According to Huff Post Black Voices, Tyra Banks is expanding “Top Model” empire by producing “Africa’s Next Top Model” this fall. Africa is now the fourth continent to adopt ANTM’s highly successful model search-meets-reality show concept. Banks has tapped Nigerian model Oluchi Onweagba Orlandi (pictured above) to serve as the series’ host and co-producer.
“The African version of the franchise is long overdue and I expect the show to be a smashing success across the continent,” Oluchi said in a release. Twelve young women will be chosen from eight countries throughout Africa, and, like the U.S. version, the model hopefuls will compete in a number of photo shoots and challenges over the course of ten episodes to see who makes it to the top. No judges have been announced yet, but production will begin in August in Cape Town, South Africa.
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson and Lesa Lakin
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NBC New York – Jay-Z is part of a group trying to renovate Nassau Coliseum. The music mogul attended a meeting Thursday on Long Island, where the media was briefed on four proposals to renovate the arena and surrounding property. Nassau County officials have been trying to come up with a plan to redevelop the 40-year-old arena for many years. Its primary tenant, the New York Islanders hockey team, is moving to the new arena in Brooklyn when its lease expires in 2015. Jay-Z’s Roc Nation is part of a group that built Barclays Arena and is bidding for the Long Island project.
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article via thegrio.com
Adweek reports that Web portal AOL has 15 original projects slated to debut this fall, as it attempts to get advertisers to consider its original shows up against networks such as ABC and Fox. Among the shows in the works are Anthony Eats America, a food-centric travelogue starring comedian Anthony Anderson, Candidly Nicole, a series built around Nicole Richie’s Twitter account (#candidlynicole), along with Funded, a show that looks at crowdfunding business success stories hosted by author, entrepreneur and comedian Baratunde Thurston, and My Ink, a documentary focused on the back stories on sports stars tattoos.
“The main thing is AOL is positioned to bridge the gap between Web and TV,” Ran Harnevo, Senior Vice President of AOL Video, told Adweek. “We think we can show there is no substantial difference between the two media when it comes to quality and measurement.”
Comedian Sherri Shepherd, co-host of The View, says type 2 diabetes could have killed her, but instead it saved her life.
“If I didn’t have diabetes, I would probably be at the International House of Pancakes eating a stack of pancakes with butter and syrup,” says Shepherd, 46. “I would probably be 250 pounds. I would not be going to the doctor. I probably wouldn’t be married to my husband, Lamar Sally. I wouldn’t be healthy for my son, Jeffrey.”
At 5-foot-1, she now weighs 157 pounds, down from 197 pounds several years ago. Once she was taking three medications for diabetes, but now that she’s eating healthier, exercising regularly and keeping her blood sugar in the right range, the doctor has taken her off all medications for the disease.
Shepherd details her struggles with diabetes and the changes she made in her life in her new book, Plan D: How to Lose Weight and Beat Diabetes (Even If You Don’t Have It), written with Billie Fitzpatrick.
Almost 26 million U.S. adults and children have diabetes, in which the body does not make enough of the hormone insulin, or doesn’t use it properly. Insulin helps glucose (sugar) get into cells, where it is used for energy. If there’s an insulin problem, sugar builds up in the blood, damaging nerves and blood vessels. There are two major forms: type 1 and type 2. In adults, type 2 diabetes accounts for 90% to 95% of all diagnosed cases.
Symptoms of type 2 diabetes include thirst, hunger, tiredness, blurry vision, tingling and numbness in the hands and feet, healing problems and frequent urination. The disease may lead to heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, foot and leg amputations and blindness.
Shepherd has a family history of type 2 diabetes — both of her sisters have it and her mother died at age 41 from complications of the disease.
Shepherd says she was in denial after she was diagnosed with pre-diabetes. “That said to me I’m not diabetic so I can eat the way I want” including barbecue, mac and cheese, pasta, pancakes and waffles, she says.
But then in 2007, she was formally diagnosed. At the time, she says, she had no energy, had numbness in her feet, had blurred vision, was thirsty all the time and had to go to the bathroom frequently. Her blood sugar was way too high.
