TAVIS SMILEY SELLS ‘JOYNER SHOW’ COMMENTARIES October 18, 2008

Tavis Smiley is releasing a four-CD collection of his most memorable commentaries made during his four-year run on Tom Joyner’s nationally-syndicated radio program.       

       Released this week from SmileyBooks, “ON AIR: The Best of Tavis Smiley on the Tom Joyner Morning Show 2004–2008″ comes with a booklet featuring color photographs that capture the essence of Smiley and the Tom Joyner Morning Show, memorable moments, reflections from well-known fans of the show, and the text of Smiley’s last commentary.      

       During the commentary for his final show on June 26, 2008, Smiley explained: “My role has been one of challenging us to re-examine the assumptions we hold, helping us to expand our inventory of ideas, and hopefully empowering us with information that can help us live better lives.”

       “ON AIR” retails for $23.95. Smiley is currently on a promotional through Walmart stores around the country. Dates and locations are listed below:

Walmart
Friday, October 17, 2008
4005 West 167th St.
Chicago, IL  60478
6pm-8pm
 
Walmart
Saturday, October 18, 2008
3580 Memorial Dr. 
Atlanta, GA 30032
12:30pm-2:30pm
 
Walmart
Sunday, October 19, 2008
2727 Dunvale Rd.
Houston TX 77063
3pm-5pm
 
Walmart
Thursday, October 23, 2008
4545 Lafayette Rd.
Indianapolis, IN  46254
5pm-7pm
 
Walmart
Friday, October 24, 2008
9350 Cortana Pl.
Baton Rouge, LA 70818
12:30pm-2:30pm
 
Walmart
Saturday, October 25, 2008
4800 US 287 Highway
Fort Worth, TX  76011
12:30pm-2:30pm
 
Walmart
Sunday, October 26, 2008
621 Uptown Blvd 75104
Dallas, TX
3pm-5pm

BIRDMAN SUED OVER LIL’ WAYNE NO-SHOW October 18, 2008

Cash Money Records CEO Bryan “Birdman” Williams has been sued for breach of contract and fraud by a promoter who claims the mogul received an advanced payment for a concert by his artist Lil Wayne that never took place.

 

      According to TMZ.com, Jose Fernandez from Illuminaty, Inc says it paid $275,000 in cash to Birdman for a concert billed as “Lil Wayne and Birdman and Friends,” to be held on Nov. 23 of last year in their New Orleans hometown.

 

       But, Birdman cancelled the concert claiming there was “lack of time to promote the event, not enough time to schedule the talent and that the weather was too cold,” according to documents obtained by TMZ.      

       At Birdman’s suggestion, the show was rescheduled for Jan. 5 and relocated to Miami, but that concert was also cancelled, with Williams and his business partners – Rhonita Thornton and company bosses at Kreativ Kontrol – claiming there was “not enough time to promote and the inability to line up the talent.”

 

       The show was rescheduled for March 16, and Fernandez alleges he continued to transfer funds into the trio’s account in an effort to guarantee the gig, but the concert was cancelled for a third time – and no reschedule date was suggested.      

       Fernandez filed the lawsuit at Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday (Oct. 15). He is seeking damages and court costs.

THE GAME cancels festival appearance; sister reportedly shot in drive by days later; documentary DVD about his life to be released October 18, 2008

The Game, born Jayceon Taylor, canceled his scheduled headlining appearance at the SAIG Entertainment and International Arts Festival earlier this month without giving a reason, reports Allhiphop.com.

       The event took place Oct. 11 and 12 and also featured performances by Tamia, Morgan Heritage and New Orleans native  Lloyd.

       According to the Festival’s founder Ernest Kelly, event producers were told that The Game had failed to board a 3:30 pm flight on Sunday (Oct 12) for unknown reasons and that his management had cancelled all New Orleans hotel and transportation accommodations.

