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Chambliss unveils his official portrait
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Pulling back the curtain Tuesday evening on his official portrait in Washington, Sen. Saxby Chambliss of Moultrie confessed that as a student he had “never set foot in the library” at the University of Georgia. Now his likeness is destined to go to UGA’s Richard B. Russell Library.
But that won’t happen until 21 years after the Georgia Republican has left office.
Meantime, the portrait will hang in the hearing room of the Senate Agriculture Committee, which he chaired for two years before the Democrats recaptured the majority.
The painting is by a Bulgarian-born Atlanta artist known simply as Rossin. The privately funded project was headed by lobbyists Rob Leebern and Louie Perry, who raised $17,000 from an array of farm and agriculture interests.
The unveiling was — where else? — in the Russell Room of the Senate building named for the legendary Georgia senator.
OVERSCENE
At the grand opening of Straits, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges and chef Chris Yeo’s Juniper Street eatery in Midtown Tuesday night: actress Vivica A. Fox; producer Jermaine Dupri; Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee and the cast of “Battleground Earth,” Luda and Lee’s upcoming Discovery Channel reality show; V-103’s Frank Ski and Ryan Cameron; Atlanta Falcons Ovie Mughelli, David Irons and Jamaal Anderson; Ted’s Montana Grill co-founder George McKerrow Jr. and wife Ginair and CBS 46 “Restaurant Report Card” reporter Adam Murphy.
SICK BAY
CNN founder Ted Turner, one of the Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention’s biggest supporters, was notably absent from Monday night’s festivities featuring the Fonda family at the Woodruff Arts Center. But it wasn’t because Turner’s support for G-CAPP or its founder (and his ex-wife) Jane Fonda is waning. Turner’s rep Phillip Evans tells Buzz the bison baron is recovering from back surgery.
“Ted is recovering well and bouncing back,” Evans explains.
The back ailment is the result of “degenerative problems accumulated over the years.”
And the most entertaining Turner story circulating at the benefit’s cocktail reception?
The Ted’s Montana Grill co-founder allegedly showed up at his downtown eatery recently clad in a hospital gown. In response to our logical follow-up question, the answer is yes, Turner was wearing pants, we’re told.
‘I DO’ ON ‘TODAY’?
Tossing privacy and control of their special day to the wind like a bridal bouquet, an Atlanta couple is battling four others for a free wedding, courtesy of “Today.”
Darnell Suggs and LaDonna Bradford, both engineers, were chosen to be in the final five. They started competing Wednesday morning and each week, someone gets eliminated by public vote. The video they submitted was a spoof on “Today.” Bradford played Meredith Vieira and Suggs played Matt Lauer.
Bradford, 24, said the couple got engaged in Egypt on New Year’s Day.
“We have a no-bounds relationship. There are no limits on what we could do. He’s everything I ever dreamed of,” Bradford said.
Suggs noted: “We inspire each other. She makes me want to go above and beyond for her.”
Suggs said they have a wedding set (budget $5,000 to $10,000) for April 2009. But they’re willing to let NBC and the “Today” show do it for them in Rockefeller Center June 25 if America votes accordingly.
To vote: www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24596237/.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Counterculture icon Wavy Gravy is 72. Country singer K.T. Oslin is 66. Musician Brian Eno is 60. Actor Chazz Palminteri is 56. Actor David Krumholtz (“Numbers”) is 30. Actress Jamie-Lynn Sigler (“The Sopranos”) is 27.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I am complex, contradictory and capable of great intelligence but also remarkable stupidity. In other words, I am a human being. To me, labels are for clothes, not people. So, please don’t try to define me; don’t try to categorize me; and most of all, don’t label me.”
— Al Reynolds in a message posted on his Myspace.com page in response to media reports on the dissolving of his marriage to Star Jones
Contributing: Rodney Ho, Julia Malone and news services
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Fondas in the hot seat at Alliance Theatre
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The evening was billed as “315 Films,” “66 Awards” and “Five Fondas.”
Right: Peter, Jane and Bridget Fonda and Troy Garity appeared at the Alliance Theatre Monday night.
(Jessica McGowan / AJC)
And for film fans and charitable supporters of founder Jane Fonda’s Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention, the 13th annual G-CAPP fund-raiser held at the Woodruff Arts Center Monday night did not disappoint.
A capacity crowd turned out in the Alliance Theatre for a sometimes raucous, occasionally emotional two-hour program highlighted by film clips and a Q&A with the two-time Oscar winner, her brother Peter Fonda, her niece Bridget Fonda and son Troy Garity presided over by Turner Classic Movies host and film historian Robert Osborne.
Boxes of tissues were plentiful for the Fondas as Garity noted the family’s “inherent crying problem.”
Discussing growing up the son of an iconic Hollywood actor, Peter explained that the built-in comparisons only served to “raise the bar” in his own work in films like “Easy Rider.”
“I was picked on because I was Henry Fonda’s son,” Peter told Osborne. “But I learned how to fight and I also learned to run!”
Added Garity wryly: “But being the son of Henry Fonda is nothing compared to being the son of ‘Hanoi Jane.’ But in life, you take licks and ultimately, the positives outweigh the negatives.”
Explained Jane of the work behind her father’s critically acclaimed performances: “He didn’t like to talk about [the process of acting]. He couldn’t articulate it. He didn’t talk a lot. What we got from him, we learned through watching his movies.”
Bridget discussed discovering a passion for painting as a child, watching her “Grandpa Henry” paint watercolors. Of her extended vacation from filmmaking in recent years, the “Single White Female” actress, who’s now a mother and married to film composer Danny Elfman explained to Osborne: “Real life just took over. I have a three-year-old. I miss it sometimes, but I cherish what I have these days.”
Osborne also asked Jane about her own 15-year hiatus from Hollywood, pointing out that when her father “wasn’t doing films, he was doing plays on stage.”
Followed up Fonda: “I was doing [ex-husband] Ted [Turner]!”
Fonda, who’s shot “Monster-in-Law” and “Georgia Rule” in recent years, explained that at age 70, interesting roles don’t flood in.
