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Beyonce Will Perform At Oscars, Destiny Bares All

Wed Feb 16, 7:00 AM ET

LAUNCH Radio Networks

Beyonce will be singing two more Oscar-nominated songs at the Academy Awards (news - web sites)--in addition to her previously announced duet with Josh Groban (news). Beyonce will perform "Look to Your Path" from Les Choristes, accompanied by the American Boychoir, and "Learn to Be Lonely" from the Phantom Of The Opera at the event on February 27. Billboard.com reports that there was speculation actress Minnie Driver (news) would perform "Learn To Be Lonely," but sources say she was unable to appear due to scheduling conflicts.




In related news, the ladies from Destiny's Child will be showing just how "bootylicious" they are in the music video for "Cater 2 U"--the third single from their double-platinum album Destiny Fulfilled. MTV.com reports that--according to a video treatment--the girls won't have to worry about a big costume budget because they'll be shown--tastefully--wearing absolutely nothing. Each singer will be shot in her own desert scene, with Beyonce on a diving board, Michelle in a lounge chair and Kelly on a deserted road.

hmmmmmmmmmmm...seeking to increase record sales, huh?

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...aunch/15720656

PASADENA, Calif. - A judge ruled that the mother of Ray Charles' teenage son will continue to receive $3,000 a month in child support, not the $15,000 she wanted, an attorney said.



Judge Coleman A. Swart ruled, however, that 17-year-old Corey Robinson den Bok also should receive money for his education and medical expenses, said Manley Freid, attorney for the executor of Charles' estate.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp..._child_support

The Rhythm and Blues Foundation is moving its headquarters to
Philadelphia. The foundation was created to help R&B stars and honor
them in their later years. A lot of our musical legends have fallen on
our hard times due to financial hardships and medical illnesses. Many
are forgotten and cast to the side and the foundation is there to give
them a hand. I had a chance to talk to legendary producer Kenny
Gamble, who is responsible along with Mayor Street and Governor
Rendell, for bringing this to Philly. He says Philadelphia is the
perfect home for the Rhythm and Blues Foundation. Philadelphia has a
deep musical history and now it will be known as the home of Rhythm
and Blues. A lot of exciting plans are in the making and later this
year the big roll out of events will take place. I will keep you
posted on the many events and galas that will be happening in the
city.

Is singer Brian McKnight engaged to the mystery brunette I told you
about a few weeks ago? My sources in New York were with him in at a
radio promotion and apparently the young woman was referred to as his
fiancée. Brian is promoting his new CD, Gemini. His people are being
quiet, but actions speak louder than words. This woman is always with
Brian, right by his side, as he promotes his latest work. I love the
album. Brian has admitted this album reflects the real him. Is there a
message in the music? Check out the song "What We Do Here." Hmmmmmmmm?

The first season of the hot television series, Desperate Housewives is
coming out on DVD this summer and it will feature scenes too hot for
TV. Last week was a crazy one for actress Marcia Cross, who plays the
uptight housewife "Bree Van De Camp." Reports came out that she was
about to come out of the closet and reveal herself to be a lesbian.
Cross says this is not true and she believes the rumors started
because she is 42 and single. Cross's most public romance was years
ago with the late actor Richard Jordan and that was when she starred
on Melrose Place. Desperate Housewives will be tackling the subject of
homosexuality when Cross's characters discovers that her son "Andrew"
is gay.

Alicia Keys is looking fabulous. She looked stunning at the Grammys.
Is it because she is about to embark on a movie career? The Broadway
show "Dreamgirls" is being made into a movie and producers want Alicia
to star in it. Could the new look reflect her new state of mind? She
is reportedly dating the ex-husband of Vanessa Williams, former
basketball star Rick Fox. Whatever it is, she has said goodbye to the
"boy look" and hello to "glam." Alicia is supposed to be to coming to
Philly to do a show. She will be performing along with John Legend on
April 10th at the Liacouras Center, Broad and Montgomery Streets.

Last year was not good health wise for Bernie Mac and now he has
revealed what was wrong. For the past 20 years he has suffered with an
autoimmune disease that causes inflammation of the body's tissue most
frequently the lungs. Sarcoidosis is the name of the disease. Actress
Tisha Campbell Martin and basketball great Bill Russell have it.
Sarcoidosis was one the factors leading to the death of football star
Reggie White. Doctors say sarcoidosis is a treatable illness and not
deadly. Bernie says his hectic work schedule working on his television
show and filming back to back movies lead to his latest flare up.
Bernie was sick for weeks and production on his television show was
halted. Bernie is doing much better now as he paces his work schedule.

