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Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2006 > July > 28 > Entry
Sweet talkin’ Georgians get turn in the spotlight
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The home state of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. has spawned many a great speaker. And three of them are showcased on TLC’s reality show “The Messengers,” which debuted Sunday night with 10 contestants vying to be the best orator. The reward: a special on TLC and a book deal. The best of the bunch, as voted by the audience in the first episode, was Robert Rutherford, 46, a quirky minister and carpenter from the small town of Waco, 55 miles west of Atlanta.
“I was blessed and surprised because four or five others hit home runs,” Rutherford told Buzz. Each show, contestants go on a field trip, then have to make two-minute speeches on a related topic. Week 1 was 24 hours on Skid Row, a part of Los Angeles packed with homeless. In future weeks, they go to a coroner, spend time in wheelchairs and pick crops at a migrant farm.
Rutherford is the only contestant who is a religious figure. But he said he’s “pretty liberal for the Bible Belt. I wear an earring and spiky hair, and I play in a rock band. I appeal to the masses.”
Two of his competitors are Atlantans and poets who met each other years before the show. See Flowers used to do a weekly poetry reading on Joyce Littell’s show on V-103 from 1998 to 2000 and had social worker Daneea Badio on as a guest.
Badio works with homeless people all the time, but the L.A. experience was different, she said, because she was on their turf. “I expected the despair and frustration, but I also saw love, joy and community, much more than I anticipated,” she told Buzz.
Flowers said visiting the coroner on the show helped him get past his mother’s murder from 1994. “The moment I inhaled the smell of death, I began to live,” he said. “I had always held on to death as my mother. That day, death was no longer part of my mother.”
Fresh look for fashion show
When it comes to fashion shows, retailer Jeffrey Kalinsky will have plenty of news to celebrate. First, his 14th annual “Fashion Cares” luxury designer fashion event Aug. 28 will have a new venue — a white tent set up in a parking area behind Phipps Plaza.
“It was time to come up with a different place, to keep the event new and fresh,” said Kalinsky, who last year formed a retail partnership with Nordstrom and also serves as the company’s director of designer merchandise. Kalinsky will present the first Jeffrey New Talent Award to the most promising graduate design student from the Savannah College of Art and Design.
This glitzy evening — a kickoff to the fall social season — will again be chaired by Lila Hertz and Carey Carter and benefit the Atlanta AIDS Partnership Fund and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Like last year, once $150,000 has been raised for the Atlanta AIDS Partnership Fund, the Elton John AIDS Foundation will offer a grant matching $1 for every $2 raised.
The evening starts at 7:30 with hors d’oeuvres and drinks from A Legendary Event, including the stiletto cocktail — a cool mix of vodka and pink lemonade with a jelly bean garnish. The live auction and fashion show begins at 9, with Dave FM radio personality Mara Davis serving as mistress of ceremonies.
Tickets start at $150. To purchase, call 404-841-0215.
The Beat gets new a.m. voice
For five years, 95.5/The Beat has aired a low-cost “more music” morning show while rivals Star 94 (Steve & Vikki) and Q100 (the Bert Show) focused on pricier, yet more lucrative, personalities. Now the Beat’s giving personality a try, hiring Murph Dawg, a native New Yorker who was working nights at Hot 98.1 in Greenville, S.C. Starting Aug. 7, he will team with existing morning host Stacy C. Program director Lee Cagle said they’ll be a true morning team but won’t gab as much as their competitors. Cox Radio, which owns 95.5/The Beat, is part of Cox Enterprises, parent company of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Breakup central
Not everythng is shiny and happy in Hoff-land. “America’s Got Talent” judge David Hasselhoff and Pamela Bach have officially parted ways. Their divorce was finalized Wednesday in Los Angeles, Bach’s attorney Bret Hunter said. “I’ve always loved him and always will, and have love and compassion for him,” Bach told The Associated Press. “It’s a very, very sad day, but a day to move on.” Hasselhoff, 54, filed for divorce Jan. 12 after 16 years of marriage, citing irreconcilable differences. Bach, 42, filed her own papers, also citing irreconcilable differences… .
Prince’s second wife, Manuela Testolini Nelson, has filed for divorce from the pop superstar, his attorney has confirmed. Patrick Cousins, Prince’s general counsel, said Wednesday the case was pending. An attorney for Nelson did not return a telephone call from The Associated Press. The [Minneapolis] Star Tribune reported on its Web editions Wednesday that the case was filed May 24. A court administrator told the AP the case was sealed July 11.
Celebrity birthdays
Cartoonist Jim Davis (“Garfield”) is 61. TV executive Dick Ebersol is 59. Actress Sally Struthers is 58. Actress Elizabeth Berkley (“Showgirls”) is 34.
Contributing: Marliyn Johnson and 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.
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