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Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2007 > February > 22
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Celeb-filled Soul Session cheers Thicke
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Actor Wilmer Valderrama and R&B singers India Arie, Laurnea and Joe were among the celebs in the crowd for V-103’s Soul Session at Center Stage this week to take in sets by Musiq and Robin Thicke. In his dressing room afterwards, Thicke was still floating from the enthusiastic response he got from the heavily-female crowd.
Particularly since he was the opening act.
“You should have been the headliner!” one autograph seeker insisted. “Hey, they told me they wanted me to do 30 minutes,” Thicke said with a smile. “But believe me, I had much more to give. I love the ATL.”
Overscene
Blues Brothers Dan Aykroyd and Jim Belushi performing a private gig for 300 Wednesday night at the Tabernacle downtown for employees and clients of prepaid technology company InComm.
Norville reups
University of Georgia graduate Deborah Norville has inked a new multi-year deal to remain in the anchor chair at “Inside Edition.” Said CBS Television Distribution CEO Roger King of the Dalton native: “When Deborah joined ‘Inside Edition’ 12 years ago, she reinvigorated the show with her sharp interview skills and strong news judgment. I’m happy that she’ll continue to be the face of the show for years to come.”
Quote of the day
“There aren’t many real bands anymore. The ones that do well, it’s one person with the talent, and three other people who have similar haircuts and clothing, and no power. And then later, it’s a brand, but it ain’t a band.”
— Rock god Iggy Pop in the March issue of Spin.
It’s easy being green — if you’re Orlando Bloom
Actor Orlando Bloom says he’s building his house in London with the environment in mind.
“It’s as green as I can make it,” the 30-year-old British actor said this week during a pre-Oscar party benefiting the environmental organization Global Green USA and its efforts to combat global climate change.
“It’s got solar panels on the roof, energy efficient light bulbs — newer technology basically that is environmentally friendly,” he said after arriving in a plug-in hybrid vehicle.
Plug-in hybrids combine hybrid technology — which uses both gasoline and electric power — with large batteries that can be plugged into a standard wall socket.
Not everyone can live a totally green lifestyle, Bloom said, but people can start by unplugging their cell phone chargers or turning off their TVs when not in use.
“It doesn’t have to be overwhelming. There are simple things we can do,” he said.
Celebrity Birthdays
Actor-director Peter Fonda is 67. Actress Kristin Davis (“Sex and the City”) is 42. Bassist Jeff Beres of Sister Hazel is 36. Actress Dakota Fanning (“Charlotte’s Web” ) is 13.
Contributing: Sonia Murray and news services.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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‘Mrs. Brown’ plans tribute album
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In a daring attempt to wrestle free the “Entertainment Tonight” (not to mention the CNN) media glare from Anna Nicole Smith’s tastefully grieving loved ones and Britney Spears’ hairstylist, James Brown’s partner has inked a new record deal. Yup, Tomi Rae Hynie, The Godfather of Soul’s alleged widow, is planning a tribute album.
The disc is tentatively called “Mrs. Brown: This Is For You.” She also plans to produce television, literary and online projects with The Machines Productions.
Hynie had recorded at least four songs they wrote together, confirms Michael Nason, president of The Machines Productions. They began recording about a year before Brown’s death, he said.
“Some were duets, some others you hear James play the organ and piano. It’s fabulous stuff,” he said.
“All of his and Tomi Rae’s materials have been laid down, so all we have to do is bring in a producer and tie in the material into a finished CD,” he added.
Sadly, a release date has not been set.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Atlantan Knight designing new Starbucks T-shirts
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Oh, my. Maybe we’ve run one too many items on “Project Runway” finalist Michael Knight.
On Thursday, when we received information on a brewing media event, the up-and-coming Atlanta designer’s name was now spelled Mychael Knight (as in mychaelknight.com) and even worse, the talented clotheshorse is now — sigh — shilling for Starbucks.
Yes, Knight has created the designs for the omnipresent caffeine chain’s new line of free “My Starbucks” T-shirts. (You can customize your shirt depending on your preference for foam, organic products, cinnamon, etc.)
On Monday at 10 a.m., Knight will be in store at the Starbucks at 867 Peachtree St. (at 7th Street in Midtown) to hawk the shirts and sign autographs. Through Wednesday at starbucks.com, Starbucks is giving away a limited number of the individualized shirts daily at 1 p.m.
We’re saddened to report that the Madison Avenue morphing of Mychael doesn’t end there.