“They’re all glum. I’d rather write books and hang out in Atlanta.”
The line drew enthusiastic applause from the crowd.
The evening ended with a final film TCM tribute to Henry Fonda narrated by his children and one last question for the iconic exercise queen from a fan in the audience.
Given the renewed interest in fitness, would Fonda, who helped to pioneer the home video fitness craze of the 1980s with “The Jane Fonda Workout” series consider a follow-up?
Cracked Jane: “Well, I could do one for people with new hips. I’m actually thinking of doing one called ‘The Work In.”
OVERSCENE
Spotted at Monday night’s G-CAPP benefit at the Woodruff Arts Center: Former U.N. ambassador and Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young and wife Carolyn; documentary filmmaker Vanessa Vadim; former Georgia Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor and wife Sacha; Atlanta Hawks and Thrashers co-owner and attorney Rutherford Seydel and wife/Captain Planet Foundation chair Laura Turner Seydel, along with Laura’s brothers Rhett and Beau Turner; Watershed chef Scott Peacock; rapper/restaurateur Ludacris and Motley Crue drummer/reality TV star/memoirist Tommy Lee; concert promoter Peter Conlon and actor/director Robert Townsend.
• Photos: Jane Fonda and family at the G-CAPP fundraiser
TIMBERLAKE ON TOP
Thanks to a “ruling” by Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears, there was finally a resolution Tuesday to the long-simmering “Who Do You Know?” radio contest on Q100. Sears visited “The Bert Show” Monday to help the morning show determine the parameters of precisely what defines a “celebrity.” For weeks, the show has taken random calls from the famous who were enlisted by local listeners. In exchange, the winner received $10,000 and the “biggest celebrity” scored a $5,000 check for their favorite charity. On Monday, Sears told Bert Weiss and company that the winner should be a global presence well-known to the station’s core listenership of 20-somethings to folks in their 40s. Among those who called in and thus in the running: Jimmy Carter, Muhammad Ali, Sean Connery, super couple Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner and Justin Timberlake. With a 7-2 vote, Timberlake, Q100 listener (and pal of the pop star) Lindsey Glueckert and Timberlake’s fave charity, the Cambodian Children’s Fund, emerged as the winners Tuesday. So how did Sears end up assisting? She had the misfortune of being seated next to “Bert Show” executive producer Jeff Dauler at a luncheon last week for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the Governor’s Mansion on West Paces Ferry Road.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Movie producer George Lucas is 64. Musician David Byrne (Talking Heads) is 56. Director Robert Zemeckis is 56. Singer Ian Astbury of The Cult is 46. Actress Cate Blanchett (above) is 39. Singer Danny Wood of New Kids on the Block is 39. Director Sofia Coppola (“Lost In Translation”) is 37. Actress Amber Tamblyn (“Joan of Arcadia”) is 25.
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UGA grad gets tough, survives second shot
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
After 16 cycles, CBS’ aging reality show “Survivor” Sunday finally crowned a winner with Atlanta ties: Parvati Shallow.
Known on the show as “Parv,” the 25-year-old won with a mix of smart, strategic play and social skills honed at Sprayberry High School (2000) and the University of Georgia (2004). She’s now running a charity to teach boxing to underprivileged kids in Los Angeles.
This edition of “Survivor” distinguished itself via a series of blindsides and stupid moves. In the end, Shallow beat Amanda Kimmel five votes to three. She swayed the jury, including all the women, with a more straightforward argument why she deserved the $1 million.
“I think those girls appreciated that I played a very aggressive game and I didn’t make any apologizes for the moves I made,” she told Buzz Monday. She thinks the ladies didn’t buy Kimmel’s tears when she chose to nix wily Cirie Fields. And after playing back-to-back “Survivor” games, Kimmel was just emotionally exhausted by that point, Shallow said.
After Shallow came in sixth on “Survivor: Cook Islands,” producers gave her a second shot as part of a group of 10 returning “fan favorites” competing against 10 fans. This time, Shallow decided to play tougher.
She made an alliance early on with Fields and Kimmel, then helped blindside the show’s biggest threat, Ozzy Lusth. She and the other women also guilted doe-eyed Erik Reichenbach into giving up his Immunity Idol last week. “Dumbest move in Idol history!” Shallow said to the cameras as she voted him off.
Shallow, who was in metro Atlanta last Thursday for her sister’s college graduation, watched the second-to-last show with her family and friends in Alpharetta.
She said Micronesia was much harsher than Cook Islands: “It rained all the time. There were bugs, bats, rats everywhere. My legs were full of bug bites. The cameras panned up my legs on Exile Island. It was so gross!” But those battle scars earned her a boatload of cash.
SICK BAY UPDATE
Toni Braxton’s return to the stage on the Las Vegas strip has been pushed back for at least another month.
A spokeswoman for Harrah’s Entertainment says the target date to resume “Toni Braxton: Revealed” at the Flamingo Las Vegas hotel is now June 6.
The part-time Alpharetta resident’s show has been dark since the singer was hospitalized overnight for chest pain on April 7.
The spokeswoman says she can’t comment about Braxton’s medical condition. The 40-year-old entertainer has been treated in the past for pericarditis, a viral inflammation of the heart.
Braxton’s two-year run at the Flamingo Las Vegas is scheduled to end in August.
CELEBRITY DOCKET
Last we reported on Atlanta rapper Baby D, it was about him being in an Ohio jail — without bond — following his arrest for allegedly trafficking cocaine.
Well, he’s still there.
But at least now he sees a bit of daylight.
Baby D rang his mother, who in turn rang us, to let his Atlanta fans know, “I’m cool, cool. Just holding it down until my court date, May 20. Hopefully I can get a bond. … I will be exonerated on all charges.”
(D also has three pending assault charges in Tennessee, according to his Koch Records label).
“It’s just a little misconception,” he said. “We’ll be able to answer to that, and the other one. People just try to make you guilty by association. And it’s all about the facts.”