Celebrity fashion stylist Steven Cojocaru is no longer with the Today
Show. His Thursday fashion segments were a riot and he was very
popular. After suffering a bout with kidney disease he underwent a
successful kidney transplant. Many thought he would give his first
interview to the Today Show, but Cojo gave his story to Oprah Winfrey
and now the Today Show has fired him. Today Show anchor Katie Couric
was furious at his lack of loyalty. So how did Oprah land the
interview? Cojo adores Oprah and he wanted to do the story with her.
He will still continue television segments for Entertainment Tonight
and The Insider.

Michael Jackson needs your prayers! A prayer network has been set up
on his website where you can light a virtual candle and offer a
message of support. He's been admitted to the hospital with what was
previous called an "undisclosed illness" which has turned out to be
the flu. This health crisis has caused a delay in jury selection, all
part of a damaging week for Michael. Former child star Corey Feldman
has revealed that Michael showed him nude photos when he was young.
Years ago Feldman and Michael were very close. They would even dress
alike, but after the 9/11 disaster their relationship changed when
Michael left Feldman stranded in New York. Martin Bashir, the British
film producer who produced the controversial, "Living with Michael
Jackson" special two years ago, is at it again. He has a new
documentary about the "King of Pop" called Michael Jackson's secret
world showing Michael with minors.

Rapper 50 Cent talked to Newsweek Magazine about his past relationship
with actress Vivica A. Fox. The Rapper says Viv was cool and he did
like her, but she needed and wanted too much publicity. He says there
were too many staged events and photographers who would show up at the
drop of a hat. He says he broke it off with her without talking to her
because she would have wanted to fix the problem and he just wanted to
be out of the relationship.

One of the final screen appearances of the late actor Ossie Davis will
be featured on the Showtime series, The L Word. The series premiere is
February 20th. The L Word is the television series that details the
lives of a group of gay woman. Jennifer Beals and Pam Grier star.
Ossie Davis appears in three episodes as their father.

Singer Tyrone Davis died last week. The 66 year Chicago native never
overcame the stroke he suffered last fall. He was best known for the
songs "If I Could Turn back the Hands of Time" and "Change Your Mind."

Raven Simone, the star of the Disney show That's So Raven is doing a
movie for the Lifetime channel. She will star in the movie For One
Night. It's about a teen who stages her town's first interracial high
school prom. She is also doing another Disney movie called All
American Girl.

You are going to see a lot of Beyonce at this year's Academy Awards.
The 77th Annual Academy Awards take place on February 27th and Beyonce
will be performing three Oscar nominated songs. She will perform "I
Believe" with Josh Groban from the motion picture Polar Express. She
will also sing "Learn To Be Lonely" from the "Phantom of the Opera"
and she will be backed by the American Boys Choir to perform the song
"Look To Your Path." The awards will have a different pace this year.
Some nominees will be given their awards at their seats. The
presenters will be at their side. Some nominees will be on stage to
accept their awards. Producers are looking for a quicker pace to the
show. Chris Rock is hosting this year's awards and he will be prowling
the stage and interacting with his audience much like his comedy
shows. Chris is already stirring up controversy in a recent interview
with Entertainment Weekly. He proclaimed, "What straight black man
watches the Oscars?" He also jokingly referred to the awards
extravaganza as a fashion show. Sources say some veteran members of
the Academy are not comfortable with having Chris as the host. It's
going to be a hot night with Chris hosting?

The Soul Train Awards air on March 12th. The show will be hosted by
Fantasia, Brian McKnight, Nick Cannon and the newly engaged Nicole
Richie. Last week she got engaged to disc jockey Adam Goldstein.
Lionel Richie's little girl has come a long way from being a spoiled,
drug plagued party girl.

The 36th Annual NAACP Image Awards air March 25th on Fox. Barack Obama
the new senator from Illinois will be getting the night's highest
honor with the "Chairman Award."