 

       *AllHipHop.com is also reporting that The Game’s sister was shot during a drive by shooting in Compton on Oct. 14. Sources told the Web site that she was sitting on her front porch when she suffered minor injuries after being grazed by a bullet.

 

       *The Game is set to release a DVD entitled, “The Game…Life After The Math,” a documentary from Polychrome Pictures about his turbulent rise to fame.

        In telling his story, the film contains rare, never-before-seen footage of Katt Williams, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent and Kanye West, among others.

        “Rarely do you find an artist who is so confident and secure with themselves and their abilities that they are willing to let fans into their head to see the demons they’ve battled,” said Danny Rodriguez, co-founder of Polychrome Pictures. “Game has exposed his soul in his music and in ‘Life After The Math’ he reveals the reasons he was driven to street life, not justifications for it. We could not be more honored to be a part of the project.”

EMINEM TITLES NEW ALBUM ‘RELAPSE’ October 18, 2008

At a release party in New York Wednesday night for his new book “The Way I Am,” Eminem announced that the official title of his upcoming album is “Relapse” and will be led by first single “I’m Having a Relapse.”

 

       The disc is due sometime before the end of the year,” reports Allhiphop.com. Previous rumored album titles were “Empack” and “King Mathers.”      

      In related news, the Detroit native and Nike’s Jordan brand are teaming once again to create Eminem custom Jordan sneakers.

 

       The Jordan 2, which is the rapper’s favorite in the Air Jordan collection, will be produced by Eminem in different colorways than then original AJ2. The limited edition kicks also come with handwritten lyrics from various Eminem songs.       

       In honor of Detroit and its 313 area code, only 313 pairs of the sneakers were created, with all proceeds going to Eminem’s non-profit, The Marshall Mathers Foundation, which helps disadvantaged youth in the state of Michigan.

MLB’s shift; Stephen Baldwin’s challenge; racist Sac County GOP Web site; Jesse Jackson denies Post story October 18, 2008

James Taylor will play five free concerts in North Carolina in support of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. The shows are scheduled in Charlotte, Asheville, Chapel Hill, Raleigh and Wilmington beginning Sunday, reports the Associated Press. Taylor, who was raised in Chapel Hill, will encourage Obama supporters to get out and vote early. One-stop voting begins Thursday in North Carolina, a state that hasn’t voted for a Democratic president since 1976.      

       *To accommodate the half-hour Oct. 29 time buy by the Obama campaign, Major League Baseball has agreed to move the start time of World Series Game 6 by about 15 minutes, from about 8:20 p.m. ET to 8:35 p.m., reports Reuters.  Along with CBS and NBC, Fox was approached by the Obama campaign last week to purchase the 8-8:30 p.m. time slot Oct. 29. The blessing from MLB clears the way for Fox to air the promo and collect upward of $1 million in ad revenue for the half hour, more than what either CBS or NBC was charging.

 

       *Actor Stephen Baldwin was reportedly overheard threatening to move to Canada if Barack Obama is elected president. He also challenged the Democratic candidate to a boxing match. “I’d like to knock some good sense into Barack,” he reportedly said, according to both the New York Post and Daily News while working out at the Printing House Gym in the Village. “I wouldn’t hurt him. But if he wins the election, he’ll hurt me. He’s a cultural terrorist.” In 2004, Baldwin’s brother Alec famously threatened to move out of the U.S. if President Bush was re-elected.

 

       *Sacramento County Republican leaders Tuesday took down offensive material on their official party Web site that sought to link Sen. Barack Obama to Osama bin Laden and encouraged people to “Waterboard Barack Obama.” Taking credit for the site was county party chairman Craig MacGlashan. The Sacramento Bee asked him about the content after seeking his reaction to hate-filled graffiti that was spray-painted over an Obama display on a fence in Sacramento. He told the Bee: “Some people find it offensive, others do not. I cannot comment on how people interpret things.” MacGlashan said he would “consider people’s complaints” before taking any action.

