers gently inquired about the park’s lush new greenery. Buzz, meanwhile, was busy making a discovery — the park’s brand-new Baggit machine. The freshly installed contraption dispenses “biodegradable” brown plastic bags for thoughtful pet owners to clean up after Tiger or Fifi in the downtown urban wonderland. And today, according to the Woodruff press release, locals are urged to “stroll down Broad Street with friends and co-workers to get lunch and then join us at Woodruff Park for the first SunTrust Lunch on Broad” concert. Just step gingerly over us. We’ll be face down and passed out in the grass, testing that strictly enforced “Urban camping strictly prohibited” sign.
Arts award nominations
Know someone who has made a major contribution to the arts and culture scene in Georgia? Now is your chance to nominate that person for the 2006 Georgia Arts & Entertainment Legacy Award.
Last year’s winner, Theater of the Stars producer Christopher Manos, was feted in the Fox Theatre’s Egyptian Ballroom and serenaded by Broadway diva Jennifer Holliday.
The GAELA award, in its second year, is sponsored by the Atlanta Coalition of Performing Arts, which serves over 150 theater, dance, music and film arts organizations in the greater Atlanta area.
To nominate someone, go to www.georgiaperforms.com.
Celebrity birthdays
Actress Ann B. Davis (“The Brady Bunch”) is 80. Comedian-actor Michael Palin (Monty Python) is 63. John Rhys-Davies (“Lord of the Rings,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark”) is 62. MTV News correspondent Kurt Loder is 61. Singer Ian McCulloch of Echo and the Bunnymen is 47. Newsman Brian Williams is 47. Actress Tina Yothers (“Family Ties”) is 33. Singer Craig David is 25. Actress Danielle Fishel (“Boy Meets World”) is 25. Singer Chris Brown is 17.
Contributing: Jennifer Brett, John Kessler, Kirsten Tagami and news services. If you have a tip, 404-526-2749. 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.
Permalink | |
Skirt! magazine hopes to turn women’s heads
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Continuing Atlanta’s magazine-palooza, a launch party was held Tuesday night for Skirt! at the Globe in Midtown.
The free monthly aimed at soothing the hectic lives of busy working women has a fanatical following in Charleston, S.C., Columbia, Charlotte and Jacksonville. Skirt!, under an Atlanta licensing agreement with Cox Newspapers (which owns the AJC), marks its local debut with the May issue.
Star 94 “Steve & Vikki in the Morning” shopping correspondent Alisa Henderson emceed the evening, telling the guests sipping wine and nibbling Parmesan risotto spheres that Skirt! founder and publisher Nikki Hardin founded the company with “$400 and a dream.”
Skirt! has a readership of 300,000.
“When I started Skirt!, I was so broke I couldn’t pay the rent,” Hardin told the crowd. “So this is just amazing for me. This isn’t a corporate concept. This is done from the heart… . Skirt! is made in love, and I hope you all come to love it as much as I do.”
A dozen or so Skirt!-ed mannequins (the
creatively designed frocks on the department store dummies were devised by fashionable local business folks) and the restaurant’s large olive-hued couches restricted the party’s flow at its height. Guests included: 99X’s Leslie Fram, Star 94’s Vikki Locke, Ray Mariner and Jonathan Hyla, jewelry designer Mark Edge, Captain Planet Foundation chair Laura Turner Seydel, A Legendary Event owner Tony Conway and Atlanta publicists Kristen Cowart, Mary Reynolds, Tara Murphy and Meg Reggie.
So with the launch of Skirt!, along with the recent addition of the glossies the Atlantan and Atlanta Peach, are there officially too many Atlanta-centric magazines to read? “Well, some I read, and some I just flip through to look at the pictures while I’m at the doctor’s office!” conceded Turner Seydel wryly.
The designer skirts on the mannequins, meanwhile, were sold for $100 each, benefiting Dress for Success Atlanta.
Things temporarily turned ugly as we were exiting. One clearly over-served mannequin had taken a tumble onto the floor, lost an arm and was wearing nothing but green panties.
Week at Woodruff: Day 3!
Lunchtime listeners enjoyed the funky and straight-ahead sounds of singer Tammy Allen at the kickoff of “Wednesdays in Woodruff,” a weekly free music offering this month in the new, improved downtown park.