When we ventured onto his Web site Thursday, here were the first two sentences of his online bio: “The lights are cued, the models are dressed and the runway is illuminated. From the translucent shadows enters the newest fashion phenom, Mychael Knight … “
The upside? With swimsuit season beckoning, we had absolutely no appetite for dinner Thursday.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Ryan Cameron dines with music royalty
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Last week, Ludacris gave a shout-out to Ryan Cameron in his Grammy acceptance speech, and that alone would make for a great “thank you” from a former intern. But for an encore, the Atlanta rapper-actor invited the V-103 announcer to dinner with Prince during the NBA’s All-Star weekend in Las Vegas. “It was absolutely the highlight of my career,” said Cameron, who returned to the airwaves Tuesday afternoon. “I’ve been trying to explain to people, it was like being a computer geek and not only getting to meet Bill Gates, but sit down and break bread with him.”
Actually, the meal included corn chowder, a field greens salad and sea bass. And not only were Cameron, Ludacris and Prince there, in a private area of the Rio Hotel (where Prince performs each week), but the dinner party also featured reclusive Dave Chappelle, part-time Atlantan Toni Braxton, actress Gabrielle Union and actor Hill Harper. The highlights? “With Prince, it was just his voice. How it resonated. It’s so low and just carries, it almost sounded like he had a microphone on. But of course, he didn’t.
“Everybody has been asking: Were both of them weird?” Cameron continued. “And they were totally the opposite. They were just as normal and as engaging as any person you would be having a conversation at dinner with — for two-and-a-half hours. I mean, we talked about family, ‘Happy Feet’ … I got the feeling that if Prince didn’t have to go do a show, we would all still be talking.”
More Luda
“Runaway Love,” which Ludacris performed with Mary J. Blige and Earth, Wind and Fire at the Grammys, has reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Audience chart, becoming the second single from his 20-week-old album “Release Therapy” to reach that mark. (The first was “Money Maker,” heard on more than a half-million cellphones since September.)
Well Met
Unlike “American Idol,” auditions for the Metropolitan Opera don’t ensure household-name status and a record contract. But plenty of opera stars, from Jessye Norman to Renee Fleming, have passed through the regional competitions that the Met uses to winnow out the country’s best singers.
This time last year, tenor Ryan Smith had come back from a three-year hiatus from performing and wowed the crowd at the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions at Spivey Hall — but he left the regionals empty-handed.
Sunday afternoon, the 30-year-old Decatur resident opened with the same aria as last year, “E la solita storia del pastore” from Cilea’s “L’Arlesiana,” and walked away with the top prize, advancing to the finals in New York City. The Morehouse graduate was accompanied by Atlanta Opera’s highly regarded chorusmaster Walter Huff.
“We’ve invested a lot in Ryan, and we’re thrilled with his progress,” said Atlanta Opera general director Dennis Hanthorn. A member of the opera chorus, Smith had a small but noticeable part in “Porgy and Bess” last season and sang a solo recital at the Woodruff Arts Center in the fall, sponsored by the opera. “Ryan’s got talent and tenacity, and he makes an impression on people,” Hanthorn added. “He’s got the goods for a serious professional career.”
Lips service
Buzz is frequently inspired but rarely floored. Except by the Flaming Lips, whose September show at the Tabernacle was head-squeezingly good. Next Monday, Lips frontman and kooky guru Wayne Coyne will be heard on National Public Radio’s “This I Believe” feature speaking about his humble origins and his recipe for creating one’s own happiness. (NPR revived the feature created in the ’50s by newsman Edward R. Murrow that includes statements of core beliefs and values from everyday Americans, and some not-so-everyday Americans.)
Before making it big in the wild world of the Lips, Coyne worked for 11 years in his native Oklahoma as a fry cook at a Long John Silver’s. “I feel lucky to have fans around the world, a house with a roof, and a wife who puts up with me. But I felt this way even when I was working at Long John Silver’s,” he says. “The first year I worked there, we got robbed. I lay on the floor, I thought I was going to die. I didn’t think I stood a chance. But everything turned out all right. A lot of people look at life as a series of miserable tasks - but after that, I didn’t.” Coyne’s prescription for happiness? Recognize the good times while you’re in them. The Lips return to Georgia on April 11, playing at the Classic Center in Athens. Tickets go on sale Friday.
Overscene
Eighties funkster Larry Blackmon of the group Cameo at Smith’s Olde Bar, where local record label Brash Music was showcasing its artists, including Julie Dexter, Khari Simmons, Danny Flowers and PJ Morton.
Britney’s to-do list
>>> Shave head.
>>> Get tattoo.
>>> Check into rehab.
>>> Check out of rehab.
>>> Take Sean Preston to Gymboree.
Celebrity birthdays
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy is 75. Film director Jonathan Demme (“The Silence of the Lambs”) is 63. Basketball great Julius “Dr. J” Erving is 57. Actor Kyle MacLachlan is 48. Actress Drew Barrymore is 32.
Contributing: Sonia Murray, Pierre Ruhe and news services
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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