She says her doctor was blunt. “She said, ‘Sherri, you love wearing those shoes, don’t you?’ I said, ‘Yes, I do’. She said, ‘You won’t be wearing them with your foot cut off, because if you keep eating the way you are eating, that’s where you’re headed.’ “
According to the AP and ABC News, Chris “Mack Daddy” Kelly (pictured left) from the hip-hop duo Kris Kross, has reportedly died in Atlanta today. He was announced dead around 5 p.m. this evening at the Atlanta Medical Center. Kelly was only 34 years old.
Because it is so soon, authorities are unclear about the cause of his sudden death, and an autopsy will be performed. Kelly and Chris Smith had a huge amount of fame in the 90s, bringing us classic jams like “Jump,” “Warm It Up,” and “I Missed The Bus,” the anthem for habitually late students everywhere in the early ’90s. The duo was also known for wearing their clothes backwards, going with their name, Kriss Kross. They were discovered by Jermaine Dupri at a shopping mall in Atlanta, and the two even performed together again for the first time in years during the So So Def 20th Anniversary concert earlier in the year. There was talk of them possibly working on new music in the future.
Sadly, that won’t be happening. But we’ll always have their past work, especially Totally Krossed Out. As more information comes out about Kelly’s sudden passing, we’ll keep you updated, but keep his family in your prayers and play “Jump” at least once before you call it a night.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=010KyIQjkTk&w=420&h=315]
article by Clarke Gail Baines via madamenoire.com
WASHINGTON – President Obama on Wednesday nominated Representative Melvin L. Watt, Democrat of North Carolina, to become the overseer of the government-backed mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. If approved by the Senate, Mr. Watt would replace Edward J. DeMarco, who has been acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency for more than three years.
Mr. Watt is a lawyer who has represented North Carolina in Congress for the last two decades. If he won Senate confirmation, he would become a powerful economic policy maker, as the housing market recovers and the White House contemplates the government’s future role in it. “Mel understands as well as anybody what caused the housing crisis,” Mr. Obama said in a ceremony in the State Dining Room of the White House. “He knows what it’s going to take to help responsible homeowners fully recover and he’s committed to helping folks just like his mom,” who attended the ceremony, and whom Mr.Obama characterized as “Americans who work really hard, play by the rules, day in and day out, to provide for their families.”
Cicely Tyson’s return to Broadway indeed proved “Bountiful,” as she is among the contenders for best actress in a play for her starring role in “The Trip to Bountiful.’’ The others in Tyson’s category are Laurie Metcalf for “The Other Place,’’ Amy Morton for “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,’’ Kristine Nielsen for “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike,’’ and Holland Taylor for “Ann.’’
The revival of “Pippin” “Motown: The Musical” each garnered several awards, among them nominations for their respective lead actresses, Patina Miller and Valisia LeKae. Courtney B. Vance also garnered a nomination for his supporting role in “Lucky Guy,” as did Tyson’s “Bountiful” co-star Condola Rashad for hers.
