January 8, 2007 at 10:39 pm | In , , , | January 9, 2007
Freddie Bell, velvet morning voice talent and General Manager of Z 1470 Totally Gospel (KZTG – 1470) is a mellifluous voice actor, broadcast-journalist and speaker who is also a National Voice Actor. His vast voice over credits, include hosting several radio programs including the Tom Joyner Morning Show, The Love Train, It’s The Gospel in Tampa, The Freddie Bell Morning Show in radio on KSGS - 950AM, Solid Gold Soul in Minneapolis, plus This is Music, The Freddie Bell Countdown Show and The Minneapolis NAACP Community Affairs television Programs in Minneapolis.
Invite Freddie to your next event or seminar as a Keynote Speaker, covering topics including You Gotta Have H.
E.A.R.
T., Tuning In to R.A.
D.I.O, Maximizing Your Potential, Imagination, The Secret Key To Success, Winning Through Community Service, Dreaming Your Way to Success and a variety of topics related to sales and sales management.
Freddie shares ideas and techniques he used to propel Solid Gold Soul Radio into a household name and the launch of Totally Gospel radio in the Twin Cities. Call today for booking details. 888-639-9738.
Listen to the Freddie Bell Show, 4 to 7pm, weekdays on Z 1470 KZTG, Totally Gospel, or on the web at www.totallygospel.com.
To enhance your gospel listening experience, you can now hear Z 1470 Totally Gospel on the new www.totallygospel.com website.
Click on the web stream and then click on the link for KZTG.
No matter where you are, lock it in and write it down. The dedicated Minnesota stream for Twin Cities listeners is up and running.
Tell a friend that Z 1470 Totally Gospel is now on the radio and on the internet. Churches, Pastors, Ministers and Evangelists in the Twin Cities and from around the country looking to expand their electronic ministries are invited to partner with Totally Gospel. Call 888-639-9738 today for rates and availabilities.
Gary Hines of the Grammy Award winners Sounds Of Blackness passes along this information.
Tues Jan 16th, 7 10pm at - The Dakota
10th Nicollet Mall, Downtown Minneapolis
Rapper and actor DMX will go on trial this spring for several traffic violations and he could get up to a year behinds bars if found guilty. SOHH.
com reports that after missing two court dates, DMX was in Westchester County Court on Thursday, January 4th to answer speeding, failing to wear a seatbelt, and making an unsafe lane change charges. The charges stem from a June 2nd, 2006 traffic stop in White Plains, New York.
The rapper told Judge Barbara Leak that he had refused a plea deal and she in turned stressed to him that he must return to court in March 6th for a pretrial hearing.
She told the rapper, You have to be here.
Outside of the courtroom DMX told the Journal News, I just want to get this over with as soon as possible. I m sure I m the only individual with $25,000 bail on traffic violations.
In addition to a year behind bars, DMX could also be fined $1,000. Last year, the rapper spent 70 days behind bars for violating the terms of his probation.
50 CENT TURNING BOOKS INTO MOVIES, DISSING LUDACRIS
Last week 50 Cent launched his G-Unit Books with the release of three novels, The Ski Mask Way, Death Before Dishonor and Baby Brother.
A screenplay for Ski Mask Way has already been written, and plans are in the works to shoot the movie next summer. 50 Cent told the New York Post, The novels are the harsh realities in certain situations. And the actual honest content in the music and the books are a spin-off of that reality.
That s what hip-hop about them is. In The Ski Mask Way particularly, there s a character named Seven that s based on me. And there s a portion where he s incarcerated and has to make decisions about his life and how things spin out of control.
I ve been in a similar space, but I was able to hold on and not spin out of control.
50 Cent is also working on another book project with author Robert Greene called 50 Laws of Power, an urban version of Greene s cult hit book The 48 Laws of Power.
In addition to all of the aforementioned projects, the rapper plans to launch his own line of condoms, with a portion of the proceeds to benefit HIV awareness.
In related news, 50 Cent is known for taking shots at fellow rappers, and recently dissed Ludacris for not standing up for himself on the Oprah Winfrey Show. The talk show host verbally attacked Ludacris when he visited her show last year to promote the movie Crash. During an interview with Howard Stern, 50 Cent said, What s her name?
Ludacris, he spent his time on the show in a fetal position.
