Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2006 > August
August 2006
Americans’ love of beer rears its head once again
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The recent WebMD/Gallup poll that showed Americans are drinking more (4.5 drinks a week, up from 2.8 in 1996) also revealed that wine’s brief reign as the drink of choice is over. Last year, 39 percent said they preferred a glass of the grape, compared with the 36 percent who reached for a malted beverage. This year, beer regained the upper hand, with 41 percent of drinkers choosing a foamy mug over the 33 percent who sipped something red or white.
What does that tell us about ourselves? It could be that we’re just economizing. “If you go to the grocery store and watch what people are carrying to the checkout line, a greater percentage have a six-pack of beer, compared to one bottle of wine,” said Glen Sprouse, brewmaster at Five Seasons Brewing Co. in Sandy Springs. Even at $7.95 for superpremium beer, a six-pack is a bargain, he said. “It’s tough to find a bottle of wine that costs that.”
On the other hand, maybe it’s our viewing habits. After “Sideways” became a sleeper hit last year, even meat-and-potatoes bars such as Manuel’s Tavern diversified their wine lists. “Someone here saw ‘Sideways,’ so we had to get something called ‘pinot noir’ on the menu,” said Manuel’s waiter Josh Hancock. Perhaps this year’s return to beer can be credited to a certain gross-out cinematic comedy that celebrates the mighty brew. “It must be ‘Beerfest,’ ” said Hancock.
Fun with photos
Yes, incoming CBS anchor Katie Couric has had a tummy tuck, though only of the Photoshop variety. A retouched image appears in the September issue of Watch!, a magazine that makes the 49-year-old newsreader look magically svelter. The magazine goes to CBS stations and to American Airlines airplanes. A CBS spokesman told The Associated Press on Wednesday that someone in the CBS photo department “got a little zealous” and made the Incredible Shrinking Anchor significantly slimmer than her real self. This calls to mind the photo of Tiger Woods that appeared recently in the Raleigh News & Observer, which was artificially brightened to the point that the golf star’s hat showed up sky blue, rather than navy. Though not as serious an offense as, say, squeezing Couric into a smaller frame, the newspaper’s slip could have annoyed some N.C. State alumni with the visual suggestion that the Wood-man was a Carolina fan.
A little too much candor
The flood of puns went from a trickle to a stream Wednesday after CNN anchor Kyra Phillips took a bathroom break not knowing that her microphone was still live. The ladies’ room conversation she had Tuesday with a co-worker, in which Phillips praised her husband but ran down her sister-in-law, was broadcast live over the cable channel, overlapping a speech by President Bush. “CNN’s Exclusive Leak,” hee-hawed one Web site.
Cat scratch fever
The Georgia Lottery’s contest to choose five dogs and five cats to appear on upcoming scratch-off tickets will start Friday on its Web site. Judges have narrowed the field to 15 dogs and 15 cats; now the public gets to choose the final five winners in each category to star on the “Lucky Dog” and “Fat Cat” $2 instant tickets coming out in January. Voting continues through Sept. 10 at www.galottery.com.
Celebrity docket
An appearance by Corey Miller at a Hurricane Katrina documentary premiere in New Orleans has led a judge to put the rapper on full home confinement until his second trial on a second-degree murder charge, according to The Associated Press.
Miller, 35, is awaiting a retrial in the 2002 shooting of a 16-year-old boy outside a nightclub in Harvey, La. His original conviction was overturned after a judge ruled that prosecutors had withheld the criminal backgrounds of key state witnesses from the defense.
On Tuesday, State District Judge Martha Sassone said she had planned to put Miller on partial house arrest, but changed her mind after she saw the interview at the Aug. 16 premiere of Spike Lee’s HBO documentary, “When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts.”
“You’re on home incarceration to prepare for a defense, not to have a social life,” Sassone told Miller, the AP wrote Wednesday. The judge allowed Miller to attend Sunday church services but rejected a request to let him exercise in a park.
A ‘Wonder’-ful McPhee?
“American Idol” runner-up Katharine McPhee, who finished behind Taylor Hicks last season, is being considered for the big-screen version of “Wonder Woman,” according to reports.
The movie will be directed by “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” creator Joss Whedon and produced by Joel Silver. A screenplay is expected to be completed by year’s end.
McPhee, who has talked openly about her battle with bulimia, will appear on the cover of an upcoming issue of Shape magazine clad in a bathing suit — a sort of tryout to see if she has what it takes for the demands of the role.
Celebrity birthdays
NPR commentator/fossil Daniel Schorr is 90 (and we still can’t understand a word he says); violinist Itzhak Perlman is 61; actor/activist Richard Gere (“Pretty Woman”) is 57; pop star/former teen phenomenon Deborah “Debbie” Gibson (“Foolish Beat”) is 36; actor Chris Tucker (the very lucrative “Rush Hour” franchise) is 34.
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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Sweating the details not just an expression at fund-raiser
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
More than 700 attendees worked up a real sweat to fight AIDS and breast cancer Monday night at the 14th annual “Fashion Cares” benefit hosted by retailer Jeffrey Kalinsky.
Inside a massive white tent erected behind Phipps Plaza in Buckhead, designer-frocked fashionistas bravely battled the humidity and an absence of air conditioning, due to a compromised compressor and a severe rush-hour deluge.
Along with the cloudburst that temporarily submerged the parking lot where the tent had been pitched, co-chair Carey Carter also had to contend with a diva air conditioning system.
“I was assured that an hour before showtime it would be frigid in here,” Carter added, wiping his forehead. “I’m still waiting!”
On the way to our seats, Buzz had the distinction of having a large, boxy handbag repeatedly thrust into our hind quarters. We later discovered our posterior had been up-close-and-personal with a much-sought-after Hermes Birkin bag. Estimated value: $7,500. Regardless, like the rest of the attendees, Buzz somehow resisted the urge to shuck our jacket and transform our moist dress shirt into a halter top.
Philanthropists Laura Turner Seydel and her husband, Rutherford Seydel, Drs. Jeffrey and Nancy Gallups, fashion maven Sally White, Atlanta Peach magazine editor Elizabeth Roth and Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor’s wife, Sacha, were encouraged to bid during the live auction, which netted $7,500 for a first-class trip to see Elton John’s “Red Piano” tour in Las Vegas.
Attendees gradually grew jealous of A Legendary Event catering company owner Tony Conway, whose VIP seats down front were conveniently situated near an icy cold vent.
Introducing Kalinsky to the crowd, emcee and Dave FM DJ Mara Davis said, “He puts the ‘f’ in fierce!”
And even at age 43, Kalinsky pulled off a preppy back-to-school outfit consisting of a Thom Brown sweater, Hermes button-down shirt, APC blue jeans and Hermes penny loafers, all reminiscent of a stylish boys’ private school uniform.
Praising the evening’s organizers, Kalinsky told the crowd, “This is one of the biggest fund-raisers in the country for AIDS and breast cancer in the country.”
True to his word, the evening raised more than $400,000.
Wanted: Critic with a sense of humor
On Tuesday, even as we continued to contemplate exactly how former “Charlie’s Angels” actress Kate Jackson was physically able to move her mouth during Sunday night’s Emmy Awards, it suddenly occurred to us that we’re qualified to be a New York Times television critic. In her incomparable, incomprehensible assessment of the awards telecast, Times critic Alessandra Stanley writes: “There should be an annual award for most glaring omission in an acceptance speech. This year, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who won for leading actress in a sitcom, ‘The New Adventures of Old Christine,’ won the amnesia award hands down, wracking her brain onstage to remember whom she had forgotten to thank, while the camera panned to her husband. It took several beats, and whispers from the audience, to jog her memory.”
Um, Earth to Alessandra. That was a gag. Louis-Dreyfus and her hubby (and former “Saturday Night Live” castmate ) Brad Hall were, well, mocking that whole Hilary Swank/Chad Lowe Oscars glitch from a few years ago.
Sick bay
Meanwhile, Barry Manilow kept his promise by taking his newly won Emmy into the hospital with him Monday as a good-luck charm for his hip surgery.
Apparently it worked.
Manilow came through the operation “swimmingly” and then headed back to his Palm Springs, Calif., home, says his publicist Carol Marshall.
Manilow’s recovery and rehabilitation are expected to take six to eight weeks.
The media blitz to support Jessica Simpson’s new album, “A Public Affair,” which came out Tuesday, is likewise on hold. The pop star has been put on vocal rest.
“It is true that she has indeed lost her voice,” Simpson’s publicist, Rob Shuter, told The Associated Press on Tuesday. “She’s been ordered to rest. … She can talk, she can croak out a few sentences.”
