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Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2006 > March
March 2006
Houston, drug claims back in tabs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Whitney Houston is once again the subject of speculation after stories in UK tabloid The Sun and the stateside scandal tab National Enquirer reported the Alpharetta-dwelling diva is back on drugs. Both published a photo they say is of Houston’s bathroom filled with drug paraphernalia. The papers say the photo was provided by Tina Brown, sister of Houston’s husband, Bobby Brown.
On Thursday afternoon, CNN reporter Denise Quan rang our newsroom looking for leads.
Buzz dutifully rang Houston’s Atlanta attorney Mark Trigg and Brown’s Atlanta attorney Phaedra Parks, seeking comment. Promptly returning our voice mail message, Trigg told us he was in a meeting with Houston when we called. “The official position is no comment at this juncture,” Trigg said. Parks didn’t get back to us before press time.
Overscene
Dreamworks studio honcho Jeffrey Katzenberg, “Over the Hedge” director Tim Johnson and actress/comic Wanda Sykes taking in a behind-the-scenes, private tour of the Georgia Aquarium downtown Wednesday, prior to unveiling a “work-in-progress” print of the animated feature for the press at Atlantic Station. The film is due out May 19. In the flick, Sykes voices a skunk named Stella. We’re told that Sykes graciously declined donning a wetsuit to take a swim with the whale sharks during the tour. Katzenberg had requested the field trip after seeing the aquarium review in last week’s New York Times. While the trio was on a tight schedule (they arrived in town at 2:30 p.m. and jetted out around 8 p.m.), the aquarium stop was a priority for the film mogul. … Singer Lalah Hathaway at downtown’s new soul food spot, the Harlem Bar, after her performance at the Atlanta Civic Center with Mint Condition … Rapper Bubba Sparxxx polishing off steak and eggs at Thumbs Up on Edgewood Avenue the morning after Antwan “Big Boi” Patton threw him a CD release party … Our old pal Shannon Gray reports that the Royal International Social Club on Trinity Avenue downtown was the gathering place for attendees after the “ATL” premiere at Atlantic Station on Tuesday night. A-listers included film and record producer Dallas Austin, comic and actor Chris Tucker, tennis pro Serena Williams and performers Young Jeezy, Joi and Too Short.
Britney’s bodyguards: Pay me one more time
Let’s hope these aren’t the same high-beam happy, flashlight-armed bruisers that were on duty early Sunday morning in the VIP section at Vision nightclub in Midtown. Three men hired to guard Britney Spears are suing her, claiming they worked long hours and were not paid overtime.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, names three companies — Britney Brands Inc., Britney Touring Inc. and Team Tours Inc. — as responsible for not properly compensating former bodyguards Lonnie Jones, Randy Jones and Silas Dukes.
Together, the three men are seeking damages exceeding $25,000 for unpaid wages and benefits, says their lawyer, Daniel Emilio.
Messages left at the office of the 24-year-old pop singer’s publicist, Leslie Sloane Zelnik, weren’t immediately returned.
Randy Jones and Dukes worked 12- to 16-hour shifts and were required to be on call 24 hours a day during trips with Spears, according to the lawsuit. Lonnie Jones worked 12-hour shifts, the lawsuit said.
The trio claimed they were only paid a “straight salary,” missed meals and didn’t receive overtime pay.
There was no immediate word on whether the guards were reimbursed for their expensed flashlight batteries.
Celebrity docket
Anger management flunkee Naomi Campbell was charged with second-degree assault Thursday after allegedly clocking her housekeeper in the head with a phone during an argument in Campbell’s Park Avenue apartment Thursday, according to New York police.
The 35-year-old British-born supermodel was taken into custody shortly after police went to Lenox Hill Hospital to investigate the reported assault, police said.
Campbell was charged after questioning at the Midtown North Precinct.
According to police, Campbell’s 41-year-old housekeeper received four stitches to the head. When investigating officers arrived at the hospital, the alleged victim, who wasn’t identified, said Campbell had attacked her.
The incident allegedly happened around 8 a.m. in Campbell’s tony Park Avenue apartment.
In a statement, a Campbell spokesman said the supermodel wasn’t responsible for any assault.
“We believe this is a case of retaliation, because Naomi had fired her housekeeper earlier this morning,” said the statement from J.R. Johnson. “We are confident the courts will see it the same way.”
In 2003, Campbell was sued by a former administrative assistant who alleged that Campbell had thrown a phone at her during a tantrum two years earlier.
Campbell pleaded guilty in Toronto to an assault charge for beating another assistant while making a film in Canada in 1998.
Celebrity birthdays
Actor William Daniels (“St. Elsewhere”) is 79. Actor Richard Chamberlain is 72. Musician Herb Alpert is 71. Actor Christopher Walken is 63. Actress Rhea Perlman (“Cheers”) is 58. Guitarist Angus Young of AC/DC is 51. Actor Ewan McGregor is 35.
Contributing: Sonia Murray, news services. If you have a tip, 404-526-2749. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Keeping track of the Matts
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
With “We Are … Marshall” set to begin filming here, Buzz readers can prepare for lots of celebrity sightings in coming weeks of the film’s stars, “Failure to Launch” actor Matthew McConaughey and “Lost” actor Matthew Fox.
For example, McConaughey and a guest were spotted lunching at a packed Buckhead Diner Wednesday. We’re told that chef Joey Riley, after hearing that the Texan had a “hankering’” for tuna, delivered a special appetizer to the VIP.
McConaughey and pal also noshed on a burger and shrimp salad before ducking out to their car. A report into Buzz Central indicated that “other guests in the restaurant were respectful, if a little starstruck. In fact, some ladies sitting near peeked around the actor’s booth and said a shy ‘hello.’ ”
Upon his exit, McConaughey shook the hand of general manager Shannon Dye, thanked him for his hospitality and promised he’d return.
Belle on Broadway
The first lines spoken by ex-Smyrna gal Julia Roberts in her Broadway debut were drowned out by applause at an eagerly awaited preview of “Three Days of Rain.”
The play, which started previews Tuesday and opens April 19 at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, is Roberts’ first major project since the birth of her 16-month-old twins, Phinnaeus and Hazel.
A prop tomato fell onto the floor during the preview, making a noise that prompted laughter from the actress, the New York Post reported Wednesday.
Appearing in Richard Greenberg’s 1997 Pulitzer Prize nominee, Roberts plays a woman unraveling the truth behind her father’s death and in the second act plays the woman’s mother. Roberts co-stars with Paul Rudd and Bradley Cooper.
Music heavyweights light up Atlantic Station
The searchlights and the drama swirled on the red carpet Tuesday night at Atlantic Station as the stars of the new Chris Robinson-directed “ATL” gathered at the Regal Cinema for the film’s Atlanta premiere.
The comedy-drama, set and shot here, is loosely based on the childhoods of record producer Dallas Austin and TLC member Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins. The film’s star is Atlanta rapper and actor Tip “T.I.” Harris. And it was obvious from the start that the rapper, whose latest album, “King,” also made its debut Tuesday, was the reason most of the thousands of fans were screaming and pressing against the police barricades.
“I can’t tell you how thrilled I am that this night is finally here,” Watkins told Buzz. She serves as an executive producer on the film with her old skating pal Austin. Looking luminous in a shimmering gown as photographers snapped away, Watkins could have been mistaken for one of the film’s actresses. “It’s been a long 12 years. But it was worth it.”
OutKast member Antwan “Big Boi” Patton also had trouble getting down the carpet as fans and reporters screamed “Big Boi!” to him. Patton, who also stars with rap partner André Benjamin in the upcoming “Idlewild,” is enjoying his new career as an actor. In “ATL,” he plays a gun-toting drug dealer. “It was fun getting to play the villain,” he said.
The Buzz faux pas of the evening occurred when actor Mykelti Williamson, who plays the role of Uncle George in the flick, arrived. We flat out didn’t recognize the actor from the film that we caught at a press screening last week. So we stuck out our hand, introduced ourselves and told him: “Sorry, sir, didn’t catch your name.” Pulling his hand away, Williamson replied: “Well, if you don’t know who I am there’s no reason to do an interview” and walked off. Mind you, Williamson’s last major role was playing Bubba in “Forrest Gump,” which was released in 1994. Since then, Williamson has kept busy filming guest shots on “Third Watch,” “Touched By an Angel” and “Monk.”
Buzz felt a bit better when media reps from the far-cooler hip-hop mag Grip also had no clue who the star-tripping thespian was.
Dallas Austin could have given Williamson a few etiquette lessons. The always gracious Atlanta music mogul told us he’s grateful to finally have this piece of his childhood captured on celluloid. “I honestly never thought this night would come,” he said. “There were a lot of hills to climb, but it’s finally done, and it was important to me to have it done here in Atlanta, where it belongs.”
When T.I. finally appeared, the Atlanta rapper nearly missed the red carpet throng when his limo overshot it. After satisfying screaming fans who were waving “King” posters and posing for pictures, Harris dove into the media frenzy.
“Today’s been completely great,” he told us, smiling. “Between the album and this film, it feels like years of a lot of hard work is finally paying off.”
Other celebs spotted strolling on the red carpet: Atlanta Falcon Michael Vick, Jazzy Pha, V103 morning man Frank Ski and hip-hop stars Trey Songz and Young Jeezy.
Celebrity birthdays
Actor Warren Beatty is 69. Musician Eric Clapton is 61. Actor Robbie Coltrane (“Harry Potter”) is 56. Actor Paul Reiser is 49. Singer Tracy Chapman is 42. Singer Celine Dion is 38. Singer Norah Jones is 27.
Contributing: News services.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Francine Reed gushes over Al Green gig
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Without a doubt, Atlanta vocalist Francine Reed is one of the most confident, self-assured singers we’ve ever encountered on this beat.
After all, Reed once opened for jazz legend Miles Davis, and afterward the notorious perfectionist poked his head into her dressing room to tell her, “You were great.” The woman sang “The Lord’s Prayer” solo and a cappella at Lyle Lovett and Julia Roberts’ 1993 wedding.
Only once have we seen the beloved performer completely and utterly star-struck to the point of shrieking. But in 2000, when the Rev. Al Green stepped into Chapter 11 Books at Ansley Mall in Midtown to sign copies of his autobiography “Take Me to the River,” Reed lost it to the point of us speculating that she might not remain vertical.
Atlanta, prepare the smelling salts.
Last week, Reed received a phone call from Atlanta Bureau of Cultural Affairs director Camille Love. Might she be interested in opening for the Rev. Al on April 29 at his Chastain Park Amphitheatre gig as part of the city’s Soulful Sounds of Summer concert series?
“Baby, you could have scraped me off the ceiling!” Reed, laughing, told Buzz Tuesday. For the first time in a week, the ever-busy performer finally found a moment to “take off my wig and put my [posterior] on the couch.” And, well, talk to us.
“I cannot wait,” she said of the gig. “I’m just secretly hoping that he remembers that a million years ago, sometime in the late ’80s, he gave me a big old kiss at the Grammys.” Reed performed on the telecast as the featured vocalist in Lovett’s Large Band.
Last year, for the first time in at least 15 years — because of a prior European solo tour booking — Reed was unable to perform with her bandmates when Lovett and company made their annual summer stop at Chastain.
“That just about killed me, not to sing for y’all,” she recalled. “But this year, I’m gonna come back to Chastain in a big way. And I’m gonna be all over that man’s dressing room door until they make me move, too!”
Tickets, priced at $48.50, $38.50 and $33.50, go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday at all Ticketmaster locations. For more info, visit www.atlantafestival.com.
Overscene
Finally, we can quit inspecting those weekend pictures of Britney Spears at Vision nightclub, analyzing them for baby “bumps.” Well, unless she’s contemplating adding fetal alcohol syndrome to her baby’s DNA coding, that is. Buzz Central on Tuesday was e-mailed the cocktail menu of the artist formerly known as a “toxic” pop tart. When she and hubby Kevin Federline checked out B.E.D. downtown prior to K-Fed’s long-awaited debut as a professional nightclub attendee Saturday night, she ordered up a Red Head in Bed. The concoction of muddled strawberries, fresh lemon juice and Absolut citron, topped with Robert Mondavi muscato, came with a request by K-Fed — keep it on the weak side. Federline ordered a cocktail with an even more suggestive name and snacks, including a phyllo-wrapped baked brie, smoked shrimp, cheddar grits and jumbo lump crab ravioli.
FYI to our fellow AJC toilers who recently have had difficulty gaining entry to our new neighborhood hot spot on Marietta Street: B.E.D.’s persnickety dress code has now apparently been amended to include sideways ball caps and white tank top undershirts. See you after work!
Sick bay update
“The View” co-host Star Jones Reynolds says reports of her plastic surgery perils were greatly exaggerated.
Jones Reynolds called in to her daytime talk show workplace Monday to discuss her breast-lift surgery and to dispute what another host, Meredith Vieira, described as “rumors circulating that she almost died.”
“How are you, Star?” Vieira asked her in the on-air conversation.
“Well, can we first start with … I did not almost die,” Jones Reynolds replied. “I mean there is nothing worse than sitting in a bed watching a scroll across the TV that says ‘Star Jones faces death.’ … [The doctors] all knew that I was anemic and just in case I ended up needing some blood, which I did, they were prepared. They gave me the blood and literally I was fine right afterwards.”
Jones Reynolds added that she was conscious during the transfusion. Jones Reynolds said the surgery included receiving implants.
Oh yeah, and before she hung up, the author of “Shine: A Physical, Emotional & Spiritual Journey to Finding Love” called co-worker Joy Behar the name of a female dog.
Celebrity birthdays
Host John McLaughlin (“The McLaughlin Group”) is 79. Comedian Eric Idle is 63. Composer Vangelis (“Chariots of Fire”) is 63. Singer Perry Farrell of Porno for Pyros and Jane’s Addiction is 47. Model Elle Macpherson is 43. Singer-harmonica player John Popper of Blues Traveler is 39. Actress Lucy Lawless (“Xena: Warrior Princess”) is 38. Country singer Brady Seals is 37.
Contributing: news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Football heroes needed for inspirational movie
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
If you have “extensive football experience” and don’t mind being bossed around by the likes of “Failure to Launch” actor Matthew McConaughey and “Lost” actor Matthew Fox later this spring on a local gridiron, you’ll want to head out to the Hilton near Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport today.
The feel-good football flick “We Are … Marshall” will be shooting here with the stars beginning April 24. Producers are looking for convincing footballers between the ages of 18 and 30 for paid roles in the big-screen sports movie.
The film chronicles the 1970 plane crash that took the lives of Marshall University’s Thundering Herd football team and coaching staff and “the school’s valiant attempts to rebuild its gridiron program.” Fox plays the West Virginia school’s new coach, and McConaughey will portray the program’s only surviving coach, who fatefully didn’t board the plane. “Good Night, and Good Luck” best-actor nominee David Strathairn also has been cast in the film. “Charlie’s Angels” director McG will helm the project, which begins shooting in Huntington, W.Va., in early April before heading here.
Mark Ellis, a veteran casting director for sports movies (“The Longest Yard,” “The Rookie”), will be surveying the talent from 2 to 7 p.m. today at the Hilton Atlanta Airport hotel, 1031 Virginia Ave.
Buzz has been informed that interested players should not be seeking NCAA eligibility, as filming will no doubt get in the way of your plans.
For more info: www.reelsports.net or 770-323-0083.
The so-called VIP view
Moments after Britney Spears turned up as a ringleted platinum blonde in a slinky red dress on hubby Kevin Federline’s arm inside the VIP section early Sunday morning at Vision nightclub in Midtown, the space was no longer, well … Very Important. Rubberneckers (Buzz included) were wedged so tightly in the area that using one’s arms became a chore.
Dressed in a strategically angled white Braves cap, trademark white tank top undergarment and with a two-day scruff on his face, Federline, who now makes a living as a rentable nightclub guest, and wife arrived at the packed club around 12:45 a.m.
The couple was quickly hustled to a velvet-roped-off table and black couches, where a very large stern man in a suit loomed.
At the table, decanters filled with premium Belvedere vodka and Patron tequila, an ice bucket, plastic cups and a black plastic ashtray awaited the twosome.
Disputing the current screaming US Weekly “BRITNEY MOVES OUT!” headline, the couple gyrated together as Q100’s Jeff Dauler instructed the thousands of people on the dance floor to “Make some noise for K-Fed!” The DJ complied with an odd rendition of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean,” which he attempted to scratch over with rhythmically uneven results.
The cigarette-accessorized Federline told the crowd: “We want to stay all [expletive] night long!” The large diamonds in both of his ears threatened to blind the crowd. Sighted or not, K-Fed’s dedication to his new workplace elicited a huge cheer from club-goers.