REMY MA, SHAWNNA, JACKI-O LAUNCH FEMALE SUPER GROUP
Female rappers Remy Ma, Shawnna, and Jacki-O have come together to form a female supergroup. A source told Allhiphop.
com, They have been recording tracks over the past month, Jacki-O has been in New York, Shawnna and Remy have been in Miami. The album is going to define all three of them and the material is going to speak for itself.
The trio hasn t decide on a name yet but are shooting to release their new album this spring.
There s no word yet on which label will release the project as all three artists are signed to different labels.
Remy Ma released her debut album, There s Something About Remy, on SRC Records last year. Jacki-O released her debut album, Poe Little Rich Girl, in 2004 on the Poe Boy Entertainment label, which is distributed by TVT Records.
Shawnna has released two albums through Ludacris Disturbing Tha Peace label, which is distributed by Def Jam Records.
Shawnna is the only member of the trio who has been in a group in the past. The rapper released Changing The Game on Relativity Records in 1999 as one-half of the Infamous Syndicate.
Shawnna explained that she s a versatile artist. She said: As an artist, I would say multi-faceted. I can basically get down anyhow, anyway you want me to.
I can get down with Snoop and Dre. I can get down with Master P. I can get down with Cash Money.
I can get down with DTP. I can get down with Trick Daddy and Trina in Miami.
Shawnna added: I get in where I fit in, that s the type of artist I am.
You ll never be able to label me as a that type of rapper cause I can do whatever.
Rapper and actor Snoop Dogg is in a bit of jam after being hit with a lawsuit by Natural Resources Media Technology Group. SOHH.
com reports that Natural Resources filed a lawsuit in New York State Supreme court seeking over $250,000 in damages for the Snoop Youth Football League Foundation (SYFL) after receiving a cease and desist letter from 20th Century Fox. The company had allegedly contracted to produce a reality show based on Snoop Dogg s role in his sons football league, which would include following the rapper on and off the field. But 20th Century Fox is currently developing a movie, titled Coach Snoop, based on the league.
According to the lawsuit, Natural Resources made a deal in June 2006 that gave them exclusive rights for pay-per-view, cable, home video and other video footage, provided they offer up over $100,000 for the project and split profits with the league.
After learning of the deal, 20th Century Fox sent a letter to Natural Resources and several other companies explaining that they had exclusive rights to portray Snoop in any motion picture or television project or other production based on Snoop s involvement with his sons football teams and leagues.
Michael Ross, Fox s senior vice president of legal affairs, stated in the letter, Fox already has made a huge investment in our project and if you continue to move forward with your television project in violation of Fox s rights, it will severely impact the viability of our theatrical motion picture.
Natural Resources attempted to rectify the situation directly with the Snoop Youth Football League Foundation but didn t receive a response to their request to cure the breach of contract.
On the musical front, Snoop Dogg s latest album, Blue Carpet Treatment, has sold 636,000 copies in the six weeks it s been in stores.
Former Fugees member Wyclef Jean has been diligently working to bring stability to his native Haiti.
The rapper founded the Yele Haiti Foundation to help uplift the country s children through art programs and economic empowerment and he was recently instrumental in the release of a kidnap victim. Jean was rewarded for his hard work by Haiti s president, Rene Preval, on Wednesday, January 3rd, when he was appointed roving ambassador for Haiti.
Foreign Affairs Minister Renald Clerisme told Reuters, We wish we could have several Wyclefs as roving ambassadors because the country could have gained so much.
In his new role, Jean will continue to lobby in Washington, DC for the passage of a trade bill that will create textile manufacturing jobs in Haiti. He will also attempt to promote the country abroad.
Jean will accompany Preval on a three-day tour of Jamaica in the coming weeks.
When diva Whitney Houston s stage costumes, designer duds, and stage equipment goes on the auction block tomorrow (January 9th) in Irvington, New Jersey, some of Bobby Brown s belongings will also be in the mix. A number of the former New Edition bad boy s record plaques and awards reportedly turned up among the lots slated to be sold by Houston s storage company to satisfy the singer s debts.
Among the items up for grabs are Brown s Boston Music Awards, hometown recognition for his solo work, as well as several RIAA gold and platinum record and video sales plaques, according to Vibe.
com.
The storage company, Speed of Sound, claims that Houston s Nippy Inc. owes an estimated $200,000 in unpaid storage bills.
