Lauryn Hill Announces Winter Tour

Posted on December 23, 2010 by M.E.

Lauryn Hill is hitting the road for the new year. The Grammy-winning artist has announced a series of intimate shows, kicking off right after Christmas and running into February.

Ms. Hill, who spent much of 2010 playing festivals in the U.S. and abroad, will appear with a live band on 17 North American dates. Stops include New York’s Highline and Bowery Ballrooms, Chicago’s House of Blues, and two dates in Canada, wrapping in her homestate of New Jersey on February 4.

Well aware that she “may never play venues of this size again,” some of which she “hasn’t played since the Fugees days,” the reclusive star is excited “to see her loyal supporters up close and personal again.” She will perform reworked versions of Fugees classics and hits from her breakthrough solo debut The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.

Tickets for the following shows are on sale now.

Dec. 27 – New York, NY – Highline Ballroom
Dec. 28 – Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg
Jan. 1 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
Jan. 3 – New York, NY – The Blue Note
Jan. 4 – New York, NY – The Blue Note
Jan. 5 – New York, NY – The Blue Note
Jan. 8 – Charlotte, NC – Amos’ Southend
Jan. 9 – Asheville, NC – The Orange Peel
Jan. 12 – Charleston, SC – The Music Farm
Jan. 14 – Atlanta, GA – Centerstage
Jan. 16 – St. Louis, MO – The Pageant
Jan. 18 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue
Jan. 20 – Chicago, IL – House of Blues
Jan. 22 – Toronto, ON – Sound Academy
Jan. 23 – Montreal, QC – Metropolis
Jan. 29 – Atlantic City, NJ – House of Blues
Feb. 4 – Montclair, NJ – The Wellmont Theatre

Company Wants To Turn Neverland Ranch Into Music Institute

Posted on December 22, 2010 by M.E.

The former home of the late Michael Jackson could one day be housing a group of aspiring musicians. TMZ.com is reporting that Colony Capital is interested in turning Neverland Ranch into a music school along the lines of Juilliard in New York. Students would reportedly be taught several different aspects of the music business, including writing and performing. Colony faces two hurdles in getting the project off the ground, the first of which is getting Santa Barbara County to agree to the plan. The second obstacle is getting approval from the King of Pop’s estate to use his name in promoting the school. Fortunately, it appears as if Jackson’s camp may be on board, as one source with the estate remarks, quote, “It’s an interesting idea and we’d be open to it.”

Michael Jackson lived at Neverland Ranch from 1988 to 2005. The property is currently owned by the Sycamore Valley Ranch Company, LLC.

Will Smith, Mark Wahlberg Offered $1M to Fight Each Other

Posted on December 21, 2010 by M.E.

A boxing promoter is reportedly offering Will Smith and Mark Wahlberg $1 million to face-off in the ring on Feb. 26 in Las Vegas.

The theme: a match between two movie-trained boxers – Smith for “Ali” and Wahlberg for “The Fighter.”

Damon Feldman of the Hollywood Boxing Federation has successfully organized “celebrity” matches in the past… celebrity meaning Danny Bonaduce vs. Michael Lohan and Ricky Gervais vs. Grant Bovey. But Feldman stresses all proceeds would go to Smith and Wahlberg’s charities of choice.

“This will be a great opportunity for both stars to fight in the Superbowl of Hollywood boxing and to donate millions to their favorite charities,” Feldman told RadarOnline.com. “It would be a great event too. Can you imagine?”

Both are also around the same age – Smith is 42 and Wahlberg 39. Smith is 6ft 2in and appeared as a heavyweight in” Ali,” while Wahlberg is 5ft 9in and is a welterweight in “The Fighter.”

Feldman said the actors would only be required to fight three one-minute rounds.

“We don’t think these two are going to rip each other’s heads off,” Feldman said. “We’re just hoping they get into the ring and have a little fun duking it out.”

The fight, if Smith and Wahlberg agree to it, would take place in Las Vegas on Feb. 26, 2011.

McNabb on Benching: ‘Everything was Handled Awkwardly’

Posted on December 21, 2010 by M.E.

Donovan McNabb is speaking out for the first time since he was benched by Washington Redskins coach Mike Shanahan for the remainder of the season.

The veteran quarterback told DC’s ESPN980 earlier today that he felt disrespected by the way the whole thing went down.

“Everything was handled awkwardly,” McNabb said Tuesday on his weekly radio show, “somewhat a disrespect to me and to the team.”

McNabb said he strongly disagreed with the decision to bench him, but he has a bigger problem with the way he says the organization leaked the news to the media before informing him.