Halle Berry and Brandy's little brother Ray J? HAH! In his dreams! Ray
J tried to hit on the Oscar winner at a premiere party for her HBO
movie Lackawanna Blues. Halle politely turned him down. She is dating
actor Michael Ealy (Barbershop). The two live together and they will
be starring in the Oprah Winfrey television movie Their Eyes are
Watching God. The movie debuts on March 6th on ABC. Halle and
Michael's scenes are hot. You can see why their chemistry spilled off
screen. Halle is also going to be a presenter at this years academy
awards.

P.E.T.A. is coming after Star Jones! The popular host of The View is
known for her fabulous furs and she doesn't give a damn what anybody
thinks. P.E.T.A. is the People for the Ethical treatment of Animals.
They are sick of Star's behavior and they're going to mock her in a
new ad campaign protesting furs. The new ad campaign will feature drag
queen Flotilla Debarge, The Empress of Large, impersonating Star
Jones.

Stevie Wonder is gearing up for a busy spring. He will be releasing a
new album and he's going to be a dad again. Stevie is married to
fashion designer Kai Miller and they are expecting their second child
May 2nd --the same day his album, A time for Love is, released. Stevie
turns 55 on May 13th and he says he will be going on tour this summer.

Whitney Houston's dad speaks from the grave! A new book is coming out
later this year about the singer. The book The Rise and Fall of
Daddy's Little Girl is being written by Kevin Skinner who was an
associate to Whitney's late father John Houston. Skinner says he will
reveal all about the drugs, the affairs, the lies and her marriage to
Bobby Brown.

Tracey Edmonds the wife of Babyface is producing a television movie
about the life of Lisa "Left Eye" Lopez. Left Eye was in the popular
group TLC and was well known for making headlines regarding her
personal life. She was tragically killed in a car crash in South
America a couple of years ago.

Isn't Marcia's last name Gross, not Cross? :confused:

Dang Brian. My friend swore up and down from your lyrics that you were reconciling with your ex-wifey/baby mama. :o She's going to be heartbroken.

Naw it's Cross.

Is he for real? :rolleyes:

ok, Rick. I initially put you in the dumb-azz category for divorcing "The Standard." I must now admit that A. Keys is a nice fall-back position, a fairly solid "rebound" if you will. Not "The standard" but acceptable nonetheless. :rolleyes:

Vanessa Williams was on The View today and she was wearing her wedding ring so i'm not sure about the supposed Rick Foxx/Soror Alicia Keys-coupling...

I thought Vanessa was "fighting" the divorce. Didn't we read earlier that she was going to keep her family together? :confused:

Alicia was on Entertainment Tonight saying whe was very much in love and she said the guy's name but it escapes me now. I don't think it was her frien crucial either.

Can somebody PLEASE post a picture of this chic who is trying to take my man.

After seeing her on The View, I'm starting to believe she's not really taking this well and it was a surprise.

Fiddy in suburbia
 

From the New York Times. Not bad reading on the ringleader of the G-g-g-g-nit!

February 17, 2005
A Wealthy Hartford Suburb Longs, Vainly, for a Rap-Star Neighbor's Company
By STACEY STOWE

FARMINGTON, Conn., Feb. 16 - In this Colonial-era village, where bling is restricted to a single strand of pearls and the rim-spinning Escalade is trumped by the scratched Mercedes with a faded beach sticker, everyone is buzzing about the party slated for Thursday night at the home of Curtis Jackson III.

At the Barney Library, with its garden club book collection; at Miss Porter's, the all-girls' private school where Jacqueline Onassis studied; and at the Epicure, the gourmet market with six kinds of olive oil, the talk was all party.

But no one had actually been invited. Nor has anyone in this placid Hartford suburb ever met or even seen the elusive celebrity who lives in their madras midst.

That's because Mr. Jackson, who is 28 and is better known as 50 Cent, a platinum-selling musician, restricted the invitations to rap world luminaries such as Missy Elliott and Busta Rhymes. He also invited the 163 winners of a nationwide radio contest; they will be bused in through the wide, white gates that lead to his vast cream-and-white main house.

For the past few weeks, MTV has been shooting at the house and around town for its "MTV Cribs" program and filming the minutiae of party prep. (On Wednesday, they put a camera on a U.P.S. driver as he prepared to unload the truck.) Mr. Jackson's publicist, Yvette Gayle, said her client is expected to perform in the 3,500-square-foot party room, including songs from his new album, "The Massacre," with themes and lyrics that were cruder than the Cole Porter tunes at the clubby, downstairs bar at Apricot's, a restaurant on the Farmington River.

