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Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2008 > March > 24 > Entry
Dupri’s turn to get real on Peachtree TV
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Peachtree TV reality show “Jermaine Dupri Presents: Brutha” makes its bow locally tonight, but it already has national attention. Turner Entertainment consultant Ryan Glover says negotiations are under way with an unnamed network to make the show a series, with a possible debut in the third quarter of this year. If so, it would make the second Peachtree TV success in a row for Glover, who was involved in the November hit “Dallas Austin’s Drumroll: SWD.”
“For over a decade, Atlanta has been known as the music mecca,” said Glover. “I believe so strongly in the creatives that are here — from Dallas Austin to JD [Dupri] to Bryan Barber to OutKast to Lil Jon — that not only should they have the opportunity to share their blessings as creatives through music, but also through TV and film.”
“Brutha,” about singing brothers from California who come to Atlanta in search of a record deal, airs at 8 p.m. See a photo gallery of one of the group’s recent rehearsals, and a Video.
Tonight on Peachtree TV, Jermaine Dupri presents an R&B act called Brutha (from left): Anthony Harrell (lead singer), Jacob Harrell, Grady Harrell, Jared Overton and Pop Harrell. (Photo: Hyosub Shin / AJC)
Atlanta’s ‘Deltalina’ taking flight
Before YouTube, redheaded, blue-eyed, high-cheekboned Katherine Lee was just another beautiful flight attendant who worked for the nation’s third-largest airline.
Next month, up to 80 million Delta Air Lines passengers worldwide will know her as the face of Delta’s newest safety video, in which Lee walks fliers through government-mandated safety instructions with a smile and a playful wag of the finger.
The safety video generated such a buzz after being posted on the Atlanta-based airline’s corporate blog and on the video Web site YouTube that admirers dubbed the 33-year-old Atlanta woman “Deltalina,” a combination of the airline’s name and Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie, who they say she resembles.
Halfway through the 41/2-minute video, Lee unexpectedly and playfully wags a long finger at the camera while instructing that “Smoking … is not allowed, on any Delta flight.”
The video, made on a Boeing 757, was completed in mid-January after two 16-hour workdays in Atlanta. Employees last fall auditioned for the role. The airline whittled down a list of 82 flight attendants and selected 10, including Lee. The lead flight attendant wasn’t selected until immediately before the filming.
Lee, a 10 1/2-year employee who now trains other flight attendants at the airline’s Atlanta headquarters, was selected in part because she already was comfortable being in front of other people, Babb said.
But can “Deltalina” (who’s single, by the way) come to terms with her new fame?
“I was on vacation … and when we landed in Munich, one of the passengers comments was, ‘Aren’t you that girl in the safety video?’ ” Lee said. “It’s been kind of interesting. With students I’m teaching, I feel like a rock star. I wanted to do this since the first day I became a flight attendant. Ten-and-a-half years later, I finally made it.”
Winning couple gets $87,000
Eric Gray and Keyana Carlisle’s upcoming wedding will get a little extra happily ever after today. More than a little, really. Make that $87,000 worth of happy, awarded to the Union City couple by Bridal Guide magazine’s America’s Favorite Couple contest. They’ll be gifted with gowns, tuxedos, jewelry, housewares, an eight-night honeymoon, rehearsal dinner and reception at Tavern on the Green, among other goods.
Online voters chose the couple as their favorite over two other pairs of finalists. Gray, 30, and Carlisle, 27, both were diagnosed with end-stage kidney disease as teens; they met in 2000 in the ultra-romantic setting of a dialysis clinic. (They campaigned for the contest win even while continuing dialysis six days per week.)
Just after their first date, Gray broke his hip and Carlisle helped him through it. Then Carlisle lost her memory in 2003, after she landed in the hospital and an infected IV caused her temperature to spike. They rebuilt the relationship and Gray proposed before a crowd in Centennial Olympic Park in 2006.
And when’s that happily ever after down the aisle? They’ve waited long enough, and in Gray’s words, “Keyana’s going crazy.” Contest rules say they’ve got one year to use their prizes — they’re aiming for a late summer or fall wedding.
TV-style fun coming to ATL
Inspired by “The Amazing Race,” but without the globe trotting or million-dollar prize, a scaled-back and localized version of the game is coming to Atlanta on Saturday.
Called “The Great Urban Race,” teams of two will use MARTA and other public transit to navigate city streets and complete challenges.
The Web site for the game, also being held in about 20 other cities across the country this year, doesn’t tip off any specific clues, but offers some sample tasks: assemble a 84-piece jigsaw puzzle of the United States or take a photo of someone playing a guitar.
Already, 150 teams of two have signed up, according to Joe Reynolds, race director, who said this is the race’s second year, but first time in Atlanta.
Registration is at 11 a.m. and the race is set to begin at noon. Each couple will get an envelope with 12 clues.
Reynolds said he will expect the winning couple to return with the missions accomplished in about two hours.
The cost is $59 per person before the race or $70 per person on game day and covers drinks and snacks and other game-related costs. Winner gets $300 and free entry into the Las Vegas championship game.
The race begins and ends at the Front Page News at 1104 Crescent Ave. in Midtown.
For more information, go to greaturbanrace.com.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS Singer Nick Lowe is 59. Comedian Louie Anderson is 55. Actor Robert Carradine is 54. Actress Kelly LeBrock is 48. TV personality Star Jones is 46. Actress Annabella Sciorra is 44. Actress Lara Flynn Boyle is 38. Actress Alyson Hannigan (“How I Met Your Mother,” “Buffy The Vampire Slayer”) is 34.
Contributing: Jamie Gumbrecht, Helena Oliviero, 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.
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