The member of Atlanta’s Big Oomp camp noted that he’s been reading a lot since he was locked up on March 26. “Sometimes if you disappear for a minute it makes people anticipate you’re coming back. So maybe this is a blessing in disguise.”
D also added that his latest CD, “A-Town Secret Weapon” — released this month — “is doing really well. … My fans stick by me and have stayed loyal.”
FALLON BACK UP ‘LATE’ ON NBC
Former “Saturday Night Live” cast member Jimmy Fallon is succeeding Conan O’Brien as the host of NBC’s “Late Night” sometime next year.
“I’ve been doing a monologue in my living room the last three years and it was embarrassing,” Fallon joked at a news conference.
NBC’s plan is to have O’Brien move west to take over for Jay Leno at the “Tonight” show next year. After a break to refurbish the Rockefeller Center studio where O’Brien now works, the 33-year-old Fallon will take over.
The Fallon transition is being managed by his former “Saturday Night Live” boss, Lorne Michaels.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Actress Bea Arthur is 86. Actor Harvey Keitel is 69. Singer Stevie Wonder is 58. Comedian Stephen Colbert “The Colbert Report”) is 44. Singer Darius Rucker of Hootie and the Blowfish is 42. Drummer Andy Williams of Casting Crowns is 36. Bassist Mickey Madden of Maroon 5 is 29.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
‘Now, he’ll be accused of elder abuse.’
— “View” co-host Joy Behar on Alec Baldwin’s sometimes fractious interview with Morley Safer on “60 Minutes” Sunday after the 76-year-old interviewer used a “judgmental tone” with the “30 Rock” actor while asking about his now-infamous voice mail message to his daughter Ireland in 2006.
Contributing: Rodney Ho, Sonia Murray and news services
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Cee-lo, Shawn Mullins, Arrested Development cameo for charity
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
ABOVE: Josh Rifkind pours his heart into “Pour Some Sugar On Me” during his Songs for Kids charity fundraiser at Smith’s Olde bar featuring 500 acts singing 500 songs over 10 days. ALL PHOTO CREDITS: Rodney Ho/Staff
Josh Rifkind pulled off an incredible feat a year ago, raising money for charity by corralling 500 musical acts to sing the top 500 songs of the rock era over 10 nights at Smith’s Olde Bar.
Well, the 35-year-old musician just did it again.
While last year’s list came from Rolling Stone, this time his Songs for Kids Foundation created its own list of 500 top “sing-a-long” songs of all time.
The list includes obvious classics (“Piano Man,” “Bohemian Rhapsody”) goofy tunes seldom heard live (Musical Youth’s “Pass the Dutchie,” Biz Markie’s “Just a Friend”) and cheese galore (“Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head,” “Escape (Pina Colada)”). Heck, they even threw in an instrumental you can’t really sing along to (“Chariots of Fire.”)
Buzz caught the top 22 on a sold-out Saturday night, featuring appearances by local artists Cee-lo (doing a slowed-down version of his Gnarls Barkley hit “Crazy”), Shawn Mullins (“Imagine”), Angie Aparo (barely needing a poster-sized lyrical cheat sheet for “American Pie”) and Arrested Development (a riveting “Redemption Song”). Earlier in the week, Sister Hazel (“All For You”), Cracker (“Low”) and Drivin’ n’ Cryin’ (“Straight To Hell”) contributed their own songs.
ABOVE: Speech and behind him, spiritual advisor Baba Oje are part of Arrested Development, whose biggest hit from the early ’90s was “Tennessee.” The group did “Redemption Song.”
ABOVE: Atlanta musician Shawn Mullins, best known for his Grammy-nominated 1999 hit “Lullaby,” performed “Imagine.”
ABOVE: Cee-Lo, part of the group Gnarls Barkley, performed his hit “Crazy,” though he admitted to having some vocal problems.
ABOVE: Atlanta musician Angie Aparo (“Spaceship”) emotes during his take of Don McLean’s “American Pie.” Other local bands who hit the stage Saturday night included Heavy Mojo, a reunion of Left Front Tire and Y-O-U.
Singer/producer Butch Walker, who looked like an extra from the film “Boogie Nights” with his spring mustache, sat before a keyboard and did a faithful rendition of the No. 2 song by Night Ranger’s “Sister Christian.”
Butch Walker, former lead singer of Marvelous 3, did the Night Ranger sing-a-long song “Sister Christian.” Love the ‘stache!
Rifkind himself even took a stab at a song he bearlye knew, “Friends in Low Places,” saved by a front row of pretty women who sang along. After Aparo led a supergroup with No. 1 song “Hey Jude,” Rifkind dubbed the experience “awesome.”
ABOVE: Josh Rifkind, with his white binder packed with all the songs and acts for his 10-day marathon, peeks into the crowd while his buddy Wes Hoffman, part of the band the Redcoats, helps out.
Moments after it ended, he said, “I’m so wired, I can do another 500 songs!” Rifkind, who manages The Whigs to pay the bills, added: “I haven’t eaten a full meal in 10 days. I’ve been drinking Shirley Temples to stay awake.”
Rifkin’s foundation brings musicians to hospitals to entertain sick children and raises money for summer camps around town. Check out what he does at www.songsforkidsfoundation.org. and the song list here.
Blass from the past
Designer Peter Som makes his first appearance in Atlanta Tuesday at Saks Fifth Avenue as creative director of the iconic brand Bill Blass. The position is a circle of sorts for Som who worked under the legendary designer after graduating from Parsons School of Design. Fall 2008 represents Som’s first full collection for Blass, and he told Buzz he was excited to continue Mr. Blass’ tradition of personal appearances.
“I know our Southern customers have a very sophisticated look and do love to dress up and look put together. And that really reflects what I’m doing for Blass,” Som said. Som, who also designs an eponymous line, said he is focused on bringing back the spirit of Blass for the woman of today: “It is really about making luxury in a new kind of way. Luxury that has a sense of ease and nonchalance of it.”
Som has brought some of the juxtaposition of colors and textures seen in his own line to his designs at Blass.