Among the items going on sale to qualified buyers are designer duds by the likes of Donna Karan, Dolce Gabbana, and Bob Mackie; a custom-made, see-through grand piano worth up to $400,000; and a chair described as Whitney s Throne.
Houston could wind up with a windfall. Any proceeds above and beyond the $200,000 she owes will go to her company.
Singer, songwriter and producer Akon has gained a lot of acclaim for his popular tunes, such as Grammy-nominated single Smack That, previous single I Wanna Love You, and new single Shake Down from his sophomore album Konvicted. Now, the Senegalese-born artist will spend the next few months focusing on bringing the story of his life to the big screen.
Akon s movie biography will be called Illegal Alien, and the artist says that major casting for the film, which he will score and co-direct but not star in, will begin next month.
Akon explained: We re actually about to start casting for it in February, which is like a movie I m gonna produce, co-direct, I ll be doing the soundtrack for it, the complete score, pretty much everything but acting in it (laughs). I m gonna save the acting for later. But it s like a lot of things that happened in my life, like the most intriguing parts of my life that had impact to me, were actually incorporated in the movie.
No word on when the movie will hit theaters.
Konvicted stands at Number Six this week on the Billboard Hot R B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
BLACK EYED PEAS TRYING TO STAY FUN, APPROACHABLE ON NEXT CD
Grammy-nominated group The Black Eyed Peas are beginning work on their follow up to the successful 2005 album, Monkey Business.
Producer Will.I.Am notes that the group is celebrating 10 years together since their start in the San Francisco Bay area as a breakdancing hip-hop crew with featuring members Apl de Ap and Taboo.
After two albums, singer Fergie joined the Peas for the smash 2003 set Elephunk.
Will.I.
Am says it is important for the group to maintain both their unique, edgy identity and their appeal to fans without letting success change them: We re fun people, approachable, and afraid of losing what got us here, and that was humbleness and hunger. So deep down inside was all the things that it s still easier than it was in 1996, so it s still fear of losing that drive and motivation and determination now that you ve accomplished something. So, that s scary.
The Black Eyed Peas will perform February 16th in Las Vegas at the Orleans arena.
KIRK FRANKLIN, YOLANDA ADAMS AMONG ARTISTS HELPING GOSPEL SELL
Artists like Kirk Franklin, Yolanda Adams, and Mary Mary helped gospel and Christian music sales to reach new highs in 2006. According to the Gospel Music Association and Nielsen Christian SoundScan, year-end sales data for the 52-week period ending December 31st, 2006, posted a 3.
4 percent increase.
The GMA the organization that hands out the Dove Awards every year is thrilled with the figures, and what they mean for American culture. 2006 was a good year for Christian/gospel music.
Album sales were up, albeit slightly; digital sales continue to rise and most importantly, the impact of the Gospel through music reached beyond even what our sales reveal, said John W. Styll, GMA s president and CEO. There may be many reasons why this is true, but I think chief among them is that people seem to be drawn to the inspiring and compassionate message of gospel music amid uncertain times.
The uptick was credited to the ongoing popularity of the above-mentioned artists, as well as Juanita Bynum and white acts like Casting Crowns, MercyMe, and Steven Curtis Chapman. Many country and R B acts have also begun to record more inspirational music in the last few years, reinforcing the trend.
Media mogul Oprah Winfrey is a staple in the news these days.
The FBI has revealed that a Georgia man has been charged with trying to extort $1.5 million from the talk show queen in exchange for audio tapes he says would embarrass her publicly. A hearing in the matter has been scheduled for today.
Winfrey is not cited by name in the suit, but papers filed in the U.S. District Court in Chicago refer to an Individual A, as a public figure and the owner of a Chicago-based company.
Keifer Bonvillain, who is 36, is being charged in federal court for trying to extort money by threatening to injure a person s reputation, according to court documents.
The bizarre scheme began when Bonvillain met a California-based employee of Winfrey s Chicago company two years ago. He began taping phone conversations with this employee about Individual A, then e-mailed the media mogul to inform her that an employee was saying awful things about her.
Bonvillain then wrote to the Chicago company on November 17th to again say he had tapes of conversations with the employee that would be embarrassing. A rep for Individual A contacted Bonvillain, who said he was researching a book and could sell the tapes to the tabloids. He then offered to sell them to the rep, according to the complaint.
