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Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2006 > August > 07 > Entry
Another World Series win for Atlanta — well, sort of
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
No metro Atlanta resident has ever won “American Idol,” “Survivor,” “America’s Next Top Model,” “The Apprentice,” “The Amazing Race” or even “Project Runway.”
But for now, we can take solace in the fact that a trio of local trivia addicts has pocketed $250,000 for winning VH1’s first “World Series of Pop Culture,” which concluded Thursday and will be repeated ad nauseam.
The team of El Chupacabra, consisting of Smyrna neighbors Mason Spencer and Alexandra Clark and Chamblee resident Jodi Roth, defeated the Boeghy Bunch and outlasted a total of 15 other teams.
“We’re exhilarated!” Clark told Buzz. “We really did it as a team. Years of watching bad TV shows and cheesy movies and singing along in the car to funny songs finally paid off!”
In the final episode, individuals faced off one on one, with the winner answering the best out of 10 questions. Roth breezed through the subject “TV teen dramas,” while Clark rocked on ” ’90s lyrics.”
To win it all, Roth needed only three right answers in “Fictional locales,” because her rival could get only two. (Roth almost said “Alabama” instead of the right answer, “Georgia,” to a question about where Hazzard County in “The Dukes of Hazzard” is located. “I even met John Schneider when I was a kid,” she said.)
In the end, nobody correctly answered the final question of the show, but it sealed the victory for El Chupacabra because the team was ahead at the time. The question: “On a memorable Season 2 episode of ‘The Cosby Show,’ Denise decided to uphold the family tradition and attend what fictional college?” (The answer’s at the end of this column.)
The Gambler moves on
Kenny Rogers’ five acres and a mansion are off the market. The country singer’s Buckhead spread — asking price $10 million — went for $8.5 million in the spring, according to Fulton County property transfer records. The six-bedroom, seven-bathroom house was built in 1989 and had been listed as high as $12.5 million. According to AJC archives, Rogers bought the house in foreclosure in 2002 for $2.75 million. He made extensive renovations, so the profit margin is probably smaller than it seems.
Compound interest
While Vision nightclub was closing forever Saturday night in favor of a big condo tower, Buzz heard the news that Vision operators the Gidewon brothers had purchased a majority stake in rival club Compound, almost two miles west in Midtown.
In fact, frequent Compound party promoter Marshall Meyers stood at the entrance for the VIP line at Vision and handed out “VIP” entry cards for future Compound parties. He said he hoped Vision fans would switch to Compound rather than Fever, a new club off Cheshire Bridge Road that’s going after the same young, hip crowd.
Compound General Manager Wes Lambert, who had just sold his minority ownership share in Compound, was also seen in what had been enemy territory at Vision.
“I’m transitioning into being a restaurateur,” Lambert said Sunday. After three years at Compound, he said he was ready to move on and plans to manage a new downtown eatery for owner Mike Safari, another minority owner at Compound. The restaurant, called Thrive, is set to open toward the end of the year. Safari will remain a minority owner of Compound, while majority owner Michael Boles sold out to the Gidewons.
Why we love Paris
In one of those eye-rolling proclamations that vapid celebrities sometimes utter, Paris Hilton said she plans to be celibate for a year.
“People think I sleep with everyone, but I’m not like that,” the “Simple Life” star and hotel heiress tells British GQ in its September issue. “Kissing is all I do.”
In fact, said Hilton, 25, “I’m not having sex for a year. I’ve decided… . I’ll kiss, but nothing else.”
She said she doesn’t deserve her reputation for sleeping around, saying she’s had sex with only two men in her life. “The reason so many of my relationships don’t work is guys are like, ‘Hey, what’s going on? It’s been like four months and I’m only getting a kiss here,’ ” she said.
During the interview, Hilton also displayed some political illiteracy. When asked about British Prime Minister Tony Blair, her response was: “Who? … Oh, yeah, he’s like your president. I don’t know what he looks like.”
She also told the magazine that she collects an astounding $500,000 in fees just to show up at parties and other events from Las Vegas to Tokyo. Her best-paying gig, she said, was a recent Austrian appearance. “I had to say ‘hi’ and tell them why I loved Austria so much,” she is quoted as saying.
And why does she love Austria?
“Because they pay me $1 million to wave at crowds!”
Ashlee’s nose for news
Ashlee Simpson has readers of Marie Claire all bent out of shape. The magazine received hundreds of letters in protest after the singer was a cover subject for a story on body image and then got what the magazine’s new editor calls an “obvious” nose job. “She was quoting chapter and verse about how crucial it is to love yourself as you are, etc.,” Editor in Chief Joanna Coles writes in the September issue, the first over which she has exercised full editorial control. “We’re dazed and confused — and disappointed — by her choice, too!” In response, Simpson rep Rob Shuter said, “I’m sorry the new editor is using Ashlee to get publicity for her magazine.”
Celebrity birthdays
Humorist Garrison Keillor is 64. Actor Wayne Knight (“Seinfeld”) is 51. Actor David Duchovny (“The X-Files”) is 46.
(The answer to the trivia question above is Hillman College.)
Contributing: Shane Harrison 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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