Simpson, 26, fell ill Friday and has “a strain, a bruise on her vocal cord.”
Celebrity birthdays
Actor Bill Daily (“I Dream of Jeannie,” “The Bob Newhart Show”) is 78. Actor-turned-politician Ben Jones (“The Dukes of Hazzard”) is 65. Actress Peggy Lipton (“The Mod Squad”) is 59. Comedian Lewis Black (“The Daily Show”) is 58. Actor Michael Chiklis (“The Shield” ) is 43. Actress Cameron Diaz is 34. TV personality Lisa Ling (formerly of “The View”) is 33.
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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The bus stops here — at least to get free loot
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thanks to the sleeper hit “Little Miss Sunshine,” Volkswagen owners are scoring their very own screening party Tuesday night at the Starlight Drive-In on Moreland Avenue.
Tuesday’s screening of the dysfunctional family flick, which features arguably the funniest laugh-out-loud finale of any film this summer (outside “Mission: Impossible 3,” that is), pays tribute to the accidental star of the Sundance Festival fave, a dilapidated yellow VW bus.
The first 25 VW buses (of any hue, incidentally) that pull up tonight will receive a free gas card, courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures. The first 200 passengers in VW bugs, buses, Passats, etc., meanwhile, will receive “Little Miss Sunshine” prizes.
“It’s for those with reserved seating or, I suppose in this case, reserved parking,” local film rep Lindsey Tambora told Buzz on Monday. There was no immediate word whether VW bus owners with defective side-panel doors or stick shifts would receive extra prize loot.
Non-VW owners are also welcome at the Starlight tonight. Gates open at 8, and the film begins at 9.
Wondering about Woodruff?
Buzz readers who contributed lyrical ideas for the upcoming Woodruff Park theme song, penned by “It’s Buckhead!” songstress Melanie Massell, have been gently inquiring about the tune’s future. Massell e-mailed us Sunday to say, “The song is complete and we start recording in the studio tonight.” Yes, the refurbished park’s theme song, touting its new greenery, patio furniture and wi-fi connections, is being recorded by Massell as a for-purchase souvenir at the song’s unveiling in the downtown green space. The singer-songwriter is now scheduled to publicly debut the ditty during the season’s final Wednesday in Woodruff, scheduled for noontime Sept. 27. Needless to say, Buzz has already thrown down a blanket to stake out our picnic spot for the festivities. And at press time Monday, we were still in negotiations with an urban camper to relinquish a corner of it back to us for the concert.
All-star evening at Spice
The city’s devoted foodies must still be on vacation. We received word Monday that there were still a few seats left for tonight’s all-star chef benefit for Project Open Hand at Spice in Midtown. The Juniper Street eatery’s brand-new chef and Turner South “Home Plate” host Marvin Woods will share his stove with Rathbun’s Kevin Rathbun, Aria’s Gerry Klaskala, Mitra’s Gerardo Ramos and Shaun Doty, who’s been busy prepping his Inman Park bistro, Shaun’s, for a fall debut. We hear that Rathbun is whipping up halibut croquettes with heirloom tomatoes, while Klaskala and Woods are prepping grilled spiced New York strips with a fava white bean hash. If any of the $125 per person seats remain by the time you read this, you can snag them by calling 404-875-4242.
Sick bay
While we’ve personally never witnessed him at a loss for words, laryngitis forced pop singer John Mayer to back out of a weekend performance.
Thousands of fans waited at the gates of the Dodge Music Center in Hartford, Conn., on Saturday night before organizers decided that co-headliner Sheryl Crow and opening act Mat Kearney could go on without the former Buckhead resident.
“John feels terrible about the sudden cancellation and he will plan to be back in Connecticut soon,” according to a news release, which attributed his absence to a “sudden onset” of laryngitis.
The singer-songwriter, who cut his musical teeth at Eddie’s Attic in Decatur, is scheduled to perform a two-night stint at Chastain on Oct. 13 and 14.
Mayer, Mr. Spears on ‘CSI’
Thankfully, John Mayer’s present medical condition prevents him from screaming when he learns that he now has something in common with Kevin Federline. Both the hip-hopping Mr. Britney Spears and Mayer are booked this fall on the “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.” Mayer is set to promote his new album, “Continuum,” with cameo performances on the two-hour season premiere, set for Sept. 21 and 28. Mayer will perform his current single, “Waiting on the World to Change,” and “Slow Dancing in a Burning Room” in a scene set in a Las Vegas nightclub.
According to People magazine, Federline, the 28-year-old househusband, meanwhile, will play “a menacing, arrogant” guy who harasses investigators. The episode is tentatively scheduled to air in October.
Celebrity birthdays
Actor-director Richard Attenborough is 83. Actor Elliott Gould is 68. Singer Michael Jackson is 48. Actress Rebecca DeMornay is 44. Singer Me’Shell NdegeOcello is 37. Guitarist Kyle Cook of Matchbox 20 is 31. Actor John Hensley (“Nip/Tuck”) is 29. Bassist David Desrosiers of Simple Plan is 26.
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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‘Trek’ star in new world after coming out
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Since George Takei (aka Lt. Sulu on “Star Trek”) publicly announced he was gay last fall, he’s been riding an amazing media wave, becoming the “voice” of the Howard Stern show, recently roasting William Shatner on Comedy Central and playing a nastier version of himself on USA’s “Psych” this past Friday night.
“I think it really has been a career galvanizer,” Takei said in his mellifluous bass. “For those actors who may be reticent about being public about their sexual orientation, I would say that they have nothing to fear.” Takei will be at the big sci-fi convention DragonCon this weekend at the Hyatt Regency, the Hilton and Marriott Marquis in Atlanta.
During the Shatner roast, Takei, 69, absorbed dozens of jokes about his lifestyle with good humor: “They asked me to roast Bill. I had 40 years of material on him. I had no idea it would be a two-way street.”
He also paid homage to Shatner, in a sense, on “Psych” Friday, playing a “pompous, arrogant egocentric version of myself” at a fictional sci-fi convention.
His gig doing voiceovers for Stern also came after the flurry of press related to his outspoken support of free speech: “When the government is pressing down on you, he not only presses back but presses to the limit.”
And while some New York politicians are calling for CBS to pull “Survivor” after the network announced it was segregating the tribes by race, Takei is taking a more rational approach: “Proof in the pudding is in the eating, not just looking at it and smelling it. How they do it is going to determine whether it’s going to be something we can applaud or jeer.”
Spock would appreciate the logic.
‘Louie’ lucky with HBO?
Sort of like “According to Jim,” Louis C.K. is a well-meaning, yet schlubby loser with a hot wife on his HBO sitcom “Lucky Louie.” But because he’s on HBO, not ABC, the show provides curse words, an amusingly raw sense of reality and (male) nudity.
Why do only guys (including Louis himself) doff it on the show? “Female nudity isn’t funny. Male nudity is. I took one for the team,” he said after a sold-out late show at the Punchline in Atlanta, where he was testing fresh material for a standup comedy special on HBO this fall.
Much of the material, not surprisingly, is too blue to print here, but it’s clear he’s no master of his own domain. And for anybody who watches “Lucky Louie,” which aired its season finale Sunday night, his rants about his daughter and his sex appeal (or lack thereof) might sound familiar.
Louis said he isn’t sure if HBO will renew his show after this season, though he hopes to know by mid-September. It certainly lacks the “classy” image HBO tries to evoke with shows like “The Sopranos,” “Deadwood” and “Entourage.”
He is heartened that some critics have said the show improved as the season went along. “But we didn’t air them in order,” he said. “The episode everyone liked near the end of the season was actually shot first.”
Stars try crooning
Simon Cowell watched “Dancing With the Stars” last year and thought he could transfer the concept to singing. But he said he’d need to get “legendary” singers to help out.
Cowell managed to get some big names, and “Celebrity Duets” debuts Tuesday on Fox. Among the pros are Brian McKnight, Gladys Knight, Patti LaBelle, Clint Black, Peter Frampton and Kenny Loggins. (Too-cool-for-school rock stars are notably absent.)
Eight celebs — including actress Lea Thompson (“Caroline in the City”), Lucy Lawless (“Xena: Warrior Princess”), former pro wrestler Chris Jericho and Alfonso Ribeiro (“The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”) — start singing songs, then are joined onstage by one of the real singers, who won’t be revealed ahead of time.
“Deep down, they’ve dreamt of being No. 1 on the charts,” Cowell said last week during a phone news conference. “They’re taking this very seriously. They believe they can be successful recording artists.”