A few feet away, legitimate pop star Usher danced with friends in the VIP section with a glass of champagne. Earlier, the Alpharetta resident shared his digits with Federline, who promptly inserted them into his cellphone.
Perhaps the most uncomfortable moment arrived when the DJ mixed in a few bars from Spears ex Justin Timberlake’s “Rock Your Body.”
Scantily clad female admirers who hovered a little too close, hoping to catch Federline’s eye, were greeted with a sudden halogen-penlight flash to the retinas by security who asked them to please step back.
Rapper Nelly was also spotted in the crowd.
A little over an hour after their arrival, Spears, Federline and all the paparazzi hoopla ducked out of Vision.
As the city recovers today from its embarrassing obsession with a D-lister who’ll be lucky if his contribution to the arts someday merits a trivia card question in Trivial Pursuit — The Millennial Infancy Edition, we can depend on one person for perspective. When Buzz asked Vision co-owner Michael Gidewon how he would rank the event compared with other celeb-studded events in the club’s history, Gidewon told us: “This is probably just in the top 10.”
Angels come to Buckhead
From birdbaths to desserts, angels hovered over the 21st annual Candlelight Ball on Saturday night at the Grand Hyatt Atlanta in Buckhead. The Angel in the Garden black-tie gala raised $200,000 for the Childhood Autism Diagnostic and Educational Foundation. For the live auction, autistic children from the Model Classroom program — housed at North Cobb Christian School in Kennesaw — decorated a colorful birdbath with an angel mosaic. It sold for $1,250.
The hotel also got into the spirit by providing a white chocolate cherub that floated atop each serving of spiced pear chocolate cheesecake. Trish Chapman chaired this year’s ball and her mother, Georgia Broderick, was the co-chair. Of her mother, Chapman said, “Mom was wonderful. She just told me what to do!”
Celebrity birthdays
Country singer Reba McEntire is 51. Rapper Cheryl “Salt” James of Salt-N-Pepa is 37. Actor Vince Vaughn is 36. Actress Julia Stiles is 25.
Contributing: Marylin Johnson and news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Britney, hubby inspire media frenzy at Vision
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Yes, that platinum ringleted blonde in the slinky red dress on Kevin Federline’s arm inside the VIP section early Sunday morning at Vision nightclub in Midtown was none other than Britney Spears.
The couple appeared at the club to celebrate Federline’s birthday. Dressed in a strategically angled white Braves cap and trademark white tanktop undergarment and two-day scruff on his face, Federline, who apparently now makes a living as rentable nightclub guest, and Spears arrived at the packed club around 12:45.
On the red carpet outside the club, a unusual mix of legit press and tabloid shutterbugs, freshly imported for the evening, snapped away. The couple was quickly hustled inside to a velvet-roped-off table and black couches, where a very large stern man in a suit loomed.
At the table, decanters filed with premium Belvedere vodka and Patron tequila, an ice bucket, plastic cups and a black plastic ashtray awaited the celeb mag cover couple of the moment.
Disputing the current US Weekly “BRITNEY MOVES OUT!” screaming headline, the couple danced and gyrated together as Q100’s Jeff Dauler instructed the thousands of people on the dance floor to “Make some noise for K-Fed!” The DJ complied with an odd rendition of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean,” which he attempted to scratch over with rhythmically uneven results.
Grabbing the microphone, the cigarette-adorned Federline told the crowd: “We want to stay all [expletive] night long!” The large diamonds in both of his ears threatened to blind the crowd when the club’s lights hit them. Sighted or not, K-Fed’s dedication to his new work place elicited a huge cheer from club-goers.
A few feet away, pop star Usher danced with friends in the VIP section with a glass of champagne. Earlier, the Alpharetta resident shared his digits with Federline, who promptly inserted them into his cell phone.
In homage to the club’s celeb attendees, the DJ played Spears’ “Toxic” and Usher’s “Yeah!” Perhaps the most uncomfortable moment of the early morning arrived when the DJ mixed in a few bars from Spears-ex Justin Timberlake’s “Rock Your Body.”
Scantily clad female admirers who hovered a little too close to the couple’s velvet rope, hoping to catch Federline’s eye, were greeted with a sudden Halogen-penlight flash to the retinas by security who asked them to please step back.
Rapper Nelly, sans his always attractive facial Band-Aid accessory, was also spotted in the crowd.
A little over an hour after their arrival, Spears, Federline and all the paparazzi hoopla ducked out of Vision.
A bonding moment
Billy Ray Cyrus, still known as that mullet-wearing dude who sang “Achy Breaky Heart,” may soon become better known as 13-year-old Miley’s dad, thanks to Disney’s latest show “Hannah Montana,” which debuted Friday.
Miley is being groomed as the next generation’s Raven or Hilary Duff.
Billy Ray, in the meantime, plays his daughter’s fictional dad on the show, too, which features Miley as an “average” eighth-grader who happens to be a big pop star but hides her identity from her schoolmates.
“This show has brought us so much closer,” Cyrus told Buzz.
His daughter has been on the verge of stardom before. In fact, she lost out to former Conyers resident and super kid star Dakota Fanning for the film “Dreamer.”
“I wanted her to take a break from show business and chill out,” he said, but her ambition could not be denied.
He has given Miley some lessons on fame’s pitfalls: “There are consequences. Be careful what you ask for. You might get it.”
Cyrus said a future episode will feature his spoof song “I Want My Mullet Back.” And he still loves “Achy Breaky:” “I’m thinking of re-recording it, just hammering it,” he said.
‘Amazing’ run ends
Getting lost in Germany did in Wanda Lopez-Rochford, a corporate trainer from Smyrna, and her daughter, Desiree Cifre, a 24-year-old writer from New York, on the third leg of CBS’ “The Amazing Race” last week.
“It was tough wondering how they were going to edit it, whether we’d look like complete idiots,” Desiree told Buzz. “Fortunately, I don’t think we looked as horrible as we could have been.”
The editors made the ending look far closer than it really was, she said. They were actually a good hour behind the eighth-place team, but the show made it look like they were just minutes apart.
Desiree, calm and articulate, often had to keep her mom on track, especially when Wanda struggled to dive underwater to get a clue in a pool in Russia. “I freaked out,” Wanda admitted.
‘Idol’ musings
Last week, “American Idol” rocker Chris Daughtry did a sultry version of Johnny Cash’s “I Walk the Line” that drew praises from the judges for his originality. But how original was it?
Daughtry’s take is similar to a cover done by the band Live a few years ago. Buzz listened to both versions, and in reality, Daughtry’s builds to a much stronger, dramatic conclusion than Live lead singer Ed Kowalczyk’s. An “Idol” representative declined to comment, and Daughtry is not allowed to do media, so it may be awhile before we find out if his arrangement was really inspired by Live.
As for ousted “Idol” finalist Kevin Covais, he was cool with the nickname “Chicken Little” and credited Fayetteville’s Paris Bennett for bestowing the name upon him. “I’m sarcastic and witty, and I have a sense of humor, so I really appreciate it, and it’s nothing against me,” he told print media last Thursday.
Celeb birthdays
Director Quentin Tarantino is 43. Singer Mariah Carey is 36. Singer Fergie of Black Eyed Peas is 31.
Contributing: News services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-5688 or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Ludacris hits streets again for guest role
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Our very own Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, whose jaw-dropping first scene in the Oscar-winning “Crash” still stuns folks, will appear on the smaller box in your living room for his next dramatic role.
He’ll play rapper-actor Ice T’s nephew in a guest spot on NBC crime drama “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” on at 10 p.m. Tuesday.
“When I was approached to work on ‘SVU’ and read the script, there was no way that I could turn down this amazing opportunity,” Ludacris said via a statement. “The character was so rich and the story line so complex that I knew it was something I had to do.”
In the episode, Ice T’s character, squad detective Fin, is put in a bind when his son becomes a suspect in a double homicide.
The case, you see, opens a family secret involving Ludacris’ character. Alas, the only thing TV Guide is currently confirming about the episode is that Luda’s “troubled” character, “knows more about the crimes than he’s letting on.”
At press time, it could not be determined if Bridges’ “Hustle & Flow” and “Crash” nemesis actor Terrence Howard would turn up to kick his butt on “SVU.”
Overscene
Alpharetta pop star Usher and a new gal pal this week at Strip at Atlantic Station sipping sake and enjoying Strip’s trademark steaks. (We’re told that while none of the eatery’s staff could immediately identify the woman in question, she has been described as “older.”) A bodyguard stood nearby. The crowded eatery’s patrons were polite to the singer as he enjoyed a cozy dinner with his date and some pre-dinner cocktails upstairs in a stripper pole-accented area that Strip refers to as “the meat market.”…
Morton’s Steakhouse in Buckhead was so filled with Atlanta Thrashers on Wednesday evening, it could have hosted a team meeting, with three tables of players, friends and family. Players Ilya Kovalchuk and Vyacheslav Kozlov were perched at tables of six each, and Kari Lehtonen was at a more intimate table for two.
Celebrity docket: UK edition
Moments after pleading guilty to seven drug charges, former Libertines frontman Pete Doherty lashed out at reporters and kicked one in the arm.
The 26-year-old Babyshambles singer was more than an hour late Thursday for his appearance at Thames Magistrates’ Court in London. He had to battle through a crush of reporters and photographers to get inside.
He then pleaded guilty to seven charges of possessing drugs including heroin, crack cocaine and marijuana, which police said they found when he was stopped once in December and once in January.
Doherty, the former boyfriend of supermodel Kate Moss, is already under court supervision for drug charges. In early February, a judge imposed a 12-month community service order and required Doherty to submit to regular drug tests.
Judge Jane McIvor ordered Doherty to return to court April 20, “which will mean we will know the results of his next review on April 12.” She warned that all options remained open for sentencing.
It was when Doherty left the court — wearing his now trademark trilby hat and a gray suit — that he allegedly kicked Trudi Barber, a reporter for the British Broadcasting Corp.’s Radio One station, in the elbow and knocked her microphone to the ground.
Celebrity docket: U.S. edition
A Los Angeles judge has ordered Marion “Suge” Knight to appear at a hearing next month to discuss his assets — or risk having the court take control of the rap-music mogul’s Death Row Records.
Knight has been in a legal battle since he lost a $107 million judgment last year to a woman who claimed she helped start the record empire.
Attorneys for Lydia Harris and her ex-husband, an imprisoned drug dealer who is seeking half of the award as part of their divorce, urged the judge Thursday to place Knight’s company in receivership.
Michael Harris’ attorneys accused Knight of trying to evade his legal obligations by failing to show up for debtor examinations three times. He was absent from Thursday’s hearing. “Enough is enough,” said attorney Steve Goldberg. “It is time for a receiver and an order for contempt.”
Knight’s lawyer, Dermot Givens, asked Judge Ronald Sohigian for a postponement because Knight was hiring a new team of lawyers, but the judge refused.
Celebrity birthdays
Today: Movie critic Gene Shalit is 74. Singer Aretha Franklin is 64. Musician Elton John is 59. Singer Nick Lowe is 57. Actor James McDaniel (“NYPD Blue”) is 48. Actress Brenda Strong (“Desperate Housewives”) is 46. Actress Marcia Cross (“Desperate Housewives”) is 44. Actress Sarah Jessica Parker is 41.
Sunday: Actor Leonard Nimoy is 75. Singer Diana Ross is 62. Singer Steven Tyler of Aerosmith is 58. Actor Martin Short is 56. Actress Jennifer Grey is 46. Actor Michael Imperioli is 40. Actor T.R. Knight (“Grey’s Anatomy”) is 33. Actress Keira Knightley is 21.
Contributing: news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Love help for giant pandas
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Zoo Atlanta can’t accuse Dave FM midday personality Mara Davis of not doing her part to help with a giant panda pregnancy as Lun Lun and Yang Yang approach maximum opportunity this week. On Thursday’s Radio Free Lunch, hosted by Davis, she held her second annual “Music to Get the Pandas in the Mood” set.
Among the requests called in by listeners: “I Want You to Want Me” by Cheap Trick; “China Girl” by David Bowie; “Your Body is a Wonderland” by John Mayer; “Need You Tonight” by INXS; “Crash Into Me” by Dave Matthews Band; “Let’s Get It On” by Marvin Gaye; “Relax” by Frankie Goes to Hollywood; “Why Don’t We Do It in the Road” by the Beatles; and for good measure, the 1970s cheese classic “Afternoon Delight” by the Starland Vocal Band.
Reported Davis to Buzz Central: “My favorite listener comment was from a guy who said ‘Mara, you did this last year and the only one who got pregnant was you.’ Yikes!”
Chef ends up skewered in ‘South Park’ cartoon
Oh my God, they killed Chef.
In a satirically inspired move that surprised few, “South Park” creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker knocked off the Comedy Central ‘toon’s head cafeteria chef in Wednesday night’s 10th-season premiere. Veteran soul singer Isaac Hayes, a Scientologist, quit his gig as the voice of Chef last week in a dust-up over last fall’s episode that skewered the religion and Scientologist Tom Cruise. Using cobbled-together old voice work recorded by the former Atlantan for the series, Stone and Parker brought back Hayes’ character only to brainwash him and give him a particularly grisly going away.
Well, if you call being struck by lightning, falling down a ravine, being impaled, and being dismembered by a cougar and a bear grisly, that is.
At a funeral, Chef was mourned as a jolly guy whose brains were scrambled by the “Super Adventure Club.”
“We should be mad at that fruity little club for scrambling his brains,” the potty-mouthed “South Park” kids said.
The thinly disguised satire continued the show’s feud with Scientologists.
The singer, best known for his work with Stax Records in Memphis and composing the Oscar-winning theme to the movie “Shaft,” had voiced Chef since 1997.
He left because of what he called the animated show’s religious “intolerance and bigotry.”
In what could also be interpreted as an intended message to Hayes from Stone and Parker, the “South Park” kids eulogized their former mentor, saying, “A lot of us don’t agree with the choices the Chef has made in the last few days. Some of us feel hurt and confused that he seemed to turn his back on us. But we can’t let the events of the past few weeks take away the memories of how Chef made us smile.”
The door for Hayes’ return wasn’t completely closed. In the show’s final scene, members of the Super Adventure Club managed to resuscitate Chef and, in a take-off on “Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith,” turned him into a sort of Darth Chef villain complete with a spatula-shaped light saber weapon.
Grand opening
Elbow room was at a premium at Wednesday night’s opening of Sandee O. Photography in Buckhead. Owner Sandee Oliver Bartkowski, known for her Polaroid transfer method and large format photographs, was greeted by a bevy of friends. Husband and former Atlanta Falcon Steve Bartkowski, just released from the hospital Saturday after a second successful colon cancer surgery, helped welcome guests at the Roswell Road gallery, including: Buckhead Coalition president Sam Massell; Falcons owner Arthur Blank and his wife, Stephanie; former Falcons Jamal Anderson, Morten Andersen, Brian Kozlowski and Travis Hall; socialites Sandra Baldwin, Barbara Babbit Kaufman, Cathy Selig and Lisa Stein; and Star 94’s Vikki Locke. The gallery’s owner also received flowers and a personal note from longtime friend and “Pink Panther” star Steve Martin.
Also on hand was InterContinental Buckhead hotel manager Pascal Forotti, who catered the event. We’re told that the evening served as Forotti’s final night in the ATL. He’s accepted a new gig at the InterContinental in Chicago.
Celebrity birthdays
Cartoonist Joseph Barbera of Hanna and Barbera is 95. “The View” co-host Star Jones Reynolds is 44. Singer-violinist Sharon Corr of the Corrs is 36. Actress Lara Flynn Boyle is 36. Actress and former Atlantan Alyson Hannigan (“How I Met Your Mother,” “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”) is 32. Actress Keisha Castle-Hughes (“Whale Rider”) is 16.
Contributing: news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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MetroFresh gets walk-on help for busy-actors’ weekend
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
MetroFresh owner Mitchell Anderson had to get creative with the schedule this Friday night at his popular Midtown Promenade eatery. Since opening last year, Anderson, an actor on “Party of Five” and “Doogie Howser, M.D.,” has hired a number of underemployed Atlanta actors at MetroFresh. However, due to many of them being featured on stages Friday night, everyone needed the same night off.
So Anderson has rounded up his partner and Atlanta hair guru Richie Arpino, his foodie mentor Jenny “Souper Jenny” Levison, Betsy “The Cupcake Lady” Robbins, and model and business owner Randi Layne as his celebrity servers. Their tips (and a matching fund of up to $300) will be donated to Pets Are Loving Support.
“Everybody always says, ‘If you ever need help, just ask,’ ” Anderson told Buzz, laughing. “So I’m asking!” MetroFresh will stay open until 10 p.m.