At Blass, Som is overseeing a new collection of handbags that he said would follow the same sensibility as the clothing, mixing exotic skins with canvas and playing with proportions. For someone who dreamed of being a designer, it’s all a dream come true.
The hardest thing for this hard-working designer right now is juggling his schedule. Which means, sadly, the only place he’ll likely see during his first visit to Atlanta is a local Starbucks.
“Starbucks is getting a lot more of my money,” he said.
To attend the Bill Blass Trunk Show and meet Som, RSVP 404-812-7320.
Prime time
Nearly 500 revelers flocked to Maxim Prime last week during a “Peach” Atlanta party. The crowd included restaurant owners Jeffrey and Linda Chodorow, Maxim Prime president Dan Smith, former Atlanta Hawk Kevin Willis, “Peach” mag publisher Elizabeth Roth and husband Thomas, local nightclub impresario Pablo Henderson, CBS 46’s Kim Fettig and CNN’s TJ Holmes.
Random bits
“Idol” finalist David Archuleta’s stage dad Jeff was banned from backstage after he convinced his son to include Sean Kingston’s “Beautiful Girls” into a rendition of “Stand By Me” last week, causing problems with the song’s publisher… Hollywood Reporter says Jennie Garth has joined the CW remake of “Beverly Hills 90210” as a guidance counselor. . . Photos are all over the Web showing former Atlantan John Mayer canoodling with Jennifer Aniston.
HIGH FIVE
Star 94 top 5
For the week of May 2-8
“No Air” Jordin Sparks, featuring Chris Brown
“Love Song” Sara Bareilles
“Sorry” Buckcherry
“See You Again” Miley Cyrus
“Feels like Tonight” Daughtry
— Mediabase 24/7
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Composer Burt Bacharach is 80. Comedian George Carlin is 71. Singer Kix Brooks (Brooks and Dunn) is 53. Actor Ving Rhames is 49. Actor Emilio Estevez is 46. Actor Stephen Baldwin is 42. Actress Kim Fields is 39. Actor Jason Biggs is 30.
Contributing: Nedra Rhone, Jennifer Brett, Rodney Ho and news services.
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Usher’s latest ‘Dream’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Usher is such a multi-hyphenate at this moment, it’s almost easy to forget we first got to know him as a singer.
At last count the Atlanta superstar was a husband, a father, an actor, a restaurateur, a fragrance endorser and a part-owner of an NBA team. Now his nonprofit organization New Look has gone into business with Atlanta’s WNBA team, The Dream, so that the kids in the foundation can get hands-on experience in sports management, player development and game-day operations and marketing.
“The Atlanta Dream shares Usher’s commitment to inspiring young men and women to reach their dreams,” Atlanta Dream President and COO Bill Bolen said in a news release. “We are excited to partner with Usher’s New Look Foundation and look forward to the New Look youth participating with us this season.”
“I’m extremely excited about Camp New Look’s partnership with the Atlanta Dream, and look forward to witnessing how this new partnership motivates our young people to even greater heights,” Usher said in the same news release. “We wanted to do something extra special for our students, and I’m happy that the Atlanta Dream has provided an avenue for our young entrepreneurs to attain real life experience.”
TOURS OF THE TIMES
Think those local TV news stories featuring investment property seekers snapping up steals on the courthouse steps as the houses’ former owners protested a few feet away were a severe dose of reality this week? Then you might not be prepared for the first Foreclosure Tour and Learn session set for May 18 at 10 a.m. The bus tour of bank-owned properties will be led by Harry Norman Realtors’ Butch Whitfield and will feature “various price points and quadrants of the city.” For $49 per person (or $65 per couple), you’ll score useful information on foreclosure investing and looksees at the properties. Oh, and lunch is provided.
Or as a co-worker described it Friday: “Come tour the misery of others!”
We rang Whitfield Friday to ask the obvious.
“How would this be perceived as something insensitive?” Whitfield responded. “Somebody’s going to buy these homes. I’m sorry it’s happened. But I sell homes. This is what I do.”
Whitfield says response thus far has been strong and additional tours are being booked for June 8 and June 29.
“It’s also a great way to save on gas,” he pointed out.
If you’d like to book a spot, contact tour coordinator Damon Borozny at damonb@foreclosuretourandlearn.com.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Saturday: Singer Bono of U2 is 48. Rapper Young MC is 41.
Sunday: Comedian Mort Sahl is 81. Singer Eric Burdon (The Animals, War) is 67. Actress Shohreh Aghdashloo (“24”) is 56. Former MTV VJ Martha Quinn is 49. Actress Natasha Richardson is 45. Actor Jonathan Jackson (“Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights,”) is 26.
OVERSCENE
The members of Radiohead sampling salads, risottos, desserts and virgin Bloody Marys at Veni Vidi Vici in Midtown before their show Thursday night at Lakewood. At the band’s gig, R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe and his former bandmate Bill Berry were there. Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke (right) and company, meanwhile, were spotted checking out of the brand new Midtown W hotel Friday.
Members of The Bravery at Bonefish Grill Thursday filming Ovation TV’s upcoming series “Notes on the Road.” The band munched on shrimp, salmon with warm mango salsa, chicken eggrolls and chicken portobello pasta.
Contributing: Rodney Ho, Sonia Murray and news services
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At 104, she’s grieving for bowling beau
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
As soon as we received word of Bill Hargrove’s passing Thursday at Buzz Central, we immediately picked up the phone and rang Rachel Rosen Lehmann, our favorite 104-year-old reader.
As you’ll no doubt recall, Lehmann first called us back in March 2005, after reading about bowler Bill “Tiger” Hargrove, then 102, who had just been featured in the AJC Sports section. Lehmann wanted his digits. We happily obliged. The two ended up getting on so well, Hargrove showed up at the longtime Atlanta Opera volunteer’s 102nd birthday party in June of that year with three long-stemmed red roses. Sporting a jacket and tie, Hargrove gave her a hug and purred in her ear: “I came in here looking for an old lady but I couldn’t find one.”
