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April 2007
‘Gracie’ star plenty tough, with the scars to prove it
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Actress Carly Schroeder, 17, has a few lasting souvenirs from the shoot of “Gracie,” this summer’s inspirational soccer movie.
“I still have a couple of scars on my ankles from the cleats,” Schroeder confided to Buzz over a breakfast of French toast Monday morning at the Four Seasons in Midtown.
Picturehouse
Actress Carly Schroeder muscles onto an all-boy soccer team in “Gracie,” coming in June. The “fierce competitor” was in town to promote the film, set in 1978 and loosely based on a true story.
The girl-powered family movie, set in 1978 New Jersey, centers on high school soccer player Gracie Bowen’s fight to become the first female to play on her school’s all-boy team. The film is loosely based on the soccer-centric childhoods of actors Elisabeth and Andrew Shue growing up in the Garden State. Elisabeth faced similar obstacles in real life. The senior Shue plays Gracie’s mom in the film while her younger brother is the entrepreneur who produced the film.
“With ‘Gracie,’ we wanted to demonstrate that girls can succeed on any field,” Andrew Shue explained. “We’ve come a long way from my sister’s challenges to where we now have 5 million girls playing the game [in the U.S.].”
And in a summer filled with testosterone-fueled sequels on the big screen, the Shues have a nearly empty field all to themselves with the female-targeted $10 million independent film, scheduled to open June 1.
Between bites, Schroeder caused Shue, 40, to beam as the high school athlete described pinning all the boys in her class during wrestling matches. “I made one boy pass out!” she said.
“As you can see, Carly has this wonderful vulnerable quality but is also this fierce competitor,” says Shue. “That’s why she was so perfect for the role.”
Aside from acting these days (he has a small role in “Gracie”), Andrew Shue has started the popular resource Web site, Cafe Mom for harried mothers (“It’s a MySpace for moms,” Shue says. “We’re signing up 3,000 moms every day.”)
The former “Melrose Place” heartthrob — now the father of three soccer-playing boys, ages 10, 8 and 3 — is quietly raising his family back east.
“My kids literally didn’t find out about all that until a couple of years ago,” a relieved-looking Shue says. “I just told them, ‘It was a fun thing Dad used to do!’ “
BALLET AND BIG BOI
Earlier this season, the Atlanta Ballet axed its pit orchestra. But for a world premiere next season, it’s looking to the stars for musical accompaniment. Big Boi, half of the chart-topping duo OutKast, will perform onstage with the ballet in a new work scheduled for April 10-13. Few details of the yet-to-be-named work have been decided, according to ballet spokesman Jeff Al-Mashat.
Big Boi and musicians from his Purple Ribbon Entertainment will collaborate with choreographer Lauri Stallings. They plan to meet today to discuss the project.
The Atlanta Ballet has staged works with pop performers before. In October 2001, the ballet collaborated with the Indigo Girls on “Shed Your Skin,” which featured the Decatur duo performing songs onstage behind the dancers. It was presented again in 2004.The ballet’s 2007-08 season includes five other shows, opening Oct. 25 with artistic director John McFall’s production of “Peter Pan.” For tickets, info: www.atlantaballet.org.
OVERSCENE
Although it was his day off, Ron Massey of Carter-Barnes Hair Artisans was on the job at 6:55 a.m. Monday to style the hair of Ireland’s president, Mary McAleese. At the Ritz-Carlton Buckhead hotel, he combed her short blond hair in a classic simple look, with light bangs. “She’s a very down-to-earth, very sweet person who commented on what a beautiful city we have and how different our weather is from Ireland’s,” said Massey. The Irish president liked her hair so much she booked the stylist for a repeat performance at 5:30
p.m. President McAleese is on an official visit this week, meeting politicians and stopping by historic landmarks and universities in Georgia and New York. She met with Gov. Sonny Perdue on Monday. She will fly to the Big Apple today. She even plans to take in a Broadway show, “The Pirate Queen,” later in the week.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Singer Judy Collins is 68. Atlanta bassist Johnny Colt (Black Crowes) is 41. Country singer Tim McGraw is 40. Bassist D’Arcy Wretzky (Smashing Pumpkins) is 39.
COUPLING
“Survivor” producer Mark Burnett and former “Touched by an Angel” star Roma Downey were married Saturday in a private ceremony at their Malibu, Calif., home. The ceremony was officiated by Downey’s “Angel” co-star Della Reese, an ordained minister, the couple’s publicist, Jim Dowd, confirmed Monday. “It was wonderful to have shared our big day with our family — Roma, myself, our children and our parents,” Burnett, 46, told People magazine in an interview. “It was so meaningful and so intimate.”
STORK REPORT
Brace yourself for incoming, thoroughly wholesome baby chat. Elisabeth Hasselbeck, a co-host on “The View,” is pregnant again. She announced the news Monday on the daytime ABC talk show.
Hasselbeck, 29, and her husband, pro football player Tim Hasselbeck, have a 2-year-old daughter, Grace.
She said the baby is due in Nov-ember, just in time for sweeps.
Contributing: Marylin Johnson, 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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Saloon shoots for own piece of the action
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Lowe’s will often place a store by a Home Depot. Burger King will plant itself catty-corner to McDonald’s.
Kennesaw’s Saddle Rack Saloon, which opened Friday, is taking the theory to nightclubbing: It parked itself in a former Just for Feet store at Town Center at Cobb, just 2.9 miles from the most established country music club in metro Atlanta, Cowboys.
Saddle Rack, with faux-burnt pine and cedar and a big dance floor, is smaller than Cowboys, fitting 1,500 people compared with 3,000-plus. But general manager Bob Hearn hopes to draw corporate support via VIP memberships and a more upscale audience. (All new nightclubs like to throw around that term, “upscale,” don’t they?).
Rodney Ho / AJC
Rhett Akins performs
“We can’t be bigger than Cowboys but we can be better,” said Hearn, who used to promote Coors beer and said he’s friends with the folks at Cowboys.
On opening night, the club drew more than 1,400 people, a solid crowd considering the relatively low-star wattage of the headliner, Rhett Akins, who had two big country hits in the mid-’90s but nothing much since. (“A washed-up has been,” sneered 23-year-old Matt Rhodes of Kennesaw, who visited the club but wasn’t impressed.)
Marietta’s Carolyn Phillips, 39, didn’t like the “flow” of the club’s layout and blanched at the $100 a month fee for individual VIP access. “They better serve free sushi and beer for that price!” she said. They don’t, but one-time entry to the VIP area upstairs was only $8 Friday.
Others were more enthused.
“It’s a cool new place to go,” said Michael Christie, 23, of Warner Robins, in the area to visit his girlfriend. “It beats Cowboys. It’s cleaner and a nicer environment.”
Teddy Lucas, 33, of Kennesaw agreed: “Great service! I brought 14 people here, and they got my tab exactly right,” he said. “I’ll be back!”
IDOL APPEARANCE SUITED TO A T
Rodney Ho / AJC
“American Idol” finalist Lisa Tucker (Season 5) promoted “Idol” T-shirts at Macy’s at North Point Mall in Alpharetta Saturday and took time to chat it up with Ashley Lombres, 5, of Charlotte.
BEATS IN A BUBBLE
Atlanta rock band Cartel is pulling a David Blaine: the band will sit in a huge transparent bubble on a public pier in New York City, where the act will record its next album from May 24 to June 12.