The company representative then wrote Bonvillain to say the tapes were illegally recorded and demanded they be handed over, according to federal prosecutors. Instead, a lawyer for the Georgia man told the company that his client had already fielded several lucrative offers from the media, and that if the representative wanted this to go away, he would have to be prepared to put an offer on the table, the complaint said. That s when the rep called in the FBI, who monitored further communications with Bonvillain.
The company rep then agreed to pay $1.5 million to Bonvillain, who was nabbed in an Atlanta hotel parking lot when he showed to pick up the cash. He was arrested on December 15th and released on $20,000 bail.
JERMAINE JACKSON SPENDS FIRST NIGHT IN U.K. S BIG BROTHER HOUSE
Real-life celebrity big brother and onetime R B star Jermaine Jackson spent his first night of taping in a house with several other former and fading stars for the U.
K. version of the reality TV show Celebrity Big Brother last week.
Jackson is joined in the house by 10 other contestants, including British pop star Leo Sayer, who once topped charts with 70s hits You Make Me Feel Like Dancing and When I Need You ; actor Dirk Benedict, who played Templeton The Face Peck on popular 80s series The A-Team; director Ken Russell, whose credits include Tommy, Whore, and Altered States; and Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty, among others.
Much like the American version of Big Brother, which aired on CBS, the British celebrity version traps 11 strangers in a house together with cameras to record their every move. But unlike the American version, the viewers get to vote on who stays and who is evicted each week.
The mild-mannered Jackson hasn t made many headlines since charting 80s hits like Let s Get Serious and Do What You Do, though he did show some fire with 1991 s Word To The Badd, an angry critique of younger brother Michael that caused controversy when leaked to radio stations.
Jackson is one of the celebrities favored to win the reality competition.
Nation Of Islam leader Minister Louis Farrakhan is reportedly resting comfortably after undergoing a 12-hour surgery in Chicago, according to a report from the organization Saturday (January 6th).
Doctors told Farrakhan s family that they were happy with the results of the surgery but will monitor him closely for the next 24 to 48 hours.
No further details about his operation or condition were available.
Last September, Farrakhan informed followers via the organization s newspaper, The Final Call, that he was in ill health and handed over his leadership to another minister. In that letter he noted that he had been losing weight and was plagued by an ulcer in his anal area.
Farrakhan previously underwent surgery for prostate cancer in 1998.
Adult film actress Stormy Daniels recently heated up the set of Courteney Cox s new FX series Dirt with a steamy hot tub sex scene. The blonde porn star was apparently so effective at simulating intercourse with her on- screen partner Rick Fox that he got aroused for real.
Daniels told gossip columnist Marc Malkin, I would not be very good at my job if he wasn t enjoying himself. I mean, I m a trained professional.
Fox, an NBA player once married to Vanessa Williams, filmed the scene in the nude, and impressed Daniels with his member so much that she said she d happily cast him in one of her movies.
Their Dirt-y sexual encounter also showed him being taken from behind while she wore a strap- on.
Daniels and Fox will both appear on future episodes of Dirt. She plays a hooker to the stars and he s cast as an adulterous basketball player.
Dirt airs Tuesdays at 10 on FX.
All-time boxing great and humanitarian Muhammad Ali will celebrate his 65th birthday on January 17th. Now fans and friends from around the world can send him personalized birthday greetings throughout the month of January.
They are also encouraged to send a contribution in his honor to the new Muhammad Ali Center in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky.
Established in November 2005, the Ali Center has been committed to extending Muhammad s values of respect, confidence, dedication, giving, hope, and understanding, worldwide and to promote cross- cultural dialogue, conflict management, and inspiration.
For more information about the organization, to send birthday greetings, or to make a donation, go on-line to alicenter.
org.
1. Night at the Museum, $24 million
2.
The Pursuit of Happyness, $13 million
3. Children of Men, $10.3 million
10.
We Are Marshall, $5.1 million
The comedy Code Name: The Cleaner, starring Cedric the Entertainer as a janitor who thinks he s a spy, opened out of the top 10, in 11th place. Cedric The Entertainer on improvising some of his lines: You know, I get an opportunity to massage the lines and the opportunity to improve a lot.