Further confirming his insanity, Anderson told us that starting April 2, he’ll sacrifice his sole day off by opening MetroFresh for Sunday brunch with frittatas, quiches, pancakes, stuffed french toast, soups and salads and Prosecco mimosas.
Carter cachet makes bed sale extra cushy
Lillian Carter slept here, and so can you. If, to paraphrase Bob Barker, the price is right, that is.
A bedroom suite from President Jimmy Carter’s late mother is coming up for auction at 11 a.m. Sunday at King Galleries in Roswell. In the early 1920s, Miss Lillian — as she was known — instructed her yardman to haul the suite to the dump. Instead, the man moved it to his barn, where the furniture stayed for years. After his death, his daughter sold it to a Columbus doctor, who restored the suite to its original condition. Recently, the doctor decided to scale back his antique furniture collection and put it up for auction.
The walnut and burled walnut suite — a full-size bed with headboard and a marble, mirror-back chest of drawers — is an example of Eastlake craftsmanship. “Eastlake, which was named after an English architect, was a popular American furniture style around the turn of the century,” said gallery owner Susan Brown. “It was simple, with clean lines, and affordable for the time, the very antithesis of Victorian furniture. Eastlake, today, is a very desirable style with collectors.” Brown estimates the bedroom suite, which is about 100 years old, will sell for between $3,000 and $5,000. And, with the Southern presidential connection, the set could bring even more at auction. For more information: 770-998-1618.
Panda passion
Panda breeding season officially has begun at Zoo Atlanta: Lun Lun is in heat.
Zoo officials announced Wednesday that recent behavioral changes and hormone levels in the 8-year-old giant panda indicate that ovulation will occur in a matter of days.
Once that happens, the zoo will put the male panda Yang Yang in the same enclosure with Lun Lun — they are kept apart much of the year, to simulate their solitary life in the wild — and officials will watch for natural mating.
Now in their third mating season, Zoo Atlanta’s pandas have never copulated. Lun Lun was artificially inseminated the past two years but did not become pregnant. The zoo is prepared to artificially inseminate Lun Lun again this year but will wait to see if natural mating occurs before making that decision.
Zoo spokeswoman Susan Elliott said panda caretakers are estimating that ovulation could begin Sunday. When it starts, the pandas have an agonizingly brief window of time in which to conceive, essentially 24 hours.
If successful, a panda cub birth at Zoo Atlanta would be the fifth U.S. birth since 1990. Only about 1,600 pandas remain in the wild, with about 185 in captivity. Only four U.S. zoos have pandas on loan from China. In addition to Atlanta, they are San Diego, National Zoo in Washington, and Memphis. The San Diego and Washington zoos produced panda cubs last year.
Sick bay
Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler will undergo surgery this week for an undisclosed medical condition, forcing the band to cancel the remaining dates on its North American tour.
The band’s publicist, Marcee Rondan, said that Tyler was “doing fine” but declined to elaborate on his condition.
“Despite Aerosmith’s desire to keep the tour going as long as possible, Tyler’s doctors advised him not to continue performing to give his voice time to recover,” Rondan said in a statement.
Tyler, who turns 58 on Sunday, can’t perform for an extended period of time, Rondan said, adding the band was on hiatus.
Celebrity birthdays
Singer Ric Ocasek (the Cars) is 57. Singer Chaka Khan is 53. Actress Amanda Plummer is 49. Singer-keyboardist Damon Albarn of Blur is 38. Actress Keri Russell (“Felicity”) is 30. Actress Nicholle Tom (“The Nanny”) is 28.
Contributing: Marylin Johnson, Tom Sabulis and news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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R. Kelly shows different facets
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
As Atlanta viewers watched R&B singer R. Kelly being honored as songwriter of the year on the pre-recorded Soul Train Awards last weekend, a group of students calling themselves Feminists of Color United were protesting his performance at the University of Texas because of the child pornography charges he faces.
Hence, the dichotomy that is R. Kelly. A dichotomy only Kelly seemed to be focused on during the first of his two sold-out shows at the Fox Theatre Monday. He opened his near two-hour concert with a medley of other artists’ songs he’d produced or contributed to, including “Gigolo,” by Nick Cannon, “Bump, Bump, Bump” by B2K and “I’m [Expletive] You Tonight,” by the late Notorious B.I.G. And when he left the stage for the first time, the audience could still hear him responding to someone: “What?” Kelly yelled. “Being too sexual?!” “You don’t hear my fans complaining!”
Then he walked back out and addressed the heavily female crowd: “Let me tell you what they just said: They said, ‘Robert, you’re only 15 minutes into your show, and you’re getting too freaky. … They said try to control yourself tonight … And no feeling myself around here,” he said, motioning to a portion of his anatomy. “Can I be myself?” he asked the 4,500-plus in attendance, who responded with a loud “Yes!”
Kelly egged them on: “Say, ‘Robert, do your show!’”
“Do your show!” screamed Tamera Brown, a cleaning service owner from Macon. And, ahem, what a show. It began with questions from Kelly like “Is there anyone over here that would like to go all the way with me tonight?” Midway through, he unveiled a new song he called “The Zoo” that included making a woman go “ooo-ooh-ooh-ah-ah” like a monkey. (Which the Fox crowd not only laughed at but loudly repeated.) And by the end he’d completed the full circle from carnal to wholesome and conscientious with a nod to Hurricane Katrina victims and many ticket holders dancing in the aisles to his closing, family-friendly tune, “Happy People.”
‘South Park’ returns with timely Chef show
Isaac Hayes might just want to go ahead and tune into “CSI: NY” tonight. Chances are excellent that the legendary soul man and former Atlantan won’t like what he sees on the 10th season premiere of “South Park” on Comedy Central at 10 p.m.
As Buzz readers will recall, last week Hayes resigned as the voice of Chef, the show’s legendary elementary school cafeteria toiler/advice dispenser/lover man. In a press statement e-mailed to Buzz Central and other news outlets, Hayes, a Scientologist, took issue with last fall’s “South Park” episode dedicated to lampooning Tom Cruise and his Scientology beliefs. Wrote Hayes: “There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry towards religious beliefs of others begins.”
It appears that “South Park” creators and chief imps Matt Stone and Trey Parker disagree with Hayes’ assessment.
Tonight’s episode, which has been whipped up by the pair since Hayes’ comments last week, will likely focus on the controversy.
The title? “The Return of Chef!”
In a release sent by Comedy Central to Buzz on Tuesday, the network describes the episode thusly: “The town is jolted out of a case of the doldrums when Chef suddenly reappears. While Stan, Kyle, Kenny and Cartman are thrilled to have their old friend back, they notice that something about Chef seems different. When Chef’s strange behavior starts getting him in trouble, the boys pull out all the stops to save him.”
Uh-oh.
Reps at Comedy Central won’t confirm or deny whether Hayes’ voice will be used in the episode but do confirm that he is no longer associated with the satirical ‘toon.
Gala to target UNICEF efforts
UNICEF “Designs of Hope” gala chairwoman Sally Dorsey held a luncheon Tuesday at Strip to announce the details of the May 21 gala dinner and Saks Fifth Avenue and St. John fall collection fashion show to the assembled media and marketing types. The fund-raiser will be held at the InterContinental in Buckhead. Committee member Vicki Gordon told us they hope to raise $1.5 million this year, exceeding 2005’s $1.2 million record.
“People have asked me, ‘Why UNICEF? Why not something local?’ ” Dorsey recounted to the crowd. “Helping provide care and support for children made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS in other countries should also be a priority for us here in Atlanta. We’re a global community. We’re all interconnected.” (For gala ticket info and details: www.designsofhope.org or 404-881-2700, Ext. 1.)
As Dorsey outlined plans for the event, Strip waiters dutifully delivered luscious strip steaks, tandoori salmon and turkey cobb salads. Strip marketing rep. Sari Bernstein confided to us that the Atlantic Station eatery, the latest culinary creation by Tom Catherall, has experienced a unique problem of late. Customers have been pilfering Strip’s pricey, gorgeous “Crocodile Dundee”-inspired Walco stainless steel steak knives. “In a couple of instances, the manager has been asked by servers to help retrieve them,” Bernstein told us. “The managers just politely ask if the customer would like the knife added to the bill. That usually takes care of the issue.”
Celebrity birthdays
Actor Karl Malden is 94. Mime Marcel Marceau is 83. Composer Stephen Sondheim is 76. Actor William Shatner is 75. Singer-guitarist George Benson is 63. News anchor Wolf Blitzer is 58. Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber is 58. Sportscaster Bob Costas is 54. Actor Matthew Modine is 47. Actress Reese Witherspoon is 30. Drummer John Otto of Limp Bizkit is 29.
Contributing: Sonia Murray and news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Whitney Houston stops by Kirk Franklin concert
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Whitney Houston showed up at the Kirk Franklin/Mary Mary concert Sunday evening at the Atlanta Civic Center. V-103’s Miss Sophia spotted the Alpharetta resident when she was escorted in by two bodyguards during the intermission of the show.
“She was just getting her praise on,” Sophia said, noting Houston was casually dressed in a black ensemble and fur vest. “I saw a listener ask to take a picture with her. She went out in the aisle and did it and returned to her seat. Nobody really bothered her.”
Meanwhile, a few blocks away, an even more star-studded event was happening. Atlanta music and movie producer Dallas Austin threw his first Don’t Stop the Music Gala. The annual event will be a fund-raiser for his foundation to raise money for music education. Mayor Shirley Franklin and music industry attorney Joel Katz served as co-chairs. Supermodel Naomi Campbell hosted. And R&B legend Natalie Cole and contemporary gospel singer Yolanda Adams performed. All of whom — and more — are captured in an online gallery at ajc.com.
Shop owner gives ATL option for trendy Ts
The Virginia-Highland shopping district now has an alternative apparel option called, appropriately enough, Alternative.
Veteran retailer Bill Hallman has added to his stable of intown boutiques by transforming the 776 N. Highland space that was formerly Bill Hallman Shoes into a T-shirt “bar” for men and women.
With the exception of Red Army style canvas caps, all the store stocks is tees in the $25-$85 range. Hallman and Alternative co-owner Anthony Harper opened the store in partnership with the Atlanta-based “blank” T-shirt manufacturer, Alternative Apparel.
“This is a test store for us,” said Hallman, who also operates an eponymous boutique in Little Five Points. “There are many more [Alternatives] to come, with L.A. being the next location.”
Alternative is the only brand the store carries. An estimated crowd of 200 trendsetters crowded into the shotgun space last week to hail its arrival at a cocktail-fueled reception. Hallman said the store’s scope may seem limited, but that should be its most appealing factor.
“You haven’t seen many stores where you can go in and buy from a big selection of just one thing,” he told Buzz. “My thinking is, someone will come in and love the fit and the color options and buy in multiples.”
Stork report
Donald Trump’s wife has given birth to a boy, the billionaire developer announced Monday on MSNBC’s “Imus in the Morning.”
“Everyone’s perfect,” Trump said in a telephone interview about 20 minutes after the arrival of his fifth child. “She’s very happy and it’s really great.”
Trump, who has four other children from two previous marriages, said the new baby was already making him feel younger. “I continue to stay young, right? I produce children, I stay young,” he said.
Melania Knauss, 35, was in labor for eight hours before the arrival of the baby, her first. Trump said they had yet to finalize their choice of name.
No Brangelina marriage
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie ignited a media frenzy in Italy over the weekend when rumors spread that they would wed at Lake Como.
Speculation has been rife as to whether Brangelina would finally tie the knot at pal George Clooney’s lakeside pad, although Clooney has repeatedly denied this. Over the weekend, the Lake Como mayor claimed that she had been asked to remain on standby for a mystery official function.
Mayor Simona Saladini also suggested that local police were on alert and security had been increased around Clooney’s home — although she refused to say who had told her to be on standby. The world’s press and hundreds of local fans packed the shores hoping for a glimpse of the stars — but the closest they got was when two men dressed as the couple kissed by the lakeside.
Random bits
“The Simpsons” has been renewed for two more seasons, bringing the durable Fox show a guaranteed 19 years on the air. …
U2, not surprisingly, earned the most cash out of all musical acts in 2005, according to estimates compiled by Rolling Stone magazine. Most of the acts listed made a vast majority of their moola from touring. The Irish quartet earned $154.2 million, while the Rolling Stones came in with $92.5 million; the Eagles at $63.2 million; Paul McCartney at $56 million; and part-time Atlantan Elton John at $48.7 million. …
If you got the urge to pick up a copy of the Notorious B.I.G.’s 1994 debut, “Ready to Die,” over the weekend, you were out of luck. A judge halted sales of the late rapper’s breakthrough album on Friday after a jury decided that the title track used a sample of the Ohio Players song “Singing in the Morning” without permission.
Celebrity birthdays
Actor Timothy Dalton is 60. Singer Eddie Money is 57. Actor Gary Oldman is 48. Actor Matthew Broderick is 44. Actress-comedian Rosie O’Donnell is 44. Guitarist Andrew Copeland of Sister Hazel is 38.
Contributing: A. Scott Walton, Sonia Murray and news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-5688 or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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99X bids morning guy Toucher adieu in style
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Most radio folks, from Bandy & Bailey at Kicks to Southside and Rhodes on 96rock, just disappear with no on-air explanation.
But rock station 99X gave Fred Toucher a proper — and Guinness-packed — send-off at Fado Irish Pub in Buckhead on Friday.
After 500-plus people grooved to metal band Skid Row, a teary-eyed Toucher thanked 99X and its fans for seven great years at the station, including 2 1/2 years in mornings. “I love 99X,” he told Buzz after the show. “This is where I started, and they taught me everything I know about radio.”
He also did an amusing on-air “tribute” to his time at 99X, interspersing favorite moments into the Green Day song “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life).” On the surface, it sounded sentimental. The twist? The bits were fake, including a “bowl-athon” for cancer and Toucher engulfing 18 hot dogs.
Among the partygoers at Fado wishing Toucher off: former 99X’ers Christopher “Crash” Clark (traffic guy), Christopher Calandro (producer) and Jeremy “Fat Kid” Powell (stunt guy, now a car salesman).
Toucher, with Crash and former 99X’er Rich Shertenlieb, is shopping a morning show outside Atlanta. Boston’s rock station WBCN-FM is a possible destination.
King speculation rampant
Is CNN ready to dump Larry King?
Speculation began a week ago when an L.A. showbiz blog said “Hollywood insiders” were gossiping about King’s “increasingly frail” health.
To drive home the point, it noted an interview in which he asked Jerry Seinfeld the same question twice. “You’re not listening to me, Larry,” Seinfeld scolded.
Another story, published Wednesday in The Wall Street Journal, cited King’s decreasing audience, his older demographics (bad for advertisers) and his “interest” in celebrities and crime as being out of whack with CNN’s prime-time emphasis.
Then Fox News talkers Greta Van Susteren and Sean Hannity came to King’s defense Thursday. “I think the people over at CNN owe him a debt of gratitude, and the fact they don’t defend him is a disgrace,” Hannity said.
But CNN President Jon Klein did defend him in Friday’s New York Post.
“We’d have to be even crazier than people think TV executives are to even think about moving a legend like Larry out of his time slot — especially when he reliably attracts a very nice audience each night,” Klein said. “There’s absolutely no truth to this idle speculation.”
‘Geek’ gets the gal
Wes Wilson, the Georgia Tech-grad “Beauty & the Geek” geek who ended up getting the girl, got a shock watching the final reality-show episode earlier this month when finalist and Woody Allen-esque Josh Herman talked about the size of his package. It was a secret Josh and teammate Cher Tenbush knew that nobody else did. “I was really embarrassed by that, and I’m completely avoiding the topic,” Wes told Buzz.
Nonetheless, Wes, eliminated halfway through the WB show, was thrilled that Cher won the $250,000 (split with Josh) since the romance that blossomed during the show has continued. He left Atlanta for Los Angeles, and the pair are planning to move in together. Take that, “The Bachelor”!
Dialing for ‘Idol’ results
Jim Hellriegel Jr., an IT guy in Cleveland, created a speed-dial program last year to help “American Idol” fans vote. This year, he began posting percentages of calls that had a busy signal, indicating popularity. With this method, he predicted the ouster of 10 of 12 semifinalists. Last Wednesday, at www.dialidol.com, his results indicated weakness for both Ace Young and Lisa Tucker hours before the results show placed them in the bottom three.
But “Idol,” which is supersecretive about voting results, sent him a “cease and desist” letter that forced him to shut his site down that evening. “Waging litigation against ‘Idol’ could cost me up to $100,000 I don’t have,” he told Buzz on Friday. Dialidol.com “probably won’t come back in any real form.” It was a great idea while it lasted.