But it was the house and woodsy setting, not the tweedy neighbors, that drew Mr. Jackson here, Ms. Gayle said. Two years ago, he paid $4.1 million (about a quarter of the original asking price) for the house, which had been owned by Mike Tyson. The house, listed in town property records at 48,500 square feet, has 52 rooms, including 21 bedrooms and a room walled entirely in Gucci leather. It also has 39 bathrooms and 4 whirlpools.

"I have to say Farmington is the last town where you would expect to find someone like 50 Cent," said Willard Holmes, the director of the Wadsworth Atheneum museum in Hartford, who lives a few blocks away from Mr. Jackson. "But my 6-year-old son is obsessed with seeing him."

The boy is not alone. Although residents here generally avoid pop culture and publicity like mulligans on the first tee, there appears to be an endless fascination with Mr. Jackson, despite his being something of a spectral presence.

Shannon Walton, who owns Truffles, a bakery in the village, said, "I saw his limo once but I think he's an introvert."

Geoff Boyle, the manager of the Country Club of Farmington, denied a rumor that Mr. Jackson wanted to join. And if he did?

"He'd need a sponsor and he'd need to adhere to the dress code," Mr. Boyle said. "No thug clothes on the golf course." :rolleyes:

A golf cart might not be Mr. Jackson's vehicle of choice. His sport utility vehicle is bullet- and bomb-proof - understandably, since he was shot nine times in 2000.

Reported sightings of Mr. Jackson abound.

"Some kids said they saw him drive by in a red Corvette but I don't believe it," said Sarah Jenkins, a senior at Miss Porter's, who like Mr. Jackson, hails from Queens. Ms. Jenkins and Ashley Martin, also 17, of Newark, gushed about how they and most of their classmates would love to attend the party but alas, have been warned.

"The Farmington Police said they'd arrest anyone from Miss Porter's who got within 50 feet of the place Thursday night," Ms. Martin said. (Not true, according to Lt. William Tyler of the Farmington Police Department.)

On other days, some members of the school's cross-country team change the course to get a glimpse of Mr. Jackson's house, the girls said.

But the rap star isn't home much. He's on the road most of the time, performing selections from his first album, "Get Rich or Die Trying," a personal favorite of Tina Panik, 25, a librarian at the Barney Library. (A sigh of relief for Mr. Jackson: He made $50 million last year.)

"I've seen his Escalade in the lot at Highland Park Market and I understand that he ate at the Chinese restaurant," Ms. Panik said. Nope. But a cook at China Palace said Mr. Jackson could save 10 percent on any order over $30 and a cashier at the market said her ex-boyfriend was Mr. Jackson's plumber.

For the party, Mr. Jackson ordered more than $5,000 worth of liquor, including "a lot of Baccardi," according to the owner of a Farmington liquor store who spoke on the condition of anonymity "to protect his privacy."

About six off-duty police officers have been hired to handle party traffic, police officials said. Lieutenant Tyler said the only other time a police presence was required at the house was more than a year ago, and it involved a young woman who traveled from the state of Washington to stand at Mr. Jackson's gated driveway.

"We got her some psychological help," said Lieutenant Tyler. "She felt he was proposing to her in his lyrics." (Would that be "I ain't tight with the chips, girl," or "I love you like a fat kid loves cake"?) :rolleyes:

Mr. Jackson might find a kindred off-beat spirit yet among the green-shuttered, clapboard homes. Body piercings and Crayola-hued hair have been spotted at Miss Porter's and one local school bus driver was outfitted on Tuesday in orange parachute pants, a giant Hello Kitty purse, and pom-pom styled pig tails.

And Mr. Holmes, who despite his impeccable diction and penchant for bow ties, is hardly old school. Since he arrived at the Wadsworth, his interest in contemporary art has sent a shot of zeitgeist to the nation's oldest public art museum. He and his wife, Mary Haus, a writer, live in one of the few contemporary homes in the village and give groovy parties. However, neither of them has actually seen Mr. Jackson.

"Just a cavalcade of Escalades and Navigators coming from his street and a throbbing of music in the hills," Mr. Holmes said with a laugh.


[

His name is Kerry "Krucial" Keys. He produces and writes music with her.

^At least he keeps a low profile.LOL:)