In classic “American Idol” mode, judges are acid-tongued producer David Foster in the Cowell mode, wacky R&B legend Little Richard in the Randy Jackson post and squeaky clean Marie Osmond in the Paula Abdul role. America will vote for their favorites. But unlike most “Idol” contestants, Cowell’s anticipating a less polite response from the stars when they get critiqued.
“My experience working with celebrities, they’ll be more lippy,” he told Buzz.
Random bits
MTV shot an episode of its popular show “My Super Sweet 16” at Buckhead’s Justin’s Saturday night for Allison Mathis, who was serenaded by rap impresario Jermaine Dupri …
WSB-AM last week raised more than $1.2 million for the AFLAC Cancer Center and Blood Disorders Service of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, up from $1 million last year.
Celebrity birthdays
Actor David Soul is 63. Actor Daniel Stern is 49. Country singer Shania Twain is 41. Actor-singer Jack Black is 37. Actor Jason Priestley (“Beverly Hills, 90210”) is 37. Country singer Leann Rimes is 24.
Contributing: news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-5688 or e-mail rho@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
Comic Cho not laughing at Atlantan’s rudeness
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We contemplated borrowing one of the corporate choppers Friday to ensure that there’s not a large “Kick Me!” sign hanging over our fair city.
First, Emmy winner and former Atlantan Leslie Jordan snubs us. Now, comic Margaret Cho, who for years has gushed in interviews about how much she loves Atlanta, is ripping us on her blog.
Well, technically, just the heterosexual men here.
Cho has been here working on a film. This week she was suffering through one of our hot, muggy summer days when she encountered some unkind behavior in our alleged “city too busy to hurl ethnic slurs.”
“When you walk, you become a moving target of sorts,” writes Cho on margaretcho.com. “A free-for-all to entertain motorists as they burn up fossil fuels and leave you in their smoggy wake. I got hit today with a classic, ‘Me love you long time!’ The offender was loud and cheery enough, and the streets were just crowded enough, and I was just in between buildings and out in the blazing spotlight of sun enough to feel the full force of bitter amusement and overwhelming shame.… The incident only reveals the insensitivity and racism of the driver yet I am the one who is embarrassed. I feel violated and wronged… . I swear, I have nothing against straight men, I really adore them, when they behave.”
Our take?
The offending party had better pray that he isn’t publicly identified.
Otherwise, Cho’s small army of Atlanta fans, who routinely sell out her appearances here each year, will have him shackled to a Gay Pride parade float next June on Peachtree Street.
Note to Cho, one of our fave interviewees ever: Call us. The face-saving drinks are on Buzz (well, actually, we’ll send the tab to Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin).
Macy’s ‘Rule’ on lateness
We were sitting here at Buzz Central on Friday in an ever-increasing puddle of our own drool, daydreaming about the tantalizing stories Jane Fonda might one day tell us from the set of “Georgia Rule,” when People Online sated us. At least temporarily.
At a Los Angeles junket for his upcoming film “Everyone’s Hero” this week, veteran character actor William H. Macy publicly spanked full-time party girl and part-time actress Lindsay Lohan, Fonda’s on-screen granddaughter in “Georgia Rule.”
Macy’s wife, Felicity Huffman, plays Fonda’s daughter in the film. And apparently, a certain desperate housewife has been bringing her work home with her.
“I think what an actor has to realize [is that] when you show up an hour late, 150 people have been scrambling to cover for you,” Macy said. “There is not an apology big enough… . It’s nothing but disrespect. And Lindsay Lohan is not the only one. A lot of actors show up late, as if they’re God’s gift to the film. It’s inexcusable.”
Chasing a stork report
It didn’t take long for media outlets US Weekly, E!, “Extra,” Teen People and even ABC News to begin chasing the scoop in Friday’s Buzz. As readers will recall, we wrote about the Jennifer Lopez pregnancy talk that emerged during Thursday’s Star 94 “Steve & Vikki” morning show. The phones at Buzz Central and Star 94 blew up all day Friday.
“Oh my God, it’s crazy,” Vikki Locke told Buzz Friday about the media calls she was receiving. “Ryan Seacrest even called to ask for the audio to run on his [Los Angeles-based KISS-FM] morning show.”
Pop star Jesse McCartney let it slip during a Star 94 interview Thursday morning that Lopez and hubby Marc Anthony are expecting (McCartney’s girlfriend, actress Katie Cassidy, has been cast as Lucy Ewing in the big-screen adaptation of the “Dallas,” a project Lopez recently left).
And, for a brief time on Friday, Buzz Central had to put our squadron of suits on alert when gossip Website, www.perezhilton.com, temporarily posted a portion of our column on its site without attribution.
The media blitz included a brief reprimand for the Star 94 “Quickies From Vikki” correspondent. “The guy from ABC was all stern, asking me if we had gotten the information confirmed through Jennifer’s people,” Locke said, laughing. “I told him, ‘Odd, I haven’t heard from Jen.’ I finally just told him, ‘Don’t lecture me. Isn’t it the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina? Shouldn’t you be paying more attention to that than a celebrity pregnancy?”’
Celebrity birthdays
Today: Singer Valerie Simpson of Ashford and Simpson is 60. Singer Bob Cowsill of the Cowsills is 57. Bandleader Branford Marsalis is 46. Singer Shirley Manson (Garbage) is 40. Drummer Adrian Young of No Doubt is 37. Actress Melissa McCarthy (“Gilmore Girls”) is 36. Actor Macaulay Culkin is 26.
Sunday: Actress Tuesday Weld is 63. Actress Barbara Bach is 59. Actor Paul Reubens (Pee-wee Herman) is 54. Actress Chandra Wilson (“Grey’s Anatomy”) is 37. Bassist Tony Kanal of No Doubt is 36. Actress Sarah Chalke (“Scrubs”) is 30. Actress Alexa Vega (“Spy Kids”) is 18.
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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Seeger’s update: Will he stay or will he go now?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Remember how we first reported that famed five-star Atlanta restaurant Seeger’s was scheduled to close last week? And then we reported that, no, it would close this week. Yeah, well, not so much now.
“The response has been incredible,” Seeger’s rep Simone Rathle told Buzz on Thursday. “A lot of people don’t want Seeger’s to close.”
According to Rathle, the chef is fielding offers from both potential investors and a buyer. “As it stands, as long as he is serving 35 seats a night, he can remain open,” Rathle said. “If it drops below 35, the doors will close.”
At press time Thursday, Buzz could not immediately confirm that Dennis Hopper had wired the restaurant to explode or that Sandra Bullock was keeping her foot planted firmly on the reservations desk… .
Pop idol spills beans with J. Lo baby news
Tween idol Jesse McCartney’s new pop album is appropriately titled “Right Where You Want Me.” At an appearance Thursday morning in-studio at Star 94, the 19-year-old was right where Steve McCoy and Vikki Locke wanted him.
At the center of a celebrity stork report.
In an otherwise innocuous interview, McCartney disclosed that he is dating actress Katie Cassidy, daughter of baby boomer teen idol David Cassidy. He then spilled that his gal pal has been cast as Lucy Ewing in the big-screen adaptation of the 1970/1980s TV soap “Dallas.”
Then Locke inquired, “Oh, so I bet your girlfriend can give us the scoop on why Jennifer Lopez was fired from the movie?” Without thinking, McCartney replied, “She didn’t get fired. She’s pregnant.”
Oops. J. Lo and hubby Marc Anthony haven’t exactly made that news public yet.
Locke reports that McCartney then looked nervously over at his female handler and quickly changed the subject.
“It was kind of an ‘Oops, what did I just do?’ moment,” Locke told Buzz. “It quickly became ‘Can we just talk about the record?’ When the microphones were off, he just looked at the woman with him and asked, ‘Was I not supposed to say anything?’ “
“Right Where You Want Me” arrives in stores Sept. 19. McCoy and Locke will re-air the interview between 6 and 7 a.m. today.
‘Runway’ recap
The truth may not be pretty, but it’s usually pretty entertaining. When “Project Runway” host Heidi Klum told design competitors to create an everyday outfit for an everyday woman on the Bravo reality series Wednesday night, it seemed like an easy task. That is, until Klum announced the designers’ mothers and sisters — most of whom are size 10 and above — would serve as models.
Departing from size 4 models proved to be quite the task for some.
“This is so far out of my realm, to be making this dress for a lady this size,” said punk rocker-turned-designer Jeffrey Sebelia. “I just don’t do it — I haven’t done it.”
German designer Uli Herzner also admitted that working with a “fuller woman” was uncharted territory. But poor Robert Best had the hardest time making it work.
