January 18, 2007 at 12:01 am | In , , , | January 18, 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.
With his MTV reality show Making The Band, producer and host Sean Diddy Combs got a hit with his third season group, the femme quintet Danity Kane. The diverse music impresario is seeking to do it again in the new season of the show, opening up auditions this month for a band of bad boys.
Auditions for Making the Band 4 will kick off today, January 17th, in Los Angeles, at the Knitting Factory in Hollywood, starting at 8 a.
m. Open calls will also take place on January 20th at Houston s Meridien; January 23rd at Orlando, Florida s Club Paris; January 27th at Atlanta s Verve Lounge; January 30th at Chicago s Club 720; February 3rd at Detroit s Plan B; and February 6th at New York City s BLVD.
Those who can t make the open calls can post their audition videos on-line via makingtheband .
MTV.com, and viewers can actually vote on their favorites through January 27th, when the first cuts will take place. A total of three candidates will be chosen from on-line voting to compete for final slots in the new band.
Making The Band 4 will debut on MTV sometime this spring. The previous season ranked Number One in its time period for all cable offerings.
Season three s winning group, Danity Kane, debuted their self-titled album at Number One on the pop albums chart last year.
The girls are currently scheduled to go on a national tour with Christina Aguilera.
It was a long road to creating Danity Kane, however. At the very beginning of Season Three, Diddy tested the new recruits by putting them in one room together in New Orleans.
In a clip from the show, Diddy said he planned to test the band s chemistry: When you re starting out with a new group you don t just throw them into the studio. One of the most important thing to a successful group is the chemistry. So I m going to put these girls on the road.
Let them spend some time together, sleep together in the same room, just so they. You all know what I m saying. I m going to make sure that they could get along without killing each other before we get into the studio.
For more details on casting dates, locations, and rules, go to mtv.com.
Singer and comedian Jamie Foxx is currently on his Unpredictable North American tour.
During a tour stop on Sunday night, January 14th, in Atlantic City, Foxx addressed the controversy caused by Michael Richards use of the N word and stated that he needs to be able to use the word. New York s Daily News reports that Foxx said, He was just calling us n****r like it was the 50s! N****r, n*****r, with a e-r.
Then they said we can t use the word n- anymore. That s my s**t. I need it I need the word to describe certain things, because at a certain level of excitement, I need to tell you how the s**t was, and there ain t no other word that helps me say that better than that word.
Foxx also had some comments about O.J. Simpson, Janet Jackson, Angelina Jolie, Oprah Winfrey, and Gayle King during his comedy set.
On O.J Simpson - I threw a party in Miami, and he showed up at the party. He shook my hand hard as hell.
He did it! O.J.
be everywhere, like he still in style, like he got a hot record album. He has no remorse and he crazy. He arrogant.
What is he doing? Every black person is saying, You already got way; don t dance in the end zone!
On Janet Jackson - She whispered her entire album.
I said, What s wrong with my speakers?
On Angelina Jolie - You famous when you can just go over to another country and pick up some kids like you re shopping for vegetables. I wish she was adopting when I was coming up.
I would have breast-fed till I was 37.
On Oprah Winfrey Gayle King - They say I (sleep with) everybody. So, I m layin in bed with Oprah.
I lean over to Gayle and say, Don t believe this s**t. It s just between us three!
Foxx s next tour stop is at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT, on Friday, January 19th.
Fantasia has been opening for the Oscar winner.
Aretha Franklin s life story is being made into a stage musical, and the Queen Of Soul herself is holding auditions for actors to play herself as well as the key people in her life. Adapted from her autobiography of the same name, Franklin plans to produce the musical From These Roots in her hometown of Detroit later this year.
The show is expected to tour major cities afterward before heading to Broadway.
Auditions for all major roles will be held on May 1st, 2nd and 3rd at the Hawthorne Suites Hotel in Southfield, Michigan, outside of Detroit. Those seeking to audition are being asked to refer to photographs from Franklin s book to resemble the character that they are auditioning for.
Hopefuls will be asked for a non-returnable resume, 8- by-10 photo, and a CD, DVD or videotape to leave with the producers. They should be prepared to sing to either sheet music for piano or pre-recorded music they bring.