Butch brings in the bacon
Van Halen didn’t bite. Neither did Alice in Chains. So CBS, for the second season of “Rock Star,” cobbled together Atlanta’s favorite party hopper Tommy Lee (Motley Crue), Jason Newsted (Metallica) and Gilby Clarke (Guns N’ Roses) for a supposed “supergroup” Supernova. Contestants will vie to be lead singer.
The direct Atlanta connection: Rocker and producer Butch Walker will write and produce songs for the band.
But his manager, Jonathan Daniel ,said he didn’t want the usually gabby, quotable Walker to do any press. “I don’t want the impression Butch is an old metal dude,” Daniel rationalized. “It bums him out to be too associated with that stuff.”
Daniel said Walker still wants to be known in Atlanta more as a rock star, less as a producer, although producing really pays the bills. (Just ask Pink, Avril Lavigne and Bowling for Soup.) And this show will pad his checking account, too. Walker was also offered to be a judge onstage, but he chose to forgo the airtime, Daniel said.
When his next solo album comes out in July, about the time “Rock Star” returns on CBS, Daniel said Walker will be ready to talk.
Random bits
In a shocker, the Flavor Flav “Bachelor” takeoff called “Flavor of Love” drew VH1’s biggest audience in its history, with 5.9 million viewers, March 12. …
One of the oddest acts in recent history, the reggae Jew Matisyahu, debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard sales charts last week, the highest-ranked reggae album since Nielsen SoundScan began measuring sales in 1991. …
Motley Crue’s Vince Neil, who cut short last fall’s Philips Arena concert after injuring a hamstring, came back with the band for a makeup concert last week and attempted to mine humor out of his injury. “The paramedics here were very cool,” he told the crowd. “They gave me some good drugs.” But attendee Lara Thompson left unamused: “Vince only sang about every other line to a song, and kept having earphone problems.”
Celebrity birthdays
Producer Carl Reiner is 84. Actor Hal Linden is 75. Actor William Hurt is 56. Drummer Carl Palmer of Emerson, Lake and Palmer is 56. Director Spike Lee is 49. Conyers native and actress Holly Hunter is 48. Model Kathy Ireland is 43. Actor Michael Rapaport (“War at Home”) is 36.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Mr. Britney Spears scores Atlanta gig
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This just in: Britney Spears’ househusband Kevin Federline has finally secured a j-o-b and it’s right here in Atlanta. Well, OK, for like three hours next Saturday anyway.
Unbelievably, the budding white boy rapper and former backup dancer can now be rented as nightclub “entertainment.”
Chris Kappy, who runs Elevation Media Group, secured the pseudo-celebrity booking for Vision nightclub in Midtown, where K-Fed will be placed on display in the “VIP circle” at 11 p.m. March 25. VIP tables for 10 are budget priced at $1,500 each for the evening.
So will people actually pay dough to go hang in a club with a guy most famous for dumping his pregnant girlfriend to shack up with the Southern-fried Spears?
“It’s unbelievable how high he ranked as a club draw,” Kappy told Buzz on Friday as we desperately tried to reclaim our jaw from the Buzz Central recycling bin on the floor. “Only Paris Hilton ranked higher in the survey we did. He’s just such an oddity. He’s a guy who bagged the hottest pop icon in the world. Not even Justin Timberlake closed that deal.”
And Kappy says that local club-hopping females can’t wait to get up close and personal to the scruffy, corn-row braided Mr. Spears.
Explains Kappy: “He’s just got some kind of sex appeal that other men don’t have.”
While Kappy wouldn’t disclose exactly how much Federline is bagging for the three-hour appearance (Buzz has heard whispers that it’s as much as $20,000), he did acknowledge: “For a guy who used to be a backup dancer, he’s pulling down some nice coin for this.”
Dunwoody dining
We don’t navigate the rush- hour “Escape From New York”-esque, twisted metal horrors of 285 for just any old restaurant opening. But when owner Duc Tran invited Buzz to a preview night of his Com Dunwoody Vietnamese Grill on the corner of Chamblee Dunwoody and Mount Vernon roads the other night, we felt compelled to check it out. After all, the original Com on Buford Highway received raves from every dining critic in the city last year and went on to be named one of the best new Asian restaurants in the United States by Food and Wine magazine last fall.
Tran’s second restaurant, Com Dunwoody, which officially opened to the public on Friday, offers the same warmth, from the soft mustard-hued walls to the comfy sofas near the window to the gracious female servers beautifully garbed in gowns from the Orient.
Atlanta architect Stephen Flanagan worked with Tran on the eatery’s interiors. “Since there isn’t a huge call for Vietnam-inspired decors in Dunwoody, I had a lot of fun doing research and looking at architecture,” Flanagan told us. He went with a lot of bold reds and bamboo in the design.
When asked about his inspiration for the second location, Tran smiled and conceded, “I had much influence from the wife. We live in Chamblee. This is much closer to where we are and where she will work. Also, Dunwoody and its growth is amazing. We’re very honored to be here.”
Phone: 770-512-7410 or www.comgrill.com.
Golden chance
Not that most Buzz readers need an excuse to party on a Saturday night, but here’s a good cause that includes good booze, good food and even good art. “Goldens in the Gallery” is a benefit for Adopt a Golden Atlanta, a group that rescues unwanted golden retrievers and finds homes for them.
The event takes place tonight from 7 to 9 at the Tula Art Center galleries at 75 Bennett St. A $25 cover charge will buy you Skyy Vodka martinis, cosmopolitans, Trinchero Family Estates wine, SweetWater ales and hors d’oeuvres from hot restaurants like Paul’s Restaurant Bar and Sushi, P’cheen and Anis Cafe & Bistro.
Tour the galleries to the tunes of a jazz trio, then place your bids in the silent auction of dog-related art. For directions, call the Matre Gallery at 404-350-8399. For more info on homeless goldens, check out www.adoptagoldenatlanta.com.
Celebrity docket
Tom Wopat, who played Luke Duke in the TV series “The Dukes of Hazzard,” faces a drunken driving charge in northern New Jersey, authorities said Friday.
Wopat was arrested in Ringwood and charged with driving while intoxicated and reckless driving, said Bill Maer, a spokesman for the Passaic County sheriff’s department.
Wopat was pulled from a Ford Bronco on Wednesday night after hitting orange traffic cones and nearly striking a Ringwood police car, Maer said.
Wopat, 54, of West Milford, was released into the custody of his girlfriend, Maer said.
In the series, which aired from 1979 to 1985, Luke Duke and his cousin Bo, played by John Schneider, were known for driving a speedy 1969 Dodge Charger, the General Lee.
A movie based on the series was released last year.
In recent years, Wopat has worked on Broadway.
Celebrity birthdays
Today: Actor Peter Graves is 80. Country singer Charley Pride is 68. Actor Kevin Dobson (“Knots Landing”) is 63. Singer Vanessa Williams is 43. Singer-actress Queen Latifah is 36. Singer Adam Levine of Maroon 5 is 27.
Sunday: Actress Ursula Andress is 70. Singer Ruth Pointer of the Pointer Sisters is 60. Actress Glenn Close is 59. Actor Bruce Willis is 51.
Contributing: Sandra Eckstein and news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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A ‘Life’-time spent on venerable ABC sudser
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On Friday’s episode of “One Life to Live” on ABC at 2 p.m., actress Erika Slezak celebrates what most actors just fantasize about — her 35th anniversary at a single job.
Since March 17, 1971, Slezak has portrayed Victoria Lord Davidson, the moneyed matriarch of Llanview, the fictional Pennsylvania town where the soap is set.
“People always ask me ‘Why did you stay so long?,’ ” the actress, 59, recalled with a laugh Thursday. “It’s because they write such great stuff for me. Where else would I ever have had the opportunity to work with the material I’ve been given here?”
Where, indeed.
Over her 3 1/2 decades, Slezak has scored a record six best actress Daytime Emmy Awards (her last in 2005, was for a heart disease story line endorsed by first lady Laura Bush) while delving into some incredibly gritty, taboo-busting plot lines. A victim of childhood sexual abuse by her father, Viki was eventually diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder, a psychiatric condition where alter egos are created to “protect” the victim.
Luckily for viewers, one of Viki’s alters, Niki Smith, is a boozy floozy with incredibly questionable taste in clothes.
“Whenever I pick up a script and see Niki on the page, I smile,” Slezak concedes. “She’s just terribly fun to play.”
Things are about to take a serious turn for Slezak’s characters, however. In recent months, “OLTL” has been slowly delving into a story that focuses on Viki’s daughter, Jessica (Bree Williamson), who also has recently been diagnosed with DID.
The childhood-based reasons behind it promise to take the show into some dicey, uncharted territory.
“It’s something that hasn’t yet been dealt with on daytime,” Slezak teases. “And actually, it’s a very current topic. … One of the great advantages about this job is the impact you’re able to have just by putting these characters and their lives into peoples’ homes everyday.”
Truth in advertising
Well, Prince was at the Tabernacle for Wednesday’s midnight show.
And the superstar musician and songwriter did perform.
But make no mistake, it was a Tamar concert. Just like the $60 ticket said.
Whether the 2,500 or so in the sold-out downtown venue appreciated staying up until midnight, however, only to spend another 90 minutes hearing the relative unknown do a whole lot of covers, is still up for debate. (No matter how talented that man to her right in high heels was as featured guitarist and background singer.)
To her credit, Tamar had Prince-protégé attributes going for her at the Tabernacle. In varied flattering, short dresses, the singer powered through her versions of “Love Changes,” “When a Man Loves a Woman,” “Not Gon’ Cry,” “Rock Steady,” “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” and others.
Still, the biggest responses of the night came when the nattily attired Prince simply threw out his red handkerchief, dropped to his knees during one of his many solos, and finally responded to the intermittent “We want Prince!” chants, and sang his own “Party Man” and “Anotherloverholenyohead” at the end of the set.
“It was not what I expected,” said dynamo R&B and gospel vocalist Ann Nesby — aka “American Idol” contestant Paris Bennett’s grandmother — who attended the first night of Prince’s, er, Tamar’s, two-night stand in Atlanta. “We got there about 30 minutes late so we thought we missed him singing more of his own music. … But what we heard was great. [Tamar] has the qualities of the old soul singers of the Stax era. And at the same time she kind of reminded me of a young Tina Turner, just her command of the stage.
“I’m a major Prince fan, though,” she added. “And I wanted to hear more Prince.”
Toucher skids off 99X
Whether you hate him or love him, you’ll have your chance to wish 99X’s Fred Toucher farewell this morning at Fado Irish Pub in Buckhead, with the incredibly Irish band Skid Row (sans, sadly, former lead singer Sebastian Bach,who is now a member of Hep Alien on “Gilmore Girls”) in tow. We’re figuring that U2 wasn’t available.
With 99X about to change ownership, pending newcomer Cumulus Media decided Toucher wasn’t the right fit, so he’s now shopping a show nationwide with former 99X stunt guy Rich Shertenlieb and ex-99X traffic guy Christopher “Crash” Clark. Toucher was with 99X for seven years, starting at night and moving to mornings in 2003.
“I know I’m polarizing,” said Toucher on air Thursday. “But I act the same on the air as I do off. I’ve been honest.”
(Buzz is praying that Toucher will slam us one last time for good measure on his Web site, www.fredtoucher.com).
Axel Lowe, the drivetime jock who subbed for Toucher earlier this month, is likely to take over Toucher’s slot.
Veteran 99Xer Jimmy Baron, whose contract is up April 5, is also checking the waters in other cities and did a test show last weekend on an FM talk station in San Francisco. But he’s still negotiating with 99X.
“I’d prefer to stay in Atlanta because nobody really likes moving,” Baron told Buzz. “I do feel like being on the radio for so many years, you become part of the fabric of the city. That said, I’d be remiss not to see what’s out there.”
Celebrity birthdays
Guitarist Paul Kantner of Jefferson Airplane/Jefferson Starship is 65. Singer-songwriter John Sebastian of the Lovin’ Spoonful is 62. Actor Patrick Duffy is 57. Actor Kurt Russell is 55. Actor Gary Sinise is 51. Actor Rob Lowe is 42. Singer Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins) is 39. Actor Mathew St. Patrick (“Six Feet Under”) is 38. Actor Yanic Truesdale (“Gilmore Girls”) is 37. Rapper Swifty of D12 is 29.
Contributing: Rodney Ho, Sonia Murray and news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Motley Crue’s Lee finds hot action, icy drinks
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Professional partyer Tommy Lee took full advantage of Bluepointe’s new later hours on Tuesday night. The Motley Crue drummer/author/sex tape star popped into the Buckhead eatery shortly after 11 with sushi and cocktails on his mind.
Buzz Central learned Wednesday that Lee and his entourage hung in the dining room, noshing on a large platter of raw fish. Alas, beleaguered Bluepointe manager A.D. Allushi was again working when Lee visited. (Buzz readers will recall that during a visit in 2005, the rocker, after admiring a piece of Allushi’s clothing, absconded with the manager’s pricey Dolce & Gabbana necktie.)
Upon recognizing his neckwear pimp early Wednesday morning, Lee immediately asked Allushi to whip him up “a fun drink.”
Perhaps inspired by the unblinking, Blackberrying females suddenly milling about the eatery, moments later Allushi returned with a gold digger martini. Lee marveled over his oversize martini glass, which was made entirely out of ice, specialty glassware Allushi orders up.
Naturally, Lee wanted to know where to get the frozen barware, and Allushi clued him in to the source (www.icecaters.com).
Wednesday night, after Motley Crue’s “Carnival of Sins” tour stop at Philips Arena, Lee was booked as the main attraction at an In Like Flynn-produced after-party at Frequency nightclub in Buckhead.
At press time, details were still fuzzy regarding Buckhead Coalition President Sam Massell’s inevitable press conference Thursday.
Hey, Big Easy folks
In what can only be described as a momentary lapse in judgment, Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau veep of community affairs Kathleen Bertrand reached out to us on Wednesday for assistance. It seems that incumbent New Orleans mayoral candidate Ray Nagin is coming to Atlanta this weekend to do some canvassing for votes. (During this utterly unique campaigning season, the city’s mayoral candidates are also spending time with displaced Hurricane Katrina evacuees in Dallas and Houston.) While he’s here this weekend, Nagin wants to patronize Atlanta restaurants that are now employing folks from the New Orleans food industry. So, if you’re a chef, dishwasher, eatery owner or a server who fills the bill, contact Buzz and we’ll pass along your info to Bertrand for Nagin. E-mail us at buzz@ajc.com. And if humanly possible, please keep the irresistible “Chocolate City” references to a minimum.
‘Nine to Five’ at 25
To mark its 25th anniversary last year, “Nine to Five” stars Jane Fonda, Dolly Parton and Lily Tomlin, along with producer Bruce Gilbert, have contributed a brand-new commentary track for the DVD release of “Nine to Five: The Sexist, Egotistical, Lying, Hypocritical Bigot Edition.”
Buzz learned Wednesday that the release, set for April 4, also includes 10 deleted scenes, a ” ‘Nine to Five’ at 25” featurette, a karaoke feature, the original theatrical trailer and a gag reel.
Outraged e-mailing Vietnam vets may place their hands on their home-row keys starting… now.
Kutcher close by
It looks like we can anticipate a few more visits from budding Atlanta restaurateur Ashton Kutcher in coming days.
The actor and producer is in Elizabeth City, N.C., shooting the feature flick “The Guardian,” which is set in Kodiak, Alaska, and co-stars Kevin Costner. Yes, fake snow had to be hauled in for the occasion.
Costner’s character teaches Coast Guard rescue swimmers, including Kutcher, who plays a cocky swim champion who is training to become a rescue swimmer.
“They haven’t taken too many Hollywood liberties,” says Jeff Loftus, the movie’s technical coordinator and a former Coast Guard motion picture liaison. “Overall, it’s going to be very realistic.”
Off-duty Coast Guard members as extras, helicopters and C-130 airplanes were being used for realism.
Most of the filming was done in Shreveport, La., but after Hurricane Katrina made New Orleans unusable, additional equipment was made available in Elizabeth City, film officials said.
Tony hit by ‘Wives’
The ratings for the first new “Sopranos” in nearly two years Sunday were down about 21 percent from the fifth-season opener, or about 9.5 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media.
Considering HBO is available in only about 28 million households, that’s still very impressive.
And that figure includes only first viewings. HBO repeats the show numerous times and offers it on demand.
The mob series may have been hurt by ABC’s “Desperate Housewives,” which didn’t exist the last time “Sopranos” was around.
“Desperate,” meanwhile, which is losing buzz to “Grey’s Anatomy,” drew about 22 million viewers, its worst showing this year.