We took copious notes and the pair ended up on the front page much to the delight of readers.
“Oh, Bill, what a darling sweet man,” Lehmann reflected Thursday. “He was a real Southern gentleman. He would always call me ‘Rachel darlin’ ’ in that accent of his. It was the cutest thing.”
Lehmann told us the two met up from time to time when they could arrange transportation but mostly kept up via phone calls.
Said Lehmann: “He would tell me, ‘When I go to bed at night, I see you in my dreams.’ How can you top that? They aren’t making gentlemen like that anymore.”
Regrettably, Lehmann never had a chance to take Hargrove to her beloved Atlanta Opera. But she did attend his 106th birthday party last year.
“I brought him a big bottle of wine!” Lehmann recalled with a wicked laugh. “I mean, at our age, why not? We always had so much fun together. I just wish we could have started a little earlier. But I’m so happy I got to meet him. And so handsome!”
In tribute to her bowling beau, the Zaban Tower retirement community songbird plans to attend Hargrove’s memorial service Saturday at 2 p.m. at Atlanta’s Grace United Methodist Church.
With three long-stemmed red roses in hand.
A GOSPEL ‘JESUS’
Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber’s production company has tapped Atlanta’s Susan V. Booth to direct the forthcoming gospel version of “Jesus Christ Superstar,” scheduled to run at the Alliance Theatre on Jan. 14-Feb. 22 in 2009.
The Alliance artistic director said she was called to London recently for a sit-down with Webber’s Really Useful Group. “Sir Andrew wasn’t there,” Booth said, “because he was on his way to Las Vegas for ‘American Idol.’ “
Detroit native Louis St. Louis is restaging the classic musical as “Jesus Christ Superstar GOSPEL.” To prepare, Booth said they will be hitting Atlanta’s gospel churches in the coming weeks. She says part of the fun is being able to check out churches “other than Presbyterian,” which is her denomination.
Apparently, the search for a director was quite competitive.
“This is their prime copyright,” Booth said. “This is the first major reconception of the work in a long time and that’s a big deal.”
“It’s very humbling and it’s very challenging, and it’s the greatest thing in the world when you get to do that,” she said of her new assignment.
Booth’s connection to the ’70s rock opera is personal. She says she sang “I Don’t Know How to Love Him” in a sixth-grade talent show.
“I thought it was stunning, but I don’t think everyone else did,” she said. She says she now croons “Everything’s Alright” to her 4-year-old daughter, Moira.
COUPLING
Mariah Carey really did get married to Nick Cannon in the Bahamas last week — and they have the tattoos to prove it.
The 38-year-old singer and the 27-year-old actor confirmed to People magazine, out today, that they tied the knot at Carey’s Bahamian estate April 30 after a courtship that began in late March.
In the interview, Cannon said they clicked instantly when Carey cast him as a lover in the video for her new single, “Bye Bye.”
“From the first time we sat down to discuss the video at the Beverly Hills Hotel, we connected,” Cannon said. “We had so much in common spiritually, and we laugh at the same things. I didn’t have to put on my Mac Daddy suave mode. I was able to be myself with her. We are both eternally 12 years old.”
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
CBS News correspondent Mike Wallace is 90. Actress Candice Bergen is 62. Singer Billy Joel is 59.
HIGH FIVE
Television
The top On Demand programs for the week of May 5, as determined by Comcast customers in metro Atlanta:
1. Lil Wayne, “Lollipop,” music video, Music Choice
2. Shawty Lo, “Dunn, Dunn,” music video, Music Choice
3. Usher, “Love in this Club,” music video, Music Choice
4. Keyshia Cole, “Heaven Sent,” music video, Music Choice
5. “Family Guy,” “Mr. Griffin goes to Washington,” TBS
— Courtesy: Rentrak’s OnDemand Essentials
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“It is a sad day when an icon like Barbara Walters, in the sunset of her life, is reduced to publicly branding herself as an adulterer, humiliating an innocent family with accounts of her illicit affair and speaking negatively against me all for the sake of selling a book. It speaks to her true character.”
Disgruntled former “View” employee Star Jones to US Weekly on ex-boss Barbara Walters’ new memoir, “Audition.”
Contributing: Wendell Brock and news services.
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Girlfriends sit within eyelash of Oprah
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlantans Mara Davis and Amy Leavell Bransford literally have front-row seats for today’s “Oprah Winfrey Show,” recently taped at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas and featuring Tina Turner and Cher.
And since Dave FM midday diva Davis has the BuzzBerry hotline number, we have all the scoop you won’t see on-air on WSB at 4 p.m. Last month, Davis, Leavell Bransford and friends were in Vegas for a girls weekend away when they bumped into “Oprah” audience coordinator Sally Lou Loveman who hooked them up with front-row seats, three chairs down from Oprah BFF Gayle King.
“Honestly, I don’t ever expect to be in a room with that many wigs or hair extensions again!” Davis told Buzz. In addition to the faux follicle-favoring icons on stage, the Caesar’s Colosseum also contained numerous Cher and Tina impersonators invited for the show.
Davis says the taping took several hours as Turner and Cher recorded various renditions of musical performances. When Cher’s headset mike got caught in her wig during “Take Me Home,” she retaped the tune with a handheld mike. And taping temporarily halted when Winfrey lost a false eyelash.
“Cher had to point it out to Oprah,” Davis dished. “Oprah told Cher, ‘Hey, you know who your real friends are when you lose an eyelash!’ Cher was very down to earth but Tina’s a little wacky. She’s very European now.”
On the way out, Leavell Bransford prompted Davis to say something to the departing King.
Explained Davis: “Amy comes from a show biz family [she’s the daughter of Rolling Stones keyboardist Chuck Leavell], but even she was a little starstruck. I yelled to her, ‘Hey Gayle, nice shoes!’ She said, ‘Thank you,’ and kept walking.”
Footnote from Davis: “Gayle was wearing Lucite wedges but not the trampy type of Lucite wedges. These were very stylish.”
