SAN FRANCISCO — Microsoft is first out with its 2013 top search trends list, with pop star Beyoncé bumping Kim Kardashian as the most searched person on Bing this year. Women dominated 2013 in Microsoft search world. The top five most searched people of the year were women (Kardashian was No. 2).
Justin Bieber — No. 6 — and President Barack Obama — 10th — were the only two men who made it into the top 10.
Also making Bing’s Top 10 list: Rihanna (3), Taylor Swift (4), Madonna (5), Nicki Minaj (7), Amanda Bynes (8) and Miley Cyrus (9) Swift jumped from No. 10 last year, while Bynes, Madonna and Obama are all new to the list.
Microsoft’s take on top trends has a decidedly pop culture bent, but Bing also offers a look at top news stories of the year. The birth of the royal baby was the most searched story of the year followed by the Boston Marathon bombing in April. You can read more about Bing’s top trends at www.bingtrends.com.
And now that we’re into December, look for Google, Twitter, Facebook and more to weigh in with the year’s top trends.
article by Nancy Blair via usatoday.com
Posts published in “Entertainment”
Next year’s Essence Festival is getting a dose of music royalty from Prince. The “Purple Rain” singer-songwriter is headlining the 20th annual Essence, a celebration of music and culture being held July 3-6 in New Orleans. Prince, who performed at Essence in 2004, also headlined this year’s South By Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas. His newest single, “Screwdriver,” debuted earlier this year. Still, Prince is best known for chart-topping hits like “1999,” “Kiss” and “Purple Rain.”
Essence has been held every Independence Day weekend since 1995, when it marked the 25th anniversary of Essence magazine. The festival includes nightly concerts at the Louisiana Superdome and empowerment seminars during the day at a nearby convention center. Organizers say the rest of the lineup will be announced later.
article by Associated Press via Variety.com
article by Associated Press via Variety.com
History and Halle Berry have teamed to develop Hannibal, a miniseries centering on famed general Hannibal Barca in the Second Punic War. Beginning in 264 BC, Hannibal takes viewers through the Second Punic War between Carthage and Rome, exploring the relationship between Hannibal and his archrival Scipio Africanus. Despite their fiercely opposed allegiances, the two are brought together and grow to respect each other as brothers.
Berry will executive produce the miniseries, with Jeffrey Caine serving as the series’ writer. The project will be a co-production between A+E Studios and Red Arrow Entertainment. “Hannibal was not only the greatest African general to ever live,” said Berry, “he may have been the greatest general, period. His story is an intricate and captivating ride and I’m thrilled to get this project off the ground with our partners at History.”
This miniseries builds on Berry’s small screen plans, as the actress was recently cast in the CBS project Extant. Steven Spielberg is executive producing that hour-long Eye drama.
article by AJ Marechal via Variety.com
This miniseries builds on Berry’s small screen plans, as the actress was recently cast in the CBS project Extant. Steven Spielberg is executive producing that hour-long Eye drama.
article by AJ Marechal via Variety.com
AOP (American Opera Projects), and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture will co-present an evening of scenes from Nkeiru Okoye‘s folk opera Harriet Tubman: When I Crossed That Line to Freedom that tells of how a young girl born in slavery, becomes Harriet Tubman, the legendary Underground Railroad conductor. The musical excerpts will be followed by an artist Q&A moderated by WQXR’s Terrance McKnight. The concert will be presented on Monday, December 9, 2013 at 6:30 PM at the Langston Hughes Auditorium: 515 Malcolm X Boulevard, New York, NY 10037-1801. General admission will be $10 ($8 for Schomburg Society Members) and available by calling (212) 491-2206 or visiting www.showclix.com/event/HarrietTubman.