Aretha, 10-years-old The gospel years.
Please prepare 3 gospel selections, two slow, one up- tempo.
Aretha, 15 to 20-years-old The late gospel/early R B years. Please prepare both a gospel selection as well as an R B selection.
Aretha, 23 to 29-years-old The foxy R B years. Please prepare an R B selection.
Reverend C.
L. Franklin (Aretha s father) 40 to 50-years-old
Ruth Bowen (Aretha s longtime manager), 23 to 30-years-old, 43 to 50-years old.
LaRue Mann (Aretha s longtime wardrobe mistress), 23 to 30-years-old, 43 to 50-years- old
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday May 1st, 2nd and 3rd From 2 p.
m. until 7 p.m.
daily at the Hawthorne Suites Hotel, 25100 Northwestern Highway, Southfield, Michigan 48075.
Those who cannot show up for the audition in person should send materials to From These Roots c/o Crown Productions P.O.
Box 1070
Michael Jackson was recently the subject of yet another lawsuit but has amicably resolved the matter, according to his spokesperson. Access Hollywood reported that Jackson was being sued by a Beverly Hills pharmacy that claimed he owed more than $100,000 for prescription drugs over the past two years. The pharmacy filed suit last week, alleging that monthly bills went unpaid by the singer.
Since then, Jackson has come up with the money for the payments.
Jackson has been working on his comeback album.
R.
KELLY SETTLES GUARD SHACK SQUABBLE
Singer R. Kelly has dropped his lawsuit in a squabble with local town authorities in Michigan over an unauthorized guard shack on his property. The guardhouse has been torn down and Kelly has agreed to pay the village some $20,000 to cover legal fees in the feud, according to AP.
Robert Kelly wants to be a good neighbor, stated the singer s attorney, John Touhy.
The R B star had mounted a legal challenge against Olympia Fields, claiming that the town of 4,700 residents improperly denied him the right to build a guardhouse outside his mansion. Located some 20 miles south of Chicago, Olympia Fields prohibits the building of guard shacks at individual houses and sued Kelly after the building was constructed without proper permits.
But Kelly had countered that an exception to village code should be made for him because of his status as a nationally known, Grammy Award-winning recording artist.
Village officials say the brouhaha was never personal, and even honored Kelly for his elaborate holiday decorations.
Kelly continues to await trial in Cook County on 14 counts of child pornography.
He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Senator Barack Obama, D-Illinois, has made it official. The charismatic politician has said that he will mount a campaign for President in 2008.
On Tuesday, the 45-year-old junior senator entered the White House race with a video on his website, promising to bring Americans together and change our politics with a campaign that could make him the first African American president in U.S. history.
He has formed a presidential exploratory committee, and plans to make a formal announcement of his plans to run on February 10th in Chicago.
Our leaders in Washington seem incapable of working together in a practical, common sense way. Politics has become so bitter and partisan, so gummed up by money and influence, that we can t tackle the big problems that demand solutions, stated Obama in his video message.
We have to change our politics, and come together around our common interests and concerns as Americans.
Obama is the fifth Democratic candidate to announce a bid for the presidency. Others in the race so far are New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton 2004 vice presidential nominee John Edwards, former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack, Ohio Representative Dennis Kucinich and Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd.
American Idol is back and with it come some really awful auditions, along with some surprisingly solid ones. Last night s (January 16th) season premiere and tonight s (January 17th) follow-up episode feature the best and worst of the lot, with hopefuls giving judges Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, and Randy Jackson their all.
This evening s auditions took place in Seattle, where thousands of people showed up on a rainy September day to try out.
Despite what the show may lead one to think, there are actually quite a number of decent singers in the lot. In a recent phone interview, Idol judge Randy Jackson said this year s competitors are more talented and diverse than ever before: This year, I m telling you, it s really weird, man. We had some of everything, man.
There was, of course, more rock guys because of Chris Daughtry and I think there were a couple of more kind of Taylor Hicks kind of guys. Fortunately for us, every year the show gets more validation because people see that there s great people that have won and gone on to great careers. So, you know, we get a lot more talented people every year, I feel.
The next couple of weeks of Idol cover auditions in other cities.