Cartel, which had a modest hit (“Honestly”), is using this shameless gimmick to get attention in this era of declining CD sales, MySpace pages and Bob Dylan allowing Victoria’s Secret to use one of his songs for an ad.
Fans will be able to watch Cartel 24/7 via a Web cam (sponsored by Dr Pepper.) MTV will also air four 30-minute episodes of the recording process.
MAKING HISTORY
James Fitts
Honorary chairs Nancy (from left) and Dan Carithers join Swan House Ball co-chair Elizabeth Allen for the annual black-tie gala.
The 430 guests who attended the 22nd annual Swan House Ball on Saturday made history while celebrating it. For the first time, the black-tie party raised more than $1 million — $1,044,000 to be exact — for the Atlanta History Center.
The four chairs who pulled off this feat were Elizabeth Allen, Eileen DuBose, Cindy Fowler and Rebecca Smith. Well-known Atlanta interior designer Dan Carithers and his wife, Nancy, were the ball’s honorary chairs. When Buzz asked Dan Carithers what it meant to be an honorary chair, he said with chuckle, “It means I’m not yet out to pasture. I’m overwhelmed by the honor, and the history center along with the Swan House are among my pet projects.”
After cocktails at the 1928 Swan House, a Philip Shutze-designed Italianate mansion, guests were shuttled to dinner at the history center’s Grand Overlook ballroom. Wolfgang Puck Catering, a ball sponsor, served an organic mix salad, an artful arrangement of smoked salmon with accouterments, lamb and a white and dark chocolate mousse bombe.
LUDACRIS WON’T BITE
Hip-hop legend Russell Simmons created a bit of a stir last week when he called for rappers to stop using words such as “ho” and the n-word. During a conference call to promote his return appearance next month for the season finale of “Law & Order: SVU,” Atlanta’s Chris “Ludacris” Bridges punted when asked about Simmons’ comments. “There’s a time and place for everything,” he said last week. “But I feel like this is about ‘Law & Order: SVU.’ “ Coincidentally or not, Ludacris once recorded a song titled “Ho.”
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Actress Cloris Leachman is 81. Singer Willie Nelson is 74. Actor Adrian Pasdar (“Heroes”) is 42. Singer Akon is 34. Actress Kirsten Dunst is 25.
Q100’S TOP 5
Covering April 22-28
1. “It’s Not Over” Daughtry
2. “Sweet Escape” Gwen Stefani
3. “Glamorous” Fergie
4. “What Goes Around” Justin Timberlake
5. “Don’t Matter” Akon
— MediaBase 24/7
Contributing: Marylin Johnson 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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Thanks for a million
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Giving away $1 million is a family affair Saturday night at the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s Hope for a Cure gala, a black-tie affair at the InterContinental Hotel in Buckhead.
Jim McDonald, CEO of Scientific Atlanta, a Cisco company, along with his wife, Paula, daughter Ashley and her husband, Jeff Taylor, are giving the foundation the seven-figure donation and have been chosen to receive the Living & Giving award.
“Our family has been involved with JDRF since my daughter, Ashley, was diagnosed with the disease 16 years ago,” McDonald said. “In recent years, researchers have made significant progress in understanding the causes of the disease and have identified a few promising treatments, and possibly a cure. We believe now is the right time to accelerate research, and are pleased to help in doing so.”
Get ready to bleep
Pretty potty-mouth Sarah Silverman will host the 2007 MTV Movie Awards in June, replacing the just plain pretty Jessica Alba. The awards show airs live, ensuring the guy on the bleep button will earn his union wages.
Silverman stars in “The Sarah Silverman Program,” which returns for a second season on Comedy Central in the fall. She also hosted the Independent Spirit Awards in 2006.
High five
Top five music video downloads at iTunes:
1. “If I Can Dream,” Celine Dion & Elvis
2. “I’ll Stand by You,” Carrie Underwood
3. “Ford Music Video,” Various artists
4. “Make Me Wonder.” Maroon 5
5. “Beautiful Liar,” Beyonce & Shakira
Quote of the day
“Obviously, calling your child a pig or anything else is improper and inappropriate, and I apologize to my daughter for that.” — Short-tempered actor and father Alec Baldwin in a mea culpa broadcast Friday on “The View.”
Celebrity birthdays
Saturday: Actress-singer Ann-Margret is 66. Actor Paul Guilfoyle (“CSI”) is 58. “Tonight Show” host Jay Leno is 57. Actress Mary McDonnell is 54. Singer-bassist Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth is 54. Rapper Too Short is 41. Actress Bridget Moynahan is 36. Rapper Big Gipp of the Goodie Mob is 34. Actor Jorge Garcia (“Lost”) is 34. Actress Penelope Cruz is 33. Actress Jessica Alba (“Dark Angel”) is 26.
Sunday: Singer Carl Gardner of the Coasters is 79. Actor Keith Baxter is 74. Country singer Duane Allen of the Oak Ridge Boys is 64. Singer Tommy James is 60. Comedian Jerry Seinfeld is 53. Actor Daniel Day-Lewis is 50. Actress Michelle Pfeiffer is 49. Actress Eve Plumb (“The Brady Bunch”) is 49. Singer Carnie Wilson of Wilson Phillips is 39. Actress Uma Thurman is 37. Rapper Master P is 37. Actor Zane Carney (“Dave’s World”) is 22.
Contributing: Sonia Murray, Nick Marino 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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ATL men over 35 rank on ‘Oprah’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Leave it to Oprah Winfrey to blab about one of our little secrets. On today’s episode of “Oprah” (4 p.m. WSB-TV), Atlanta makes the list of “The Best Places to Find Men Over 35: Gayle King Reports.” Somehow we figured that Oprah’s BFF wasn’t just in town last week to chat up those Spelman gals and to dine with director Tyler Perry. Representing our area on today’s show are the following eligible bachelors: Craig Massa, 39; Jonathan Mason, 41; Matthew Allen, 37; Scott Zahler, 44; Tim Ryan, 35; all of Atlanta, and David Artman, 45, of Roswell.
Ryan, a Buckhead nursing school student and professional baker, opted to up the ante for his “Oprah” appearance. Ryan told us Thursday that he baked 101 cookies for the bachelorettes in the audience and Oprah even takes a bite of one of his confections on-air. But Ryan, (who, incidentally, used to tip us on celebrity sightings as a college kid while working at Melissa Libby and Associates) says he didn’t need the national exposure to secure dates here. “It’s a 2-to-1 ratio between men and women here,” he explained. “The women in Atlanta have got it way worse than we do.”
SIR ELTON UPDATE
Our very own knight, Elton John, has been named one of the performers for this summer’s Princess Diana tribute concert being organized by her boys Princes William and Harry. The July 1 celebration at Wembley Stadium in London will mark what would have been her 46th birthday. This August is the 10th anniversary of Diana’s death. Other performers booked for the show include Kanye West, Rod Stewart and Lily Allen, Duran Duran, Joss Stone and Pharrell Williams.
The concert will include a performance by the English National Ballet and songs by Andrew Lloyd Webber in honor of Diana’s love of dancing and theater, organizers said Thursday.
The concert will benefit charities Diana supported.
A memorial service is planned for Aug. 31. For info: www.concertfordiana.com.
Sir Elton, we hear, meanwhile, has been here working in the studio, recording a cover of the rock ‘n’ roll classic “Blueberry Hill” for an upcoming Fats Domino tribute disc. Artists from around the globe have been recruited for the benefit disc, which will raise funds to help to rebuild the New Orleans home of the rock legend and Hurricane Katrina evacuee.