Harriet Tubman will include performances by soprano Sumayya Ali (Lincoln Center, Berkshire Opera, Sarasota Opera), soprano Sequina DuBose (Lyric Opera of Chicago, Opera Memphis, PAB Theater), contralto Nicole Mitchell (Lincoln Center Festival, Sarasota Opera), tenor Clinton Ingram (Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, Teatro Real), and baritone Damian Norfleet (Perseverance Theater, AMAS Musical Theater, Prospect Theater Company). The evening will feature a string ensemble with music direction by Mila Henry, stage direction by Beth Greenberg (New York City Opera) and WQXR’s Terrance McKnight moderating a Q&A with the artists.
Using a mixture of opera and vernacular folk music, featuring gospel spirituals, ragtime, early blues, minstrel songs, work songs, call and responses, and field hollers, Harriet Tubman: When I Crossed That Line to Freedom tells this important chapter of American history in the context of Tubman’s tight-knit family of lively characters and two sisters vowing that nothing but death will separate them, despite the slavery threatening to tear them apart. The work is in development at Brooklyn-based AOP who has featured music from Tubman at venues such as Galapagos Art Space, SUNY Albany, and the Brooklyn Public Library Main Branch.
A semi-staged performance of the entire Harriet Tubman opera will be presented by AOP in February 2014 at Brooklyn’s Irondale Center as part of Lines of Freedom, a theatrical celebration of African-American history. Presentations of Harriet Tubman: When I Crossed That Line to Freedom are supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and a generous grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Art Works.
To learn more about the show, go to: broadwayworld.com
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Looks like Oprah Winfrey‘s “biggest yard sale ever,” which was held on Saturday, Nov. 2, was a huge success for both the fans and the media mogul. The OWN founder’s auction, dubbed “The Oprah Winfrey Collection” and featuring hundreds of her personal items, netted more than $600,000, according to the Los Angeles Times. The sale, which was held at the Santa Barbara Polo and Racquet Club, included “antiques, contemporary furnishings, and fine art” from the TV star’s homes in Indiana, Hawaii, Chicago, Santa Barbara and her “La Quinta” estate. Kaminski Auctions ran the event. A few items from her trainer and longtime pal Bob Greene were also put up for auction.
“Had so much fun at the auction which is still going on,” Lee Daniels’ The Butler actress tweeted on Saturday. Oprah’s BFF, Gayle King, shared a photo on her Instagram account, which shows Oprah holding one of her adorable dogs and prepping for the big day. “Auction day for @oprah getting ready,” King captioned the snapshot.
The biggest selling item(s)? Six 18th century Louis XVI armchairs with hand-embroidered details sold for $60,000, reported by the Times. Certain objects and things exceeded price expectations, like a teapot that sold for $1,000 but was worth less than $100. Sounds like her many admirers just wanted to get a piece of the icon.
Here are a some highlights and their final pricetags:
Kevin Hart, a proud Philadelphia native, is giving back to the city that raised him in the best way possible. After hearing of the financial crisis plaguing the City of Brotherly Love’s school district, the comedian decided to pony up $250K of his own money to support. Hart made the announcement via a video on Instagram. “Philadelphia, aka the city of brotherly love,” he began in the clip. “I just heard about all the trouble the school district is going through. So I took it upon myself to take $250,000 and put it in the school system to buy new computers. Not because somebody told me to, because I love you, and I put on for my city.”
Additionally, Hart tagged a heartfelt caption with the vid. “My city made me who I am today and for that I am thankful. I will make it my priority to help my city get out of this debt. PHILLY UNTIL I DIE,” read a portion of the message.”
Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter thanked Hart for his philanthropic contribution in a statement, saying “I want to thank Kevin Hart for his incredibly generous gift to our schools, recreation centers and citizens of all ages. These computers will have a very meaningful impact on Philadelphia.” For context, over the summer, Philly closed 24 schools, laid off thousands of employees (including teachers, counselors, vice principals, and the like), and cut numerous extra curricular programs.
article by Chris Thomas via hiphopwired.com
Sweet Dreams, a documentary about efforts by the Brooklyn-based Blue Marble Ice Cream company to help a group of Rwandan women open their own shop, could have come off as insensitive or twee. And in the first 10 minutes, I worried that it was, indeed, about how artisanal food could save Africa.