Celebrity birthdays
Comedian Jerry Lewis is 80. Game show host Chuck Woolery is 65. Actor Erik Estrada is 57. Guitarist-singer Nancy Wilson of Heart is 52. Rapper Flavor Flav of Public Enemy is 47. Folk singer Patty Griffin is 42. Actress Lauren Graham (“Gilmore Girls”) is 39.
Contributing: Rodney Ho and news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Diddy cooking up mix of celebs, chefs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlanta restaurateur Sean “Diddy” Combs and reality TV producer Ben Silverman are combining forces to bring to NBC “Celebrity Cooking Showdown,” a five-night reality miniseries that’s being described — honest to Buzz — as a cross between Food Network’s “Iron Chef America” and ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars.”
We’re told that “Showdown” will pair celebrities with such famous chefs as Wolfgang Puck, Cat Cora (Food Network’s “Kitchen Accomplished”) and Govind Armstrong (executive chef at Table 8 in Los Angeles) to whip up a dish for competition.
“The sexiest trend going on right now is young men learning how to cook,” said Diddy via a press release. “There’s nothing more sensual than a man cooking for his woman. We wanted to do something that fit that trend in the marketplace.”
Perhaps in an acknowledgment that the Peacock Network has stuck a final fork in “Joey,” NBC was allegedly so enamored by the “Showdown” concept pitched by Silverman that it has agreed to fast-track it over five nights beginning April 17.
Several celebs are said to be close to signing on for the show, but deals aren’t yet ready to be announced, Silverman said.
In other words, Deborah “Shake Your Love” Gibson, Tonya Harding and Emmanuel “Webster” Lewis, phone your agents immediately.
Overscene
Atlanta Falcons fans forking over higher ticket prices for Georgia Dome seats this season may have experienced a return on their investment Monday night at Chops.
And for what is traditionally the slowest night in the restaurant trade, there was a lot of wining and dining going on in the posh eatery.
Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank, Falcons head coach Jim Mora and Falcons President and General Manager Rich McKay were all on hand with NFL defensive safety Lawyer Milloy, his agent and some other “entourage types” for a steak and lobster dinner at a quiet corner table.
The 6-foot Milloy, 32, a former New England Patriot and Buffalo Bill, was let go by the Bills earlier this month as a cost-cutting measure. Perhaps not coincidentally, Milloy is currently an NFL free agent. In Tuesday’s editions, the AJC detailed Milloy’s tour of the Falcons’ Flowery Branch facilities.
At press time Tuesday, Falcons reps did not have a comment on the pricey grub Milloy was treated to.
Ballet gets accolades in NYC
The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra wasn’t the only local arts group getting good reviews from the Big Apple over the weekend. Folks at the Atlanta Ballet must have been thrilled to pick up Tuesday’s New York Times and see that the troupe’s Brooklyn appearance got a rave from reviewer Gia Kourlas.
It was the ballet’s first visit to New York in 17 years.
“We were thrilled to be able to get back to New York, and then getting such a wonderful review … is really a credit to the dancers,” said Patricia Ekholm, the ballet’s marketing director.
The writer called the company “attractive” and said its dancers were “lovely” and “well-trained.” Dancer Kristine Necessary was singled out for her “enchanting, natural aplomb,” and choreographer Christopher Hampson was cited for fulfilling “his promise and then some.”
“Taken alone, [Hampson’s] ‘Sinfonietta Giocosa’ was a pleasure, but it ushered in something more important: a masterly new choreographic voice,” Kourlas wrote.
NYT classical reviewer Bernard Holland, however, heaped on the Southern stereotypes in his Monday review of the ASO’s Verdi Requiem at Carnegie Hall. “If its rhythmic sharp angles tended to drawl, remember that these people are from Georgia,” Holland wrote of the ASO brass.
It appears obvious that Holland’s only exposure to the South comes via a DVD of “Deliverance.” Or perhaps he just read the media coverage detailing how our city leaders embarrassingly fell over each other recently in order to secure a NASCAR museum.
Mike Wallace set to retire
What a slacker.
“60 Minutes” correspondent Mike Wallace said Tuesday he’ll retire at the end of the current TV season and assume the role of “correspondent emeritus” at the revered CBS newsmagazine.
“I’ve often replied, when asked, ‘I’ll retire when my toes turn up,’ ” Wallace, 87, said in a statement. “Well, they’re just beginning to curl a trifle, which means that, as I approach my 88th birthday, it’s become apparent to me that my eyes and ears, among other appurtenances, aren’t quite what they used to be. And the prospect of long flights to wherever in search of whatever are not quite as appealing.”
As much a constant as the ubiquitous ticking stopwatch that opens every “60 Minutes” broadcast, Wallace has been with the program since its inception in 1968. And he didn’t exactly sound Tuesday like a guy ready to turn in his trench coat for full-time shuffleboard.
“I’ll be in a comfortable office on the same floor — just around the corner from where I’ve holed up for the past 43 years,” said Wallace, stressing that the decision to step down was his alone and not the result of any pressure from CBS. “Available, when asked, for whatever chore CBS News, ‘60 Minutes,’ the ‘CBS Evening News,’ have in mind for me.”
Well, CBS is looking for a new “Evening News” anchor …
Celebrity birthdays
Singer-keyboardist Sly Stone of Sly and the Family Stone is 63. Model Fabio is 45. Singer Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray is 38. Bassist Mark Hoppus of Blink 182 is 34. Actress Eva Longoria (“Desperate Housewives”) is 31. Rapper Will I Am of Black Eyed Peas is 31.
Contributing: Wendell Brock, Jill Vejnoska and news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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‘South Park’ loses Chef in spat about religion
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Former Atlantan Isaac Hayes has quit “South Park,” where he voices Chef, saying he no longer can stomach its take on religion.
Hayes, who has played the ladies’ man/school cook in the animated Comedy Central satire since 1997, said in a statement Monday that he feels a line has been crossed.
“There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry towards religious beliefs of others begins,” the 63-year-old soul singer and outspoken Scientologist said.
“Religious beliefs are sacred to people, and at all times should be respected and honored,” he continued. “As a civil rights activist of the past 40 years, I cannot support a show that disrespects those beliefs and practices.”
“South Park” co-creator Matt Stone responded sharply in an interview with The Associated Press Monday, saying, “This is 100 percent having to do with his faith of Scientology…. He has no problem — and he’s cashed plenty of checks — with our show making fun of Christians.”
Last November, “South Park” targeted the Church of Scientology and its celebrity followers, including actors Tom Cruise and John Travolta, in a top-rated episode called “Trapped in the Closet.” In the episode, Stan, one of the show’s four mischievous fourth-graders, is hailed as a reluctant savior by Scientology leaders, while a cartoon Cruise locks himself in a closet and won’t come out.
Stone told the AP he and co-creator Trey Parker “never heard a peep out of Isaac in any way until we did Scientology. He wants a different standard for religions other than his own, and to me, that is where intolerance and bigotry begin.”
Fun with a ‘roo
During the “Down Under Ball” Saturday night, 400 black-tie clad guests sang along to Australia’s unofficial national anthem, “Waltzing Matilda”; posed for pictures during cocktail hour with Myorli, a 17-month old kangaroo; and clapped for the Kahurangi Maori Dance Troupe. Presented by the Australian-New Zealand-American Chamber of Commerce, the gala, which was held at the InterContinental Buckhead, was a benefit for UNICEF. Barron Segar, the regional director of UNICEF, saluted four volunteers for their philanthropic work: Catherine Sych, Ian Hewett, Rhonda Mims and Sarah Walton.
Former “The Apprentice” contestant Wes Moss, who shared live auction duties with Randi Layne, might have found new contestants for the segment he hosts, “Starting From Scratch,” on WXIA-TV’s “Atlanta & Company.” Tom Carroll, a vice president of Tiffany & Co. in Phipps Plaza, who was also a guest at the ball, is working on his MBA at Georgia State University. He recently received an A on a paper detailing a local company — Carter Barnes Hair Salon. “After interviewing the three partners, Carey Carter, Mitchell Barnes and Perri Higbie,” said Carroll, “I found they started 19 years ago with one salon and very little money. It was fascinating how they turned it into a much bigger company, which was profitable from the start.”
Celebrity docket
Atlanta rapper Young Jeezy was arrested after an alleged shootout over the weekend in Miami’s South Beach involving some of his friends, police said.
The 28-year-old rapper, born Jay Jenkins, was charged this weekend with two counts of carrying a concealed firearm without a permit, police said.
Jenkins was with a group of men involved in an early morning fight, according to a police report.
When a passer-by filming the fight refused to hand over his video camera, one of the men in the group began shooting, the report stated.
Jenkins and about nine men fled the scene in two separate sport utility vehicles, police spokesman Robert Hernandez told The Miami Herald.
Officers stopped both vehicles, and found a semiautomatic firearm under Jenkins’ seat and another gun near the armrest when they searched his SUV.
Naked truth
The lawsuit can go on. That’s what a judge in Los Angeles said about Colin Farrell’s suit to prevent distribution of a sex tape he made with an ex-girlfriend three years ago.
Nicole Narain, who was Playboy’s Miss January 2002, sought to have the 29-year-old actor’s lawsuit dismissed. On Monday, Superior Court Judge Elihu Berle quashed the motion, instead directing Narain’s lawyers to file an answer to Farrell’s lawsuit.
Farrell’s lawyer, Paul Berra, declined to comment.
Narain is challenging Farrell’s claim that they agreed to keep the 14-minute videotape private. As “co-creator” of the tape, Narain alleges she has the right to reproduce, market and distribute it under federal copyright law.
Leodis Matthews, a lawyer for Narain, said sales of the videotape could represent significant income for his client, rivaling that of the Pamela Anderson-Tommy Lee sex tape.
A restraining order has been blocking release of the videotape.
Celebrity birthdays
Actor Michael Caine is 73. Composer-conductor Quincy Jones is 73. Comedian Billy Crystal is 58. Actor Chris Klein is 27. Singer-keyboardist Taylor Hanson of Hanson is 23.
Contributing: Marylin Johnson and news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Country radio in Atlanta still shuns Dixie Chicks
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Three years ago, Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks bashed President Bush on the eve of the Iraq war in London. (The infamous quote: “We’re ashamed that the president of the United States is from Texas.”)
Many country radio stations, including Kicks 101.5 and Eagle 106.7, pulled them from their playlists.
Neither station has spun a single Dixie Chicks song since, to no ill effect on their ratings. “I can’t imagine playing their stuff now,” said Steve Mitchell, afternoon jock for Eagle. Both stations test hundreds of songs with listeners; Dixie Chicks songs continue to rate near the bottom.
In a national survey of country radio fans, Edison Research found 43 percent were still upset “a lot” by Maines’ comments while 20 percent were “a little upset.” But only 21 percent of respondents said country radio shouldn’t play the Chicks at all while 45 percent disagreed with her viewpoint but didn’t mind their songs on the radio.
The Chicks’ first album since the controversy is due out May 23, and the first single “Not Ready to Make Nice,” addresses the issue head on.
Maines recently told Entertainment Weekly she no longer thinks much of the country music business: “They’ve shown their true colors. I like lots of country music, but as far as the industry and everything that happened … I couldn’t want to be farther away from that.”
Nationally, half the 192 country stations measured by Mediabase 24/7 did not play a Dixie Chicks tune last week. Markets which gave the Chicks the most spins were mostly in more liberal havens such as Austin, Texas, San Jose, Calif. and Spokane, Wash., though Nashville’s WSM-FM is still a big supporter.
Hot new Scottish singer
A sold-out Loft Saturday night lapped up the sonic musings of fetching Scottish singer KT Tunstall, part of a recent U.K. invasion that includes the Arctic Monkeys and James Blunt. While her upper registers make her sound a bit like Dido and her lower registers a growling Janis Joplin, her musical DNA is actually more along the lines of ’90s singer-songwriters PJ Harvey and Poe.
Live, she conveyed a rougher-hewn feel than on her debut album “Eye of the Telescope,” giving her propulsive single “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree” a delightful kick. She said, with surprise, that Elton John had stopped by to say hey, but he wasn’t at the concert itself. She ended with a wonderfully jazzy remake of Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back.”
“Always a pleasure, never a chore,” she said. “We’ll come back here!”
Kelly Preston makes a pitch
In a strangely ambitious promo, Country Crock rented out the Georgia Dome Saurday, fed more than 1,000 people free chicken, mashed potatoes and mac and cheese and flew in actress Kelly Preston as a hired gun.
The pitch? To promote families to do more sit-down dinners. Country Crock also donated $25,000 to Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta and 5 tons of food to Second Harvest.
Preston told Buzz that she and her hubby John Travolta, their 13-year-old son Jett and 5-year-old daughter Ella frequently eat dinner together. “We do a lot of barbecues,” at their Ocala, Fla., home, she said. Her young daughter’s two favorite foods? Chicken fingers and caviar. (Just not together.)
How do the pair stay out of the tabloids? “We mostly live in Ocala,” she said, away from the paparazzi.
Last fall, Preston filmed an indie flick also starring country singer Toby Keith and Atlanta favorite Burt Reynolds. She said she enjoyed her time renting a home in Buckhead and visiting Stone Mountain.
Around the TV dial
“Sex and the City” siren Kim Cattrall will play the manager to a gay British rock star in “Him and Us,” the Elton John-produced ABC sitcom pilot…
FX’s debut of “Black. White.,” the race-swapping doc featuring Lilburn family the Sparks, drew 4 million viewers, a monstrous showing for FX. And Bravo’s hot reality series “Project Runway” finale drew 3.4 million, the most in that network’s history…
NBC has finally put Matt LeBlanc’s failed post-“Friends” spinoff “Joey” out of its misery. Last week, in its first time on Tuesdays at 8 p.m., it drew just 4 million viewers. Instead, NBC will roll out throwaway special “Most Outrageous Moments” while leftover “Joey” episodes will likely air this summer.
Celebrity birthdays
Singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka is 67. Actor William H. Macy is 56. Actress Dana Delany (“China Beach”) is 50. Bassist Adam Clayton of U2 is 46.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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College Park restaurant feels the love after report
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thanks to USA Today, the Feed Store in College Park had to send out for some additional feed bags this week. The Feed Store received a rave in the story headlined “Best Bets Close To The Busiest Airports,” based on a Zagat survey.
“I had no idea it was coming; we had no warning at all,” Feed Store owner Celita Bullard told Buzz on Friday. “It’s been a wild week!”
First, there were the 10 businesspeople, who upon seeing the story in Tuesday’s paper hired a courier to drive them to the eatery on Main Street. The restaurant also ended up hosting a party for the ambassador to Jordan and his guests this week.
Due to all the unexpected company, Bullard says they ran out of steaks one night and the wine list was sucked dry on another. .
“We got down to the bottles of $100 stuff,” recalls Bullard, laughing. “And people were telling us, ‘That’s OK. Bring them on over.’ It was completely crazy.”
Bullard credits the convenient College Park MARTA train stop that’s almost across the street for the newspaper nod.
“We actually have a group of federal judges who work in downtown Atlanta who routinely hop on MARTA and come here for lunch,” she says. “They say it’s actually easier than trying to find some place downtown.”
And Bullard didn’t exactly have to buy out all the local editions of USA Today from local newsstands this week, either.
Says Bullard: “All these folks from foreign countries and all these people from the West Coast all came in waving a copy of the story for us.”
ATL’s old chap steps in again
For Billy Payne, the influential Atlantan who helped to bring the 1996 Summer Olympics to the city, ordering up a few specialty horses for next week’s St. Patrick’s Day parade proved to be no problem. When it was decided that the Budweiser Clydesdales would make a fine addition to the parade celebration, Payne picked up the phone and dialed his pal Augie Busch, who immediately made it happen. We’re told that the team will be housed and be on display at Atlantic Station throughout next weekend.
Overscene
Atlanta Thrasher Ilya Kolvachuk, dining at Morton’s in Buckhead after the game Wednesday night. His guests were his wife and mother. The Russian native selected lobster after the game’s nail-biter 3-2 shootout victory over the New York Rangers.
Celebrity docket No. 1
Former Creed singer and budding Kid Rock sex tape co-star Scott Stapp expressed gratitude that prosecutors didn’t charge him with public drunkenness for an incident at Los Angeles International Airport, and he promised to get his life together and start keeping his name out of the tabloids.
Stapp, 32, and his wife, former Miss New York Jaclyn Nesheiwat, were on their way to Hawaii for their honeymoon when he was arrested Feb. 11 for allegedly being drunk in public. The two were married in Miami the day before.
“No charges have been filed by the L.A. district attorney’s office, and for that I am appreciative,” Stapp said in a statement. “I have said it before, but we all make mistakes, and the day will come soon enough where you no longer read of mine in the tabloids.”
