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Posts published in “Entertainment”

Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston Lead Inaugural Class for Induction to R&B Music Hall of Fame

By goodblacknews on October 18, 2012

michael jackson & whitney houston

Robinson Global Sports & Entertainment Group LLC has announced it plans to develop the Official R&B Music Hall of Fame Museum that will be a state-of-the-art, highly interactive, virtual reality experience for individuals of all ages and cultures.  It will memorialize rhythm artists, promoters and others that have contributed to this music genre.  Its educational and preservation values alone are needed and have been welcomed and by many U.S. cities:  Cleveland, Ohio Mayor Frank G. Jackson; East Cleveland, Ohio Mayor Gary Norton; Detroit, Michigan’s The New Detroit Entertainment Inc and the Motown Alumni Association; Memphis, Tennessee Mayor A.C. Wharton, Jr.

Tyra Banks to Produce Television Comedy for ABC

By goodblacknews on October 15, 2012

Tyra Banks ABC Comedy FiveheadEXCLUSIVE: America’s Next Top Model executive producer/star Tyra Banks is making her first foray into scripted series with Fivehead, a single-camera comedy for ABC based on her teen years. Banks is co-creating/executive producing Fivehead withKenya Barris (Fox’s I Hate My Teenage Daughter), a childhood friend and longtime business partner with whom Banks also co-created America’s Next Top Model, now in its 19th cycle.

Fivehead, produced by ABC Studios, chronicles the impressionable teenage years of Banks in the halls of her high school and at home, focusing on her family and the long journey that took Banks from awkward teen to one of the world’s most recognizable supermodels. “In high school, if you have glasses, you’re a ‘four eyes’, if you have braces, you’re a ‘metal mouth’ but if you had my forehead? You’re a FIVEHEAD,” said Banks.
Barris and Banks will co-create together the characters and the story for Fivehead, and Barris will write the script. The two first met when they were 6-year-olds and attended school together, which gives Barris a first-hand account of the very times Banks and he will be reminiscing about in Fivehead. “To be able to witness her career was wild, but to be able to watch Tyra grow up was nothing short of nutty,” said Barris. “I am blown away by the opportunity to tell not just a great story but a story that I remember so fondly.” Banks is repped by WME. Barris is repped by Paradigm and Principato-Young.
article by Nellie Andreeva via deadline.com

Octavia Spencer Gets Deal To Write Books For Middle Schoolers

By goodblacknews on October 12, 2012
Octavia Spencer, a cast member in the film "Smashed," posing for a portrait at the 2012 Toronto Film Festival in Toronto. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, file)Octavia Spencer, a cast member in the film “Smashed,” posing for a portrait at the 2012 Toronto Film Festival in Toronto. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, file)

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press via thegrio.com

South Africa Crowns Its First Black "Idol"

By goodblacknews on October 10, 2012

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JtRl1UBESI&w=560&h=315]
Idols SA first launched in 2002, and eight seasons later, the South African television show, based on the popular British show Pop Idol (the inspiration for the U.S.’ American Idol), finally crowned its first black winner.
Khaya Mthethwa (pronounced KYE-yam-TET-wa), 25, went home with the top honors and a prize package of 1 million South African rand ($114,000 in U.S. dollars) and a recording contract with Universal Music South Africa.

South Africa Crowns Its First Black “Idol”

By goodblacknews on October 10, 2012

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JtRl1UBESI&w=560&h=315]

Idols SA first launched in 2002, and eight seasons later, the South African television show, based on the popular British show Pop Idol (the inspiration for the U.S.’ American Idol), finally crowned its first black winner.

Khaya Mthethwa (pronounced KYE-yam-TET-wa), 25, went home with the top honors and a prize package of 1 million South African rand ($114,000 in U.S. dollars) and a recording contract with Universal Music South Africa.