Office workers lunching at the new patio tables and chairs commingled with the park’s trademark urban campers during lunch hour. Two sets of Atlanta police officers on horseback patrolled mere feet away from folks sleeping undisturbed in the shade, atop their personal effects.
According to the park’s news release, the week’s worth of celebrations continues today: “Wonder how the lush landscape stays so beautiful? Stop by on Thursday as new plants and greenery are continuing to be planted throughout the park.” And no, we didn’t ask about the park’s fertilizing
techniques.
The dish on Star, Rosie?
At the Skirt! launch, Buzz also bumped into Rachel Giordano, Star 94’s new morning show producer. Regrettably, for fans of the Buzz column mainstay, “A Moment to ‘Shine,’ ” the former assistant to Star Jones Reynolds on “The View” was disgustingly diplomatic about dishing on the diva. Responding to our query about Star critic Rosie O’Donnell being added to the ABC daytime hen party this fall, Giordano told us: “Barbara Walters made an incredibly smart choice adding Rosie. She has the potential to bring a lot of her old viewers when she starts on ‘The View.’ “
Thankfully, attendee Turner Seydel came equipped with scoop. She spilled that her Captain Planet Foundation has selected Dec. 8 and the Tabernacle downtown as the date and venue for the eco-friendly nonprofit’s annual Christmas Party. Last year’s wild, disco-themed event with K.C. and the Sunshine Band is still the subject of cocktail party chatter.
Broadway tunes on stage
Music man about town Robert Ray and Atlanta pal, singer Courtenay Collins, are getting ready to hit the road, but not before tonight, when they premiere “2 for Broadway.” The three-night gig at the Atlanta Lyric Byers Studio Theater — at Bellemeade at Northside Drive — includes 30 Broadway tunes from such beloved shows as “Cabaret,” “Chicago” and “Ain’t Misbehavin.” Tickets start at $25. 404-284-0967.
Then it’s on to Charleston, S.C., where the duo has been chosen to reprise their musical revue at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival, June 5-11. Finally, they will take the show to Highlands, N.C., for a three-week run at the Highlands Playhouse July 26-Aug. 13.
But Ray won’t have much downtime to do his laundry. He will produce entertainment for the May 21 UNICEF gala at the InterContinental Buckhead hotel as well as for the opening night gala of the National Black Arts Festival July 12 at Mason Murer Fine Art Gallery.
Celebrity birthdays
Jazz musician Maynard Ferguson is 78. Surf guitarist Dick Dale is 69. Singer Oleta Adams is 53. Country singer Randy Travis is 47. Actress Mary McDonough (“The Waltons”) is 45. Bassist Mike Dirnt of Green Day is 34. Singer Lance Bass of ‘N Sync is 27.
Contributing: Marylin Johnson and news services. If you have a tip, 404-526-2749. 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.
Permalink | |
‘Most Beautiful’ Atlantans
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Making the cut for this year’s “100 Most Beautiful” People magazine list this week was Dunwoody High grad and “American Idol” host Ryan Seacrest .
Alas, “Seacrest out!” opened his mouth for the issue as well. “I’m obsessed with hair in the ear or in the nose,” Seacrest inexplicably tells People. “My whole left side is my worst feature. I always try to turn around so people don’t face my left side. … Everything in my house stays to the right. If you have dinner at my house, you have to sit to my right.” Others with local ties in the issue: Julia Roberts, Jane Fonda and Weather Channel talents Jennifer Carfagno and Alexandra Steele. The Weather Channel pair are featured in the “Beauties Around the Clock” layout. Apparently, some People scribblers must be insomniacs since Carfagno is on-air at 5 a.m. We concede that being a night owl is part of this gig as well, but rest assured, whatever we’re doing at 5 a.m. in the name of Buzz, it never includes watching the Weather Channel.
Those stars grow up so fast
One notable Atlantan who also made the list of Teen People’s “25 Hottest Stars Under 25” issue due out Friday: Singer Ciara (age 20) joins “Brokeback Mountain” stars Michelle Williams (25), Anne Hathaway (23) and Jake Gyllenhaal (25) and the cast of the scarily popular Disney Channel original movie “High School Musical”: Corbin Bleu (17), Monique Coleman (25), Zac Efron (18), Lucas Grabeel (21), Vanessa Anne Hudgens (19) and Ashley Tisdale (20).