MOORE SWABBING FOR TV SWEEPS
Like the rest of the city endlessly intrigued by those radio and TV spots touting WSB anchor Jovita Moore’s sweeps-inspired purse swabbing, we raced home Tuesday night to catch the report on Action News. For the story, Moore swabbed the bottom and handles of her purse, along with 36 other purses at random and sent them to Nelson Laboratories in Salt Lake City for testing. Like most of the women interviewed for the report, Moore conceded that she routinely places her bag on her desk and her kitchen counter. So what did the lab tests reveal?
Well, fecal contamination, for starters, due to placing purses on the floors of restrooms and public sidewalks. Explained Nelson’s Beau Rollins in the report: “It’s like wiping feces on your plate and then eating it.” That’s about when the city collectively put down its dinner fork.
Naturally, after the segment, we had lots of follow-up questions for Moore. And while the anchor was game to talk to the likes of us, her bosses at WSB politely nixed our request.
So we rang Rollins. He told us that the 37 test samples were placed in “general enrichment broths that are a perfect environment for organisms to grow if they’re present.”
In addition to fecal coliforms, staph also was detected in the results.
“It’s really about creating awareness,” Rollins told Buzz. “If you interviewed 100 women, 95 of them would tell you they’ve never washed their purse. It’s just not on people’s radar screens. But it’s really the same as washing your hands.”
A spokesperson for Moore’s purse, meanwhile, told us the embarrassed accessory was in seclusion and not available for comment Wednesday.
DEALS FOR REHAB, SOMMERVILLE
Another day, another major record label move on the Atlanta music scene.
On Tuesday, ajc.com reported that rap duo Rehab has been resurrected as a quintet by original member Danny Boone and has a deal with Universal Republic.
Now there’s news that much-buzzed-about local trumpeter Joey Sommerville has inked a deal with Three Keys Music — a label launched by BET founder Robert Johnson and pianist/businessman Marcus Johnson, and distributed by Koch.
“Joey is a great musician, and he understands the new music business model,” Marcus Johnson said in a news release. “His talent, tremendous work ethic and drive have allowed him to create a truly incredible album.”
Sommerville’s latest CD, “Like You Mean It,” will be released next week, with guest appearances from Wayman Tisdale, Mike Phillips, Marion Meadows and Phil Perry.
On May 15, there will be a CD release party/performance at Sambuca Jazz Cafe, from which Sommerville’s performances have been broadcast live each Thursday on Smooth Jazz 107.5.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Comedian Don Rickles is 82. Singer Toni Tennille is 68. Drummer Alex Van Halen of Van Halen is 55. Actress Melissa Gilbert is 44. Singer Darren Hayes (Savage Garden) is 36. Singer Enrique Iglesias is 33.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Randy, stop. ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ is going to start!”
“American Idol” host and Dunwoody High grad Ryan Seacrest (left) to long-winded judge Randy Jackson during Tuesday night’s live show as the broadcast threatened to creep into the 9 p.m. time slot.
Contributing: Shane Harrison, Sonia Murray and news services
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Atlanta bakers spatula-rich, thanks to TV
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
At last weekend’s Metropolitan Cooking and Entertaining Show at the Cobb Galleria Centre, Breadwinner co-founders Geoff Melkonian and Katie Melkonian discovered that your unconventional kitchen techniques can live forever on Food Network.
Breadwinner
Atlanta Breadwinner bakers Katie and Geoff Melkonian know all about spatulas after Paula Deen’s (center) sons chided Geoff on TV for using his hands to mix ingredients.
The husband-and-wife Atlanta bakers reunited with Food Network “Road Tasted” stars Jamie and Bobby Deen, who featured the family-owned Atlanta business in the first season of their series. As viewers will recall, the Deen boys poked a little fun at Geoff in the episode because he uses his hands to combine ingredients.
Like most Food Network programs, the Atlanta-centric “Road Tasted” episode has been rerun liberally.
Over the weekend, Jamie popped by Breadwinner’s booth to say hello and promptly asked Geoff if he’s “picked up a spatula yet.”
The short answer is yes, thanks to fanatical “Road Tasted” fans who have inundated the Breadwinner offices with spatulas since the segment began airing last year.
The Melkonians also got to meet Jamie and Bobby’s mama, Food Network phenom Paula Deen, and presented her with their latest Breadwinner flavor, Lemon Poppyrazzi.
An appropriate gift since some of Deen’s fans don’t seem to comprehend the concept of “personal space” these days.
FUTURE FOREST IDEA A DESIGN WINNER
A drought-fighting scheme for Atlanta called “The City in the Forest” came up the winner in “City of the Future: A Design and Engineering Challenge,” a national competition hosted by the History Channel. After besting seven local competitors in February, the team — composed of design firms EDAW, BNIM and Praxis3 and environmental engineers Metcalf & Eddy — won the Web competition in which 25,000 votes were cast.
Their proposal, which aims to make Atlanta the city in the trees once again by reviving underground streams, already has some traction, says David Hamilton, a principal at Praxis3. “We’ve briefed Sustainable Atlanta, a mayor-appointed group, and they are interested in doing some of the things we suggested.”
The team plans to use the $5,000 award to produce a Web site about sustainability — after funding a celebration for the group.
MAYER NOT SO DEFT WITH ‘DEFLECTION’
Well, this is disappointing. Former Buckhead boy and Eddie’s Attic performer John Mayer was less than his usual articulate self on the red carpet Monday night in New York. Entering the annual Costume Institute Gala at the Metropolitan Museum, the singer-songwriter was asked about those pictures of him and former “Friends” star Jennifer Aniston in InTouch Weekly.
The poolside pair were the canoodling cover subjects in the current issue of the glossy celebrity weekly that these days chiefly serves to anesthetize us against check-out sticker shock at the Publix. Of the potential romance, Mayer told “Extra”: “I don’t mean to deny it, but sort of deflect it. You have the photograph. You think it’s Photoshopped?”