WXIA’S WES SARGINSON TO RETIRE AS ANCHORMAN
Veteran WXIA-TV newsman Wes Sarginson has decided to retire from the anchor desk after more than 40 years in broadcast news. The anchor announced his retirement on-air Thursday.
Sarginson, who also anchored beside Monica Kauf-, er, Pearson, on WSB-TV from 1978 to 1984, has been at the NBC affiliate for the past decade. At the end of 2005, the award-winning evening anchor cut back his hours and the station hired Ted Hall from Knoxville to co-anchor the 11 p.m. news in his place.
Sarginson told Buzz on Thursday that although he was no longer doing the 11 o’clock anchor job, “I ended up working more hours and doing more stories. My wife was constantly on my case.” He said through the decades, he never spent enough time with his kids and wanted to do more for his two grandchildren (one more is on the way in August). “One year when I was in Atlanta, I was made ‘Father of the Year’ by one group,” he told us. “I thought it was the worst decision I ever heard. I was never home.”
Sarginson will stay on the desk until the end of May. In the coming months, viewers can anticipate Sarginson continuing his popular “Wes Side” stories featuring profiles in courage. Over the years, the anchor also devoted many hours off-camera working with the city’s many charitable nonprofits.
In his official retirement release, Sarginson praised viewers: “Every time I’ve told them about the need to save something worthwhile in our community, they have delivered. I’ve always said if we can fix a problem with money, our viewers will reach deep into their pockets and come to the rescue.”
HIGH FIVE
Top-selling albums at Criminal Records in Little Five Points and Virginia-Highland:
1. Kings of Leon, “Because of the Times”
2. Jarvis Cocker, “Jarvis”
3. Modest Mouse, “We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank”
4. Arcade Fire, “Neon Bible”
5. Amy Winehouse, “Back to Black”
— Criminal.com
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Actor Jack Klugman is 85. Announcer Casey Kasem is 75. Singer Cuba Gooding of the Main Ingredient is 63. Soul singer Ann Peebles is 60. Singer Kate Pierson of the B-52’s is 59. Guitarist Ace Frehley (Kiss) is 56. Singer-guitarist Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy is 23.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“My first bypass was actually the ‘Tonight Show.’ We’re just a couple of heart patients here. This isn’t a talk show, it’s a recovery room.”
— “Live With Regis & Kelly” guest and fellow heart bypass surgery survivor David Letterman (above) Thursday, welcoming Reege back to work six weeks after his life-saving procedure.
‘IDOL’ RAISES FUNDS
Through a combination of corporate and private donations, the special “Idol Gives Back” show Wednesday night raised more than $60 million, Fox announced Thursday.
The money will go to various charities to address poverty in the United States and Africa. How it will be specifically disseminated was not disclosed but at least one Atlanta charity will benefit: SafeHouse Outreach, which provides services to homeless people.
Contributing: Rodney Ho, Nick Marino 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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Music stars turn out for Recording Academy Honors
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For country superstar Garth Brooks, it was a break from the constant scavenger hunt that is finding the kids’ soccer uniforms. For Antwan “Big Boi” Patton of rap duo OutKast, it was just the right place to pull up in his burgundy Rolls-Royce Phantom. And for fellow rapper-actor Ludacris, “Hey, it’s one of the biggest nights of my life! ” It was the benefit ceremony formerly known as the Heroes Awards — now called the Recording Academy Honors — Thursday night at the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel.
Photos: Stars at the presentation ceremony
Brooks was there to support wife and honoree, country singer Trisha Yearwood. Ludacris — along with production trio Organized Noize and the late co-owner of Southern Tracks Recording, Mike Clark — rounded out the list of recipients from the Atlanta Chapter of the Recording Academy, which puts on the prestigious Grammy Awards.
And Patton was there to honor Organized’s Rico Wade, Pat “Sleepy” Brown and Ray Murray; as well as take up for hip-hop while the cameras and microphones were pointed in his direction. When asked about recent attacks on the genre for its language, Patton replied: “What about the movies? What about Martin Scorsese? What about [his movie] ‘Goodfellas’? Nobody’s getting on the movies. They just call it art, right? Leave the brothers alone.”
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Dove Awards stun Duluth musician Shust
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The first time that Aaron Shust heard his name announced as a Dove Award winner Wednesday night in Nashville, he had a little panic attack walking up to accept his award — he feared that he’d misheard the winner of songwriter of the year, and that it wasn’t actually him. (Click here to see photos from the Dove Awards.)
But then the Duluth musician heard his name called again at the Christian music awards show, as the man behind the song of the year, “My Savior My God.” And then again, as the Doves named him the year’s best new artist.
In the end, in his first year as a Dove nominee, Shust walked away with three trophies.
When he phoned Buzz Central yesterday, he was just heading back to Georgia with his wife and baby. Where were the awards?
“They are wrapped up in the baby’s blanket,” he said, “behind the driver’s seat.”
Shust celebrated the wins with an afterparty. And then, he said, “I took a wonderful seven-hour nap, and then we celebrated this morning with the Pancake Pantry here in Nashville.”
Shust’s success is all the more remarkable given that he’s on a secular record label, the Atlanta-based Brash.
Brash founder and CEO Mike McQuary told us yesterday that his company will also release Shust’s follow-up album in June. Golly, we thought, what convenient timing.
“We may appear somewhat mystified on the surface,” McQuary said, “but there’s a lot of smart thinking and hard work going on behind the scenes.”
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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It’s all good with fans of domestic diva
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Martha-tinis will be flowing at 10 a.m. Friday when the members of the Atlanta Martha Stewart Good Things Group gather to watch themselves on the domestic diva’s “Martha Stewart Show” (seen locally on WXIA-TV).
The nine-gal group that ranges in age from 19 to 44 will be toasting their trip to New York City this month for two tapings of the daytime show.
“It was a stupendous experience,” Ana Raquel Ruiz, the group’s Powder Springs-based leader, told Buzz. “We were all very impressed with how very organized Martha’s staff is and how clean the studio was.”
Courtesy of Ana Raquel Ruiz
Atlanta Martha Stewart Good Things Group members (from left) Robyn Coward, Darcy Harper, Dawn Klempf, Victoria Clearfield and Shalomie Ruiz and leader Ana Raquel Ruiz celebrate their club’s ninth anniversary at two tapings of Stewart’s show in New York City.
Not surprisingly, the nine-year-old group was first introduced to Stewart and her staff this year when the author came to town to sign copies of “Martha Stewart’s Homekeeping Handbook.” Stewart’s people asked the Good Things members to send in a video of themselves. A few weeks later, they received the studio invitation.
On Friday’s show, Stewart asks Ruiz, 44, about the group and asks for “good things” tips from the self-described “Spanglish domestic diva.”
“I told Martha about my food scrapbooking,” Ruiz explains. “My passion is cooking. I have 4,500 cookbooks. I like to document the recipes that I cook, and I take pictures of each dish.”
So what’s exactly in those Martha-tinis?
“Oh, it’s a combination of citrus and vanilla vodka, lime and simple syrup,” Ruiz spills. “I’m the martini queen of the group.”
For Ruiz and her friends, keeping Atlanta’s Good Things group together after Stewart’s much-publicized trial and prison stint was simple: “Martha brought us together. Our friendship is very solid.”
WHAT IS THAT UNFORGIVABLE SMELL?
Look for a new, fancier edition of Atlanta restaurateur Sean “Diddy” Combs fragrance: Unforgivable Multi Platinum.