Like it or not, ‘Marshall’ set is so ’70s
In what must have appeared odd to onlookers Tuesday, Edward R. Murrow was spotted inside a downtown diner with “Deadwood” saloon owner Al Swearengen.
Well, technically, it was “Good Night, and Good Luck” Oscar nominee David Strathairn and HBO actor Ian McShane on the makeshift set of “We Are Marshall,” the sports flick filming in town.
A former Ford car dealership was transformed into a 1970s-era greasy spoon for the two days of filming. Strathairn plays real-life Marshall University President Donald Dedmon, who had to deal with the aftermath of a 1970 plane crash that killed most of the school’s football team and its coaching staff.
McShane plays steel mill executive Paul Griffin, a composite character, who loses a star quarterback son in the crash. Buzz got word Tuesday that “The Unit” and ex-“X-Files” actor Robert Patrick has just been added to the cast. The Marietta native will portray Rick Tolley, one of the coaches who perished in the crash.
Matthew McConaughey plays Jack Lengyel, the coach who had the unenviable task of taking over the Marshall program, while “Lost” star Matthew Fox plays Red Dawson, a surviving assistant coach who hated flying and drove that fateful night.
While neither Matthew is in town (Fox is wrapping up the two-hour, second-season finale of the ABC hit “Lost” in Hawaii), we can tell you the attention to detail on “We Are Marshall’s” wardrobe is, well, painfully, authentic. We’ve discovered that McConaughey’s Mike Brady-esque threads are particularly gruesome, with loads of loud plaid polyester sports jackets, hideously wide ties, bright colors and even a lucky green rabbit’s foot on his plastic pants belt loop.
Thankfully, Fox has more conservative clothes that give off a hipper, more classic late ’60s vibe.
Uncoupling
After personally witnessing her swap saliva with multiple men at Elton John’s Oscar party this year in West Hollywood, we coulda predicted this. Blow air kisses and wave buh-bye to the coupledom of “Simple Life” simpleton Paris Hilton and her Greek shipping heir boytoy Stavros Niarchos.
Hilton publicist Elliot Mintz confirmed the reported breakup Tuesday. “I’m not going to deny that there was a split,” he said.
Mintz would not provide further details.
Hilton, 25, and Niarchos, 21, began dating last year. The hotel heiress announced in October that she was ending her engagement to Paris Latsis, another Greek shipping heir.
At presstime Tuesday, Hilton was still trolling www.greekshippingheirhotties.com for a potential replacement.
Celebrity birthdays
Folk singer Pete Seeger is 87. Singer James Brown is 73. Singer Frankie Valli is 71. Sports announcer Greg Gumbel is 60. Actor Dule’ Hill (“The West Wing”) is 31.
Contributing: News services.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
Permalink | |
‘A Week at Woodruff’ is a stroll in the park
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sometimes a press release lands at Buzz Central that’s so utterly audacious, it compels, no, taunts us to actually leave the office.
On Monday, we received such an e-mail asking: “Tired of eating lunch at your desk?” It enticed us to dine al fresco in Woodruff Park downtown, courtesy of “100 new cafe tables and 350 chairs, all of which are lightweight for easy rearranging.”
As most downtown cubicle dwellers well know, Woodruff Park is less noted for its patio furniture and more for its seemingly intractable urban campers, its distinctive urine scent, and pushy panhandlers.
The delicious irony of “A Week at Woodruff’s” planned events was enough, however, to make us grab a pen, a pad and hit the park.
The news choppers that hovered overhead, covering the immigrant rally at the state Capitol, provided a lunchtime soundtrack as did the agitated gentlemen playing a game of death match dominoes at one of the new tables.
The sleeping folks who were sprawled atop bags filled with their belongings did not deter Cooper Holland, a Central Atlanta Progress senior project manager who was strolling the park.
“Look at what a difference a day has made,” she said, pointing to the new tables and chairs near the park’s fountains. A Dinah Washington standard did not immediately swell up behind Holland’s words, but a man in a brightly hued Rastafarian hat attempted to accompany by chanting loudly in a language we didn’t immediately recognize.
“I live in the Healey Building across the street,” Holland conceded. “We know we’re a work in progress. But our ultimate goal is to reintroduce the park.”
Holland says CAP is devoted to offering more special events, chess tournaments and even free Wi-Fi to the park’s users.