The full list of nominees is below:
Best play
“The Assembled Parties” by Richard Greenberg
“Lucky Guy” by Nora Ephron
“The Testament of Mary” by Colm Toibin
“Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike” by Christopher Durang
Best musical
“Bring It On, The Musical”
“A Christmas Story, The Musical”
“Kinky Boots, The Musical”
“Matilda, The Musical”
Best book of a musical
“A Christmas Story, The Musical” Joseph Robinette
“Kinky Boots” Harvey Fierstein
“Matilda, The Musical” Dennis Kelly
Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella” Douglas Carter Beane
Best revival of a play
“Golden Boy” Producers: Lincoln Center Theater, André Bishop, Bernard Gersten
“Orphans”
“The Trip to Bountiful”
“Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
RELATED: 10 Tony nomination plot twists
Best revival of a musical
“Annie”
“The Mystery of Edwin Drood”
“Pippin”
“Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella”
Best original score (music and/or lyrics) written for the theatre
“A Christmas Story, The Musical” Music and Lyrics: Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
“Hands on a Hardbody” Music: Trey Anastasio and Amanda Green Lyrics: Amanda Green
“Kinky Boots” Music and Lyrics: Cyndi Lauper
“Matilda, The Musical” Music and Lyrics: Tim Minchin
Best performance by an actor in a leading role in a play
Tom Hanks, “Lucky Guy”
Nathan Lane, “The Nance”
Tracy Letts, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
David Hyde Pierce, “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike”
Tom Sturridge, “Orphans”
Best performance by an actress in a leading role in a play
Laurie Metcalf, “The Other Place”
Amy Morton, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
Kristine Nielsen, “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike”
Holland Taylor, “Ann”
Cicely Tyson, “The Trip to Bountiful”
Best performance by an actor in a leading role in a musical
Bertie Carvel, “Matilda, The Musical”
Santino Fontana, “Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella”
Rob McClure, “Chaplin”
Billy Porter, “Kinky Boots”
Stark Sands, “Kinky Boots”
PHOTOS: Hollywood stars on stage
Best performance by an actress in a leading role in a musical
Stephanie J. Block, “The Mystery of Edwin Drood”
Carolee Carmello, “Scandalous”
Valisia LeKae, “Motown, The Musical”
Patina Miller, “Pippin”
Laura Osnes, “Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella”
Best performance by an actor in a featured role in a play
Danny Burstein, “Golden Boy”
Richard Kind, “The Big Knife”
Billy Magnussen, “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike”
Tony Shalhoub, “Golden Boy”
Courtney B. Vance, “Lucky Guy”
Best performance by an actress in a featured role in a play
Carrie Coon, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
Shalita Grant, “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike”
Judith Ivey, “The Heiress”
Judith Light, “The Assembled Parties”
Condola Rashad, “The Trip to Bountiful”
Best performance by an actor in a featured role in a musical
Charl Brown, “Motown, The Musical”
Keith Carradine, “Hands on a Hardbody”
Will Chase, “The Mystery of Edwin Drood”
Gabriel Ebert, “Matilda, The Musical”
Terrence Mann, “Pippin”
Best performance by an actress in a featured role in a musical
Annaleigh Ashford, “Kinky Boots”
Victoria Clark, “Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella”
Andrea Martin, “Pippin”
Keala Settle, “Hands on a Hardbody”
Lauren Ward, “Matilda, The Musical”
Best scenic design of a play
John Lee Beatty, “The Nance”
Santo Loquasto, “The Assembled Parties”
David Rockwell, “Lucky Guy”
Michael Yeargan, “Golden Boy”
PHOTOS: 2013 Tonys top nominees
Best scenic design of a musical
Rob Howell, “Matilda, The Musical”
Anna Louizos, “The Mystery of Edwin Drood”
Scott Pask, “Pippin”
David Rockwell, “Kinky Boots”
Best costume design of a play
Soutra Gilmour, “Cyrano de Bergerac”
Ann Roth, “The Nance”
Albert Wolsky, “The Heiress”
Catherine Zuber, “Golden Boy”
Best costume design of a musical
Gregg Barnes, “Kinky Boots”
Rob Howell, “Matilda, The Musical”
Dominique Lemieux, “Pippin”
William Ivey Long, “Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella”
Best lighting design of a play
Jules Fisher & Peggy Eisenhauer, “Lucky Guy”
Donald Holder, “Golden Boy”
Jennifer Tipton, “The Testament of Mary”
Japhy Weideman, “The Nance”
Best lighting design of a musical
Kenneth Posner, “Kinky Boots”
Kenneth Posner, “Pippin”
Kenneth Posner, “Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella”
Hugh Vanstone, “Matilda, The Musical”
RELATED: Tony nomination snubs
Best sound design of a play
John Gromada, “The Trip to Bountiful”
Mel Mercier, “The Testament of Mary”
Leon Rothenberg, “The Nance”
Peter John Still and Marc Salzberg, “Golden Boy”
FULL COVERAGE: 2013 Tony nominations