“Because of the timing and because of all the leaks and everything that was put out there, and no putting out the fire, so to speak,” McNabb said, “I’m hearing everything through the media.”

Shanahan waited until Thursday evening to tell McNabb that Rex Grossman would be the starter for the rest of the season, even though rumblings of a possible switch had been circulating all week.

“I was pulled back by it. All of a sudden you get this news a couple of days before the game, you do feel somewhat disrespected,” McNabb said. “You could have told me earlier or at least prepared me for it. … The term I did use was professional. You would like to hear it early, and if you hear it late, it kind of throws off the preparation for a lot of guys.”

PRETTY GIRLS ROCK

Posted on December 21, 2010 by M.E.

Ameriie was spotted partying in Miami over the weekend at Club Play. She was celebrating her younger sister Angela’s birthday. Model Rosa Acosta was there as well as Amerie’s fiance’/manager Lenny.

THE NEW AND SLIM PAUL WALL

Posted on December 21, 2010 by M.E.

Rapper, Paul Wall lost a significant amount of weight. He went through a procedure called Gastric Sleeve. He recently gave an interview with Ozone Magazine, check out what he had to say about it:

When did you decide to get serious about losing weight?
Honestly, when we were in Afghanistan and [reps for VH1’s] Celebrity Fit Club were contacting [me] about coming on the show. That was a hell of a wake-up call. [Being fat] isn’t a secret. You can look in the mirror and try to hide it and cover it up, and it may work here or there, but there ain’t no shirt or hat you can put on or haircut you can get to hide the fact that you’re morbidly obese. That’s what the doctor said: I was “morbidly obese.” I decided not to do [the show] but it was still a wake-up call to have people calling you saying, “Hey, you’re really, really fat.”

What kind of weight-loss surgery did you get?
The surgery I got is called gastric sleeve. There’s three kinds: gastric bypass, lap band, and the gastric sleeve. Gastric bypass is the one where you lose the most weight the quickest; it’s for people who are 400-500 pounds and have health problems that they need to fix right away. Since [the weight loss] happens so fast it leaves you with a lot of saggy skin. The lap band, which is very popular, is when they put a band around your stomach and it makes you feel like you’re full, so you don’t eat. But there’s ways to cheat with it, and with the lap band, you can always get it removed to go back to normal. [My weight] has been up and down my whole life, so I wanted to do something to permanently fix the problem. Since going back and forth on the drugs for years and taking diet pills, my metabolism was really gone. So I decided to go with the gastric sleeve, because it’s a little more serious than the lap band. They also cut out the hormones that make you hungry. So I actually don’t even get hungry anymore. The doctor talked me out of doing the lap band; he told me it’s the most popular, but it’s not as effective. With the lap band, you lose about 50% of your excess weight. I was 120 pounds overweight. I weighed 320 pounds, and I’m six feet tall. So with the lap band I still would’ve been morbidly obese. With the gastric sleeve, you typically lose 80% of your excess fat. I lost 100 pounds with it, so that’s putting me in a more healthy weight class.

Having lost 100 pounds, do you see a noticeable difference in your life?
Yeah, hands down. I feel like I got my life back. When you’re so big like that, it’s embarrassing. I didn’t want to go out and be seen. I felt uncomfortable because I’m not used to being that big. People would see me and say something about it, because it was no secret. I was morbidly obese, 120 pounds overweight. It was just embarrassing. I’d be on stage feeling like I was about to collapse. I’d get dizzy spells. I’d be on the airplane and have to ask for seatbelt extensions. Once you go up in the air, it’s really hard to breath. I was just thinking, “What if I have a heart attack?” I want to be here for my kids. I don’t want to have a heart attack. My son is four and my daughter is two and a half. The doctor told me that when you’re 50 pounds overweight, it takes 15 years off your life. So it literally saved my life.

Have you been working out too?
Nah. I’ve probably worked out twice since I had [the surgery] and that was just a light workout.

Here’s what Paul used to look like:

Rihanna On The Set Of Kanye West’s ‘All Of The Lights’ Video

Posted on December 21, 2010 by M.E.

Rihanna was spotted alongside director Hype Williams on the set of Kanye West’s ‘All of The Lights’ video recently. Other acts included on the record are Elton John, Alicia Keys, John Legend, The-Dream and Fergie.

Quote of the Day: Chris Brown On Completing Domestic Violence Class

Posted on December 21, 2010 by M.E.

R&B star Chris Brown is celebrating today after completing his 12-month long domestic violence classes. The court-ordered sessions came following the now-infamous ‘incident’ between the singer and ex-girlfriend, model Rihanna.