‘PRAYING’ FOR CYRUS
Maligned Mouse House employee Miley Cyrus bravely soldiered on through a taping of the Disney Channel Games concert over the weekend in Orlando. The teen pop star spawn of Billy Ray Cyrus, however, dodged any direct media questions about that controversial skin-baring Annie Leibovitz photo spread in the June issue of Vanity Fair. Onstage, she referenced the ongoing media dust-up between her and Leibovitz, telling fans: “I saw a sign back there that said, ‘Miley, I’m praying for you.’ I could not be more appreciative. God bless you.”
Oddly, Cyrus not only signed off on the tarted-up photo, her father was on the set at the time it was taken.
But we’ll admit it — when the June Vanity Fair arrived at Buzz Central Tuesday, we licked our lips lasciviously. After all, the issue does contain juicy excerpts from Barbara Walters’ dishy new memoir, detailing the nasty skirmishes with her former ABC News co-anchor, Harry Reasoner.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Singer Jimmy Ruffin is 69. Actress Robin Strasser (“One Life to Live”) is 63. Singer Thelma Houston is 62. News correspondent Tim Russert (“Meet the Press”) is 58. Actor Michael E. Knight (“All My Children”) is 49. Actress Traci Lords is 39. Actor Breckin Meyer (“Road Trip”) is 34.
COUPLING
Scarlett Johansson and her boyfriend, Ryan Reynolds, are engaged.
The 23-year-old actress and the 31-year-old actor have not set a wedding date, Johansson’s publicist, Marcel Pariseau, said.
Johansson’s recent credits include “The Other Boleyn Girl” and “The Nanny Diaries.” Reynolds recently starred in “Definitely, Maybe.” He was previously engaged to Alanis Morissette.
Contributing: Catherine Fox and news services.
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Atlanta magazine scores upset in Big Apple
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The staffers at Atlanta magazine had a prestigious parcel to liberate from its bubble wrap Monday: The 47-year-old city mag’s first Ellie Award.
Last week, Atlanta editor in chief Rebecca Burns and deputy editor Paige Williams were stunned when Williams’ piece, “You Have Thousands of Angels Around You,” beat out The New Yorker, GQ, Vanity Fair and New York magazine to net the Feature Writing prize at the National Magazine Awards.
Steve Friedman
Atlanta magazine’s editor in chief, Rebecca Burns, receives an Ellie Award from former Harper’s editor Lewis Lapham. Atlanta won for deputy editor Paige Williams’ article on a teen immigrant.
The piece originally ran in Atlanta’s highly acclaimed “International Issue” last October and details the harrowing plight of Atlantan Cynthia Siyomvo, a refugee from Burundi.
The win, at New York’s Jazz at Lincoln Center, became the first big upset of the evening (Atlanta mag staffers joked that they were clearly the “Little Miss Sunshine” of this year’s Ellies).
Of her acceptance speech, Burns told Buzz Monday: “Apparently, it went well. I just remember weeping on [presenter and legendary Harper’s editor] Lewis Lapham. Afterward, people complimented me so I must have said something. I don’t really remember. I didn’t write an acceptance speech because I didn’t want to jinx it. Plus, when you’re up against The New Yorker and Vanity Fair, you don’t expect to win!”
Here’s what the American Society of Magazine Editors judges said about Atlanta’s winning narrative:
“Without a trace of false sentimentality, Paige Williams tells the stop-you-in-your-tracks tale of a teenager who survived a war, lost her entire family, fled two continents and wound up in Atlanta, where she is helped in her claim on a bright future by an unlikely network of ‘angels,’ including a middle class family and an indefatigable immigration attorney who plucks her case from obscurity.”
Or as Burns more succinctly put it Monday:
“I cried when I read the first draft and I cried when I read the 25th draft. I mean, close-the-door, head-on-your-desk bawling.”
New York media and celeb Web site gawker.com immediately blogged about Atlanta’s surprise win. And after lugging the prize — an Alexander Calder elephant sculpture — off stage, Burns wondered how she would get the abstract award home.
“I knew we would never get it through airport security,” Burns recalled. “They told us, ‘It’s never really been an issue since the winner is always based in New York.’ “
That’s where UPS came in handy. On Monday, the award rested next to the numerous bouquets of congratulatory flowers.
“It looks like a funeral home in here today,” cracked Burns, who added that she bought the classic black cocktail she wore to the awards at Rag-O-Rama for a thrifty $14.
If you didn’t read “You Have Thousands of Angels Around You” last fall, you may find the piece in its entirety at atlantamagazine.com.
WEST HITS GWINNETT
Hip-hop phenom Kanye West finally brought his live show to his metro Atlanta fans Sunday night, and while his “Glow in the Dark” tour may feel a little past his latest CD’s expiration date, his concert was something light years from now.
Whatever epoch his visually arresting stage show was set in, apparently it was not a time when anyone other than West needed to be on the Gwinnett Arena stage — as his incredible band was set just underneath him in an orchestra pit, and in all black.
Apparently it was also not a time where any other recording artists should make an appearance with him — as the only person who joined West was opening act, rapper Lupe Fiasco, on one of the closing tunes, “Touch the Sky.” And apparently it was not a place much on patter, either — as the only time West seemed to kind of acknowledge where he was was when he changed the chorus of “Good Life”: “The good life — it feel[s] like A-Town/it feel[s] like A-Town/it feel[s] like A-Town!”
The capacity crowd, however, had no problem acknowledging West. It remained on its feet almost the entire concert as the 10-time Grammy winner gave what felt like a breathless, almost athletic 90-minute performance.
And even with the lights lowered it was hard not to spot the numerous stars in the audience from the worlds of music (Chris Brown, Bow Wow, Musiq, Scar, Quincy Jones, Jermaine Dupri, Chaka Zulu), TV (Kenny Burns, Ryan Glover) and sports (Jamal Anderson).
The dynamic West more than made up for the lack of energy in Rihanna’s 30-minute-plus set, which the audience mostly stood and watched like it was a fashion show. And to her credit, the singer — in fishnet stockings and a tight, black, short, leather one-piece with hot pink piping — was certainly fashionable.
