PEACH BUZZ: Tennis fest funds to stay in Georgia

For Sir Elton John, hosting his 16th annual Advanta World Team Tennis Smash Hits event back in his U.S. hometown meant a great deal more to him than just the luxury of not having to board a plane to attend the “tennis chic” affair.

“All of the money raised here today will stay here in the Atlanta market and in Georgia,” John told us Sunday morning before picking up his racquet at the fund-raiser at Kennesaw State University. “Forty-six percent of AIDS cases are now being reported in the South. We are distinctly aware of the problems here and the South will continue to be a priority for the foundation.”

John was joined by his co-host and old friend Billie Jean King and pro tennis pals Anna Kournikova, Andy Roddick and Martina Navratilova, along with rising players and Smash Hits first-timers Jesse Levine and local gal Melanie Oudin.

At a blustery rooftop sold-out VIP brunch reception for 600, with fellow event co-chairs Sacha Taylor and Charlie Hendon looking on, Dr. Bobbie Bailey shocked the assembled by making a surprise donation of $100,000, the largest gift given by an individual in the event’s history

“I’ve been very lucky in life,” Bailey told us. “These stories in The Atlanta Journal about rising number of AIDS statistics here shocked me. I needed to do something to help.”

To help drive up a bid on an hour of private tennis tutoring with him, Roddick generously agreed to shed some clothing at the future lesson. The bid shot up to $11,000 when Roddick agreed to do the session shirtless. And when he finally agreed to “the full Monty,” the lesson fetched $15,000 from a female fan.

As the live auction surpassed the $100,000 mark, EJAF board member Barron Segar breathed a sigh of relief standing in back of the white tent.

“I’ll admit some of us on the board were chewing our cuticles last night, wondering how we would do today with the economic downturn going on,” Segar said. “But once again, Elton’s hometown has come through for us. It exceeded all our expectations.”

‘Talent’ hits Cobb Centre

Most people who watched Terry Fator win “America’s Got Talent” on NBC last year saw him in three-minute snippets. But he proved at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre Saturday night he could sustain a nearly two-hour show, mixing humor, song and a cavalcade of puppets.

Fator, who has a $100 million, five-year contract with the Mirage in Vegas, gave a couple of nods to Georgia artists, courtesy of his puppet Julius, who sang an impressive version of Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” and a snippet of James Brown’s “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag.” (Cee-lo —- you try singing that without moving your lips!)

And the most warped moment of the night: Fator dressed up as Michael Jackson to duet the country classic “Hey Good Lookin’ ” with his puppet Walter T. Airedale.

An emotional evening

Tears flowed along with the wine and the cash at the annual Men Stopping Violence awards dinner held Saturday night at the Atlanta History Center. Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Natasha Trethewey dedicated her award to her mother, a 1985 domestic violence murder victim.

“This is the most humbling and moving award I’ve ever received,” Trethewey told the crowd. “This is for my mother, a woman who tried to escape the violence of a marriage.”

George McKerrow Jr., the evening’s True Ally Award winner, was introduced by his Ted’s Montana Grill business partner Ted Turner.

McKerrow credited Turner’s former wife, Jane Fonda, and her “Vagina Monologues” playwright pal Eve Ensler for “enlightening me and causing me to stop and think.”

Added McKerrow: “We have to treat each other with respect and dignity. We have to erase color and gender and become equals as human beings.”

Among the hot silent auction items garnering bids in an adjacent hallway: framed vintage vinyl signed by Bob Dylan and Bruce Springteen and a photo collage of college football bulldog mascots UGAs IV, V, VI and VII titled “The Dawghouse.”

CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

Musician Paul Simon is 67. Singer Sammy Hagar is 61. Singer-actress Marie Osmond is 49. Actress Kate Walsh (“Grey’s Anatomy”) is 41. Actor Sacha Baron Cohen (“Borat,” “Da Ali G Show”) is 37. Singers Brandon and Brian Casey of Atlanta’s Jagged Edge are 33. Singer Ashanti is 28.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Who knew I was an artist, right?!”

Martina Navratilova, introducing Smash Hits attendees Sunday to her paintings created with Slovak artist Juraj Kralik. The pieces are created when Navratilova hits paint-soaked tennis balls onto a blank canvas. The pieces are valued at $20,000.

Contributing: Rodney Ho and news services.