Idol airs tonight at 8/ 7 central on Fox.
Grey s Anatomy Golden Globe win as Best Drama Series is taking a back seat to more real-life drama between cast members.
This time, it s Katherine Heigl who has a beef with Isaiah Washington for commenting about co- star T.R. Knight at the ceremony s press room.
Here s what happened the entire Grey s Anatomy cast assembled in front of reporters after their big win. One of the first questions asked was about last year s fight between Washington and Patrick Dempsey, in which Washington reportedly called Knight a derogatory word for homosexuals. Before anyone could respond to the question, Washington rushed to the microphone and denied ever using the slur against his co-star.
Heigl s problem with his comment was that he actually did use the slur and Knight s name in the same sentence in his statement.
After they left the press room, Heigl complained that Washington acted inappropriately. She told Access Hollywood, I m going to be really honest right now, he needs to just not speak in public.
Period. That did not need to be said. I m not okay with it.
Washington, meanwhile, made the rounds and said there was no ill will amongst any of the cast members.
Isaiah Washington denies ever insulting T.R.
Knight: No, I did not call T.R. a f****t.
Never happened.
Grey s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes said the original story about the slur was blown out of proportion: I think the best statement is just that things were created in a very odd way by the press that were not necessarily completely reported as true.
Denzel Washington is America s favorite movie star, according to a recent Harris Poll.
The Inside Man and Malcolm X star took the title away from Tom Hanks, who reigned in 2005 and dropped to Number Two. Washington was preferred by Southerners more than any other actor on the list. Number Three went to John Wayne and another movie tough-guy, Clint Eastwood, moved to Number Four.
The Pursuit Of Happyness star Will Smith broke into the Internet survey s Top Ten for the first time ever at Number Five, where he tied with Julia Roberts. Sean Connery and Sandra Bullock, meanwhile, dropped out of the top spots.
The Harris Poll was conducted in December and took into account the opinions of 1,147 adult respondents.
10. Harrison Ford
Classic moments from the hit comedy series The Flip Wilson Show have been compiled by Rhino for the DVD box set, The Best Of The Flip Wilson Show. The three-disc collection will be released on February 27th of just $49.
95
The first two discs in the set compile classic monologues, skits, and performances from the show for the first time on DVD. In addition to its star, the collection features appearances by Ray Charles, Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Albert Brooks, Redd Foxx, Joe Namath, Johnny Cash, Joan Rivers, Phyllis Diller, Tim Conway and others.
The bonus disc includes show intros from Phyllis Diller and Tim Conway, a DVD photo gallery, and an interview with series producer Bob Henry.
Also featured are two NBC animated TV specials from the early 70s starring Wilson s many characters: Clerow Wilson And The Miracle of P.S. 14 and Clerow Wilson s Great Escape.
The first successful network variety show to feature an African American as its star, the groundbreaking Flip Wilson Show premiered on NBC in September 1970 and became the highest-rated variety program on television.
The show s success was due to the ingenuity of its star, comic Flip Wilson, who carried off each show without the help of big production numbers, a house band, a regular cast, or elaborate sets. Instead, Wilson created indelible characters like the unforgettable Geraldine and invited the top tier of special guest stars for skits and performances.
Supermodel Naomi Campbell was in Manhattan Criminal Court yesterday (January 16th) to plead guilty to assaulting her housekeeper. The hot-tempered cat walker admitted that she threw her BlackBerry at maid Ana Scolavino during an argument over a missing pair of jeans last March. Campbell was sentenced to five days of community service for the third-degree assault, was fined $363, and was ordered to attend anger management classes.
Campbell s BlackBerry phone was encased in a crystal cover, and she threw it so hard at the back of Scolavino s head that it made a wound that required four stiches to close. Outside of the courtroom, Campbell s attorney said the injury was accidental and that the British model was sorry to have caused her employee pain.
At least three of Campbell s other former employees have accused her of either physical or mental abuse.
Getting Beyonce to learn enough Spanish to sing the Latin version of her current chart- topper Irreplaceable proved to be a delight for producer/songwriter Rudy Perez, who was hired for the job following his successful stints recording Spanish versions of hits with Christina Aguilera and Il Divo. Perez spoke to Billboard about the challenge:
PEREZ: I have it all written out in phonetics. We read the lyrics together, and I tell her exactly what she s saying.