Bahamas To Get ‘Sidney Poitier’ Bridge

By goodblacknews on October 10, 2012
Sidney Poitier attends the 40th AFI Life Achievement Award honoring Shirley MacLaine held at Sony Pictures Studios on June 7, 2012 in Culver City, California. The AFI Life Achievement Award tribute to Shirley MacLaine will premiere on TV Land on Saturday, June 24 at 9PM ET/PST. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)Sidney Poitier attends the 40th AFI Life Achievement Award honoring Shirley MacLaine held at Sony Pictures Studios on June 7, 2012 in Culver City, California. The AFI Life Achievement Award tribute to Shirley MacLaine will premiere on TV Land on Saturday, June 24 at 9PM ET/PST. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) — A bridge in the Bahamas is being renamed to honor Sidney Poitier, who spent part of his childhood in the island chain east of Florida.  Prime Minister Perry Christie says the Paradise Island Bridge will be rechristened as part of next month’s 40th anniversary celebration of Bahamian independence. Christie says the 88-year-old film star is being honored because of his life story and diplomacy. Poitier has been Bahamian ambassador to Japan and UNESCO.

The Oscar-winning Poitier was born in the United States but spent much of his childhood on Cat Island, a sparsely populated island in the central Bahamas.  The Paradise Island Bridge is the largest in the Bahamas. It connects the capital to the Atlantis resort, one of the region’s top tourist destinations. The renaming was announced Tuesday.

story by The Associated Press via thegrio.com

BET Scores Makeover Show With Celebrity Trainer Jeanette Jenkins

By goodblacknews on October 7, 2012

She’s trimmed, toned and tamed the abs of Hollywood’s elite. When the hottest names in entertainment need fitness fix, she’s the first personal trainer they dial. With a client roster that includes Kelly Rowland, Queen Latifah, Kimora Lee Simmons, Serena Williams, Paula Patton-Thicke, Chrisette Michele and many other A-list celebrities, celebrity fitness trainer Jeanette Jenkins has been around the block … and has the sweat to prove it.
Stepping down from a high-profile career and into the trenches of modern-day black American health, Jenkins has recently secured her own “makeover” show on the BET network. A move that’s a win-win for both “The Hollywood Trainer” and the television network who’s content has previously lacked in quality programming.

The show will feature Jenkins whipping everyday people into shape, helping them surpass their fitness hurdles and fears, and transform their lives from head to toe. “I’m going to have a few celebrity drop-ins every once in a while, but this show is really about the people. Showing them how they can change their lives with just what they have in their own homes and in their own environments,” Jenkins explained in an article on Uptown magazine.

Jenkins is currently soliciting participants for the show who are serious about making changes in their health and want to work towards getting the fit body they’ve always desired. As the founder and president of The Hollywood Trainer Weight-Loss Plan, which promises to teach people how to make healthy living a habit in 21 days, the Bikini Boot Camp and a DVD collection focused on blasting abs, in which she partnered with Kelly Rowland, there’s no doubt that Jenkins new makeover show will inspire people to get moving.
article by Sherrell Dorsey via frugivore.com

Kenya Doll From The 90s Gets Relaunch This November

By goodblacknews on October 5, 2012
Kenya Doll
The popular Kenya dolls from the 1990s are back.  Kenya first hit shelves in 1992 and became an overnight success — consistently selling out in stores across the country and ultimately becoming one of the cult favorite toys of the decade. Created to provide girls of color with a toy that reflected their appearance (both their skin tone and features) and could be used as a tool to instill self-esteem, the dolls are arguably just as important today as they were then.  Kenya’s World LLC, the company relaunching the product line, is hoping the new dolls for the next generation of little girls will be as well-received when they hit shelves once again this November.

Howard University Announces New Ph.D. Program in Communications

By goodblacknews on October 5, 2012


The Board of Trustees at Howard University is moving forward with plans to create a new PhD program in Communications.  The university is also working to develop two new undergraduate programs as well.  The program is designed to help the students at Howard University compete in the changing landscape of American media.   The programs will begin taking students in the fall of 2013.
A Committee of the Future chaired by Dr. Bishetta Merritt, professor and chair of the department of Radio, Television and Film, helped to organize the plan.  The university also used the skills of a panel put together for the express purpose of laying out a strategy for the programs.
article via blackbluedog.com

N.W.A., Public Enemy Among Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Nominees

By goodblacknews on October 4, 2012


Public Enemy, N.W.A., Rush, and Deep Purple are among the group of first-time nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

They join returnees Heart, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Randy Newman, Donna Summer and Kraftwerk among the 15 artists vying for entry.