“I don’t understand proportion on this kind of body,” he moaned to Sebelia. “I’m so scared of this. I don’t know what to do.”
Best made that painfully clear by sending his model down the runway in an unflattering black muumuu paired with a red poncho. As a result, the judges sent him packing.
Fans of Atlanta competitor Michael Knight can breathe a sigh of relief. While Vincent Libretti won the challenge, Knight remains on the show. His model selection may have played a small role. He picked Best’s pint-sized sister, Teresa. All the outfits are available for auction at Runwayauction.com.
Sick bay update
Well, well, well. To quote Beverley Leslie, his tiny, tart-tongued character on “Will & Grace,” “we thought we smelled gin and regret.” It seems that frequent Atlanta visitor Leslie Jordan is recovering nicely from his recent post-Emmy win bout of “media exhaustion.”
As faithful Buzz readers will recall, for the past year, we dutifully reported Jordan’s colorful adventures here during the two sold-out runs of his one-man show “Like a Dog on Linoleum.” But after he won his first Emmy last weekend, Jordan’s reps told us he was “in seclusion” when we subsequently requested five whole minutes with him (seriously, unless you’re Ralph Reed, how grueling is a Southern Voice phone interview, anyhow?).
But on Thursday, Jordan’s reps graciously offered us a chat with the diminutive thespian. In homage to our former dishy lunch companion, we adjusted our Jackie O wrap-around sunglasses and our Norma Desmond turban while reclining on our Buzz Central chaise lounge and gingerly declined. Who knew “media exhaustion” was contagious?
Celebrity birthdays
Game show host Monty Hall is 85. Actor Sean Connery is 76. Talk show host Regis Philbin is 75. Musician Elvis Costello is 52. Director Tim Burton is 48. Country singer Billy Ray Cyrus is 45. Actor Blair Underwood is 42.
Contributing: Morieka V. 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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Tyler Perry’s ‘Payne’ will continue on TBS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Tyler Perry juggernaut continues. TBS has picked up the Atlantan’s sitcom “House of Payne” for 100 episodes starting in June 2007 in an unusual syndicated deal.
Normally, syndicated sitcoms are already successful shows like “Friends” or “Seinfeld.” But Perry financed 10 episodes on his own last year and did a test-run in 10 cities, including Atlanta on TBS in June and July.
The results were strong enough for TBS to commit to the comedy, which features C.J. Payne (actor Allen Payne) moving into his parents’ home after his house burns down. Perry himself doesn’t appear on the show but he produces and writes it.
Food diva welcomes family small fry
Hey, y’all, Paula Deen is a granny!
The Food Network’s queen of Southern cuisine is celebrating the birth of her first grandchild, Jack Deen. The proud parents are Deen’s older son, Jamie Deen, and his wife, Brooke.
“First-time grandma Paula is in heaven,” Nancy Assuncao, Deen’s publicist, said Tuesday.
Little Jack weighed 6 pounds, 9 ounces when he was born Monday.
“Paula told me she’s got pots and pans for this child already, to start teaching him,” Assuncao said. “She plans to do some serious cooking with this boy.”
Deen, hostess of the Food Network’s “Paula’s Home Cooking” and the upcoming “Paula’s Party,” was in Nashville when her daughter-in-law went into labor.
Like any devoted grandmother-to-be, Deen hired a car and driver to rush her 500 miles back to Savannah so she could be there for the birth.
Jamie Deen, 39, became a father six weeks after co-starring with his brother, Bobby, in the debut of “Road Tasted,” the brothers’ new Food Network series.
At press time Wednesday, the baby’s grandmama was still calculating precisely how many months remain until little Jack can gum through his first condensed soup-enrobed casserole.
Walden honored with fund
Phil Walden, the late Georgia music impresario and Capricorn Records co-founder, is being honored at the University of Georgia with the creation of a memorial fund.
Spearheaded by former UGA student Phil Walden Jr. and sister Amantha, the new fund will support the school’s recently launched music business certificate program. “We’re thrilled to help out,” Walden Jr. explained. There are also preliminary plans for a benefit concert that would help the fund grow.
Walden died this year of cancer. His April memorial service in Buckhead attracted many of the record exec’s famous friends, including Little Richard.
C is for cantaloupe?
On Wednesday, we got an advance gander at “Today” anchor Matt Lauer’s upcoming interview with Cookie Monster on the new season of “Sesame Street.” And it could be as potentially psyche-stunning as when Big Bird’s pal Snuffleupagus came out of the closet and everyone in the neighborhood finally learned of his existence.
In our ever-politically correcting culture, the show’s famed cookie-loving, messy-eating Muppet is now snarfing … fruit salad. “Me like fruit,” the blue fuzzy creature tells Lauer in the PBA episode, at 10 a.m. today, promoting healthful food choices for tots. Lauer then dangles a large chocolate chip-filled orb in front of Cookie only to have to googly-eyed puppet eschew the empty calories, explaining that fruit is “delicious and healthy!” He now —sigh — saves cookies for dessert only.
Alas, during the Q&A, Cookie Monster did not address his lingering fondness for ingesting Styrofoam letters.
James Brown Arena?
Musicians performing in the hometown of James Brown may soon be required to scream “Maceo, take me to the bridge!” while on stage.
The Augusta-Richmond County Coliseum Authority voted Tuesday to rename the 8,500-seat venue the James Brown Arena in honor of the Godfather of Soul, who used to routinely screech the command to his sax player, Maceo Parker.
“I thank God and all the people there,” said Brown, 73, who lives near his hometown. “We want to build back Augusta.”
Augusta also has erected a statue and named a street and music festival in his honor. The arena name change is pending legal research to verify that the board has the authority to rename the facility.
J.R. Riles, whose motion led to the 5-2 vote, said the tribute would help improve the struggling civic center’s public image. The idea to name the arena after Brown had been discussed for several years, but got little traction until now.
Celebrity birthdays
Actor Kenny Baker (R2-D2 in “Star Wars”) is 72. Actress Marlee Matlin is 41. Country singer Kristyn Osborn of SheDaisy is 36. Actor-comedian Dave Chappelle is 33. Actor Carmine Giovinazzo (“CSI: New York”) is 33. Actor Chad Michael Murray (“One Tree Hill,” “A Cinderella Story”) is 25. Actor Rupert Grint (“Harry Potter”) is 18.
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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Pop diva Cyndi Lauper not afraid to let true colors show
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Q100 “The Bert Show” co-host Melissa Carter now can personally attest that “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” vocalist Cyndi Lauper lives the mantra of her biggest hit.
Carter, who also co-anchors the nationally syndicated “Radio With a Twist” program with Dennis Hensley, served as a grand marshal with the diva and Hensley at the Provincetown Carnival Week celebration in Massachusetts last week.
On Tuesday, Carter rang Buzz Central with all the details from her excursion, which ended up involving plot elements from “Planes, Trains and Automobiles.”
When Carter and Hensley reported for crowd-waving duty at a black Mercedes convertible last week, Lauper was already there.
With props.
“The theme was ‘Gay Paree,’ ” Carter told us, laughing. “So Cyndi must have gone to the local equivalent of Party City and bought an Eiffel Tower, this enormous headdress and a stuffed pink poodle she taped to the hood of the car. Some divas let their personal assistants do all the work? Not Cyndi Lauper. She was all about it.”
Carter said Lauper also had a special Parisian-themed musical selection prepared for the festivities, that she proceeded to sing to the crowd with the aid of a bullhorn during the 90-minute parade. Hensley ended up holding the pop star’s lyrics sheet. Lauper’s personal assistant, meanwhile, spent the parade crouched down in the car at Carter’s feet to stay out of sight.
“It was so hilarious,” Carter said. “Cyndi just has this great spirit about her.”
Carter, a white-knuckle flier, also had a memorable trip home to Atlanta. A medical emergency onboard required assistance from doctors and nurses on the flight and an emergency landing in South Carolina. Cracked Carter: “I was just waiting for the snakes to show up.”
An Emmy win for Jordan
Frequent Atlanta visitor Leslie Jordan has a fresh addition to his mantel — his very first Emmy Award. The star of the one-man show “Like a Dog on Linoleum” scored the “guest actor in a comedy series” statuette for his popular recurring role of Beverley Leslie on “Will & Grace.” The Creative Arts Emmy ceremony was held last weekend in Los Angeles. After the win, the formally attired, diminutive comic balanced his trophy on his head during a photo op backstage. On this Sunday’s prime-time Emmy ceremony, Jordan is scheduled to appear as a presenter. Alas, the honor has already altered our former dishy lunch companion. When we e-mailed Tuesday, seeking a scant five minutes of Jordan’s now-Emmy-enriched time, reps for the actor cited “media exhaustion.” Don’t make us speed-dial Karen Walker, pal.