The new cologne is a limited-edition, amped-up version of Unforgivable, which the 37-year-old rapper-producer introduced last year and watched it become one of the top launches of 2006.
“In the world of fragrances, perfumes and colognes, the actual products we use are based on ‘the juice.’ There are different grades of ‘juice,’ ” Combs said during a recent phone interview. “This is the luxury version.”
He compared it to a fine wine: One year might be a great vintage for a particular wine, and you love it. Then you taste the wine from one of those once-in-a-decade vintages, and you go crazy for it.
Even at $65 for 2.5 ounces, $10 more than the regular version, Unforgivable Multi Platinum is likely to be in short supply.
“I’m definitely attracted to something that won’t be around a long time,” Combs said.
There was no immediate reaction from Diddy’s longtime girlfriend — and a mother of his children — Kim Porter regarding that last quote.
SERENBE’S NEW CHEF
Serenbe braintrust Steve Nygren has snapped up former 103 West chef Hilary White to head the kitchen in the burgeoning Palmetto community that boasts residential living, organic farming and destination eateries south of the city.
Not coincidentally, we suspect, the new restaurant will be named the Hil, and White’s husband, Jim White, has been hired as the restaurant’s manager. We’re told that the Hil is set for an August launch.
‘IDOL’ MARKS A FIRST
In a first, “American Idol” didn’t cut anybody at all Wednesday night.
Indeed, host Ryan Seacrest said the show had raised nearly $30 million for various charities in Africa and the United States before the two-hour special results show had even ended.
The producers basically yanked the viewers’ chains by acting as if they were going to drop somebody. (The consensus on the Web was either Chris Richardson or LaKisha Jones.) In fact, they ended the night with Richardson and favorite Jordin Sparks standing. And for a moment, Seacrest implied that Sparks was out, which would have been truly shocking. But no, he said everybody was safe and that the 70 million votes tallied Tuesday night would be added to next week’s vote. Then, two people will be ousted, leaving four.
The special featured performances by the likes of Rascal Flatts, Josh Groban, former “Idol” winner Kelly Clarkson and a strange duet between a live Celine Dion and a dead Elvis Presley, who was made to look like he was standing next to Dion, at least on camera. For the uninitiated, it was semiconvincing, if not incredibly cheesy.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Actress-comedian Carol Burnett is 74. Actor Jet Li is 44. Actor-comedian Kevin James (“The King of Queens”) is 42. Singer Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins of TLC is 37. Country bassist Jay DeMarcus of Rascal Flatts is 36. Incubus drummer Jose Pasillas is 31. Actor Tom Welling (“Smallville”) is 30. Actress Jordana Brewster (“The Fast and the Furious”) is 27.
SICK BAY UPDATE
Film critic Roger Ebert says he won’t miss his annual Overlooked Film Festival in Illinois despite the advice from some who said he should sit out this year.
The 64-year-old’s participation at his film festival this week is expected to be his first public appearance since a cancerous growth was removed from his salivary gland last June. Doctors removed a portion of his jaw in the process and needed to perform a tracheotomy to allow him to breathe. It has left him unable to speak.
“I was told photos of me in this condition would attract the gossip papers,” he wrote in a column published this week in the Chicago Sun-Times. “So what?”
“To paraphrase a line from ‘Raging Bull,’ I ain’t a pretty boy no more,” Ebert wrote.
Ebert will watch the movies from a recliner. He’s written occasional movie reviews since last summer and has called his return to the festival a starting point on the road back to full-time film criticism in print and on the syndicated “Ebert & Roeper” TV show.
Contributing: 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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Mayer and Simpson sup on sea bass, steak in Buckhead
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Bluepointe staffers and diners got quite the jolt Monday night when celebrity couple Jessica Simpson and John Mayer arrived at the posh Buckhead eatery for a late dinner.
We’re told that the couple slid into a booth (yes, on the same side of the table) and split a bottle of wine. Chef Doug Turbush prepared sea bass for the Chicken of the Sea-challenged Simpson, while Mayer had a filet mignon.
Apparently, Simpson had a fan among the diners. The couple received complimentary dessert from an anonymous patron.
We’re told that former Buckhead resident Mayer and Simpson later closed down the restaurant.
On Tuesday, sans Simpson, Mayer was spotted stepping out of a Lincoln Town Car near Castleberry Point Lofts to shoot a GQ magazine cover featuring the Atlanta skyline as a backdrop. Dressed in jeans, a green army jacket and aviator shades, Mayer was approached by Jerry Miller of Miller Gallman Developers (builders of the lofts), who naturally tried to coax the former Atlantan back to town.
At press time, there was no word on whether Mayer had yet opted to become a downtown loft owner in the hipster ‘hood.
A FASHIONABLE LUNCH
It’s almost a given that guests at Stephanie Blank’s charity luncheon May 2 at Ecco in Midtown will be salivating into their salads. To raise money for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Blank has persuaded New York fashion designer (and Phipps Plaza boutique owner) Tory Burch to unveil her fall line during a fashion show here.
“Tory has almost this cult following,” Blank told us Tuesday. “She’s doing classic American sportswear mixed with a youthful, bohemian edge. I feel comfortable going to a meeting in her clothes and then running carpool. It’s great for all those women who have to wear a lot of hats now.”
Without a single invitation being sent, only about 15 seats remain for the $175 per person benefit featuring celeb models Jane Fonda, Spanx founder Sara Blakely and Atlanta City Council President Lisa Borders.
Quipped Blank: “We just had our fittings and I discovered Jane is a size 2 and I’m a size 6. It’s just not fair!”
Call for tickets: 404-785-7316.
A STAR IN THE CROWD
Pop star Janet Jackson’s presence Monday night at the Stars of the Century seventh anniversary drag show at Jungle nightclub likely resulted in a few jangled nerves for performers. We’re told that the part-time Atlantan and pals were spotted in the crowd and grooved in their seats to numbers featuring the music of the Black Eyed Peas’ Fergie and Beyoncé. Jackson remained polite even when someone ill-advisedly attempted to entertain with the music of her brother Michael.
IT’S A SCOTTISH THING
We’ve been to Scotland and we’ve hurled haggis, but the upcoming festivities at the Georgia Renaissance Festival sound infinitely more fun. Festival officials are requesting that attendees slap on kilts and warm up their throwing, er, arms for the ever-popular Scots and Kilts Weekend, May 5-6. Haggis-hurling competitors will be standing atop half a whisky barrel throwing a frozen sausage containing various unsettling ground- organ byproducts for distance — without falling off the barrel. Festival reps tell us that Guinness World Records shows the modern hurling record as 180 feet, 10 inches. The Renaissance Festival contest will be held in the Joust arena at 1:30 p.m. and will offer long-distance throwing categories for men and women. The men will lug an 8-pound frozen haggis, while the women will toss a daintier 4-pound version of the stuffed sheep’s intestine.
For more info: www.georgiarenaissancefestival.com or call 770-964-8575.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Actor Al Pacino is 67. Singer Bjorn Ulvaeus of Abba is 62. Actress Talia Shire is 61. Actor Hank Azaria (“The Simpsons”) is 43. Singer Andy Bell of Erasure is 43. Actress Gina Torres (“I Think I Love My Wife”) is 38. Actress Renée Zellweger is 38. Actor Jason Lee (“My Name Is Earl,” “Almost Famous”) is 37. Singer Jacob Underwood (O-Town) is 27.