 

      *The Rev. Jesse Jackson is vehemently denying a New York Post report that he told an audience at the World Policy Forum in France last week that the “Zionists who have controlled American policy for decades” will lose influence if Barack Obama is elected. “That is not true,” Jackson told XM radio talk show host Joe Madison. “That’s a fabrication.” Jackson said the story’s writer, Iranian columnist Amir Taheri, has no credibility. He also pointed to inaccuracies in the writer’s previous Obama-related reports. “My sense is that to drop this article the day before the debate, to be the news of the debate, is a Swift Boat tactic and we refute it, we reject it,” said Jackson. “The writer chose to distort and fabricate and we are now pursuing vigorously the guy.”

Prince recons new club; Rodman bounces on Bounce; Colin Powell gets his groove on October 18, 2008

The New York Post’s Page Six reported that Prince had an “advance man” canvas New York’s new hotspot Eldridge before going inside to join his friend Hill Harper of “CSI: New York.” A Page Six witness said: “Five security guards escorted him to the very back table. He sipped on water and stayed for about an hour.” Later, Prince brought his personal deejay to Butter where “they closed the downstairs for a private buffet.”

 

       *Dennis Rodman, star of Donald Trump’s upcoming “Celebrity Apprentice,” reportedly ran up a tab at New York’s Bounce Uptown and then ran out without paying the bill. “After imbibing a steady stream of champagne, the former hoopster grabbed a half-finished bottle of Veuve Clicquot – along with the champagne glasses that were on his table – and left without paying,” a source told the New York Daily News. Rodman’s rep confirms that Rodman skipped out on the bill, but added: “Dennis does not recall leaving the club with a bottle and glasses.”

 

      *Former secretary of state Colin Powell performed an impromptu dance and freestyle rhyme at London’s Africa Rising Festival, a traveling showcase for African music and culture.  Joining African rapper Olu Maintain on stage for his hit “Yahoozee,” Powell performed both the dance and the various call and response lyrics of the song. Afterward, he told the crowd: “I stand before you as an African-American. Many people have said to me you became secretary of state of the USA, is it still necessary to say that you are an African-American or that you are black? And I say yes, so that we can remind our children.”

 

LUPE FIASCO ON TOUR THROUGH DECEMBER October 18, 2008

Lupe Fiasco will continue touring in support of his sophomore album “Lupe Fiasco’s The Cool,” with dates extending into December, reports Live Daily.

 

      The Chicago-born rapper has been touring most of the year, headlining shows and opening for the likes of Kanye West. His tour continues tonight (10/17) in Mansfield, MA, and the run is set to visit a dozen cities primarily around the eastern U.S. through Dec. 5.

 

       Stops include the Voodoo Music Experience in New Orleans and a host of college venues. Details are listed below.

October 2008
17 – Mansfield, PA – Decker Gymnasium/Mansfield University
22 – Atlanta, GA – Morehouse College/Forbes Arena
23 – Nashville, TN – Vanderbilt University Memorial Gymnasium
26 – New Orleans, LA – City Park/Voodoo Music Experience
31 – Chicago, IL – Congress Theater

November 2008
6 – Greenville, NC – East Carolina University/Minges Coliseum
7 – Carlisle, PA – Dickinson College
12 – Los Angeles, CA – Club Nokia
15 – Storrs, CT – Jorgensen Theatre for Performing Arts
17 – Elmira, NY – Elmira College/Emerson Hall
22 – Geneseo, NY – SUNY Geneseo

December 2008
5 – College Park, MD – University of Maryland/Ritchie Coliseum

TYRA BANKS OFFERS ‘HOT BAGS & COLD CASH’ October 18, 2008

Next month, “The Tyra Banks Show” is providing a little economic stimulus with Tyra’s Hot Bags and Cold Cash Giveaway.        

       From Monday, (Oct. 20) through Friday, Nov. 14, viewers can tune in each day to learn the “keyword of the day” necessary to enter and win cash, including a grand prize of $10,000. Fans simply have to enter the correct “keyword of the day” online at http://tyrashow.warnerbros.com/ or text 42107 for a chance to win.       