That s one of the fun things I enjoy doing about a movie. And I usually kind of establish that with the director early on before we even get to shooting is that I like to have the opportunity to play with the script and develop it as we re going and definitely for me to look for funny lines.
Meanwhile, 50 Cents new movie didn t even place.
Curtis Jackson on being in war movie: Well I actually enjoy the action and the excitement in war film, you know, it s almost like anything could happen at any time. And that s what attracted me initially but then the characters had so much more depth to them, having them come home and showing you how they re affected by that experience that I, you know, was persistent about being a part of the project.
Taye Diggs reveals his inner metrosexual in a new-ish interview at Elle.
The Q A begins with an appreciation of Taye s bubble butt and ends with his shoe fetish. He also reveals his boy- crush:
ELLE: If your life depended on sleeping with a man, who would you choose?
TD: It would have to be a really put- together brother.
So, Tyson Beckford.
Sometimes we forget, but Taye Diggs is married to a woman Broadway star Idina Menzel. According to the interview, behind closed doors the marriage is sometimes a Clash of the Divas.
The star couple mostly argues over outifits:
ELLE: What has been the hardest adjustment of your marriage?
TD: She cannot pick up her clothes. I come from a very disciplined household with rules, so I have difficulty comprehending that.
She s got a lot of great qualities, but that s not one of them.
ELLE: When your wife talks to her friends about you, what do you think she complains about?
TD: It annoys her that I like putting outfits together.
She was a tomboy growing up and prefers jeans and a T-shirt.
It should also come as no surprise that Taye admits to having more shoes than his wife. But I have more of everything.
Speaking of Tyson Beckford, seems the supermodel is now a taken man. Or so someone says. According to the user-edited Wikipedia, Tyson has found the love of his life and tied the knot.
No, this was not in Massachusetts, and yes, he is married to a lovely young lady.
Recently, Beckford married UK born entrepreneur Berniece Julien, a selected audience were invited to their private ceremony on a beach in Grenada. Beckford is currently in the honeymoon period with new wife Berniece and in the past has been linked with female rapper Foxy Brown and Miami attorney, Christine Saidi.
Sounds lovely, except for a few problems: No news reports can be found of the wedding, private ceremony or entrepreneur except for this in Wikipedia. And that reference to the romance with a Miami attorney? Apparently, that was also sourced here.
Wikipedia is an interesting source of knowledge but not always reliable. We ll keep you updated.
Maia Campbell is probably best known for her portrayal of Tiffany Warren, a typical teenager with a little too much freedom, in In the House, a comedy series produced by Quincy Jones and starring LL Cool J.
She went on to play a few more roles including one in John Singleton s Poetic Justice her most recent role is probably the most disturbing. Click here to see footage
Maia is the daughter of Best Selling author Bebe Moore Campbell who died in December of 2006.
MISS NEW YORK: BUSTING LOOSE, Loose, Part One
Now that she s wiped away her tears from getting dumped twice by Flavor Flav, New York s got a show all her own to kick guys to the curb in a search for her true love.
On I Love New York (premiering tonight on VH1) the high- maintenance drama queen will sift through 20 guys in 10 episodes to find her true soulmate.
What s really important for me is that everybody knows that this is really me looking for love and it s not just me looking for camera time, New York says.
The show borrows all the themes from Flavor of Love.
The guys are given nicknames, dog tags (instead of clocks) and New York gets a flamboyant assistant, Chamo. Her mother, Sister Patterson, is thrown in for good measure as she serves as the fire-breathing dragon the guys have to get around to get to her heart.
Will it be as crazy and shocking as Flavor of Love was?
Justine Simmons, the beloved mom on MTV s wildly popular reality series Run s House, will be making her literary debut with the children s book God Can You Hear Me? later this month.
She worked extensively with celebrated illustration artist Robert Papp over the past several months to give birth to the book.
The 32 page, oversized hardcover captures the questions and prayers young children ask as they confront moments of loss, confusion and sadness.
As a child you are blessed to have the opportunity to create a wonderful friendship with God for the rest of your life. Take advantage of it, the woman who can be simply referred to as The Hip-Hop Generation s Claire Huxtable, writes in the last page of the multicultural offering, geared towards children ages 5 to 10 years old.
This is the ideal resource for parents and children as they work through whatever is taking place in their lives, tapping into the very hearts and spiritual concerns in an accessible, universal way, said Amistad/ Harper Collins publicist Gilda N. Squire.