HIGH FIVE
From ousted “American Idol” contestant/ponyhawk hawker Sanjaya Malakar’s list of “Things I Learned From ‘American Idol,’ ” which he read Monday night on “Late Show With David Letterman”:
1. “Nothing.”
2. “The camera adds 10 pounds to your mohawk.”
3. “Work hard and make sacrifices, you can finish in seventh place.”
4. “Voting for yourself 100 times an hour causes some wicked carpal tunnel.”
5. “America loves performers with bad hair — right Dave?”
OVERSCENE
> Food Network host and author Paula Deen and hubby Michael Groover dining on the barbecue special at South City Kitchen in Midtown. The couple shared house-made country sausage with chipotle and garlic, molasses-glazed pork shoulder and mustard-glazed smoked pork ribs. Sipping Coca-Cola, Deen was seen raving about the jalapeño coleslaw with manager Chris Dean. She also happily posed for cellphone pictures.
> Chicago interior designer, author and F.O.O. (Friend of Oprah) Nate Berkus shopping at J. Crew at Lenox Square.
Contributing: Lamar Wilson 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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Golden Girl’s nuggets find many takers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Monday’s luncheon at the Margaret Mitchell House was a testament to the power of Lifetime, television for women. And gay men.
About 150 fans of “Golden Girls” actress Rue McClanahan sold out her Q&A session and signing at the Midtown landmark as she hit town to promote her memoir, “My First Five Husbands … and the Ones Who Got Away” (Broadway Books, $24.95).
ANNE NETTLES STANFORD / Margaret Mitchell House & Museum
In town to promote “My First Five Husbands … and the Ones Who Got Away,” Rue McClanahan (left) was joined at a sold-out book signing by Linda Barone of Marietta, who earned a free pass.
Admirers of her alter ego, Blanche Devereaux, lined up to stammer compliments, request pictures and, in one case, a hug.
“My mother knew I was gay real early,” one man, clad in a pink Polo shirt, informed the author. “I taped every single episode of ‘The Golden Girls’ off Lifetime.”
That’s 166 episodes, dear readers.
Linda Barone of Marietta got into the boxed-lunch event for free. MMH reps offered that inducement to any divorcée who could prove she had been married four or more times.
“I just keep at it until I get it right,” Barone, 43, told us. Barone is married to her fourth and — she swears — final husband.
One fan even remembered McClanahan from her 1960s role as the evil Caroline Johnson on the NBC soap “Another World.”
Quipped McClanahan: “I was poisoning poor Pat so I could steal her husband. I lasted 14 months, which is pretty good for a killer!”
ON MY IPOD
Second Shift lead singer Jonathan Baker: “The Films, this kind of retro-infused rock band out of Brooklyn [N.Y.] Very punchy stuff. Lily Allen, who is this British pop sensation. Her new record [“Alright Still’] is pretty sick. Also, the new [U.K. singer-songwriter] Amy Winehouse is just awesome.”
OVERSCENE
Tour de France champ Lance Armstrong (right) and fashion designer Tori Burch dining at Chops in Buckhead. It’s likely that Armstrong was in town to catch a portion of the Tour de Georgia cycling race while Burch has a shop at nearby Phipps Plaza.
PROUD PUBLISHER
Busting open Watergate was likely a trip to Six Flags compared with unraveling the subject of Carl Bernstein’s upcoming book. “A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton,” written by the award-winning journalist, will be published in June. Explained Sonny Mehta, of the Knopf Publishing Group in an e-mail Monday: “Hillary Clinton is one of the most compelling figures in the world today and Carl Bernstein’s stunning portrait shows us … the true trajectory of her life and career. I believe his book will stand as the most detailed, comprehensive, and revealing account we have of a woman who helped define one presidency and may well step into another.”
G-CAPP PLEDGE
When Jane Fonda pats the seat next to her for a private chat, Buzz is always happy to oblige.
Even if it happens to be on MindSpring founder Charles Brewer’s coffee table.
Over the weekend, at a private Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention party in Ansley Park, the two-time Oscar winner gave us lots of details on her nonprofit’s May 7 benefit that will unveil “Georgia Rule,” her new film co-starring Felicity Huffman and Lindsay Lohan.
The local premiere in her adopted hometown promises to be a star-studded evening at the Woodruff Arts Center.
Huffman and “Rule” director Garry Marshall are set to accompany Fonda on the red carpet. During the evening’s live auction, Huffman will help the G-CAPP founder auction off a walk-on role on Huffman’s hit show “Desperate Housewives” (for info and tickets: gcapp.org).
While Fonda is encouraged that Georgia has dropped to 10th in the nation in teen pregnancies (it was No. 1 when she started the charity 13 years ago), the activist isn’t resting.
“You’ve got to take the long view,” Fonda explained. “We’ve got to keep this issue on the front burner. Even 10th in the country is too high. We’re aiming for zero [unplanned pregnancies].”
To help in that goal, Fonda announced that she’ll celebrate her 70th birthday in December with a new G-CAPP initiative: to track 70 at-risk kids over seven years, with $7,000 pledged to each participant. A major fund-raising party is being planned.
The program will track current sixth-graders in three southeast Atlanta middle schools through their high school graduations.
The program will teach health, finances, community service and sex education, along with other topics important to a successful future that’s, hopefully, free of unexpected pregnancies.
The actress laughed when asked to compare her relatively compressed planned media campaign for “Georgia Rule” with the way Hollywood used to roll out films.
“When I started in this business, you had to travel the entire country to promote a film,” she said. “You did parades, visited orphanages, everything. Now, it’s pretty much two days.”
Fonda has booked appearances on “Late Show With David Letterman,” “Larry King Live” and “The Colbert Report.”
Wearing a white suit and gold-tinted glasses, Fonda turned heads all evening at the $1,500-a-ticket party. When quizzed about her luminous look, Fonda sounded more than a little like her feisty “Georgia Rule” character.
She leaned in and whispered, “It’s the sex!”
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Actress Shirley MacLaine is 73. Actress-singer-director Barbra Streisand is 65. Actor-comedian Cedric the Entertainer is 43. Actor Djimon Hounsou (“Blood Diamond”) is 43. Actor Eric Balfour (“24”) is 30. Singer Kelly Clarkson (“American Idol”) is 25.
Contributing: 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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Some real babes catch disco fever
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For parents with young children, the nightclub scene has long receded into the past, along with drunken one-night stands, deafening music and 4 a.m. Waffle House runs.
But the organizers of the national phenomenon called “Baby Loves Disco” tried to bring back at least some of those elements to the Loft in Midtown Saturday afternoon — except nearly half the dancing crowd of 300 were babies and toddlers.
RODNEY HO / Staff
Kimberly Kersery (left), Payton Hunter and her aunt Jodi Hunter show some moves as Donna Summer’s “Last Dance” plays at the end of “Baby Loves Disco” Saturday.
DJ Rob Wonder, who normally spins at MJQ Concourse, woke up early to give the kids a mix of actual disco (as in “Disco Inferno” and “Shake Your Booty”) all the way up to “One Two Step” and “SexyBack.” He refuses to do weddings, which he feels “compromises his integrity” as a DJ, but in this case, he simply had to ensure the songs were clean versions.
And get this: The bar was open and Loft bar manager Garrett Hockin was surprised he sold a bit of liquor. “It was more than I expected,” he said. Organizer Dina Fuchs Beresin, who has a 2-year-old daughter, didn’t notice: “I saw mostly juice boxes and Diet Coke.”