Even if you don t explain it, she ll ask you because she s very meticulous. So she knows that if the phrase is largate, it means get the hell out of my face. She says it with that same emotion.
I worked hard in trying to find the least amount of troubling words. For example, to the left. How the hell do you say to the left in Spanish?
A la izquierda, a la izquierda? That doesn t fit the music. It s an awkward word, and it didn t make sense.
So I wrote, Ya lo ves, ya lo ves. It s not exactly the same as the English, but it has the emotion and it has the concept of the whole English lyric, but perfectly done in Spanish where a Latin person from Argentina or Costa Rica can understand the story and identify with it. And yet I took some risk.
Imprescindible, sustituirse . . .
these are hard words, but she pulled it off. I m a singer myself. I ll sit there and sing it to her and give her a bunch of little tricks.
Like, Don t think of it as four words separated. Think of this as one word up to here.
Remember: baby hair on a dude is NEVER gangsta or thug.
Above is a picture of CHANCE from I Love New York and his older brother. Both men are competing for the affections of NEW YORK. Something is awry with that whole show.
Also, we told you that WOOD from I Love NY used to be a stripper that went by the name of X-RATED. Well, he allegedly used to be part of a stripper click called Nasty Boyz. Rumor has it, he s still dancing away!
I let you know that JADAKISS was NOT going to be signing to Cash Money , but I also indicated that the D-Block CEO was looking for a new home. Well, rumor has it JADAKISS is getting very very close to doing a venture with Def Jam. From what my ears are saying, this venture would be a co-deal with Ruff Ryders, and D-Block.
This will resemble the NAS/Jones Experience / Sony deal. By the way, Def Jam is reportedly close to announcing the Takeover tour, which will allegedly offer JAY-Z, LUDA, RICK ROSS, NAS, GHOSTFACE, FAB, and maybe JEEZY and JADA.
Well, if you are in tune, you know that LIL FLIP is about to re-enter the rap game after a long hiatus.
I heard that he s going to flood the market with mixtapes at an obnoxious rate to keep himself hot in the streets! I don t know if this is possible, but a mixtape every two weeks? That s crazy!
The debate over whether it was it NE-YO or BEYONCE continues: apparently on Saturday morning, Ne-Yo was on BIG BOY S Neighborhood radio show and BIG BOY asked him how much of Irreplaceable was him and he said all of the lyrics. So then Big said that BEYONCE says she wrote the song for woman out there. So then Big drops the instrumental to the song and NE-YOstarts singing the whole song word by word.
In more Knowles news - rumour is that SOLANGE is now dating LIL WAYNE. Not sure her divorce is final yet but I ll keep you updated.
According to reports, Dreamgirls standout JENNIFER HUDSON appears to be headed for the pages of Vogue magazine.
Gossip columnist LIZ SMITH said J-HUD recently completed the photo shoot with Vogue editor-at-large ANDRE LEON TALLEY, himself, overseeing the entire session. Smith said original Supreme MARY WILSON was also part of Hudson s photo spread, and the two met for the first time during the shoot. Word has it that Hudson s camp called on the fashion expertise of Talley soon after she was announced as a Golden Globe nominee.
SWIZZ BEATZ and MASHONDA, his wife, had a baby shower a few days ago for their newborn in New York! I didn t even know that she was pregnant. See how wack I am?
Anyway, the baby name is KASSEEM DEAN JR. Congrats!
All my NIRVANA fans will be happy at this one.
I m getting word that COURTNEY LOVE has given the big OK for a movie on the late, great KURT COBAIN. The movie is based on Heavier Than Heaven, a book by CHARLES CROSS.
R.
I.P. to ALICE COLTRANE, a great jazz performer and producer.
She was also the wife of the late sax legend JOHN COLTRANE. She was 69.
Game-changing hip-hop impresario KEVIN FEDERLINE is indeed doing a Super Bowl commercial.
It ll be one of those life comes at you fast commercials for Nationwide Insurance. The message is that Nationwide can help you prepare for your future, just in case things don t work out. Previous installments have featured MC HAMMER going broke and FABIO getting too old to be sexy anymore.