DNA DOESN’T LIE
Former CNN-er turned Atlanta blogger Art Harris has The Associated Press and “Entertainment Tonight” eating his dust after he broke news on his Web site: Peter Shahid, an attorney for James Brown II’s guardian, confirms to the AP Harris’ report that the boy is the late singer’s son.
Brown II is the son of Tomi Rae Hynie, a former backup singer for the Godfather of Soul.
The results of a second, court-ordered test have not been released.
Trustees handling Brown’s estate have suggested Hynie was not legally married to Brown and her boy is not his son. They were not mentioned in Brown’s will.
A call to a spokesman for Hynie and a message left for Brown’s trustees were not immediately returned.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Singer Bob Seger is 63. Actor Alan Dale (“Ugly Betty”) is 61. Actor Ben Masters (“Passions”) is 61. Host Tom Bergeron (“Dancing with the Stars”) is 53. Actress Roma Downey (“Touched by an Angel”) is 48. Actor George Clooney is 47.
OVERSCENE
Harold Dieterele, the season one winner of Bravo’s “Top Chef,” enjoying lunch with current contestant Richard Blais at the Atlanta chef’s current restaurant, Home in Buckhead.
Actress Laura Dern shopping at REI. We hear Dern is in town shooting a film.
Contributing: Sonia Murray and news services
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Funny how Seinfeld is worth $77 to many
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Not many standup comics can get away with charging up to $77 for tickets. But Jerry Seinfeld can. The king of observational humor sold out two gut-busting shows at the Fox Theatre on Friday night.
How funny was he 10 years after his seminal sitcom “Seinfeld” ended? Weakened by laughter, Buzz at times had trouble jotting notes.
Seinfeld vented faux outrage over everything from pointless cliches people utter (“How about this weather? Do you think it’ll last?”), those strips of news below the talking heads on CNN and Fox News (“Don’t they know the reason people are watching TV is so they don’t have to read?”) to the utter ubiquity of Starbucks.
“I know people who stop by for a latte on their way to a Starbucks!” he said. Time seems to have stood still for Seinfeld. At age 54, he looks fit, relaxed and 15 years younger than his age.
And though he makes references to iPhones and Ebay, he hasn’t changed an iota stylistically from those bits you see in the early episodes of “Seinfeld” in syndication. The difference now is he’s a happily married gazillionaire with three children. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
MySpace song gets him pro gig
Atlanta’s own Home Depot has generated plenty of Olympic athletes and proudly publicizes them. But for a change of pace, Home Depot now employs the new lead singer for the band Boston.
One day, Tommy DeCarlo was a credit manager at a Charlotte Home Depot. Now he’s prepping to sing “Don’t Look Back” and “More Than a Feeling” on a North American tour, including a stop at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Alpharetta on Aug. 17. “Holy cow! I’m just thrilled!” 43-year-old DeCarlo told Buzz. “I’ve never been in a band before.”
After lead singer Brad Delp committed suicide last year, DeCarlo posted a tribute song on his MySpace page. Some fans heard it and encouraged him to contact Boston. He eventually reached Boston founder Tom Scholz. “I was wicked nervous,” he said when Scholz first talked to him.
For years, DeCarlo said friends thought he sounded like Delp. Scholz agreed. After DeCarlo did an audition and live tribute show, Scholz awarded him the job as lead singer. DeCarlo’s now on leave from Home Depot.
“When articles about me ended up in the papers, my coworkers came up to me and wanted me to sign them,” he mused. “That was bizarre!”
PHOTO CREDIT: RODNEY HO/Staff
TV actor crashes in Road Atlanta race
Ian Ziering (above) crashed his Mazda in his first Road Atlanta race as a pro driver Saturday, emerging physically unscathed but a bit bruised in the ego.
“I’m disappointed to say the least,” said Ziering, best known in pop culture circles as Steve Sanders from “Beverly Hills 90210” and a 2007 fourth-place finisher in “Dancing With the Stars.”
Braselton’s Road Atlanta over its 38 years has been host to a number of celebrities including Lorenzo Lamas, Craig T. Nelson, Bruce Jenner, Crystal Bernard and the only big name who has won a major race there, the esteemed Paul Newman.
Ziering — who started in last place among 31 drivers after qualifying rounds, lagged behind the others throughout the race — getting lapped twice by the eventual winner on the 2.5 mile course. Then near the end, he lost control of the vehicle at a turn, slid out and hit a tire wall, forcing the race to end early.
But he’s not discouraged. “This is spurring me on to do better,” he told Buzz. “I have seven more races. I just need more seat time.” He even whipped out his phone and took photos of the car damage for posterity. (see below)
Overscene
Though they lost Game 7 Sunday in Boston, the Atlanta Hawks captured the imaginations of starved local basketball fans by winning Game 6 Friday night against the Boston Celtics, and several celebs at Philips Arena cheered them on. Among them: local R&B stars Jermaine Dupri, Ciara and T-Boz and former Falcons DeAngelo Hall and Alge Crumpler.
Next ‘Bachelorette’ is Newnan woman
Remember DeAnna Pappas? She’s the adorably cute Newnan real estate agent jilted by “Bachelor” Brad Womack during the finale last November. In fact, Womack didn’t pick anybody. There was much outrage and sympathy for Pappas in “Bachelor” land. ABC rewarded her with her own show. Her run as “The Bachelorette” is ready to debut May 19. An ABC news release notes that she’ll have a date at Dodger Stadium to meet Tommy Lasorda, a concert with Natasha Bedingfield and a visit to “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.”
HIGH FIVE
Hot 107.9
Covering April 24 to 30
Lil Wayne “Lollipop”
Usher “Love in This Club”
V.I.C. “Get Silly”
Shawty Lo “Foolish”
Rick Ross “Boss”
— Mediabase 24/7
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Comedian-actor Michael Palin (Monty Python) is 65. Newsman Brian Williams is 49. Actress Tina Yothers (“Family Ties”) is 35. Singer Craig David is 27. Singer Chris Brown is 19.