Best sound design of a musical
Jonathan Deans & Garth Helm, “Pippin”
Peter Hylenski, “Motown, The Musical”
John Shivers, “Kinky Boots”
Nevin Steinberg, “Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella”
Best direction of a play
Pam MacKinnon, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
Nicholas Martin, “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike”
Bartlett Sher, “Golden Boy”
George C. Wolfe, “Lucky Guy”
Best direction of a musical
Scott Ellis, “The Mystery of Edwin Drood”
Jerry Mitchell, “Kinky Boots”
Diane Paulus, “Pippin”
Matthew Warchus, “Matilda, The Musical”
Best choreography
Andy Blankenbuehler, “Bring It On: The Musical”
Peter Darling, “Matilda, The Musical”
Jerry Mitchell, “Kinky Boots”
Chet Walker, “Pippin”
Best orchestrations
Chris Nightingale, “Matilda, The Musical”
Stephen Oremus, “Kinky Boots”
Ethan Popp & Bryan Crook, “Motown, The Musical”
Danny Troob, “Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella”
Recipients of awards and honors in non-competitive categories
Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre
Bernard Gersten
Paul Libin
Ming Cho Lee
Regional Theatre Award
Huntington Theatre Company, Boston
Isabelle Stevenson Award
Larry Kramer
Tony Honor for Excellence in the Theatre
Career Transition for Dancers
William Craver
Peter Lawrence
The Lost Colony
The four actresses who created the title role of “Matilda, The Musical” on Broadway – Sophia
Gennusa, Oona Laurence, Bailey Ryon and Milly Shapiro
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson
Ryan Murphy, American Horror Story co-creator, took to his Twitter account to announce that Oscar nominee Gabourey Sidibe will be joining the cast of season 3. “Thrilled to announce Oscar nominee Gabourey Sidibe is joining the cast of “American Horror Story: Coven,” Murphy tweeted. The Precious actress will join a cast that already includes: Taissa Farmiga, Jessica Lange, Evan Peters, Sarah Paulson, and Lily Rabe. The FX hit’s third season is set to premiere this fall.
article by Carrie Healey via thegrio.com
WASHINGTON (AP) — America’s blacks voted at a higher rate than other minority groups in 2012 and by most measures surpassed the white turnout for the first time, reflecting a deeply polarized presidential election in which blacks strongly supported Barack Obama while many whites stayed home.
Had people voted last November at the same rates they did in 2004, when black turnout was below its current historic levels, Republican Mitt Romney would have won narrowly, according to an analysis conducted for The Associated Press.
Census data and exit polling show that whites and blacks will remain the two largest racial groups of eligible voters for the next decade. Last year’s heavy black turnout came despite concerns about the effect of new voter-identification laws on minority voting, outweighed by the desire to re-elect the first black president.
AMC’s Emmy Award-winning drama series Mad Men, about advertising executives in the 1960s, though critically-acclaimed, has often taken flak in its six seasons for not acknowledging or dealing with the racial tensions of the times. This season, which takes place during the tumultuous year of 1968, has already devoted more airtime to its most prominent African-American character, Dawn, the lead character Don Draper’s secretary. And last night, in an episode titled “The Flood,” the show recreated perhaps the most historic moment in the civil rights struggle — the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
The show’s characters learn of King’s death over the radio and in an advertising awards show crowd. Meanwhile, panic spreads as rioting takes hold in major cities across the country. Vintage Walter Cronkite reports play as police and ambulance sirens blare. In one scene, a character is upbraided for lamenting the loss of TV advertising profits in the wake of MLK’s death. In another, a black character calls out rioters for not living up to King’s example. Additionally, the African-American secretaries are all suddenly treated with kid gloves by their white supervisors — aware that the civil right’s leader’s death is perceived as a blow to the fight against racial prejudice.
To read more about this Mad Men episode, check out the links below:
- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2316401/Its-somber-day-Mad-Men-tackles-assassination-Martin-Luther-King-Jr.html#ixzz2RtmdqyNY
- http://thegrio.com/2013/04/28/mad-men-recreates-day-martin-luther-king-died/
- http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2013/04/why-mad-men-got-the-martin-luther-king-jr-assassination-so-very-right-and-why-the-newsroom-would-have-failed
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson; additional reporting by Lesa Lakin