Stapp is also the target of a lawsuit filed in Miami last week by a woman who claims to be involved in a sex video showing him and fellow musician Kid Rock with several strippers.
Stapp said the tape, which was made in 1999, was stolen from him. He and Kid Rock have won a temporary court order in Michigan preventing World Wide Red Light District from distributing the video or promoting any part of it.
Celebrity docket No. 2
Former 1970s teen idol Leif Garrett has been ordered to remain in a strict live-in drug rehab for another month, despite telling a Los Angeles judge he was “going down the right path” after spending 42 days there.
The 44-year-old former teen idol asked a Los Angeles Superior Court commissioner Thursday for permission to return to an outpatient treatment program so he could be with his mother, who is suffering from an undisclosed illness.
Garrett, who has appeared in some three dozen films, mostly in the 1970s and 1980s, and has released 10 albums, agreed to enter the program for violating probation in a cocaine case stemming from a 2004 arrest.
He faces felony heroin possession charges after officers who stopped him Jan. 14 for allegedly trying to ride a Los Angeles subway train without a ticket said they found suspected narcotics. He has pleaded not guilty in that case.
Standing outside the courthouse with his mother and his attorney, Garrett blamed his recent drug arrest on his concerns for his mother’s poor health.
“I’m going down the right path,” he said. “Instead of a dirt road, I’ve been on a paved road.”
He also vowed to never appear again in an orange jail suit mug shot. “I don’t look good in orange,” he said.
His next court appearance is scheduled for April 6.
Celebrity birthdays
Singer Bobby McFerrin is 56. Singer Nina Hagen is 51. Singer Cheryl Lynn is 49. Actress Alex Kingston (“ER”) is 43. Actor Wallace Langham (“C.S.I.”) is 41. Singer Lisa Loeb is 38. Actor Terrence Howard (“Crash,” “Hustle and Flow”) is 37. Actor Johnny Knoxville is 35. Singers Benji and Joel Madden of Good Charlotte are 27.
Sunday: Singer Al Jarreau is 66. Singer-actress Liza Minnelli is 60. Singer James Taylor is 58. Actor Courtney B. Vance is 46. Actor Samm Levine (“Freaks and Geeks”) is 24.
Contributing: News services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Our loss is Hollywood’s— and singer’s — gain
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
While we were in West Hollywood on Saturday night, Buzz ran into old pal and former Atlanta singer-songwriter Phil Dutra. We’re glad we did. Regrettably for his fans here, all that smog, sunshine and collagen plumping on the Left Coast is agreeing with Dutra’s musical career.
In addition to gigging regularly at acoustic venues like Genghis Cohen and Highland Grounds, Dutra has a song, “She Walks Away,” that recently won a contest sponsored by TAXI, an independent global A&R company that pairs songwriters’ work with films and TV projects.
First prize was a studio session with veteran Beverly Hills, Calif., record producer Michael Lloyd, who helped produce the “Dirty Dancing” soundtrack and has produced discs for Frank Sinatra, Dionne Warwick and Kimberley Locke.
“Walking into his home and seeing walls and walls of platinum and gold records was a little intimidating at first,” Dutra concedes, laughing. “But Michael has a wonderful sense of humor, and he put me at ease immediately. We had a great time.”
The sessions produced a fresh version of “She Walks Away,” which serves as the lead track on the singer’s upcoming EP “Right Behind the Rain.” Luckily, Buzz left Lala Land with an advance copy of the disc. Atlanta fans who have followed Dutra’s career since the last millennium, when he was in the local acoustic duo the Singles, will be well pleased.
Dutra’s sunny, shimmering melodic brand of pop and witty wordplay remains intact, even surrounded by earthquakes and around-the-clock traffic jams that make one long for I-285 at 5 p.m.
Fans can download songs from “Rain” online at www.phildutra.com for a mere 99 cents each. The singer also has completed a video for the new album with Los Angeles filmmaker Ron Lyerly.
“We filmed a clip for ‘Right Behind the Rain,’ ” says Dutra. “But because we did it in between other projects, it took a year.”
Wasn’t continuity an issue?
“I live here now,” cracks Dutra. “I’m trying to take care of myself. I think I was only booze-swollen on two days of the shoot.”
Ted Turner’s free time
We spent Wednesday night roaming Atlantic Station in search of a scoop. At Rosa Mexicano we spotted Ted’s Montana Grill co-founder George McKerrow and his wife, Ginair. We somehow enticed the McKerrows to pop into the nearby Strip with us. Inside the throbbing industrial eatery/nightclub, McKerrow told Buzz that the folks at his company are thrilled with partner Ted Turner’s recent decision to step down from the Time Warner board. “It couldn’t be better for us,” he said. “Now, we get 100 percent of Ted’s time. You can expect some new visions and some new projects from Ted. He’s never gonna stop.”
We also checked out the lavish rollout party for Heineken Light taking place down the street in the Twelve hotel ballroom. The beer brand is on a multi-city tour to introduce the light version of the global brew. Inside, freebie bottles of Heineken Light were submerged in ice inside coffee tables with built-in ice buckets. Guests lounged as two go-go dancers in white boots gyrated inside cutouts of beer bottles onstage. Alas, the live DJ’s music was pumping at teeth-rattling decibels, and attempts at conversation led to bloodied vocal cords. When said DJ decided to assault the crowd with Eminem’s 2002 song “Lose Yourself” — and this being 2006 and all — we left.
A second helping of Tamar
After tickets instantly vaporized Wednesday for the March 15 Tabernacle concert featuring singer and Prince protégé Tamar with the diminutive guitarist as her sideman, Live Nation has added a second show. Tickets for a midnight March 16 second gig will go on sale today at 10 a.m. at Ticketmaster and online at www.livenation.com. Tickets are $60.
Classic Chastain lines up
Classic Chastain announced its first round of performers on Wednesday. Artists booked at the amphitheater this summer include returning faves Los Lonely Boys (June 14), B.B. King (June 21), the Neville Brothers and Dr. John (June 21), the Doobie Brothers (June 24), the Gypsy Kings (July 1), the Beach Boys (July 26), India Arie (July 29), George Benson (Aug. 4), Bruce Hornsby (Aug. 9) Hootie and the Blowfish (Aug. 12) and John Prine (Aug. 18). Debuting in the series are Toni Braxton (June 23), Ian Anderson (July 22), Raul Midon (Aug. 4), Chris Botti (Aug. 11), Spyro Gyra and Fourplay (Aug. 23). One cool upcoming evening will see a reunion between Stockbridge rockers Collective Soul and the members of the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra, who recently released the live DVD and CD set “Home: A Live Concert Recording” that the band and the ASYO recorded and filmed last year.
Movin’ on everywhere
Everybody has something to get over — an ex, a bad habit, general anxiety about life.
On Thursday, these troubles were parlayed into “Get Over It Day.”
Created by Emory University students, the special day was observed in cities across the country — Tampa to Dallas to Atlanta.
“I am actually getting over a lot of stuff,” said Setareh Mostoufi, a 21-year-old Emory student who helped organize the event. “I am a senior, and I was trying to get a job over in Rome where I studied abroad and it looks like it is not going to work out.”
Mostoufi said some of her friends were ripping up pictures of exes.
In Atlanta, Front Page News (located in Midtown and Little Five Points) was happily playing host for the event.
“Everyone has something to get over,” said Sheila Clardy, bar manager at Front Page News, gearing Thursday afternoon for angst-ridden partyers anxious to drown their sorrows.
Clardy said she needs to “get over” her parking ticket.
We at Buzz are still not sure if this was legit or just another gimmick to drink.
Celebrity docket
David Beckham and his wife, Victoria, have settled their libel case against a British tabloid that claimed the couple’s marriage was a sham.
The England soccer captain had been seeking libel damages against the News of the World newspaper over an article that carried the headline: “Posh and Becks on the Rocks.”
“The defamation proceedings brought by David and Victoria Beckham against the News of the World have been resolved on a confidential basis,” the couple’s spokeswoman, Jo Milloy, said in a statement Thursday.
Lawyers for Beckham and his wife — formerly known as Posh Spice of the Spice Girls — told a hearing last October that the couple would contest claims that they were maintaining a false image of a happy marriage to protect their financial interests.
Hugh Tomlinson, lawyer for the Beckhams, argued that his clients had been defamed by the Sunday tabloid newspaper and said there was no truth in the story.
Celebrity birthdays
Singer Dean Torrence of Jan and Dean is 66. Actor Chuck Norris is 66. Actress Sharon Stone is 48. Country singer Daryle Singletary is 35. Rapper-producer Timbaland is 34. Singer Carrie Underwood (“American Idol”) is 23.
Contributing: Helena Oliviero and news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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What’s next for Bobby? 1980s jaywalking fines?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On Wednesday, Buzz was greeted by spring temperatures, blooming Bradford pear trees and word that Alpharetta singer/reality TV star Bobby Brown had once again been jailed. Yup, we’re officially back in Atlanta.
We’re assuming it was a slow weekend for writing parking tickets in Webster, Mass., since law enforcement there arrested Brown for minor motor-vehicle violations dating back 14 years.
The 37-year-old entertainer was in town Friday to watch his daughter in a high-school cheerleading tournament that night when a police officer was allegedly so bored that he conducted a warrant check on the pop star. The check revealed the old misdemeanor charges of unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and having an uninsured motor-vehicle trailer, said Webster Police Chief Timothy J. Bent. He said a warrant check is “a common thing to do.”
Brown was “very cooperative” and was allowed to drive — with his bodyguard — to the police station after the cheerleading event, Bent said.
Brown was detained for about one hour and was released on $40 bond. In other words, neither Brown’s wife, Whitney Houston, nor her black American Express card had to be awakened.
“He was very forthright in wanting to clear this up,” Bent said. “He probably didn’t know he had this.”
The good news? According to Brown’s mug shot, courteously e-mailed to Buzz Central from celebrity gossip Web site TMZ.com, the singer’s unkempt ‘fro that he had been sporting in recent months has been lopped off in favor of a more sophisticated shorter cut.
Brown’s attorney, Maurice Bennett, who likely was still reeling from boredom, didn’t return a call to comment.
At press time Wednesday, it could not be determined when Webster, Mass., would be installing the burg’s first red light.
Plenty of criteria
Actor, rapper and comedian Nick Cannon’s nationwide search for a co-star in an upcoming music video included a stop at Atlanta’s Fox Sports Grill on Tuesday. The name of the song is “Dime Piece” —slang for a woman who is a perfect 10. And apparently Brikti Butler thought she qualified.
“I told him, ‘I sing, and can I be in your next video? I can sing anything.’ And he said, ‘I want to hear some ‘His Eye Is on the Sparrow.’ ”
So in the middle of the private dining room, the Lithonia customer service representative for PDS Heart obliged him.
Funny thing is, minutes earlier when Cannon was asked what kind of woman he was looking for, he didn’t say anything about singing ability.
“Spiritually, she’s got to have a spirit that’s like — you know how sometimes you can just tell if someone has a beautiful spirit through their smile? And how they carry themselves? I’m looking for someone with like a pure spirit,” explained Cannon. “Then, physically, I would have to say someone who keeps herself together. … You can be any size, any shape, any color as long as you keep yourself together. Personalitywise, I need somebody with a great sense of humor, someone who knows how to be the life of the party but knows how to turn that on and off, too.”
Prince’s new career?
Tickets went on sale at 5 p.m. Wednesday for pop superstar Prince’s performance next week at the Tabernacle downtown.
Funny thing is, Live Nation is billing the March 15 midnight show as Tamar featuring Prince.
Until Wednesday, the singer Tamar was probably best known as Alpharetta R&B singer Toni Braxton’s younger sister. (Though she and the famous sibling’s other sisters, Trina and Towanda, did put out a CD as the Braxtons, “So Many Ways” in 1996; followed by Tamar’s solo bow in 1999. Neither was well-received commercially.)
Judging by coverage of Prince and Tamar’s earlier surprise dates, however, it still should be some show.
Here’s what the Philadelphia Inquirer said about their Electric Factory concert last week: “It didn’t matter that Prince would merely be supplying his latest protégé — the powerhouse R&B singer Tamar — with sturdy guitar licks and background vocals.”
Tamar, Inky music critic A.D. Amorosi continued, has a “deliciously sassy, sinewy voice, something like Erykah Badu meets Millie Jackson.”
Added the Minneapolis Star-Tribune: “Ninety minutes of Prince as sideman is still pretty special when it’s an artist he and the crowd clearly believed in.”
Tickets for the show, if they haven’t already been snatched up, are $60 and available at www.livenation.com, all Ticketmaster locations, or charge by phone at 404-249-6400. Doors open at 10:30 p.m.
Overscene
The third location of legendary Atlanta seafood and steak joint/airport hangout Spondivits had an interesting convergence of politicos at its new Pharr Road eatery over the weekend. On Friday night, beleaguered former Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell and wife Sharon popped in for a bite. Across the room, Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue and wife Mary were supping. Buzz was informed Wednesday that no lawyers or law enforcement officials were required. Alas, we were not able to confirm whether Campbell paid in cash or not. … Celebrity couple Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore at Twelve hotel at Atlantic Station on Saturday night. The “Beauty and the Geek” producer and actor was in town overseeing details for the local version of Dolce, the swank Italian eatery he owns in Los Angeles with his former “That ’70s Show” co-stars Wilmer Valderrama, Danny Masterson and Laura Prepon. The concept at Atlantic Station debuts later this year. … Food Network “Good Eats” host Alton Brown and wife DeAnna were among the invited guests at Pricci’s ninth annual Academy Awards Night in Buckhead on Sunday. Actor’s Express actors posed as paparazzi out front as sky tracker lights illuminated the restaurant. Jezebel magazine publisher Beth Weitzman and Star 94’s Tom Sullivan also attended, as did former “Three’s Company” actor Richard Kline, who’s in town appearing in “Boychick” at the Balzer Theater on Luckie Street downtown. Kline no doubt treated the assembled to some fine Don Knotts remembrances. Knotts memorably portrayed Kline’s character’s landlord, Mr. Furley, on the 1970s ABC sitcom.
Celebrity birthdays
Singer-actress Keely Smith is 74. Singer Lloyd Price is 73. “Good Morning America” host Charles Gibson is 63. Actor and Atlantan Emmanuel Lewis (“Webster”) is 35. Actor Kerr Smith (“Dawson’s Creek”) is 34. Rapper Bow Wow is 19.
Contributing: Sonia Murray and news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Sir Elton works on ‘Captain’ sequel in Atlanta
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
HOLLYWOOD — Perhaps sensing our Aretha Franklin-esque aversion to air travel, Elton John generously gave Buzz a scoop Sunday night during his 14th annual Elton John AIDS Foundation benefit Oscar party at the Pacific Design Center. The singer-songwriter confided that in addition to readying “Lestat” for Broadway and performing his “Red Piano” tour dates in Las Vegas, he’s been spending time in his adopted U.S. hometown recording.
“I’ve been in Atlanta recording for the past three weeks,” John said. “It’s going brilliantly. We’re halfway through.”
The pop star has been working with Atlanta engineer Matt Still, who also assisted John in producing his 2004 studio disc “Peachtree Road” in Atlanta.
The upcoming album is “The Captain and the Kid,” a long-awaited sequel to Sir Elton and lyricist Bernie Taupin’s classic 1975 recording “Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy.” Presumably, the new album would pick up the storytelling threads of the first album’s song cycle 30 years later.
John told Buzz the new album is due in stores in September.
Maybe not the winning bid
As we reported Tuesday, “Basic Instinct” actress Sharon Stone was beaming Sunday night when her winning bid of $170,000 fetched her the singer’s signature Yamaha digital acoustic red piano, affectionately named Nikita by John. But Stone may not yet walk away with the instrument, which was signed by John just after he performed a pair of duets on it with Grammy winner John Legend at the party. The auctioneer made it clear that Stone’s bid could be trumped since the piano is still up for bid on eBay. The online auction, which runs until Thursday, benefits the Elton John AIDS Foundation. Moneyed fans willing to outbid Stone can shop online at www.ebay.com/ejaf. FYI: Interested shoppers must pre-qualify for the red piano.
Star encounters
As an actual invited guest at Sir Elton’s annual Oscar bash (as opposed to, say, when we have to shimmy over a wall to cover a Jane Fonda G-CAPP benefit for Buzz readers), we must admit to feeling a smidge guilty strolling past the working reporters yelling questions from the standard press perch at the rope line outside the Pacific Design Center on Sunday afternoon. We also felt compelled to be on our best behavior (well, OK, our best possible behavior). Still, the nine-hour gala netted some opportunities to chat with celebrities.
