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Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2008 > March > 13 > Entry
2 Buckheads — and they’re not the same
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“American Idol” producers might want to make a minor tweak on air the next time they refer to contestant Michael Johns’ former hometown. For weeks, the No. 1-rated TV show in the country has described Johns as hailing from Buckhead, Ga., when, in fact, the singer is well-known for his memorable performances at CJs Landing and the Tin Roof Cantina in the Buckhead community of Atlanta.
You see, Buckhead, Ga., also actually exists, about 68 miles east of Atlanta, near Madison in Morgan County. Population, according to the 2000 census: 205 people.
“It’s actually quite a common mistake,” Madison-Morgan County Chamber of Commerce economic development director Bob Hughes told Buzz on Wednesday.
“My daughter lives [in Atlanta] and recently told folks that her father owned 15 acres and horses in Buckhead. They asked her, ‘Is that off Northside or Habersham?’ They thought she was some kind of an heiress. A lot of folks just don’t know where the real Buckhead is located.”
Adding to the confusion: the current issue of TV Guide features the top 12 “A.I.” contestants on its cover. Inside, it also refers to Johns’ old residence as “Buckhead, Georgia.”
It was all enough to cause Buckhead Coalition president and former Atlanta Mayor Sam Massell to return our call requesting comment Wednesday all the way from a yacht in the British Virgin Islands where he’s vacationing.
“We greatly underestimated the power of our marketing efforts if a major television network is identifying us as a city,” Massell told us. Technically, “Idol” should be identifying Johns’ former place of residence as Atlanta, Ga., or as Massell helpfully points out “The community of Buckhead.”
Fox rep Alex Gillespie did not immediately return our call and e-mail about the issue.
Still, Buckhead, Ga., may end up extending an invitation to Johns to relocate to their quaint community, post-“Idol.”
Said Hughes: “Well, if he wins, shoot yeah!”
BLAIS & BURGERS
Chef Richard Blais, who will be one of the contestants on Bravo’s fourth season of “Top Chef,” has struck a deal with businessman and investor Barry Mills to design the menu and serve as executive chef for an upscale hamburger restaurant, tentatively called Flip.
Blais was most recently chef at Element in Midtown. His restaurant, Blais, was a critical smash but left diners cold. It closed in 2004. He later enjoyed a short-but-successful stint at One Midtown Kitchen, then left for a consulting job in Florida before returning to our city last year.
Located on the West Side near the Atlanta Waterworks, Blais’ burger palace plans to offer ground meats of all sorts, not just beef. And Blais says he intends to spend a lot of time and effort creating the “best veggie burger in the world.”
“We’ll be offering house-made sodas like root beer, and I’m looking to make side dishes a focal point, like maybe house-made tater tots,” Blais said by phone.
And what of foie gras milkshakes, his most infamous and critically acclaimed dish?
“Oh yeah,” Blais said, “they’ll be there.”
Blais will continue consulting at Elevation in Kennesaw, as well as other projects for his consulting company, Trail-blais.
The opening of Flip is planned for later this summer.
HUNTSVILLE, ALA., ATTRACTS ‘HORTON’
Hey, Decatur: Hang your heads in shame over your plates of green eggs and ham this morning, Horton didn’t hear you. Twentieth Century Fox announced Wednesday that Huntsville, Ala., won last weekend’s ” ‘Horton Hears a Who’ Hometown Challenge” where locals in different cities gathered en masse to yell “We are here!” According to the fancy sound equipment used to measure such squalls, the Alabama city was the loudest. Huntsville scores a private screening and a story in USA Today. We, um, hear that even Huntsville Mayor Loretta Spencer turned up at last weekend’s shouting contest.
ON HOLD AGAIN
After Eddie Van Halen underwent tests “for an unspecified medical condition,” Van Halen has again postponed its tour until April 19. Translation: next week’s rescheduled show at Gwinnett Arena has been scrapped for a second time. We’re told that the dates were postponed so Eddie Van Halen, “who is currently under doctors’ care, can continue medical tests to define a course of treatment.” Over the years, Van Halen has battled both cancer and substance abuse.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka is 69. Actor William H. Macy is 58. Bassist Adam Clayton of U2 is 48. Jazz trumpeter Terence Blanchard is 46. Rapper Common is 36. Actor Danny Masterson (“That ’70s Show”) is 32.
SICK BAY
“Saturday Night Live” has replaced a flu-ridden Janet Jackson (right) with another diva: Mariah Carey (far right).
Carey, 37, will fill in for the part-time Atlantan on this week’s edition, NBC announced Wednesday.
Jackson, 41, was scheduled to perform live Saturday night in support of her latest album, “Discipline.” Jackson publicist Patti Webster confirms she dropped out because of illness and “needs some time to get better.”
Contributing: Meridith Ford and news services
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