When viewers are facing the aftermath of genocide in Rwanda, in which hundreds of thousands of Tutsis were slaughtered in 1994, it’s easy to think that ice cream is a comparatively petty concern. But, thankfully, the sibling directors Lisa and Rob Fruchtman have made a nuanced and deftly edited film about a complex issue. It’s fascinating to see the natural resources in this “land of milk and honey” transformed into novelty and development through a soft-serve machine. And, as one man says, “If you are bringing development to the woman, you are bringing it to the whole family.” It is rare to see a movie present such weighty problems and offer nonsimplistic, practical solutions in story form.
Ms. Fruchtman’s background as an editor (Apocalypse Now and Heaven’s Gate) may have helped guide the skillful narrative structure here. The initial focus on the struggles and successes of a small business may be familiar to Western audiences. But then the individual past horrors endured by these women are revealed in subtle and dramatic ways, until we realize the weight of trauma in this nation. “Can someone just see you and start guessing your story?” one subject wonders.
article by Miriam Bale via nytimes.com
The rapper Nas made his first appearance at Harvard University on Thursday, not to perform but to give his blessing to a new fellowship in his name – formally, the Nasir Jones Hip-Hop Fellowship. The fellowship will be awarded to two scholars or artists annually, chosen by a Harvard faculty committee. It is primarily a research fellowship, although Marcyliena Morgan, a professor of African and African American Studies and the founder and director of the Hip-Hop Archive and Research Institute, which will administer the fellowship, said on Friday that fellows could teach courses as well. The application process, she said, has just started.
“The main purpose of the fellowship,” Ms. Morgan said, “is to support people doing work that has to do with the ways hip-hop itself reaches out to youth through the world, and particularly how it brings together issues of social justice, art and politics. That relationship – and how difficult it can be – is an important aspect of what we’re looking at. Hip-hop has been a way of getting the word out in very difficult situations.”
The Pelagie Green Wren dancers continued to perform all over the city, including at the esteemed Kiel Opera House. Her students have later gone to Broadway. While Green-Wren was the first to join the chorus, the first black performers appeared on the Muny stage in 1930 in the production “Show Boat.”
The Muny Opera House is the oldest outdoor theater in the U.S. The venue opened its stage in 1916 with a production of “Aida”. Following the production of “Show Boat”, the opera house featured shows with all-black casts such as “Porgy and Bess”, “The Wiz” (1982) and “Ain’t Misbehavin”. There were also re-productions of “Hello, Dolly!” starring Pearl Bailey and Cab Calloway and “Guys and Dolls” featuring stage legends Leslie Uggams and Richard Roundtree. Pelagie Green Wren passed away on September 19th. Her funeral was held yesterday in St. Louis, Mo. She was 71 years old.
article by Erica L. Taylor via blackamericaweb.com
The Muny Opera House is the oldest outdoor theater in the U.S. The venue opened its stage in 1916 with a production of “Aida”. Following the production of “Show Boat”, the opera house featured shows with all-black casts such as “Porgy and Bess”, “The Wiz” (1982) and “Ain’t Misbehavin”. There were also re-productions of “Hello, Dolly!” starring Pearl Bailey and Cab Calloway and “Guys and Dolls” featuring stage legends Leslie Uggams and Richard Roundtree. Pelagie Green Wren passed away on September 19th. Her funeral was held yesterday in St. Louis, Mo. She was 71 years old.
article by Erica L. Taylor via blackamericaweb.com
Key and Peele, the popular sketch comedy show starring biracial MAD TV vets Jordan Peele and Keegan Michael-Key, has been renewed for a fourth season. The show has grown from a cult success to a bonfide hit, with fans tuning in Wednesday nights and consuming their online clips by the millions.
With breakout sketches like the East/West Bowl, Luther the Obama translator, Mr. Garvey (“A-aron!”) and the Liam Neeson-loving valet guys, they duo have become comedy legends in the making. Tonight the hilarious tag team host their very first Halloween special airing on Comedy Central at 10:30 pm EST.
article via thegrio.com