“A Week at Woodruff” continues today with an opportunity for you to “stroll the park and strike up a friendly conversation with the two new full-time park attendants who will ensure the park’s safety and beauty daily.”
‘Niki’ opens big
Could “Nanas” be bigger than chandeliers?
This weekend’s opening of “Niki in the Garden” drew 2,004 visitors to the Atlanta Botanical Garden, up 30 percent from 2004’s opening weekend of Dale Chihuly’s blockbuster glass art exhibit.
“And that’s even with the lousy weather on Sunday,” marketing director Sabina Carr said Monday.
The new exhibit, open through Oct. 31, features 41 mosaic sculptures of the late artist Niki de Saint Phalle — among them, curvaceous female figures known as Nanas.
Information: 404-876-5859, www.atlantabotanicalgarden.org
‘Bust’ extended
Over the weekend, Buzz finally had an opportunity to take in the awful splendor of the “Hollywood or Bust” revue at Libby’s: A Cabaret in Buckhead.
As promised, the movie-themed show’s “Songs You Never Want to Hear Again” medley performed by Kenya Hamilton, Shawn Megorden, Wendy Melkonian, Lisa Paige and Robert Strickland at the piano was rib-bruising hilarious. Some of the songs in the set? “Staying Alive,” “Born Free,” “Theme From ‘Ice Castles,’ ” “You Light Up My Life” and “Flashdance (What a Feeling).”
We inadvertently inhaled an olive while eavesdropping on Libby’s regular Terry Strecker gushing to owner Libby Whittemore: “I didn’t know you could do such a great show with so many bad songs!”
The revue has proved so popular, it’s been extended for one night only this Friday.
Quote of the day
“I just think it’s very hard for everyone to participate in, you know, the illusion that she presents as her truth.” — Freshly minted “The View” co-host Rosie O’Donnell on future co-worker Star Jones Reynolds to Diane Sawyer on “Good Morning America.”
Celebrity docket
British rocker Pete Doherty was released on bail Sunday by London police who are now investigating tabloid photos that showed the ex-Libertines frontman injecting himself and a woman with drugs, a police official said.
The current Babyshambles singer was detained Saturday morning on suspicion of recklessly administering a noxious substance, the official said.
Doherty, 27, is to return for questioning in July, the official said.
The Sun newspaper published the photos Friday.
Doherty was previously arrested April 20 for suspected drug possession, hours after a judge placed him on probation on separate drug charges.
At press time Monday, Buzz was considering a line of Pete Doherty mug shot trading cards with the advertising slogan: “Collect all 2,200!”
Celebrity birthdays
Actor Roscoe Lee Browne is 81. Singer Lesley Gore is 60. Country singer Larry Gatlin is 58. Singer Lou Gramm of Foreigner is 56. Actress Christine Baranski is 54. Country singer Ty Herndon is 44. Wrestler-actor the Rock is 34.
Contributing: Danny C. Flanders and news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. 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.
Permalink | |
Ex-champ Foreman knows ropes of success
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Boxer/entrepreneur George Foreman said the boxing industry is in the doldrums for one major reason.
“We need a hero,” he said, citing past sensations such as Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano and Muhammad Ali. Then again, we had anti-hero Mike Tyson, too.
Foreman, former heavyweight champ and a regular on the speech circuit, comes to the Learning Annex real estate wealth workshop at the Georgia World Congress Center this weekend.
“Sometimes people are looking for that little extra nudge, that little insight so they can become successful,” he told Buzz.
Foreman’s post-boxing career has been inspiration in itself, turning a little grill into a sensation. He said more than 80 million Foreman grills have been sold.
The boxer was also amazed by the dancing skills of fellow boxer and Atlantan Evander Holyfield on last summer’s surprise ABC hit “Dancing With the Stars.” “The only reason I knew there was a dancing show was him,” Foreman said. “Watching him dance — he was my hero!”
A hometown ‘Lullaby’
Clarkston High grad Shawn Mullins gave the sold-out hometown crowd at Variety Playhouse on Saturday night a beautiful ride through his greatest hits (“Shimmer,” “Lullaby”), fan favorites (“Joshua”) and tracks from his current CD “9th Ward Pickin’ Parlor” (notably, the wonderful “Beautiful Wreck”).