Simmons and her husband, Rev Run, (of Run DMC) recently suffered the tragic loss of their newborn daughter, Victoria.
Until now, Justine remained silent about losing Victoria, choosing instead to privately grieve, Squire added. That there are parallels between the book and her family’s own experiences make this publication all the more poignant and timely.
The book hits stores on Jan.
23 and will retail for $16.99
When it rains it pours. Just ask actress Dawnn Lewis who is having a career renaissance of sorts with her most recent acting endeavors.
The plump-lipped A Different World star has an important cameo in the hit movie musical Dreamgirls and is also fronting the stage adaptation of Whoopi Goldberg s box office smash Sister Act.
So in essence, the woman who many affectionately know simply as Jaleesa Vinson (her character on the groundbreaking Cosby Show spin-off) is literally flipping the script. In Sister Act the Musical, Lewis stars in the lead role as diva-in-waiting Deloris Van Cartier (a.
k.a. Sister Mary Clarence) an icon of empowered, ferocious, irreverent African-American womanhood who after witnessing a murder, packs up her platform shoes and moves in with the sisters at the down-and-out Holy Order of the Little Sisters of Our Mother of Perpetual Faith.
Directed by Peter Schneider (producer of Broadway musicals The Lion King and Aida), Sister Act will make its world premiere at Atlanta s Alliance Theatre on Jan 24, after a week of preview performances. The show is scheduled to run through Feb. 25.
Lewis, a Brooklyn native who turns 46 this year, married retired NBA player Johnny Newman in 2004. They are now separated. Professionally, she recently worked on the wildly popular Cartoon Network series The Boondocks.
Some of Oprah Winfrey s goodwill in Africa has rubbed off on comedian Chris Rock, who was among the celebrities invited to the grand opening of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa last week.
While in town, Rock and his wife traveled north to spend some time in the Eastern country of Kenya, reports AFP. En route to an exotic game reserve, the Rocks took time out to visit one of the country s largest slums in Kibera.
An estimated 800,000 people are housed there.
Rock promised he would search for ways in which he can help the country s poor.
I have come to Kibera to see for myself the blight of this people(and) see what we can do, he said in the Kibera slums, south of Nairobi, full of leaking sewage and cardboard houses.
Rock - who was reported to have begun divorce proceedings from his wife Malaak Compton- Rock on Nov. 3 but now appears to be reconciling - said of his decision to visit Kibera: I go where ever my wife tells me to go.
I will be spending quite a few days in Maasai Mara, Rock added.
Maasai Mara is world-renowned for its abundant wildlife, rolling savannah and luxury safari camps.
Matrix actor LAURENCE FISHBURNE and his wife, actress GINA TORRES,are expecting their first child together. Gina is due sometime this summer.
The Killers just got themselves a powerful enemy. Word is, Ghostface Killah is angry with the rock band the Killers for turning down a chance to collaborate with him on a track.
Ghostface told Spin magazine, quote, I wanted to do a song with them.
We were gonna do a mash-up with my vocals over their music, and it was gonna meet the Killers meet the Killah. But they didn t want to do it. I was disappointed.
There s a story going around that in the hours before his death, James Brown instructed his lawyers to have his youngest son tested, to determine whether the kids is really his. But James wanted them to test James Brown the Second, the five-year-old son of James widow, Toni Rae Hynie AFTER he died so that his family would finally know the tuth.
NAACP TAPS VANESSA, ISAIAH TO ANNOUNCE NODS
An Ugly bully, two doctors from Seattle Grace and a U.
S. President will join other celebs and NAACP Executives at a press conference tomorrow to announce nominees for The 38th NAACP Image Awards.
Vanessa Williams, star of the ABC comedy Ugly Betty, joins Grey s Anatomy standouts Chandra Wilson and Isaiah Washington as well as Access Hollywood s Shaun Robinson and 24 s new U.
S. president DB Woodside among the announcers at The Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills.
The 38th NAACP Image Awards ceremony - celebrating the outstanding achievements and performances of people of color in literature, television, motion pictures and recording arts - will air live on Friday, March 2 (8 to 10 p.
m. ET/PT) on FOX.
What hasn t Oprah been up to?