Regardless, Jodi Hunter of Sandy Springs said the Loft evoked some frat-house nostalgia: “It smells like stale beer.”
MONTEL HAS LIMITS
Montel Williams is an amiable dude, and he said he has no problems signing autographs and posing for pictures if he’s by himself. But he does draw the line at the urinal.
“I’m literally in the bathroom, and people want to shake my hand,” he told Buzz before his visit to Atlanta Saturday at the Buckhead Barnes & Noble to promote his “Living Well With Montel” DVD series. ” ‘Dude, back away from the urinal. It’s not happening. I’m sorry! ’ “
After 16 years on TV with his successful “Montel Williams Show” (seen locally weekdays on WSB-TV at 10 a.m.), he felt he needed to consolidate his knowledge about life on DVD, bringing in life coaches to help talk about relationships, finances and family. And even after tackling the same topics over and over , he still enjoys his job: “I love talking to people and dispensing information.”
DA BRAT WORKS OUT
Da Brat, the part-time Atlanta hip-hop artist, hated her time on VH1’s “The Surreal Life,” partly because she believed the producers misled her.
“I was fooled,” she told Buzz last week. “They told me everyone would be current people. I didn’t want to be in a house with a bunch of people who hadn’t done anything in a long time.”
But Da Brat’s back on VH1 for “Celebrity Fit Club 5,” which debuted last night. “I don’t have a problem with VH1,” she said. “It was the producers of the other show. In this case, I knew who was going to be on the show.”
They include Tiffany (“I Think I’m Alone Now”), Maureen McCormick (“The Brady Bunch”) and Dustin Diamond (“Saved by the Bell.”)
At 172 pounds, Da Brat was hardly in Bone Crusher territory, but she said she needs to trim a bit from the hip and booty area. But don’t “disrespect” her, as shown Sunday when she clashed frequently with stone-faced trainer Harvey Walden. “I’m brutally honest,” she said.
She said she liked everybody on the show — except mouthy Diamond: “For the cameras, he was being unruly. Once I got to know him, I didn’t like him.”
RANDOM BITS
At the inaugural “Evening of Hope” benefit Saturday night at the Atlanta History Center, 225 guests and sponsors raised about $150,000 for the American Cancer Society. Secretary of State Karen Handel served as honorary chairwoman, while WGCL-TV meteorologist Gene Norman emceed. Outback Steakhouse provided the food: rack of lamb, grilled chicken and chocolate cake …
Fans of Paul Harvey flooded the Eagle lines last week after the beloved 88-year-old’s folksy daily commentaries were taken off the country station. General manager Victor Sansone said the station wanted to focus more on music, but Buzz figures the real reason is Harvey’s aging fans weren’t compatible with Eagle’s regular listeners …
Brandi Carlile, the Seattle singer-songwriter recently featured on “Grey’s Anatomy,” told the sold-out Variety Playhouse crowd last week that her hero Elton John had sent her flowers and a bottle of wine. “I called my brother. He said, ‘I just got a job as a concrete- truck driver,’ ” she said. “Nothing like family to put things in perspective!”
Emily Saliers of the Indigo Girls joined Carlile onstage to sing “Cannonball” and “Folsom Prison Blues.”
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Actor Lee Majors is 68. Director Michael Moore is 53. Actress Valerie Bertinelli is 47. Comedian George Lopez is 46.
HIGH FIVE
V-103 For April 15-21
1. “Buy U a Drank” T-Pain
2. “Lost Without U” Robin Thicke
3. “Like a Boy” Ciara
4. “I’m a Flirt” R. Kelly
5. “Last Night” Diddy
— Mediabase 24/7
QUOTABLE
“Although I have been told by numerous people not to worry too much, as all parents lose their patience with their kids, I am most saddened that this was released to the media because of what it does to a child. I’m sorry … for losing my temper with my child. I have been driven to the edge by parental alienation for many years now. … I am sorry for what happened. But I am equally sorry that a court order was violated.”
Alec Baldwin on his Web site Friday after TMZ.com publicized a voice mail between Baldwin and his 11-year-old daughter, Ireland, in which he resorted to name-calling. (Did his ex-wife Kim Basinger leak it? TMZ won’t say.)
Contributing: Marylin Johnson 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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Arie may have Big Apple in her future
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Stone Mountain songstress India Arie confided to us that she may well be headed for the Big White Way. At the red-carpet Atlanta Film Festival premiere of “Last Days of Left Eye” Thursday night, the singer said she’s hoping to be part of a “major” Broadway musical this year.
While we attempted to coax the name or more details out of her, Arie graciously resisted spilling too much info. But local fans shouldn’t be fearful that Arie will leave us for good.
“Oh, no. It would only be for a while. I’ve always got to come back to my home.”
We haven’t been able to determine whether it might be a new musical or an existing hit (i.e., shows like “The Color Purple” and “Hairspray” that routinely book household names to bolster ticket sales). “But you’d better come up to New York and see the show and write nice things about it whether you like me or not,” Arie joked. We’ve already booked our plane ticket.
Tennis … jewelry
GoGo Ferguson has a love affair with tennis. The Georgia designer, who makes jewelry out of nature’s bounty, is the presenting sponsor of this year’s Cloister Cup Tennis Tournament Tuesday-April 29, hosted by the Sea Island Resort on Sea Island. Qualifying rounds will be held Sunday and Monday. Players in the $50,000 pro circuit event will each receive a pair of Ferguson’s sand-dollar earrings and a sand-dollar pendant on a ribbon. The top six winners will take home her silver and gold rattlesnake logo necklaces. Ranked players entered in the clay court tournament include Ashley Harkleroad, formerly of Flintstone, Ga., and Varvara Lepchenko of Uzbekistan.
Ferguson, who designed the wedding bands of her late friend John F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife, Carolyn, lives part time on Cumberland Island with her husband, David Sayre. During tournament week, Ferguson’s jewelry, which is worn by Laura Bush and Hillary Rodham Clinton, will be available at the Sea Island tennis pro shop. Admission is $10 a day or $50 for an event pass. Call 912-638-5168 for more information.
Private eyes’ reality
And here we were under the impression that the coolest thing about Atlanta businesswoman Jeanene Weiner’s job was the way employees answered the phone, saying: “Good afternoon, Busted.”
Now, Busted, the local all-female private investigations (as in “Cover me, Bree, I’m going in!”) firm, will be featured on an NBC reality show filming here.
And since Busted specializes in infidelity cases, the firm is looking for a few fresh perps to pop on national television. If you suspect you’re being cheated on (and Weiner decides your case has merit), the company may take your case for free in exchange for you having your personal life splashed across NBC. Interested parties can contact Weiner at 770-956-1105 or at info@bustedpi.com.
Oh, and the show’s working title? “Busted!” natch. We’re told to look for it to air on NBC in June or July.
In and out
Singer Brandy is being replaced by Sharon Osbourne as a judge on NBC’s “America’s Got Talent.”
Osbourne, 54, the wife/manager of rocker Ozzy Osbourne, will make her debut May 29, when the reality competition returns for its second season, NBC announced.
“On this show, it just had to be Sharon Osbourne,” executive producer Simon Cowell said in a statement.
Osbourne will join returning judges David Hasselhoff and British media figure Piers Morgan. Jerry Springer is the new host of the $1 million-prize contest.
Brandy, 28, was involved in a Los Angeles freeway crash last December that killed a 38-year-old woman. Two wrongful death lawsuits have been filed against the actress-singer on behalf of the woman’s family.