Getting sweaty partway through, Mullins, 37, took off his wool cap and cracked, “You’re going to have to deal with the bald spot!”
“Bald spots are sexy, baby!” someone in the crowd yelled.
After the concert, several Clarkston High alums gathered around Mullins and waxed nostalgic. “He’s a humble man. That’s why people like him. He’s genuine,” said Jon Papanicolaou, 36, of Loganville, who remembers Mullins sketching Van Halen band logos during homeroom.
Angie Aparo update
McDonough’s Angie Aparo has been going through Butch Walker syndrome. That is, he’s a singer/songwriter who happened to hit it even bigger as a songwriter thanks to his monstrous 2002 Faith Hill ballad “Cry.”
(Atlanta’s Walker, former lead singer of Marvelous 3, has become a go-to songwriter for acts such as Pink, Avril Lavigne and Bowling for Soup, but is still pursuing his own solo career.)
“If I really wanted to focus on writing, I could go to Nashville and L.A.,” Aparo told Buzz. “I’m sure it would be a lot better. But I’m just torn. I want to sing!”
Aparo — who had brief major label success in the late 1990s and a minor radio hit “Spaceship” — has been toiling as an indie singer in recent years. He stops by Smith’s Olde Bar on Saturday.
His new EP “El Primero Del Tres,” part of a trilogy he’s planning about war and peace, will be available online Tuesday. “I was writing a batch of songs and it got me thinking about human nature and war,” he said.
Aparo wrote three songs for Hill, but said at the last second they were dumped from her current album “Fireflies.”
“It was very disheartening,” he said. “I sang on all three songs. It was a beautiful thing. But she changed direction.”
Bye, bye Rick & Bubba
Last week, Birmingham radio duo Rick Burgess and Bill “Bubba” Bussey aired their final live morning shows on Turner South, which will soon be an all-sports Fox network.
By coincidence, the pair was in town Friday to promote the book “Rick & Bubba’s Expert Guide to God, Country, Family and Anything Else We Can Think Of.” Much to their surprise, the book has sold more than 40,000 copies, landing on The New York Times “how to” best-seller list and even hitting No. 1 for a time on the Amazon list.
As for the loss of Turner South after three-plus years, Burgess told Buzz he’s disappointed but not crying over the setback: “I can’t be upset by things we have no control over.”
They are miffed that they have yet to convince an Atlanta radio station to air their show, which is all talk and blends pop culture, family, sports and Southern culture in a lighthearted fashion. Rick & Bubba are heard on 25 stations, mostly in the Southeast.
The two buddies also said that of the three Birmingham-based “American Idol” contestants so far, current finalist Taylor Hicks is getting more love than even Season 2 winner Ruben Studdard and 2005 runner-up Bo Bice. “We’ve gotten e-mails from Ohio, Japan, even Bangladesh about Taylor,” Bussey said.
Tube talk
Goofy reality show “Blind Date,” seen on WATL-TV, visits Atlanta tonight at the wee hours of 2:30 and 4 a.m. The show provides first names only, but you might recognize Adam, a strip club manager who likes mascara, and his judgmental, personal trainer date Laura. The pair hangs out at Andretti Indoor Karting & Games and the Horseradish Grill. …
The two-week stunt of airing “Saved by the Bell” during Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim was a success, generating buzz and outrage, plus slightly better ratings among women and 18 to 24 year olds. But “Bell” haters, don’t worry — it was just a stunt… .
Random bits
Bon Jovi is the first rock act to hit No. 1 on the Billboard country charts with “Who Says You Can’t Go Home,” which features local Sugarland lead singer Jennifer Nettles… .
Mark your calendars, “Idol” fans: The top 10 Season 5 “Idol” contestants will be at the Gwinnett Arena on Aug. 3. Ticket information is forthcoming… .
Jimmy Baron officially said goodbye to 99X last week after 12-plus years at the station. Baron told Buzz that Cumulus, set to officially take over 99X on Friday, offered him an insultingly low salary earlier this year. Cumulus execs said they chose to drop Baron because of declining ratings and listener research, although 99X kept Baron’s name on the morning show for weeks after he left.
Celebrity birthdays
Singer Judy Collins is 67. Singer Rita Coolidge is 61. Country singer Tim McGraw is 39.
Contributing: news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-5688 or e-mail rho@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
Permalink | |
Services »