       Users who enter the correct keyword are entered into daily prize drawings and the grand prize drawing. Each weekday, a lucky winner will be chosen randomly from the entries and receive a Botkier bag filled with $300 in cash, a $200 gift card from trendy footwear and apparel retailer Underground Station, and a $100 gift card and one-year membership to Avelle, a luxury accessories rental company.        

       The grand prize winner will receive a Prada bag valued at $1,100 from Avelle and filled with $10,000 in cash, a $100 Avelle gift card and one year membership, plus a $200 Underground Station gift card.  Tyra will call the lucky grand prize winner on the Nov. 19 broadcast of “The Tyra Banks Show.”

 

       From Monday, (Oct. 20) through Friday, Nov. 14, viewers can tune in each day to learn the “keyword of the day” necessary to enter and win cash, including a grand prize of $10,000. Fans simply have to enter the correct “keyword of the day” online at http://tyrashow.warnerbros.com/ or text 42107 for a chance to win.       

       Users who enter the correct keyword are entered into daily prize drawings and the grand prize drawing. Each weekday, a lucky winner will be chosen randomly from the entries and receive a Botkier bag filled with $300 in cash, a $200 gift card from trendy footwear and apparel retailer Underground Station, and a $100 gift card and one-year membership to Avelle, a luxury accessories rental company.        

       The grand prize winner will receive a Prada bag valued at $1,100 from Avelle and filled with $10,000 in cash, a $100 Avelle gift card and one year membership, plus a $200 Underground Station gift card.  Tyra will call the lucky grand prize winner on the Nov. 19 broadcast of “The Tyra Banks Show.”

L’OREAL TAPS KERRY WASHINGTON October 18, 2008

Kerry Washington has signed on as the spokeswoman for a new ovarian cancer awareness campaign from cosmetics giant L’Oreal.”

 

      The actress will appear in ads for the new Color of Hope campaign, which aims to encourage more women to get checked for signs of the disease.

 

      “One of the reasons why I decided to work with L’Oreal is because of all the philanthropic work that they do in the community,” Washington tells OK! magazine. “I feel like they’re not a company that tries to take advantage of women’s insecurities by making women feel not good enough so they have to go and buy makeup to feel good about themselves. Instead, they really believe in the work of women and that women deserve to look good and feel good every single day.

 

       “And part of that is health and their commitment to women’s health and ovarian cancer. They are really leading the way. It’s frightening how we don’t have the kind of research and development that we need for ovarian cancer. When it comes to breast cancer, we know how to do early detection. The research is there, but for ovarian cancer, that just doesn’t exist and by the time people know, it’s too late.”      

       Three items have been launched for the Color of Hope campaign – a lipstick, a bag and a necklace – with all proceeds going towards the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund.       

       “My mom is a breast cancer survivor and part of the reason she is a survivor is because of early detection so I understand the importance of early detection. If it wasn’t for the advancements in technology that allow for early detection in breast cancer, I probably wouldn’t have my mother today.”

 

LISA BONET CONFIRMS PREGNANCY October 18, 2008

Lisa Bonet has officially announced that she is expecting her third child, reports People magazine.      

       The star of ABC’s new drama “Life on Mars says: “I’m seven months and I feel great. I’ve had a tremendous amount of energy, which is lucky, because I have a 14-month-old.”      

       Bonet, 40, and her boyfriend of two years, actor Jason Momoa, have 14-month-old daughter Lola. The actress also has 19-year-old daughter Zoe Kravitz with rocker Lenny Kravitz.      

       The actress, best known for her role as Denise on “The Cosby Show,” has no plans to find out whether a son will be joining the two daughters.       

       “When my friends ask me, I say, ‘I really don’t know,’” she says. “I love the mystery and I trust the mystery about it. It adds a whole other component at the end.”