“The Office” actor John Krasinski was trying to adjust to being a suddenly recognized star of a hit sitcom. “It’s been really wonderful,” he told us. The budding writer recently finished his first screenplay.
Attendee (and 1950s pin-up) Tab Hunter still generated lustful stares from women of a certain age (and, apparently, a few men) who once had his picture on their bedroom walls. Hunter told Buzz that while the film rights haven’t yet been snapped up to his 2005 memoir,”Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star,” people ask him about its casting. “I always get asked, ‘Who’s going to play you?,’ ” Hunter said, laughing. “I always reply, ‘Me? The question is who’s going to play my mother!’ “
Brunch at the Beverly Hills Hotel
We had to pop a few Aleve on Sunday after brunching in the Polo Lounge at the gorgeous, historic Beverly Hills Hotel off Sunset Boulevard that has housed Charlie Chaplin, Katharine Hepburn and Gloria Swanson. Outside on the patio, we endured repeated neck strain to ogle former Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss, Paris Hilton, who requested a secluded table in the shade (waiters dutifully lugged over a 10-foot portable heater for the hotel heiress), and Chance Evans, the owner of Nuevo Laredo, one of Atlanta’s most beloved Mexican eateries. Inside, veteran ABC newswoman Barbara Walters was lunching with a female companion.
Sightings
As we were sprinting through the Regent Beverly Wilshire hotel Sunday morning looking for the complimentary coffee service that had somehow evaporated, it was reassuring to run into another caffeine junkie. Hidden behind dark shades, skin care queen and Home Shopping Network superstar Adrien Arpel was also in desperate need of java. Initially, the buzz-deprived Buzz suggested a hostile takeover of the tony hotel to Arpel. In an attempt to stave off the impending coup, an eavesdropping concierge directed us to the Blvd. bar. As she sipped, Arpel lamented the perils of aging. Cracked Arpel of “Sunset Boulevard” tragic turban-wrapped heroine Norma Desmond: ” ‘Sunset Boulevard’ is becoming my life!” Take it from us, Arpel’s products must work. She looked fab.
Twice during the weekend, Buzz shared an elevator with a distinguished gentleman who motored around the Beverly Wilshire on a red scooter. On Saturday night, our suspicions about his identity were confirmed when he popped on with two women, one of which was holding his famed Soil Strad violin case. And on Sunday at the Oscars, classical violinist Itzhak Perlman performed the best original score nominees. And yes, we are now relieved that we held the elevator door for him.
Oscar ratings down
Nielsen is reporting that an estimated 38.8 million people watched the Academy Awards on ABC, down 8 percent from last year and the worst since 2003, according to Nielsen Media Research.
Celebrity birthdays
Actress Lynn Redgrave is 63. Actor Aidan Quinn is 47. Singer Shawn Mullins is 38. Actor Freddie Prinze Jr. is 30. Singer Tom Chaplin of Keane is 27.
Contributing: news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Elton’s big bash
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — More than 2,000 invited guests sang along to “Rocket Man” at the star-studded height, early Monday morning, of Elton John’s 14th annual Oscar party benefiting the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
Singer Macy Gray swayed along in the audience as heiress Paris Hilton played tonsil hockey with her latest boy toy. But even with the likes of teen queen Lindsay Lohan, Donatella Versace, Patty Hearst and John Waters in the VIP lounge, the originator of the A-list Oscar party never let anyone forget the reason they were under the chic blue-and-chocolate-hued circular tent at the Pacific Design Center — to raise money, lots of money.
For Atlantans and staunch foundation supporters Drs. Jeffrey and Nancy Gallups, hair salon owner Richie Arpino, Midtown restaurateur Mitchell Anderson, and Elton John AIDS Foundation-Atlanta board member Barron Segar, the eight hour-plus party became a lesson in pacing one’s self.
The party began at 4 p.m. Pacific time, after guests navigated through police barricades and flashed ID to party organizers. From then, the designer-labeled crowd was painstakingly fawned over till the wee hours of Monday morning.
Attendees like “Will & Grace” star Eric McCormack, “Today” weatherman Al Roker, Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, Pamela Anderson, Tim Allen, and others were served a luscious four-course salmon, filet and risotto dinner as they viewed the Oscars on a dozen massive flat-screen televisions around the room.
John and his partner, David Furnish, visited every table and chatted with almost every single one of the exclusive 540 guests at the viewing party dinner.
Popping in at Table 32 where the Gallupses and the other Atlantans were seated, John told Buzz: “It’s always extremely touching to me to see so many Atlantans here. Each year, the number seems to grow. For me, it’s very gratifying to see so many familiar faces from the city I call home. Their support is very important to me.”
For Segar and the other foundation board members present, the record amount of money raised Sunday night was heartening.
“Now more than ever, fund-raising is an ongoing challenge,” said Segar. “With the spiking statistics we’re seeing with new HIV infections in the South, a lot of this money will be going toward new initiatives in Atlanta and its surrounding states. It’s because of Elton’s continuing commitment that we’re seeing tonight’s record amount of money being raised.”
Sharon Osbourne concurred.
“Elton is the single reason that I can get Ozzy to come to this,” she told Buzz. “He simply adores him.”
As always, the bash was a celebrity magnet. “The Office” actors John Krasinski and B.J. Novak milled about as former “Queer as Folk” co-stars Scott Lowell and Peter Paige held a mini reunion as “The Shield” actress CCH Pounder and “NYPD Blue” actor Henry Simmons looked for a few partying perps to prosecute.
Former “Lost” crash victim Ian Somerhalder was looking to get, well, lost with one of the leggy supermodels circling him all evening. Winter Olympics gold medalist Apolo Anton Ohno was also a hit with women despite his “he looks taller on TV” 5-foot-8 height.
“Pink Flamingos” director Waters was having a ball introducing members of his extended film family to one another. 1950s actor Tab Hunter, who starred in Waters’ trash classic “Polyester,” was introduced to Hearst, who once played a juror whacked with a pay phone receiver by Kathleen Turner in the director’s black comedy “Serial Mom.”
“Believe it or not, Patty and Tab had never met until tonight,” Waters said with a devilish grin as his pencil-thin mustache twitched. “It’s almost like the GLAAD Awards in here tonight!”
As Sunday became Monday and stars like Jessica Simpson (sans estranged hubby Nick Lachey) and Charlize Theron continued to stroll in, the Atlantans booked on the 8:20 a.m. flight back to Georgia were focused on other matters as they awaited their limos.
Chief among them? How to pack their hefty 10-pound gift bags.
“These are really heavy,” Jeffrey Gallups allowed. “You always know you’ve been to one of Elton’s parties when you can bench-press the goody bag.”
John-John jam
It wasn’t just a night to show off your bling and rub shoulders with all the glitzy celebs. At least one pop star had to do a little work. John Legend and John — blinged out with gem-encrusted eyeglasses, diamond necklaces and a hypnotizing 5-carat emerald cut earring — performed a duet for the formally attired crowd.
Talking about Mrs. King
Singer Michael Bolton and “Desperate Housewives” gal pal Nicollette Sheridan stayed busy talking to friends at the bar.
Bolton fondly recalled singing at Coretta Scott King’s memorial in Georgia last month.
“I hated having to be there because it meant this great lady was gone,” Bolton said. “But it was [an] amazing day to be a part of. Nicollette was also very moved by the tribute. It was an honor to participate.”
A winning bid
“Basic Instinct” actress Sharon Stone successfully bid $170,000 for the piano that Elton John played on.
That certainly made the singer-songwriter, and part-time Atlanta resident, really happy.
“I want to thank everyone here tonight,” John told the crowd, grinning. “Because of you, we’ve raised more money tonight than at any other Oscar night party.”
The evening raised about $3 million for the nonprofit, up from $1.3 million in 2005.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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V-103’s new Dark Secret brings bass voice, street savvy
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Reggie Rouse, the new program director at V-103, wanted a female voice in middays after he let the Magic Man go in November, but instead he found a man with a deep, deep voice: Osei, the Dark Secret.
Dark Secret, who used to fetch coffee for Rouse when Rouse was a morning producer at WPGC-FM in Washington, D.C., in 1998, started Friday after leaving an afternoon DJ gig atWKYS-FM in D.C.
“He’s a team player,” Rouse said. “He’s smart, he’s focused, he takes cares of business. He knows how to have fun.”
How did Osei, 32, come up with the name Dark Secret? He simply thought it was cool. Osei is his real first name but he said he hated it as a kid and once told his friends to call him Darrell instead, which didn’t please his parents, who were born in Ghana. (He lived in Ghana as a toddler.)
He said he plans to make himself known among V-103 fans quickly: “I came from a street background. I like to be in the mix. I love people. In radio, it’s the last frontier when it comes to bridging the gap in the media perspective. People feel like they have a direct connection.”
Dark Secret said he’s been doing this long enough that he feels “no pressure,” despite working amongst a powerhouse lineup. “I look forward to this,” he said. “I can always learn more.”
He said he’s more than just a deep voice: “Deep voices are a dime a dozen. It’s not just the voice. With the temperature right now, you have to have a personality to carry things over. They give you a box. You gotta play hard.”
Battling for Reynolds
The producers of the everlasting comic play “Peachtree Battle” are working on turning it into a feature film. Anthony Morris and John Gibson met with legendary actress Debbie Reynolds last week to play Azalea Wieuca, the inebriated grandmother.
“We were without lawyers and agents,” Gibson told Buzz. “She was beautiful and gracious and funny, the whole package.”
But he said they still have to find someone first to play the lead matriarch, Trudy Habersham, before they even commit to an Azalea. Gibson says initial financing has been committed for the film and they plan to shoot it in Atlanta, thanks to tax incentives passed last year by the Georgia Legislature that made the economics work.
Atlanta ‘Beauty’ ousted
No Atlantan is going to win “Beauty & the Geek 2.”
“Beauty” Jennipher Johnson, a 23-year-old Atlanta kindergarten teacher who couldn’t name the vice president on the show, struggled with directions and lost a key challenge with just three couples left.
She didn’t study much either and missed two out of three questions about maps in the final; as a result, she and her teammate Ankur Metha (“MIT graduate”) were eliminated.
A week earlier, Georgia Tech grad Wes Wilson, the geek who looked like a stud after a makeover, hooked up with finalist Cher Tenbush , known on the show as “beer spokesmodel” and smartest gal in the bunch. But during a fashion shoot challenge, he took shockingly poor photos of his gorgeous teammate Sarah Coleman, which led to his eventual ouster.
So Wilson got the girl, not the $250,000.
Celebrity docket
Gary Glitter, the British rocker known stateside primarily for his propulsive sports stadium classic “Rock N’ Roll Part 2,” was sentenced to three years in prison in Vietnam for molesting two Vietnamese girls. The judge condemned him for “disgusting and sick” behavior, but Glitter shouted after the verdict: “I haven’t done anything! I’m innocent!”
Soul Train winners
The only Atlantan who came away with a win Saturday at the Soul Train Awards was Ciara, who helped out Missy Elliott on “Lose Control”, best R&B-soul or rap dance cut. Mariah Carey capped another winning awards show with best female album and best song while John Legend nabbed best male album and single.
No longer charmed
The WB’s “Charmed” is about to go away with the network itself. The trio of sisterly witches (which once included Shannen Doherty) is slated for its final spell May 21 after eight seasons. The WB disappears in September when it merges with the UPN to become the CW.
And a show that’s less heralded is gone forever, too: CBS’s tepid comedy “Yes, Dear,” which inexplicably lasted six seasons. Star Anthony Clark will now host rival network NBC’s “Last Comic Standing” this summer, replacing Jay Mohr, who complained bitterly when NBC pulled the final episode of the third edition of the show …
Casting calls
Rock-star wannabes will be able to audition today at the Velvet Underground in the Hard Rock Cafe downtown from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. But they won’t know which band they’ll be auditioning for. CBS, which launched the series last year with INXS, still hasn’t announced which group is going to seek a lead singer this summer. Among the rumored acts: Alice in Chains and Van Halen. A publicist teased Buzz by saying there is an Atlanta connection to the group but it’s not an Atlanta-based band, so fans of Collective Soul and Black Crowes can breathe easy…
Donald Trump’s “Apprentice 5” debut came in a miserable fourth place this past Monday, but NBC has already committed to a sixth, this time set in Los Angeles this fall. You can try out March 17 at Twelve Hotel & Residences at Atlantic Station. Details at www.nbc.com/The_Apprentice_5 /apply.
Random bits
Paula Abdul, who was acting a bit odd on Thursday’s “American Idol,” can’t help but make headlines. Earlier that day, she was allowed to board a plane at the Las Vegas airport without passing through a security checkpoint, prompting all passengers and luggage to be screened when they landed in California, officials said Friday. A worker led Abdul and a companion around the mandatory screening process before they boarded a Southwest Airlines flight headed to Burbank, Calif., Thursday afternoon, said Elaine Sanchez, a spokeswoman for McCarran International Airport.
Speaking of “American Idol,” Buzz discovered Friday that Brenna Gethers, the egotistical “Idol” contestant eliminated Thursday, has no shame. When asked what she thought of Fayetteville’s bubbly Paris Bennett, she didn’t bother giving Buzz some platitude about how great Bennett is.
Nope. Gethers said: “I can’t comment on that because it’s about Brenna Gethers. Write that.” Well, we just did…
Celebrity birthdays
TV personality Ed McMahon is 83. Singer Mary Wilson of the Supremes is 62. Singer-guitarist David Gilmour of Pink Floyd is 60. Actor-director Rob Reiner is 59. Actor Tom Arnold is 47. Actor D.L. Hughley (“The Hughleys”) is 42. Rapper Beanie Sigel is 32. Georgia-based rapper Bubba Sparxxx is 29.
Contributing: news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-5688 or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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2 Georgians in running for sexiest vegetarian
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlanta singer-songwriter Gene Owens has some hunky competition for the title of North America’s sexiest vegetarian, but he says, “I think I’ve got the Canadians beat.” Sponsored by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the contest accepted photos of nonmeat-eaters from around the continent and narrowed the field to 10 guys and 10 gals.
The photo of Owens, 25, of Atlanta’s Candler Park neighborhood, was sent in by his girlfriend, and he was surprised to make it to the finals.
Also in the running is Woody Brown, 25, who works at a Gainesville mental health and drug rehab facility. The full roster of green-loving pinups, whom PETA describes as “sultry soy boys and Tofutti cuties,” can be seen at the Web site goveg.com, where readers can vote for their favorite herbivore.
Brown, who is also a musician, said his bandmates in the Modern Society have picked on him fairly harshly for the contest, but they’ve also urged fans to generate votes.
Chasing Sir Elton’s record
UK singer/songwriter James Blunt has reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with the single “You’re Beautiful.” Blunt becomes the first British artist to reach the summit since Elton John achieved the feat in 1997 with “Candle in the Wind 1997/Something About the Way You Look Tonight.” That song spent 14 weeks at the top.
Copy of amendment on view
Of the 13 copies of the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery, made and signed by President Abraham Lincoln, a few remain in private hands, including one on display through Sunday at the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site. “As far as documents in American history that are owned privately, this is the Holy Grail,” said Ryan Raynor, standing next to the document in its elaborate wooden frame, on display in one of the site’s galleries.
Raynor’s company will auction the document this month in Raleigh. The fading manuscript is signed by Lincoln and more than a hundred lawmakers, including James Garfield (then a representative, later president), Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner.
Inmate art goes to Ripley’s
Ripley’s Believe It or Not was in Atlanta recently, stocking up on prisoner crafts to add to its 22,000-piece art collection. The assorted items, including purses, rugs, wallets and jewelry boxes, were made painstakingly from folded cigarette packages by anonymous inmates. “I can’t imagine how many packs of Camel cigarettes one would have to smoke,” said Amy Slotin, whose Buford company auctioned the items last month and can’t say what prison might have hosted the makers.
“It’s a shame to think that someone who can make something so beautiful out of nothing is wasting their time in prison.” The last time Edward Meyer, vice president of exhibits and archives for Ripley’s, bought at a Slotin auction, he came away with a high-priced lock of Napoleon’s hair. Ripley’s also has hair from George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe. Napoleon’s? “A chestnut brown,” said Meyer.
Celebrity fondling
Scarlett Johansson wasn’t amused when fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi groped her on the red carpet at January’s Golden Globe Awards, but she’s willing to forgive him.
“It was definitely in poor taste,” Johansson told the Los Angeles Times. “I’d been prepping for two hours with hair and makeup and getting dressed. And the first interview I do, someone who I have never met before fondles me for his own satisfaction.”
Mizrahi, who was doing pre-show interviews for the E! cable channel, created a flap when he groped Johansson’s breast and peeked down Teri Hatcher’s dress.