Stork report
This just in: Diddy will be a daddy again.
Yes, Atlanta restaurateur/rap impresario Sean “Diddy” Combs and his longtime Atlanta girlfriend, model Kim Porter, are “happy to confirm that they are expecting their second child together,” Combs’ representative, Keesha Johnson, told The Associated Press on Tuesday. “The couple is thrilled about the news,” Johnson said.
Combs, 36, and Porter, 35, have an 8-year-old son, Christian. Combs has a 12-year-old son, Justin, the namesake of his Atlanta eatery, from a previous relationship.
The hip-hop mogul’s new album, “Press Play,” is slated for release in October. Porter is a co-founder of the Atlanta party promotions company Three Brown Girls.
‘GMA’ names news anchor
We — yawn — suppose this constitutes news. Fill-in “Good Morning America” news guy Chris Cuomo will continue reading off a TelePrompTer on the early shift as the official new news anchor of “Good Morning America,” starting next month.
Cuomo, who is also an anchor of ABC News’ “Primetime,” will begin his duties Sept. 5, joining anchors Diane Sawyer and Robin Roberts at the “GMA” studio in Times Square, ABC announced. Cuomo will also serve as principal substitute anchor, the network said.
Sick bay
As if those melancholy kids in Keane needed something else to bum them out, the British band’s planned fall U.S. tour has been postponed. Singer Tom Chaplin is being treated for drug and alcohol addiction, the band announced Tuesday. In a statement posted on the band’s Web site, Chaplin, 27, said he was “having to deal with an increasing problem with drink and drugs, and the time has come to get the professional help I need to sort myself out.” The tour had been due to start in Chicago on Sept. 7. Keane had already canceled several appearances, citing Chaplin’s “exhaustion.” The trio, who routinely make Coldplay appear sunny in comparison, released its second album, “Under the Iron Sea,” in June.
Celebrity birthdays
Actress Vera Miles is 77. Satirist Mark Russell is 74. Actress Barbara Eden is 72. Singer Linda Thompson is 59. Actress Shelley Long is 57. Singer-actor Rick Springfield is 57. Actor Jay Mohr is 36. Singer Julian Casablancas of The Strokes is 28.
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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Book says bin Laden had crush on Whitney Houston
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
If the book excerpts published Monday in the New York Post are on the level, Whitney Houston could single-handedly halt global terrorism. Of course, like the work of any true patriot, it would require some sacrifice.
In this case? Hooking up with Osama bin Laden.
In a juicy excerpt by former bin Laden concubine-turned-“Days of Our Lives” soap opera scribe Kola Boof, 37, she writes that the terrorist mastermind was obsessed with the Alpharetta pop star during her tenure with him.
In her memoir, “Diary of a Lost Girl,” Boof dishes that “He [bin Laden] told me Whitney Houston was the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen. He had a paramount desire for [Houston] and although he claimed music was evil, he spoke someday of spending vast amounts of money to go to America and try and arrange a meeting. In his briefcase, I would come across the Star [magazine] as well as copies of Playboy. It would soon come to the point where I was sick of hearing Whitney Houston’s name.”
No, no, dear reader, please allow us to voice it for you — Osama bin Laden carried a briefcase?!
Regardless, Boof goes on to say that bin Laden also happened to mention in passing that he was contemplating a hit on Houston’s hubby, Bobby Brown.
Alas, it’s extremely doubtful that bin Laden had access in his basic cable-impaired spider hole to Houston’s recent antics on “Being Bobby Brown,” where she frequently waxed poetically about her bathroom habits while screeching “Bobby, the forest is over!”
Still, it probably couldn’t hurt if Houston and Brown formed a neighborhood watch in their Country Club of the South community to sniff out any suspicious new Wisteria Lane-esque-type neighbors.
After all, according to Boof in “Diary of a Lost Girl”: “He said he wanted to give [Houston] a mansion that he owned. He explained to me that he wanted to possess Whitney. He was willing to break his color rule and make her one of his wives.”
K-Fed live!
Thanks to the sympathetic folks at YouTube.com, we didn’t have to suffer through the actual televised indignities known as the annual Teen Choice Awards (broadcast on Sunday night on Fox) in order to catch the show-ending performance of budding hip-hop star Kevin Federline. In blissful white trash splendor, the world’s most famous househusband somehow persuaded his gum-smacking, plenty preggers wife, Britney Spears, to waddle to the stage to introduce “my man.”
Federline, clad in his trademark white tank top and matching, hip-back-in-2002 trucker cap, then proceeded to accost the stage for the next three minutes while performing his single, “Lose Control.” Through the magic of rap, K-Fed managed to inform us of the following: a) how much his Ferrari costs, b) that he is personally financially responsible for his ever-widening brood of children, c) his brand of music is “that hip-hop flavor mixed with a little bit of rock ‘n’ roll” and d) “don’t hate ‘cause I’m a superstar.” While we can’t exactly attest to that, we can report that the K-Fed Teen Choice Awards video footage worked brilliantly as a tool to vacuum up around Buzz Central …
Quote of the day
“People go crazy. They love it. Everyone’s like, ‘Who is this?’ I don’t tell. Because I don’t want someone putting their phone up and recording it and making a ring tone off of it. I think when people don’t know it’s me, they won’t judge it. But if they know it’s me, then they’ll be like, ‘Ugh.’ They won’t even dance. I, like, cry, when I listen to it, it’s so good.” — Socialite singer Paris Hilton on her debut album, “Paris” (due in stores today), in the September issue of Blender.
Celebrity docket
The rap artist once known as C-Murder has been ordered back into house arrest in Louisiana to await a second trial on a murder charge.
The state 5th Circuit Court of Appeal ruled last week that a judge improperly allowed Corey Miller to move around Orleans and Jefferson parishes with a curfew. State District Judge Martha Sassone, who freed Miller from house arrest, issued an order Thursday requiring him to stay home except for court hearings.
Prosecutors had opposed letting Miller out of house arrest, saying he had already violated terms of his release, and wanted him to return to jail.
Miller, 35, is charged with second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Steve Thomas, 16, on Jan. 12, 2002, during a fight at a now-closed nightclub in Harvey, La.
A jury convicted Miller, who faced a mandatory life prison sentence without parole, but a judge threw out the conviction after ruling that prosecutors hid the criminal backgrounds of some state witnesses from the defense.
For those wishing to send the rapper a Christmas card this holiday season, be advised that since his legal problems began, Miller has changed his stage name to the more juror-friendly C-Miller.
Celebrity birthdays
Author Ray Bradbury is 86. Actress Cindy Williams (“Laverne and Shirley”) is 59. Singer Roland Orzabal of Tears for Fears is 45. Drummer Debbi Peterson of the Bangles is 45. Drummer Paul Doucette of Matchbox Twenty is 34. Singer Howie Dorough of the Backstreet Boys is 33.
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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How Rivers got in on red carpet’s ground floor
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
When Joan Rivers was offered a job hosting the red carpet coverage for the E! network about a decade ago, she said she readily agreed.
“I was down. I was broke. I needed a job,” she told Buzz last week. “In the end, we created an industry.”
A parade of TV networks and shows now work red carpets, doing the “Who are you wearing?” routine, and she and daughter Melissa will be doing the honors this Sunday at the Emmy Awards for the TV Guide Channel.
Joan Rivers admits she doesn’t always know who she’s interviewing as they go down the carpet. “I have a huge book in front of me to prepare” for the Emmys. “I try to learn as much as I can, but it’s very, very tough.” Even though producers feed her info into an earpiece, she said the “excruciating” noise often makes it difficult to hear.
Other observations:
* “They’re much more open at the Grammys” than the Oscars or Emmys.
* The red carpet is more fun than the awards show itself, which she dubs “stilted.”
* It’s cutthroat competing for A listers on the carpet, but she never wilts: “I’m a dirty street fighter as it is.”
* Her fave interviews? Robin Williams, Julia Roberts and Nicole Kidman come to mind.
* Worst red-carpet celeb? Tommy Lee Jones. “He’s just angry to be there, very condescending.”
Then she gets all diplomatic about Dunwoody High grad Ryan Seacrest, now hosting for E!: “I don’t know him, never met him. But there’s room for everybody!”
IRS goes after gift baskets
Even pampered celebs have to pay taxes. The Internal Revenue Service last week began targeting those ever-growing “swag bags” big-name presenters receive at award shows, saying they’re taxable income, according to the Los Angeles Times.