“Brandy has enjoyed her association with the program. However, she felt she couldn’t give the new season the attention and commitment it deserved,” said a statement by Brandy’s spokesman, Courtney Barnes, which was released by NBC.
Celebrity birthdays
Saturday: Actor Charles Grodin is 72. Singer Iggy Pop is 60. Actress Patti LuPone is 58. Actor Tony Danza is 56. Actress Andie MacDowell is 49. Singer Robert Smith of the Cure is 48.
Sunday: Actress Charlotte Rae (“The Facts of Life”) is 81. Actress Estelle Harris (“Seinfeld”) is 75. Singer Glen Campbell is 71. Actor Jack Nicholson is 70. Director John Waters is 61. Singer Peter Frampton is 57. Actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan (“Grey’s Anatomy”) is 41. Actor Eric Mabius (“Ugly Betty”) is 36.
Contributing: Marylin Johnson 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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Deen’s a friend of Decatur Book Festival
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We’re gonna take a wild guess here and say that the AJC Decatur Book Festival is about to come into a few new friends. The organization’s next “Friends of the Festival” private reception with a notable author will be 8:30 p.m. Monday at the Emory University Woodruff Library. The visiting writer? Savannah restaurateur and Food Network star Paula Deen, who’s in town to discuss her new memoir, “It Ain’t All About the Cookin.’ ” For a minimum donation of $20, Deen’s fanatical following will gain admission, get to hang with Miss Paula and sample some wine and hors d’oeuvres. “It’s a great opportunity for these folks to meet with writers one-on-one,” festival rep Ryan Klee told us when we rang. Let’s hope they’re preparing pimento cheese by the barrel …
For info: www.decaturbookfestival.com.
A PEACH OF A PRICE
Even the city’s most dedicated martini sipper may choke on the audacious libation being served up May 4 to June 30 at The Capital Grille in Buckhead. The special peach martini will cost $1,000 a pop. The upside? It’s benefitting the national Share Our Strength charity that is helping to end childhood hunger in America. The concoction is made with Absolut Apeach Vodka and Bottlegreen English Summer Berry Cordial and topped with champagne. To help the tab go down a bit easier, each cocktail comes with a citrine and diamond caviar rope bracelet by jewelry designer Steven Lagos. Also, Capital Grille reps added that $500 of each drink sold will be donated to SOS. Still, we’re betting that particular expenditure would not go undetected on the Buzz Central expense form …
HIGH FIVE
Top downloaded films this week
1. “The Thomas Crown Affair”
2. “School of Rock”
3. “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dean Man’s Chest”
4. “The Longest Yard”
5. “Mean Girls”
— Source: iTunes
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Actor George Takei (“Star Trek”) is 70. Actor Ryan O’Neal is 66. Keyboardist Craig Frost of Grand Funk Railroad is 59. Actor Gregory Itzin (“24”) is 59. Actress Jessica Lange is 58. Actor Clint Howard is 48. Actor Crispin Glover is 43. Country singer Wade Hayes is 38. Actress Carmen Electra is 35. Bassist-keyboardist Marty Crandall of the Shins is 32. Actor Joey Lawrence (“Dancing With the Stars”) is 31.
ON MY iPOD
British singer-songwriter James Morrison: “You mean if my iPod weren’t out of action right now? Right now on my iTunes library that I travel with, I’m listening to Citizen Cope. He’s this white guy who’s doing really good R&B. Also, [singer-songwriter] Jessie Baylin. I’m on tour with her right now. She’s got great songs and a fantastic voice. Plus, she’s a darling.”
Contributing: 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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Lisa Lopes’ mother reluctantly attends film premiere
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Wanda Lopes-Colemon reacted like any mother Thursday night when asked her thoughts about the final minutes of “Last Days of Left Eye,” the thought-provoking documentary that opened the 31st annual Atlanta Film Festival at Atlantic Station.
The film chronicles the final weeks of TLC member Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes’ life as she sought to cleanse and spiritually center herself in Honduras. As most Atlantans recall, the controversial and always outspoken performer was killed in a car crash there. Her subsequent funeral drew international media to Georgia.
In “Last Days,” footage from that fateful final ride (obtained from a documentary crew filming Left Eye on the trip) provides the film’s most chilling moments.
Trying to contain her emotions, Lopes-Colemon told us softly: “I never wanted to see it. No mother would want to see that.”
Sensing her discomfort, her co-producers on the project, son Ronald and daughter Reindrop Lopes, added that the decision to use the footage had been a family decision. But Wanda planned to exit the theater Thursday night prior to the film’s conclusion.
As expected, there was a wide range of emotions mixed with the glitz and glamour at the premiere.
Blaque member Shamari DeVoe, a girl group Left Eye was mentoring at the time of her death, was also emotional on the red carpet. “I haven’t really prepared myself for tonight,” she conceded, her eyes filling with tears. “I was supposed to be down there in Honduras with her but we were recording. I realize though that I’m a part of her legacy. She helped me fulfill my dreams.”
New Edition member and Sharmari’s husband Ronnie DeVoe clutched her hand throughout.
The film’s director Lauren Lazin told us that she had one conversation with Lopes a month before her death.
“She was never afraid of death,” Lazin said. “She considered it a transformation. In a way, the film is very inspiring.”
Other notables in attendance: Pop singer Monica, Outkast member Big Boi, Atlanta Falcon Ovie Mughelli, “American Idol” contestant and actress Tamyra Gray and former San Antonio Spurs player Terry Cummings.
A wide smile crossed singer-songwriter India Arie’s face when she recalled how TLC had impacted her as a high schooler, homesick for Georgia while watching MTV in Denver.
“I felt connected to home,” Arie said. “I knew girls who dressed like that, spoke like that and carried themselves the way TLC did. It was a little bit of home reaching out to me.”
One notable no-show on the red carpet: former Atlanta Falcon and Lopes’ ex-boyfriend Andre Rison. Lopes famously burned down Rison’s mansion following an argument between the couple in 1994.
In the doc, Lopes discusses the pair’s often stormy relationship, why she set the fire and Rison’s alleged physical abuse.
Reporters were told that Rison had missed a flight out of Detroit 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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An ATL bookstore bash for ‘Trainspotting’ author
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Fans of “Trainspotting” author Irvine Welsh will want to circle May 12 on their calendars (or make note in their BlackBerries, if the infernal vibrating contraptions happen to be working today).
Famed Little Five Points indie shop A Cappella Books is partnering with the Chattahoochee Review literary journal to throw a private bash for the Scottish author as he celebrates the paperback release of “The Bedroom Secrets of the Master Chefs” here. The reception will take place in the freshly refurbished ballroom at the Highland Inn in Poncey-Highland, starting at 8 p.m.
And the ticket price? A measly $15, which includes admission, an autographed copy of the book and a free copy of the latest Chattahoochee Review.
Naturally, we rang up A Cappella owner Frank Reiss to ask the obvious: Isn’t he taking a financial bath on this?
“We probably could have asked for a little more,” Reiss reasoned Wednesday. “But this is the first time for us doing an event of this nature, and we just wanted to have a great event for Irvine Welsh.” Tickets can be purchased in advance at A Cappella Books or at the door, if any remain. The ballroom holds between 100 and 150.
Tonight, meanwhile, our former AJC colleague Steve Dollar returns to his former city for a 7 p.m. signing and discussion at A Cappella to mark the release of the second edition of “Jazz Guide, NYC,” written and researched by the author in his current hometown. Local jazz combo New South Subterraneans will provide the tunes.