“Mostly, I was thinking, ‘Oh, my God. This is happening on live TV,’ ” Johansson recalled, adding she didn’t buy the openly gay designer’s explanation that he was trying to determine how her dress was put together.
“Like he doesn’t know how a dress works,” the 21-year-old actress said.
Alba wants respect
Jessica Alba is demanding that Playboy pull its March issue, saying she didn’t agree to be on the cover and that the image may mislead readers into thinking she appears nude or partially nude in the magazine.
The cover shows the 24-year-old actress in a bikini, next to the headline “25 Sexiest Celebrities.” Besides demanding that Playboy stop distributing the March issue, Alba is asking for “monetary settlement” for damages to her reputation and career.
In a letter obtained by the Smoking Gun, Alba’s lawyers told Playboy the magazine used a photo of Alba meant to promote the movie “Into the Blue” without her consent. Sony Pictures, which owns the image, sent a separate letter alleging that Playboy initially offered to pay Alba to pose for the cover of the issue. When her publicist refused, Playboy resorted to using “false pretenses” to obtain the promotional shot, according to the letter.
A Playboy spokeswoman said Alba was placed on the cover after being chosen “sexiest star of the year” by its readers.
Celebrity birthdays
Today: Celebrity weight-reducer Chastity Bono is 37; actress Patsy Kensit (“Angels and Insects”) is 38; actress Patricia Heaton (“Everybody Loves Raymond”) is 48; movie director Adrian Lyne (“Flashdance”) is 65.
Sunday: Model Niki Taylor is 31. Actress Eva Mendes (“2 Fast 2 Furious”) is 28. Actor Jake Lloyd (“Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace”) is 17.
Contributing: news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-5688 or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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French eatery to leave Lenox for downtown
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Lenox Square will lose one of its most sophisticated rest stops and tasty treasures this summer. The mall’s signature French eatery, Brasserie Le Coze, a hit since its 1994 debut, is heading downtown.
Buzz was told Thursday that, this summer, owner Fabrice Vergez will move the popular dining destination to Allen Plaza, a mixed-use development under construction at Ivan Allen Boulevard and Spring Street. The new restaurant, French-America Brasserie (FAB for short), will occupy 12,000 square feet and is slated to be the first business to open at the complex, steps away from the Georgia Aquarium and, eventually, the new World of Coca-Cola Museum.
“The incredible burst of development in downtown Atlanta attracted me to downtown, and the quality of the building at 30 Allen Plaza persuaded me that that was the place,” Vergez said, via a statement e-mailed to Buzz.
FAB will also offer private rooms for parties and a rooftop dining area. In another departure from Brasserie Le Coze, FAB will be a steakhouse in addition to a brasserie. Vergez’s new menu will offer several beef cuts and “a selection of French sauces.”
Neiman Marcus is planning to expand into the old Brasserie space.
“Some of our regulars are just crushed, and some are saying that they will now refuse to shop at Neiman’s,” Vergez told us. “But it was not Neiman Marcus’ intention to put me out of business. My lease was ending, and I mostly couldn’t afford to stay in Buckhead. I’m excited about the new location. It looks like we’re finally going to be a walking city.”
Brasserie’s final day of operation will be March 25. Vergez expects to be in the new space in August.
That wail you just heard was shoppers snuffling into their lunchtime chardonnay, roast skate wings and frites at Brasserie’s famed indoor patio.
One sick puppy
“Will & Grace” actor Leslie Jordan’s first stop when he hit town this week? A trip to the doctor’s office for a “Z-pack” antibiotic and some throat lozenges. He was battling a bug as he prepared to open the second local run of his one-man show, “Like a Dog on Linoleum,” at the 14th Street Playhouse on Thursday night. “I felt like I had been shot by Dick Cheney!” cracked Jordan. Buzz Central has learned that the diminutive thespian has also been self-medicating at the Flying Biscuit Cafe in Midtown. Atlantans will be among the last to see the live version of the show. After Jordan ends his run here May 21, he heads back to the Left Coast to commit the piece to film via a new Hollywood studio option on “Linoleum.”
Uncoupling update
Taking a tip no doubt from Renée Zellweger, actress Sophia Bush is seeking to annul her brief marriage to her “One Tree Hill” co-star Chad Michael Murray, citing fraud.
According to papers filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, Bush married Murray on April 16, and the pair separated five months later.
The actress, 23, also requested that the court terminate its ability to award spousal support to Murray, 24.
Calls to Bush’s attorney, Fern Wender, were not immediately returned, and Murray’s publicist, Megan Moss, declined to comment.
Bush and Murray met while filming the WB network’s “One Tree Hill,” in which Bush plays sassy but hot cheerleader Brooke Davis and Murray portrays brooding but hot basketball player Lucas Scott.
Chappelle unhappy
Comedian Dave Chappelle says he may never return to his hit Comedy Central show if the cable network goes through with plans to air new episodes culled from material he filmed before leaving the series.
“I feel like it’s kind of a bully move,” Chappelle told the Dayton [Ohio] Daily News. “That’s just how I feel about it. I don’t know if that’s the case. But if people don’t watch it, then I’d be more than happy.”
Last May, Chappelle stunned his fans and the entertainment industry by skipping out on a $50 million contract and leaving “Chappelle’s Show” in mid-production.
He spent two weeks in South Africa before returning home to his farm near Yellow Springs, Ohio. He has since resumed performing live stand-up.
Chappelle said his possible return to “Chappelle’s Show” is still up in the air.
“But I think if they air that stuff, I can’t see how I’m going to be able to,” he told the Daily News. “That will damage our relationship.”
Comedy Central has said in the past it plans to air the material but wouldn’t comment on any current plans.
“We are still waiting patiently for Dave to return to work, but we know that our viewers are looking forward to seeing the material he produced for the third season,” Comedy Central said in a written statement.
Celebrity birthdays
Singer Jennifer Warnes is 59. Actor-director Tim Kazurinsky is 56. Singer-guitarist Robyn Hitchcock is 53. Actress Miranda Richardson is 48. Rapper Tone-Loc is 40. Actress Julie Bowen (“Boston Legal,” “Ed”) is 36. Actor David Faustino (“Married … With Children”) is 32. Actress Jessica Biel (“7th Heaven”) is 24.
Contributing: news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Aquarium’s big catch: Its 1 millionth visitor
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
When Georgia Aquarium executive director Jeff Swanagan is lying in wait for you at the entrance of the world’s biggest fish tank, it initially can be a little off-putting.
“I thought our season passes hadn’t scanned correctly,” Mableton retiree Richard Rainey told Buzz on Wednesday. He and his wife, Pat, had driven in to the city early, fighting the rush-hour traffic to treat their home schooled grandchildren Courtney, 10, and Elijah Usher, 6, to an educational field trip.
As it turns out, Swanagan and Deepo the mascot were on hand to inform the family that they represented the 1 millionth visitor to the popular tourist attraction since it opened in November.
During a brief presentation, the Raineys and Ushers were presented gifts from aquarium sponsors AirTran, Home Depot, SunTrust, Coca-Cola, Southern Co. and Cingular Wireless.
Courtney and Elijah were then whisked away to help feed Ralph and Norton, the aquarium’s star whale sharks. A Wolfgang Puck-catered lunch for the family was provided in the private ballroom overlooking Ralph and Norton’s home.
“Talk about the luck of the draw,” marveled Richard Rainey, 63. “It’s an experience that our grandkids will never forget.” The Raineys are big supporters of the aquarium as well, purchasing 15 annual passes as Christmas presents last year for their children and grandchildren.
As for how they were planning to get all their loot home Wednesday, Rainey quipped: “We brought the Expedition today. It’s going to be packed pretty tight going home!”
O’Reilly no factor on radio
Bill O’Reilly’s “O’Reilly Factor” remains the top-rated cable news show, but his syndicated radio show has not translated well. After more than three years on 680/The Fan, sandwiched between sports talk shows, he is now being moved to WFOB-AM1230, which covers only Cobb County.
His replacement, ESPN syndicated sports talker Dan Patrick, takes over the 1 to 3 p.m. slot. Station President David Dickey said he thinks Patrick has improved in the past four years and makes a better fit. 790/The Zone’s Steak Shapiro, whose station has beaten 680/The Fan for most of the past three years in ratings, told Buzz: “It’s another failed experiment by 680. They’re clearly not committed to live and local.” (680 runs syndicated shows from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays, while 790 is local all day.)
Men’s stores in high style
Atlanta is well-represented in this month’s “The United States of Style” issue of Esquire. The installment is dedicated to the looks that define men in this country, and two local menswear specialty stores appear prominently on Esquire’s “best of class” lists. Sebastian’s Closet in Buckhead earned “gold standard” designation, meaning it’s one of the 35 stores nationwide that “continuously raise the bar on what it means to be the best in the business.” And the neighboring haberdashery, Guffey’s of Atlanta, made Esquire’s “A-List” of 47 “stores that continue to stand the test of time.”
The stores were judged on criteria of customer service (40 percent); quality and variety of merchandise (30 percent); presentation (20 percent); and community involvement (10 percent). Industry insiders supplied input into the choices.
“Guffey’s [an A-List regular since 2002] received top marks in all categories measured,” said Esquire merchandising director Anjali Augustine.
She added that Sebastian’s Closet was “cited as exceptional in customer service.”
Part-time Atlantan Jeffrey Kalinsky also earned “gold standard” kudos for his Jeffrey New York store’s excellence.
“We’ve had an inordinate number of calls already from people congratulating us,” said Sebastian’s Closet owner Bob Kuchenbecker, who’s being lauded by Esquire for the first time in his store’s 15-year existence. “All the credit goes to the people who work here.”
“As always, we’re flattered,” said Guffey’s Neil Guffey. “If you look at who else is on their A-List, you see we’re in really good company.”
Cocktails with the B-52’s
The folks who came out to support the Georgia Equality fund-raiser “Cocktails for Equality” at Einstein’s in Midtown Tuesday night got a unexpected celebrity surprise when B-52’s members Fred Schneider and Kate Pierson popped in for a visit. The Athens-born band has monthly songwriting sessions in the city with Atlanta B’s member Cindy Wilson and guitarist Keith Strickland, who comes up from Florida for the collaborations.
In her spare time here, Pierson told us, she loves to shop for tchotchkes for her latest business, Kate’s Lazy Meadow Motel in Mount Tremper, N.Y., near Woodstock. Designer Bill Stewart of Atlanta’s William Stewart Design has assisted the singer with the kitschy Catskill Mountain getaway’s decor. The rooms come complete with toiletries purloined by Pierson during B-52’s tours around the globe (for info: www.lazymeadow.com).
When we innocently asked how the group celebrated Wilson’s birthday Tuesday (yes, compiling “Celebrity Birthdays” daily does have its benefits …), the pair looked at each other uncomfortably for a second. Pierson then pulled out her cellphone, and they sang “Happy Birthday” to Wilson, with assistance from the cocktail party attendees.
“You have to understand that we never remember birthdays unless we’re on tour and they roll one of those big old cakes out on stage,” Schneider told us. “If you write about Cindy’s birthday, can you put that she turned 39?” Consider it done, Fred.
Celebrity birthdays
Bluegrass musician Doc Watson is 83. Singer Lou Reed is 64. Singer Jay Osmond of the Osmonds is 51. Drummer John Cowsill of the Cowsills is 50. Singer Jon Bon Jovi of Bon Jovi is 44. Singer Chris Martin of Coldplay is 29. Actor Robert Iler (“The Sopranos”) is 21.
Contributing: Rodney Ho, A. Scott Walton and news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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‘Boondocks’ creator takes break from strip
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Buzz Central’s favorite diversion in this section (well, aside from the obvious …) is taking a looong six-month vacation, beginning March 27.
On Tuesday, in a letter to newspaper editors, “The Boondocks” creator Aaron McGruder announced that he’s taking a half-year leave of absence from his controversial comic strip.
In the letter, McGruder explained: “Every well needs occasional refreshing and I hope that this fall you will agree that the time away from the demands of deadlines has served the strip, your readers and me. To be on your comics pages for the past seven years has been a privilege. I thank you for that and for your patience as I explored our world through the eyes of Huey, Riley and their grandfather.”
McGruder isn’t the first high-profile comic strip creator to take an extended leave. On New Year’s Day 1983, “Doonesbury” creator Garry Trudeau discontinued his landmark strip. It resumed in September 1984 with its cast taking on decidedly more adult responsibilities in their post-Walden world.
Universal Press Syndicate rep Kathie Kerr told Buzz Tuesday that newspapers will be offered “the best of the strip’s first year from 1999, with a heavy dose of the first six months.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is choosing not to print the offered reruns in favor of using the space to introduce a fresh strip to readers.
According to Cartoon Network rep Joe Swaney, McGruder’s work on the second season of “The Boondocks” for the channel’s late-night Adult Swim brand will not be affected by the writer’s hiatus from the newspaper strip.
Food on agenda for fund-raiser
Although the 19th annual “A Meal to Remember” gala — which is a fund-raiser for Atlanta’s Senior Citizen Services’ Meals on Wheels program — will not be held until Nov. 3, the movers and shakers of the event met Monday to plot a very important detail — the food. This year’s party at the Ritz-Carlton Buckhead will focus on the flavors and wines of Spain. Executive chef Eric Chopin gave a taste of things to come, serving Spanish-styled tapas. On the menu: fricassee of squid, baked eggplant and mushrooms; black rice with saffron chicken; gazpacho Andaluz; churros, milk rice cake with cinnamon, and sangria. While the menu also featured a Spanish prosciutto, chef Chopin joked that it was sliced on an Italian machine.
Those attending the luncheon included past chairs of the gala and their guests: Carolyn Tanner, Cindy Fowler, Jada Loveless, Jane Dean, Judy Zaban, Sally Dorsey and Sandra Baldwin. The 2005 chairwoman, Dudley Stevens, who could not attend Monday’s soiree, will chair the 2006 gala, which hopes to raise $290,000 for Meals on Wheels. Tickets are $400; info: 404-605-8450.
‘The Bachelor’ picks Sarah S.
Emergency room doctor Travis Stork put the entire nation out of its misery Monday night when he selected Nashville kindergarten teacher Sarah Stone in the season finale of ABC’s “The Bachelor: Paris.”
Stork presented her with a diamond ring on a necklace.
And now, for water cooler role-playing purposes, Buzz proudly presents the actual dialogue from the historic moment:
Sarah: “You’re so perfect for me.”
Travis: “You’re the one that’s perfect for me.”
(Try to resist the urge to heave into your popcorn at this point).
Meanwhile, the aptly named rejected finalist, Moana Dixon, a 26-year-old distribution manager from Los Angeles, did not take it well.
“This pain I’m experiencing right now is so intense that I just want to crawl back in my shell and just hide,” she said between sobs in the post-show limo ride back to Loserville.
But although he selected the 26-year-old Stone, Stork’s bachelor status seemed safe for the moment: There was no explicit marriage proposal. “Let’s see where this relationship goes,” he said.
Meanwhile, ousted contestant Allie “My eggs are rotting!” Garcia-Serra had no immediate reaction as she continued to scour the globe in search of a man to fertilize her during her “reproductive phase.”
Celebrity docket
Troubled British rocker Pete Doherty has been arrested again — this time on suspicion of stealing a car and being in possession of hard drugs.
Doherty, 26, frontman of the group Babyshambles and ex-boyfriend of supermodel Kate Moss, was among three men arrested in Birmingham, England, Monday night after a report of a vehicle being stolen in London, West Midlands Police said Tuesday. All were released on bail, police said.
Early in February, Doherty was sentenced to 12 months of community service for possessing drugs. He pleaded guilty to the charges on Jan. 27.
Judge Ann McLaughlin warned Doherty at the time that if he broke the drug rehabilitation requirement of his community order, he would be brought back before the court and might go to jail.
The maximum sentence for possession of Class A drugs such as heroin is seven years in prison.
McLaughlin ordered Doherty to submit to a drug test each month.
Prosecutor Bryony Derbyshire had told the court Doherty was stopped by police in London on Nov. 30, and heroin and cocaine were found in his car.
He was stopped again four days later, when police found heroin, morphine, crack and marijuana in his car. Doherty was again stopped by police in London on Jan. 26, when he was found to be carrying heroin. He pleaded guilty at three earlier hearings to seven counts of drug possession in relation to the incidents.
Celebrity birthdays
Singer Harry Belafonte is 79. Singer Roger Daltrey is 62. Director Ron Howard is 52. Actor George Eads (“CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”) is 39. Nickelback guitarist Ryan Peake is 33. Actor Mark-Paul Gosselaar (“Commander in Chief”) is 32. “Blue’s Clues” host Donovan Patton is 28.
Contributing: Marylin Johnson and news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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