[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.
Posts published in “TV”
[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.
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

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
Singer Rihanna and media mogul Oprah Winfrey have topped Forbes‘ list of Hollywood’s highest-paid women for 2012. Out of a short list of only ten high-powered ladies in entertainment, Oprah landed at the number-one position with her take of $165 million for the period ranging from May 2011- 2012. Britney Spears came in second by earning $58 million. Rihanna’s take for 2012 was $53 million, from her album sales, endorsement deals, and touring revenues. Yet, it was close in the upper echelons of this ranking, with Britney Spears being followed closely by Taylor Swift, who landed at number three with her $57 million dollar income. Ellen Degeneres tied with Rihanna, earning $53 million as well through her television deals.
Deadline.com reported today that “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Private Practice” creator/Executive Producer Shonda Rhimes is expanding the reach of her Shondaland banner into half-hour comedy and hour-long dramedy at ABC. Rhimes and her producing partner, Betsy Beers, have set up “I Hate L.A. Dudes,” written by “The Misadventures Of An Awkward Black Girl” creator and star Issa Rae and “The Mix,” by John Hoffman (“Igor”). For more details, click here: Shonda Rhimes’ Sells Talk Show Dramedy & Comedy Project To ABC.
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson

When Greg Weisman and Brandon Vietti pitched the idea of an animated series about a group of superhero sidekicks, you could practically feel fan boys and girls around the world give them the collective side eye. They needn’t have worried as Weisman was a seasoned pro; he created the 90′s cartoon classic “Gargoyles” as well as writing for “Kim Possible” and “Spectacular Spider Man.” Two years later, Weisman is having the last laugh as “Young Justice” has quickly become the hottest property on Cartoon Network.
Singer Monica performs a tribute to Whitney Houston during BET Awards 12, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on July 1, 2012. UPI/Jim Ruymen
Celine Dion, Jennifer Hudson and Usher are to lead the lineup of performers for a Whitney Houston tribute to tape in Los Angeles next month, CBS announced. Houston accidentally drowned in a hotel bathtub last February after using drugs shortly before she was to attend the Grammy Awards ceremony. She was 48.
Nicole Ari Parker has been cast as a lead in the NBC drama pilot for the thriller, The Secret Lives Of Husbands And Wives, which centers on “a murder and the secrets and lies within a tightly woven group of three suburban couples and their families exposed in its aftermath,” says Deadline.