TRIO FOR OGLETHORPE
Instead of one speaker, we received word Wednesday that Oglethorpe University officials have booked three notable Atlantans for the school’s May 12 commencement ceremony. Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, WSB-TV news anchor Monica Kauf, er, Pearson and real estate developer Tom Cousins will share their combined wisdom with grads on the academic quadrangle beginning at 9 a.m. Lapel flowers and midceremony hair makeovers will be optional.
OFF WITH HIS HEAD
Voters finally decided to send Sanjaya Malakar, the talk of “American Idol” this season, home. Malakar, with his shifting hair styles and modest vocal skills, outlasted five other finalists and there was even talk of him possibly winning. But after his miserable take on Bonnie Raitt’s “Something to Talk About” Tuesday, he couldn’t rally enough voters to survive.
LaKisha Jones, the vocal powerhouse, stumbled Tuesday attempting Carrie Underwood’s “Jesus Take the Wheel” and came in second to last. Blake Lewis, following a so-so cover of a Tim McGraw song, was in the bottom three for the first time.
Simon Cowell also cleared up a misunderstanding. He rolled his eyes after finalist Chris Richardson sent out condolences related to the Virginia Tech tragedy, but he explained he did so over a conversation with Paula Abdul, that he didn’t even hear what Richardson had said. “I may not be the nicest person in the world,” he said, “but I would never ever ever disrespect those families and
victims.”
STYLISH MEN HONORED
The 2007 “Men of Style” as selected by The Atlantan magazine for the glossy’s April issue had more than their share of female admirers at a party in their honor Wednesday night at Mason Murer Gallery.
Outside the venue, Jonathan Baker, the frontman of the Atlanta rock band Second Shift and “Style” inductee was trying to take in the ginormous framed black and white photo of himself from the mag’s photo session.
“It was definitely an honor to be selected,” Baker told Buzz. “But encountering an enormous life-sized portrait of yourself is something that takes a minute to get used to!”
Inside, the other honorees, including menswear businessmen Ryan Glover and Kenny Burns, hair and makeup artist Stephen Mancuso, Pecan Pie Couture designer Clint Zeagler, singer/songwriter/producer Sleepy Brown and Epic Records A&R rep Jay Harren had doppelganger male model versions of themselves posing on black boxes.
“We worked really hard to make selections that would best represent the incredibly unique style of Atlanta men,” Atlantan editor Travis Ward said. “Judging by how much the men are being fawned over, I think we did our job.”
Before the evening was over, one honoree whispered to Buzz: “They told me I get to take home the large framed portrait of myself. But I’d rather take the model version of me home.”
SICK BAY
Pop icon Tony Bennett has postponed two concert appearances in Ohio this week because he’s recovering from the flu. Bennett, 80, postponed tonight’s appearance in Columbus and Friday’s show in Cleveland because of congestion and other symptoms, his publicist, Sylvia Weiner, said in a statement Wednesday.
“[He] was advised by his doctor to restrict plane travel and to rest for the next five days. Both concert appearances are in the process of being rescheduled,” Weiner said.
The flu prompted Bennett to cancel a guest performance on Fox network’s “American Idol” this month.
“His condition is improving, and he is expected to return to his full concert schedule.” Bennett is booked to perform at Chastain Park Amphitheater on June 2.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Actress Elinor Donahue (“Father Knows Best”) is 70. Actor Tim Curry is 61. Hip-hop mogul Suge Knight is 42. Actress Ashley Judd is 39. Actor James Franco (“Spider-Man” films) is 29. Actress Kate Hudson is 28. Actor Hayden Christensen (“Star Wars: Episodes II and III”) is 26.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I need money! I love to travel with friends and family. Eight of us recently made a trip to Barbados. To do that, I have to make a lot of money. To do that, I sing.”
— 96-year-old Kitty Carlisle Hart in an e-mail to Buzz in response to why she had booked four performances of her one-woman show at the 14th Street Playhouse in a single weekend. The incomparable dame passed away Wednesday.
Contributing: Rodney Ho 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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Image honors ‘Stomp the Yard’ producer
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Will Packer, of Marietta-based Rainforest Films, didn’t have just family, friends and fellow local filmmakers fete him at Tuesday night’s Image Film & Video Center gala. Also on hand at the Fox Theatre ballroom was a line of seven performing local step dancers, all who appeared in the producer’s hit drama “Stomp the Yard” for Sony’s Screen Gems.
Packer, along with the indie filmmaking team of John Sayles and Maggie Renzi and others, were honored by Image at its annual fund-raiser, which precedes the Thursday start of the 31st annual Atlanta Film Festival.
“Oh, man, this award means the world to me,” Packer said. “I remember coming to Atlanta years ago from Tallahassee and being really bright-eyed and naive and how could I ever make an impact on a market this size? This means validation from my peers, the film community and Atlanta.”
Since 2000, Packer and his Rainforest Films directing-producing partner Rob Hardy have made several films in Atlanta, including “Trois” and “The Gospel.”
To date, “Stomp the Yard,” a drama involving the African-American fraternity and sorority tradition of stepping, has earned more than $65 million worldwide.
FRANKLIN NAMED ‘BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL’
Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin has been named one of Essence Magazine’s “Bold and Beautiful” in the publication’s May issue on newsstands this week. City Hall reps tell us herzzoner has earned a spot on the 2007 list, which includes “Grey’s Anatomy” actress Chandra Wilson; the black female cadets of the U.S Military Academy; activists Kadiatou Diallo and Marie Dorismond; and poet Maya Angelou. The issue salutes “the strength, courage and wisdom of inspiring black women.”
OVERSCENE
“Training Day” actor Denzel Washington and “Blade” action star Wesley Snipes enjoying a late dinner at Bluepointe in Buckhead, along with 14 friends and business associates. We’re told the movie stars dined on appetizers and steaks whipped up personally by Bluepointe executive chef Doug Turbush. The dinner was hosted by Buckhead Life Restaurant Group regular Daniel Meachum. The table also enjoyed samples of pastry chef Lisa Smith’s chai tea crème brûlée and palm sugar panna cotta. Afterward, the group hung in the eatery’s lounge area, where a few overly enthusiastic fans were politely kept at bay by Bluepointe managers.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Actress Barbara Hale (“Perry Mason”) is 86. Actress Hayley Mills is 61. Actor James Woods is 60. Actor Rick Moranis is 54. Actor Eric Roberts is 51. Actress Melody Thomas Scott (“The Young and the Restless”) is 51. Actor John James (“Dynasty,” “All My Children”) is 51. Actress Jane Leeves (“Frasier”) is 46. Talk show host Conan O’Brien is 44. Actor Eric McCormack (“Will & Grace”) is 44. Actress America Ferrera (“Ugly Betty”) is 23. Actress Alia Shawkat (“Arrested Development”) is 18.
QUOTABLE
“Oh, my God, I love you, Paula Deen. Can I come home with you?”
—“The View” co-host Rosie O’Donnell upon meeting the Savannah Food Network queen on Tuesday’s show, after Deen disclosed that she consumes chili with a generous amount of corn chips hidden in the bottom of her bowl.
STORK REPORT
It’s a girl!
Kyma executive chef Pano Karatassos and wife Angela welcomed baby Sophia Angela into the world at 3:30 a.m. Saturday. The newest Karatassos weighed in at 8 pounds, 10 ounces and measured 20 3/4 inches long. She is welcomed by excited big brothers Pano, 5, and Lucas, 3.
Contributing: Bob Longino and news services
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