As a result, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has decided to stop distributing the gift baskets starting with next year’s Oscars.
Companies have been doling out iPods, plasma TVs, expensive jewelry and other pricey trinkets to A-listers in hopes they pop up using them in Us magazine.
The value of the Oscar gift basket, a tradition that dates to the 1970s, has ballooned to $100,000 in recent years.
“There was an awful lot of publicity about the ever-increasing value of these baskets,” IRS Commissioner Mark V. Everson said. “And somebody said, ‘Why don’t we do something about this?’ It was just so clearly taxable we felt we had to step in.”
A romantic episode
Skipping skywriting or a fancy restaurant, Atlanta animator Sean “Sketch” Quinn has found a cool way to propose to his girlfriend, Stephanie Orr, a 31-year-old educator.
Scheduled for 12:12 a.m. this morning, Adult Swim was to air a 30-second animated version of Quinn addressing Orr after the end of an episode of “Squidbillies,” a show he helps animate.
Describing himself as a “hopeless romantic” who loves Orr “more than peanut butter loves chocolate,” his animated self dropped to one knee, opened an animated ring box and said, “Will you marry me?” (Yes, he does have a real ring, too.)
Given our deadlines, we don’t know if Orr said yes, but 27-year-old Quinn told Buzz Friday he was “99.99 percent” she would.
Atlantan on reality show
An Atlantan on the FX reality show “30 Days” this Wednesday isn’t vying to be the next great clothes designer or American Idol. There are no worms to eat or nasty judges.
Rather, a 29-year-old self-proclaimed feminist and abortion rights supporter spends 30 days in a Long Beach, Calif., anti-abortion maternity home dubbed His Nesting Place. “30 Days,” produced by Morgan Spurlock (“Super Size Me”), is a more serious version of “Wife Swap” or other fish-out-of-water reality shows.
The woman on the show had an abortion at age 22, is married and works at a women’s clinic. She only goes by the name Jennifer. FX didn’t reveal her full name, and a spokesman said she was not available for comment.
On the show, Jennifer befriends women at the home, debates the anti-abortion pastor and watches him approach women at an abortion clinic. While there was tension, the two sides lived civilly.
Atlanta’s got talent?
Were you inspired by that yodeler or the jugglers or the bizarre Leonid the Magnificent on NBC’s just-finished first season of “America’s Got Talent”? The Punchline comedy club is creating its own weekly “Atlanta’s Got Talent” competition starting Tuesday evening for the next three months. On www.punchline.com, there’s no prize listed but even if there were, it won’t be the $1 million the annoying, precocious 11-year-old singer Bianca Ryan won Thursday.
Celebrity birthdays
Actor-filmmaker-writer Melvin Van Peebles is 74. Atlanta-based country star Kenny Rogers is 68. Singer Jackie DeShannon is 62. Actress Kim Cattrall (“Sex and the City”) is 50. Singer Kelis is 27.
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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Sugarland can’t call itself a trio anymore
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For most of the year, singer-songwriter Kristen Hall’s future role in Sugarland — the double-platinum-selling Atlanta country trio she helped form — has been vague at best.
But an official news release from Universal Music, the group’s record label, arrived at Buzz Central on Friday and cleared things up considerably.
Hall has apparently been Star Jones-ed.
When Sugarland’s sophomore disc, “Enjoy the Ride,” drops Nov. 7, the group will be down to the duo of Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush, who wrote or co-wrote all 11 tracks on the project. The band’s Web site, www.sugarlandmusic.com, now contains only photos of Nettles and Bush on its home page.
Earlier this year, fans will recall that the band announced on its Web site that Hall would no longer tour with Sugarland, preferring to stay off the road to devote more time to songwriting. As it turns out, the songs won’t be for Sugarland.
Ironically, earlier this millennium, a phone call from Hall to Bush led to the formation of the Grammy-nominated act. The trio first played its eventual hit single “Baby Girl” in Hall’s basement.
In lieu of actual real-life quotes from the parties involved, let’s go to the record label press release for the shiny, happy quotes attributed to the group’s remaining members.
“I am so excited about this album and can’t wait to get it out to the fans,” Nettles says in the release. “It has the fun, sass and positivity that everyone expects from Sugarland with a few pleasant emotional surprises. It is the next level for us and a true musical evolution.”
Says Bush via the release: “I love our new album. It picks up where our last one left off musically, spiritually and emotionally. There’s a great deal of hope in the notes and words. Hope for a first kiss, a new love, a blue sky or a happy ending.”
Well, they are called Sugarland, after all.
At press time Friday, the current state of Hall’s pancreas could not be determined, however.
Celebrity docket
In this cheerful business of newspapering, we have a fairly macabre practice known as the “advance obit,” prepped for celebrities perceived to be aging or ailing. As we file this 5,786th drug-related dispatch on former Libertines frontman Pete Doherty, it may be time to start work on the singer’s obit.
Doherty pleaded guilty Friday in London to five counts of possessing drugs, including heroin and crack cocaine.
Sentencing for the Babyshambles singer was adjourned until Sept. 4. District Judge Alison Rose deftly warned Doherty that he could be sentenced to jail.
Doherty, 27, had been charged with seven counts of drug possession Thursday, after he was stopped by police in London last week. The charges relate to that arrest and countless other incidents this year.
The singer gained fame with the Libertines and as the on-off boyfriend of supermodel Kate Moss.
Doherty’s drug habit gained international attention after a British tabloid printed pictures of Moss allegedly using cocaine at a music studio where Doherty and his band were recording. No charges were leveled against the supermodel.
Last month, Doherty announced that he was canceling a scheduled concert and entering a rehabilitation clinic in his latest bid to quit drugs.
Sick bay
Singer Barry Manilow has canceled his three remaining performances at the Las Vegas Hilton to undergo surgery to repair torn cartilage in both hips, his publicist said.
The 60-year-old singer suffers from labrum tears in his hips.
Manilow originally announced Aug. 7 that he would continue performing through his appearance at the upcoming Emmy Awards and then go in for surgery. But during a show Wednesday, Manilow announced the pain has made it too difficult to continue performing.
He is still expected to make his Aug. 27 appearance at the Emmys and will then be admitted to a Southern California hospital for outpatient arthroscopic surgery, his publicist said.
Recovery and rehabilitation are expected to be about eight weeks. He is scheduled to return in mid-October for the launch of his new album, “The Greatest Songs of the Sixties.”
Celebrity birthdays
Today: Actor Peter Gallagher is 51. Actor Adam Arkin is 50. Actor John Stamos is 43. Actress Kyra Sedgwick is 41. Actor Kevin Dillon is 41. Actor Matthew Perry (“Friends”) is 37. Rapper Fat Joe is 36. Rapper Lil’ Romeo is 17.
Sunday: Singer-actor Isaac Hayes is 64. News anchor Connie Chung is 60. Singer Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin is 58. “Today” show weatherman Al Roker is 52. Actor James Marsters (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer”) is 44. Rapper KRS-One is 41. Singer Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit is 36. Guitarist Brad Avery of Third Day is 35.
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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Atlantan Knight wins again on ‘Project Runway’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlantan Michael Knight parlayed recycled trash into a treasured win on Bravo’s “Project Runway” show Wednesday night. The 28-year-old also won the previous week. “I was shocked when I won again,” said the designer. “I thought Allison or Jeffrey would win,” he told Buzz on Thursday, alluding to two other contestants on the reality show. But Allison was voted off.
For this week’s assignment, the designers headed to a waste management recycling site in New Jersey. Each had 30 minutes to scavenge for paper, plastic and metal to make a wearable design. And wearability was key. Knight made it work by cutting a pencil skirt from stiff industrial peanut sack, pleating gold mylar into a chic bustier and topping it with a stole made out of a plastic bag. His model, Nazri, wore the outfit that Knight describes as “edgy and funky” with great aplomb.
Supermodel Heidi Klum, the show’s host, called Knight’s outfit “smart and thoughtful.” The judges — designer Michael Kors, Elle fashion editor Nina Garcia and celeb stylist Rachel Zoe — concurred and added, “we loved the innovative point of view.”
Knight is working in Atlanta on his women’s designer line, Mika.
Competitive chefs join for fund-raiser at Spice
Mitra executive chef Gerardo Ramos was serving some scoop along with his trademark lobster, mango and papaya spring rolls Wednesday night when we popped into the Juniper Street Latin eatery in Midtown.