Everybody seems to love those videos of PAULA ABDUL acting like a total ZONER in her American Idol interviews. So here s another one. This one is from KDFW.
. . the Fox affiliate in Dallas, Texas.
It s debatable, but you can actually make the case that Paula is close to falling asleep in this one.
There are women in the cast of Desperate Housewives who tend to not to wear bras to work. But you ll never be able to tell by watching the show.
Series creator MARC CHERRY says he drops a ton of coin digitally removing the on-screen proof of their bra-less wardrobes. Cherry says, quote, I spend like $100,000 a week taking nipples out of my show. I ve got a couple of actresses who refuse to wear bras, and the [network] standards and practices go, Can t see that.
KANYE WEST has made two questionable decisions: KANYE has agreed to remix a FALL OUT BOY track, AND FALL OUT BOY will be returning the favor by remixing one of HIS tracks. Kanye is just the second rapper to work on FALL OUT BOY S album. As you may have heard, JAY- Z is already making a guest appearance on Infinity on High.
We ve got news today on MIKE JONES follow-up album to Who Is Mike Jones? The new album will be called The American Dream, and will drop sometime in April.
This can t be good for PUFF DADDY S ego.
After the Golden Globes on Monday night, PUFFY tried to go to an after party at the Sunset Tower Hotel in West Hollywood. But. .
. security WOULDN T let him through. About five minutes later, 61-year- old HELEN MIRREN who won two Golden Globes earlier that night showed up and the same security guards GRACIOUSLY greeted her and escorted her right past PUFFY into the party.
Guess what? The whole thing got captured on video you can see it by clicking here.
TV ONE ANNOUNCES PRODUCTION OF NEW THEATRICAL COMPETITION SERIES “DAVID E.
TALBERT’S BLACKSTAGE”
TV One announced the production of a new theatrical competition series, David E. Talbert’s Blackstage, produced for TV One by Edmonds Entertainment in conjunction with award-winning playwright David Talbert . David E.
Talbert’s Blackstage opens the curtains to the backstage antics, frustrations and triumphs of an all- new touring production of Talbert’s latest play, Love In the Nick of Tyme, From auditions to rehearsals and then on a 20-city, five month U.S. tour playing on the biggest stages in America.
Love in the Nick of Tyme stars Morris Chestnut and R B recording artist Avant and features all-new songs by Vivian Green.
During this real-life theatrical road tour, eight contestants and two alternates five men and five women - selected from regional auditions, will compete for the chance to be understudies in Love in the Nick of Tyme. The winning contestants will also win leading roles in the next David E.
Talbert Presents production and be part of its road tour.
15% OF AMERICAN KIDS, AGES TWO TO FIVE, HAVE CELL PHONES
How young is too young for a kid to have a cell phone? Eight?
Ten? Maybe 12? Apparently, if you ask a decent number of American parents, the answer is ONE.
According to a new study by NPD Group, about 15% of kids ages two to five have cell phones. . .
and use them. Not only that, but kids as young as two know how to download ringtones and games to their cell phones.
And more than 10% of children are downloading content to their cell phones by the time they re seven years old.
62% of 11- to 14-year-olds now have cell phones. . .
and by age 14, more than 50% have downloaded some content onto their phone.
In 1990, At the fifth annual Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony, the Four Seasons, the Four Tops, the Kinks, the Who, Hank Ballard, the Platters, and Simon Garfunkel are inducted.
In 1991, In the first full day of fighting during Desert Storm, Iraq fires 10 scud missiles into Israel.
In 1994, Southern California is rocked by an earthquake measuring 6.7 on the Richter Scale. Sixty- one people die from the natural disaster.
In 1997, the NBA suspended Dennis Rodman indefinitely and fined him $25,000 for kicking a cameraman.
In 1996, at the 11th annual Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony:
• and the Velvet Underground is inducted by Patti Smith.
In 2000, Supernatural by Santana is named Favorite Pop/Rock Album at the American Music Awards.
In 2004, U2 lead singer Bono is saluted by the family of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. for his efforts on behalf of Third World debt relief and AIDS relief for Africa at the 2004 King Center Salute To Greatness awards dinner in Atlanta.
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