Ms. Winfrey took an HIV test to promote awareness of the disease at her new South African school. According to USA Today, she offered free testing to all 152 students, and would follow up with anyone who needed counseling and treatment.
To be a great leader you must be of sound mind, body and spirit, says Oprah. Needless to say, Winfrey s results will be kept confidential.
BEYONCE TO JAY-Z: I WANT THAT RING!
They re not hitched yet, but Beyonce and Jay-Z are ready to play house. The couple checked out several cribs while vacationing in the Dominican Republic over the holidays. According to E!
Online, they visited Oscar de la Renta s Casa de Campo, a private community that features secluded beaches, police and fire departments and 20 swimming pools.
Maybe the prospect of buying some posh new digs prompted Jay-Z to slap his name on the new Yukon Denali SUV by General Motors, reports the New York Post. The cruiser is pimped out in a hue he calls Jay-Z blue.
This partnership apparently made Beyonce think he s going to pop the question soon, so she ran out and bought a white Guy Laroche gown.
Paul Wall is taking his penchant for making grills to the next level. The Houston rapper has teamed with Zenetti, a global trendsetter in designer automotive accessories, to create a signature line of vehicle grills and wheels encrusted with cubic zirconium stones.
The items will be available for coupes, SUVs, Chrysler 300, Dodge Magnums, Chargers and Cadillac Escalades. The front end grills will be iced out with crystals, and they will be compatible with Chargers, 300M s, Magnums, and Escalades, Paul Wall told AllHipHop.com.
The wheels are called the Masquerade. They will have crystallized iced out plates that cover the chrome base. One of the best things about the wheels is that the face plates will be removable so that you can ride on chrome or skate on ice !
Noted for its sophisticated styling and cutting edge concepts, Zenetti specializes in custom wheels for luxury sedans, sports cars and SUVs as well as body styling kits and vehicle grills. Like the grills, the rims will be available for coupes, SUVs, Chrysler 300, Dodge Magnums, Chargers and Cadillac Escalades. Size will range from 19 to 26 inches.
The Zennetti alliance comes on the heels of Wall s recent Grammy nomination for Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for Grillz, with Nelly, Ali and Gipp.
The rapper, who joined filmmaker Raquel Cepeda this past summer on a trip to Freetown, Sierra Leone with a contingency from the United Nations and VH1 to raise awareness of conflict diamonds, will donate a portion of the profits from the sales of the grills to humanitarian efforts in Sierra Leone and other war impoverished countries affected by the diamond trade.
Paul Wall hopes the effort will help the damage caused in part by the illicit smuggling and mining of diamonds.
The rapper s experience will be captured in the documentary, Bling: A Planet Rock, which will hit theaters in early 2007. The grills and wheels as well as the documentary are slated to be released the first quarter of this year.
In 1811, Charles Deslandes led a slave revolt in Louisiana.
In 1815, The Battle of New Orleans, the last battle of the War Of 1812, was fought. Black troops, the Battalion Of Free Men Of Color, and a battalion from Santo Domingo supported Andrew Jackson in the campaign against the British.
In 1867, Legislation giving the vote to blacks in the District Of Columbia was passed over President Andrew Johnson s veto.
In 1875, Virginian George Washington, having traveled cross country in the company of foster parents and settled in Washington Territory a quarter of a century earlier, founded the city of Centerville. Washington, a successful businessman, was revered because of his willingness to help his neighbors. He is often called the A.
P. Gianini of the Pacific Northwest.
In 1912, the African National Congress was founded.
In 1922, the first black man to achieve that the rank of colonel in the U.S. Army, Charles Young, died in Lagos, Nigeria.
In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson declared a War On Poverty in his State Of The Union Address. In 1975, the Alabama Educational Television Commission had its application for license renewal denied by the Federal Communications Commission because of racial discrimination against African- Americans in employment and programming.
In 1989, the oldest integration lawsuit in the U.
S. was settled when the St. Helena Parish schools in Louisiana were officially integrated.
The suit was originally filed by John Hall and the NAACP in 1952.
In 1998, Ramzi Yousef, the mastermind behind the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, was sentenced in New York City to life imprisonment.
In 1999, Georgetown s longtime men s basketball coach, John Thompson, resigned midway through his 27th season with the team, citing personal reasons.
R. Kelly, singer and songwriter, 40
Sean Paul, reggae star, 34
Situations have a way of working out for the best.
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