The Michoacan, Mexico, native graciously stopped by our table to tell us that, on Aug. 29, he’ll make a one-night-only cameo appearance in the kitchen at Spice across the street, along with that eatery’s brand-new chef (and Turner South “Home Plate” star) Marvin Woods.
The pair will be joined by Shaun Doty, the namesake of this fall’s hotly anticipated Inman Park bistro, Shaun’s, Rathbun’s owner Kevin Rathbun, Aria’s Gerry Klaskala and Spice pastry chef Cynthia Long. The star chef-studded evening will serve as an official welcome to the city for Woods and a benefit for Project Open Hand.
While we’re told that no official advertising has begun for the fund-raiser, plugged-in foodies are already assaulting the Spice reservations book for the $125-per-person event.
Mitra owner Sia Moshk told us he actually doesn’t mind loaning Ramos out for the evening and that he’s proud of the city’s normally competitive restaurants banding together to give back to the community.
Alas, the only secret the Atlanta restaurant veteran wouldn’t cut loose with?
The name of the mystery woman who grows Mitra’s gorgeous, summertime supply of heirloom tomatoes that Ramos was serving with slivers of juicy Georgia peaches dotted with a champagne vinaigrette.
People’s take on Chris/Kate
When this week’s People hits stands today, it’ll carry a slightly different take on the separation of Black Crowes rocker Chris Robinson and actress Kate Hudson. As you’ll recall, People competitor Us Weekly is touting an exclusive about Hudson’s alleged affair with her “You, Me and Dupree” co-star Owen Wilson. People, relying on those ever-popular anonymous sources, takes a more sympathetic approach, reporting that the couple “really love each other, but they’ve grown apart.” The mag reports that Robinson, a co-founder of the Atlanta-birthed Crowes, never “seemed comfortable at movie premieres.” According to People, Hudson and Wilson are just pals, and no third parties are responsible for the couple’s time-out.
Celebrity docket
Semitic-slurring, slurry-speeched thespian Mel Gibson pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor drunken-driving charge in a Malibu, Calif., court Thursday and was sentenced to three years’ probation, the district attorney’s office said.
Gibson did not appear but entered the plea through his attorney before Superior Court Judge Lawrence Mira, Deputy District Attorney Gina Satriano said in a statement.
Two counts in the original three-count complaint were dismissed. Gibson volunteered to do public-service announcements on the hazards of drinking and driving, and to immediately enter rehabilitation, Satriano said.
As most of the universe is now aware, Gibson was stopped around 2:30 a.m. on July 28, while driving in Malibu. He made anti-Semitic remarks to the arresting deputy, plunging Gibson into a scandal that forced him to later apologize for what he called “belligerent behavior” and “despicable” remarks.
“This was an appropriate outcome, which addresses all the public safety concerns of drinking and driving,” Satriano said. The judge ordered Gibson to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings for a year. The district attorney’s office also said he was ordered to enroll in an alcohol-abuse program for three months, fined a total of $1,300 and had his license restricted for 90 days.
Celebrity birthdays
Movie director Roman Polanski is 73. Actor Robert Redford is 69. Actor-comedian Martin Mull is 63. Singer Nona Hendryx is 61. Actor Patrick Swayze is 54. Comedian-actor Denis Leary is 49. Actor Christian Slater is 37. Actor Edward Norton is 37. Actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner is 36.
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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It’s all in the details for ‘Turned Funny’ cast, crew
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For her legions of readers, family and co-workers, Theatre in the Square’s current production of “Turned Funny,” based on the memoir by late Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Celestine Sibley, is proving to be an emotional night of theater.
We were fortunate to have seats just behind Sibley’s daughter, Susan Bazemore, and her family at the opening night festivities of the world premiere.
At certain points in the show, thanks to a Sibley-styled wig, a very Celestine-esque wardrobe and some uncanny, almost eerie mannerisms by actress Linda Stephens, we found ourselves second-guessing exactly who was up there onstage.
“The way [Stephens] moved when she would reach for her sweater was so familiar,” Bazemore told us afterward at a reception hosted by Sibley’s former CPA Thomas Downs at the Stanley House in Marietta. “She just captured the essence of Mother.”
Bazemore and the columnist’s other kin routinely dabbed at their eyes —and hooted with laughter during the show’s lighter moments — all utilizing the writer’s actual quotes from her book.
Discussing the dicier aspects of married life, Stephens as Sibley drew huge laughs from the writer’s family and friends when she conceded onstage: “Never let a man bring out the mother in you — especially, my mother.”
So exactly how devoted to detail is the production, steered by longtime fan and Square co-founder Palmer Wells, director Fred Chappell and playwright Phillip DePoy?
The play’s second act includes a re-creation of Celestine’s very first book-signing at Rich’s downtown to celebrate the release of her first mystery novel, “The Malignant Heart.” Props designer Maclare “MC” Park should receive major props for re-creating the obscure 1958 book’s dust jacket for the scene.
Chappell confided to us that Park actually found a copy of the rare mystery on eBay (where signed copies routinely go for $250), successfully bid on it and eagerly awaited its arrival just prior to the show’s world premiere last week.
Meanwhile, Theatre in the Square rep M.J. Conboy spills that some playful arm-wrestling is going on backstage as to who will be first in line to read the tome after the play closes on Sept. 24.
Seeger’s gets brief reprieve
If outgoing Atlanta chef Guenter Seeger was indeed physically capable of humor, he might be rolling around in the main dining room of his eponymous Buckhead eatery, shouting “I’m not dead yet!” à la “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.” Last week, Seeger — recently been plagued with an untimely $265,923.11 tax lien and a scarcity of late-summer customers — announced that he would close down his restaurant Saturday. As we went to press Wednesday, we learned that public response has been so overwhelming (every spot for lunch and dinner has vaporized this week), that Seeger is staying open for dinner an additional week, through Aug. 26. Lunch also will be served on Aug. 25 and 26.
Cash on delivery
Scheduled to download a young’un around Labor Day weekend? That drooling little tax write-off could also score you some additional dough from CMT.
The country music-and-“Dukes of Hazzard”-rerun basic cable network will award $50,000 to the mother of the first baby born in America during the Sept. 1 (8:30 p.m.) premiere of Alpharetta resident and purported comic Jeff Foxworthy’s new sketch comedy series, “Foxworthy’s Big Night Out.”
We’re told that, in the event of a tie, a random drawing will be conducted, alas, eliminating the need for the new mothers to engage in a Jell-O wrestling competition.
To be eligible, the new mom must submit an entry form, found at www.foxworthy.cmt.com.
Crowe-ing about a breakup?
Black Crowes frontman Chris Robinson’s local relatives will more than likely pass on the current Us Weekly when it hits the grocery store check-out on Friday. The celeb weekly’s cover story breathlessly details the budding — and alleged — horizontal relationship between Robinson’s separation-seeking wife Kate Hudson and her “You, Me and Dupree” co-star Owen Wilson. Below a splashy photo of the toothy twosome (presumably taken during the big screen comedy’s roll-out this summer) is the ever-tasteful tease: “Kate and Owen’s SECRET AFFAIR: Sexy Dates, Sleepovers at His House. How Their Fling Turned Serious as Kate’s Marriage Fell Apart.”
In the accompanying story, US Weekly reports that Hudson has “never visited [Robinson] during his current U.S. tour” and that “Owen is not-so-secretly hoping she will leave Chris so they wouldn’t have to hide. He is falling for her.” The story goes on to question Robinson’s faithfulness to Hudson. Ouch. Apparently, merely reporting that Hudson has left the rocker in favor of someone who has actually groomed himself in this millennium did not suffice.
Celebrity birthday
Actress Maureen O’Hara is 86. Actor Robert De Niro is 63. Actor Sean Penn is 46. Drummer Steve Gorman of the Black Crowes is 41. Actor/singer Donnie Wahlberg of New Kids on the Block 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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Chris Tucker slows down for stand-up
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Well, so much for our theory about the witness protection program.
Decatur’s Chris Tucker is doing a small, semi-stealth comedy tour with minimal publicity, hitting the Fox Theatre on Sept. 15.
Tucker has not done a film since “Rush Hour 2” in 2001. But relax, film enthusiasts, the inevitable “Rush Hour 3” is set for release next year.
The comic also hasn’t done a stand-up tour in many years. He was supposed to appear at the Fox on Aug. 25, but the date was changed Tuesday afternoon on Ticketmaster.com.
Tucker’s publicity agency Rogers & Cowan referred calls to Gersh, his talent agency, which did not return a call from Buzz by deadline.
As of Tuesday, floor seats were still available for the Atlanta date, with ticket prices ranging from $45 to $85.
Last Saturday, Tucker appeared at the Bergen Performing Arts Center in Englewood, N.J., where he made jokes about R. Kelly, President George W. Bush, “Rush Hour” co-star Jackie Chan, “Friday” co-star Ice Cube and growing up in the church, according to MTV.com.
A delicious lead
Ah, mid-August. In the news racket, it’s always a challenge to keep it fresh when the city is, well, this uneventful. That’s why we’re offering up major props to veteran WSB-TV Action News reporter Diana Davis for keeping it entertaining during Monday night’s newscast. Davis was shipped off to Clarke County to cover the attempted mowing down of Mickey D’s customers Linda and Melinda Thomas. The mother-and-daughter breakfast burrito aficionados were struck outside the restaurant Saturday after “cutting in line” allegations were made against them by an alleged disgruntled chicken biscuit consumer. Introducing her piece during a live shot, Davis gave viewers the breakfast-bashing back story and then gravely intoned: “But this was no happy meal. …”
Sick bay
Luciano Pavarotti says he is getting a hand from God in his battle against pancreatic cancer.
“Now I only need God’s help, and it really seems to me that he is giving it to me,” Pavarotti said in a Corriere della Sera interview published Tuesday in Italy.
The interview, at the 70-year-old tenor’s villa near the Adriatic Sea resort town of Pesaro, was conducted by veteran correspondent Ettore Mo, a friend of Pavarotti for about 40 years. Pavarotti sat in a wheelchair.
Mo wrote that some of Pavarotti’s replies were disturbing. For example, the singer told him that he doesn’t want to listen to his own recordings.
After reminiscing fondly about his performances alongside Placido Domingo and José Carreras as the Three Tenors, Pavarotti added: “It was a great beautiful season that we had. But I don’t listen to myself [singing] anymore.”
Pavarotti was preparing to leave New York last month to resume a farewell tour when doctors discovered a malignant pancreatic mass. He had surgery, and all his remaining 2006 concerts were canceled.
“I was a fortunate and happy man” into [my] 60s, Pavarotti told the newspaper. Several times during the interview, which was conducted after lunch, Pavarotti appeared to doze off, Mo wrote.
Meanwhile, the Rolling Stones have canceled a second concert in Spain while Mick Jagger recovers from a sore throat.
The show had been scheduled tonight in the southern city of El Ejido, said Jose Hurtado, a spokesman for concert promoter Music Frog, on Tuesday.
Jagger developed laryngitis over the weekend and has been ordered by his doctor to rest his voice, the British rockers said in a statement on their Web site.
A quiet uncoupling
Sigh. The acrimony appears to be over for the once-coupled Charlie Sheen and Denise Richards.
There has been an amicable resolution to the couple’s divorce case, lawyers for Sheen and Richards announced this week after meeting with a Los Angeles judge in chambers.
Issues before the court were resolved during the meeting with Superior Court Judge Marjorie Steinberg, said Lance Spiegel, a lawyer for Sheen, and Neal R. Hersh, a lawyer for Richards.
They wouldn’t elaborate on the issues resolved and refused to say whether a restraining order Richards obtained against Sheen in April remained in effect.
The “Starship Troopers” thespian filed for divorce from her “Hot Shots!” husband in March 2005 after three years of marriage.
At the tabloid-tinged height of the celebrity couple’s spectacular marital flameout, a restraining order was issued after Richards claimed Sheen abused prescription drugs, gambled compulsively and had been physically and verbally abusive.
Celebrity birthdays
Actor Fess Parker is 82. Sportscaster Frank Gifford is 76. Actress Julie Newmar is 73. TV personality Kathie Lee Gifford is 53. Director James Cameron (“Titanic”) is 52. Actress Angela Bassett is 48. Singer Madonna is 48. Actress Laura Innes (“ER”) is 47. Actor Steve Carell is 43. Emily Robison of the Dixie Chicks is 34.
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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André: OutKast’s ‘still tight, most definitely’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Big Boi and André 3000 of OutKast have not shown up in the same video for years and have no plans to perform together anytime soon.
But André 3000 phoned MTV News last week to dispel rumors that the group has broken up.
Random people, he told the cable network, “hit me in the street like, ‘Yeah man, I heard the bad news. Sorry to hear about that,’ I’m like ‘Man, what are you talking about?’ Everything is still tight, most definitely.”
Fueling the rumors of the group’s separation has been the fact that both are appearing in separate videos for two solo songs — “Idlewild Blue (Don’tchu Worry ‘Bout Me)” and “Morris Brown,” respectively — to promote their upcoming film”Idlewild” instead of “Mighty O,” which features both of their raps.
“Really, we were supposed to shoot the ‘Mighty O’ video, but we were shuffling around with too many treatments, and it got too late,” Dre explained.
In addition to the hailstorm of Internet rumors, there was a May feature story in Entertainment Weekly that painted the twosome going in separate directions musically and personally.
Despite Dre’s public affirmation that he remains a part of the legendary duo, he said there are still no plans for OutKast to tour or even perform one song together live.
“But that’s not even new news,” he said of his lack of interest in performing live. All that has been going on for years … Big Boi knows I’m in no position to be thinking about hitting the stage… . I’m just more focused on producing and writing like I been doing and staying in the studio.”
Dre and Big are trying to decide what the next single from the “Idlewild” soundtrack will be, but they are leaning toward a song called “Hollywood Divorce,” which features Snoop Dogg and Lil Wayne. Dre says if they do choose that track, you’ll see him along with Big in the video.
Actress, rocker splitting up
Actress Kate Hudson and rocker Chris Robinson are splitting up after nearly six years of marriage, according to Hudson’s publicist, Brad Cafarelli.
“Kate Hudson and Chris Robinson have confirmed that they are separated,” Cafarelli said Monday.
The couple married in 2000. They have a 2-year-old son, Ryder Russell Robinson. Hudson, 27, is the daughter of Goldie Hawn. She was nominated for a supporting actress Oscar for her role as rock groupie Penny Lane in 2000’s “Almost Famous.” Her screen credits also include “You, Me and Dupree,” “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days” and “The Skeleton Key.”
Robinson, 39, is the lead singer of Atlanta-bred rock band the Black Crowes. The singer’s representative, Todd Brodginski, said Monday he had “no information to report.”
Are we gonna make him cry?
When Jennifer Wilbanks, known forever more as “The Runaway Bride,” mowed lawns for her community service last year, she treated the media horde gracefully.
Not so when Boy George started his court-ordered community service early Monday, sweeping leaves and trash off the sidewalks of New York.
“You think you’re better than me?” he yelled at the cameramen, according to the Associated Press. “Go home. Let me do my community service!”
Boy George took to the streets of Manhattan as a Department of Sanitation worker wearing an orange vest, dark capri pants and shoes without socks and without the wild makeup and androgynous style that made him so recognizable as the ’80s icon who sang “Karma Chameleon” and “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?”
“This is supposed to be making me humble. Let me do this,” he said. “I just want to do my job.”
The singer, born George O’Dowd, was ordered to spend five days working for the Department of Sanitation after pleading guilty in March to falsely reporting a burglary at his lower Manhattan apartment. The officers who responded found cocaine instead.
September songs for Sir Elton
Part-time Atlantan Elton John has set a Sept. 19 release date for his latest studio album, “The Captain and the Kid,” according to Billboard.com. It’s a sequel to the artist’s 1975 album “Captain Fantastic and the Dirt Brown Cowboy,” with the first single “The Bridge” available Aug. 22 from Apple’s iTunes Music Store.
Educator’s classroom expands
Atlanta educator and speaker Ron Clark, who was featured in a TNT film Sunday night starring Matthew Perry, saw his books shoot up the sales charts on both Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com Monday. The softcover version of his first book “The Essential 55,” a guide of sorts for teachers, leapt to No. 2 on both charts as of Monday afternoon, behind only “The Fat Smash Diet.”
Celebrity birthdays
Author-journalist Linda Ellerbee is 62. Songwriter Jimmy Webb is 60. Actress Debra Messing (“Will and Grace”) is 38. Actor Anthony Anderson (“Barbershop”) is 36. Actor Ben Affleck is 34.
Contributing: Associated Press, 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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The dish on Seeger’s: Chef definitely leaving
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Guenter Seeger’s publicist confirmed Friday that the famed chef is leaving Atlanta for good.
“Chef Seeger has decided to sell his restaurant and bring his toque to another city,” publicist Simone Rathlé wrote in a prepared release Friday. What city? The chef “has not yet determined his final destination.”
In a story last week, local restaurateur Bob Amick said he was trying to keep Seeger in Atlanta but that apparently didn̵