Hello, good people. It’s the first official day of the silly
season as the week closes out with everybody still eating or figuring out what
to do with all the leftover Thanksgiving turkey. Obama introduces his economic
team, while shoppers around the country are camping out and getting up too
early in the morning to take advantage of Black Friday weekend in all its
glory.
Congratulations to Usher, who is about to become a father
again. Shout out to Angela for accomplishing her mission and the sounding boards
for having their turkey and eating it too.
Here we go again with…the Last Word for the week ending Nov.
28, 2008.
1. Madonna and Coldplay Top Chris Brown’s Dream List
He’s worked with everyone from David Banner to Jordin
Sparks. And has had a pretty good 2008, to boot. So who’s the next entertainer
to collaborate with Chris Brown?
If the crooner had his way, he would select Madonna to work
with on his next album Graffiti. Brown
made his desire to do a dream duet with the Material Girl for earlier this week
as he told the Associated Press
that Graffiti will be his
“stepping stone from Chris Brown to superstar.”
And just for good measure, the 19-year-old singer dropped
Coldplay in there as another act he would love to get in the studio with. If he
can pull off getting Madge or Chris Martin and the boys on board for Graffiti, you won’t be able to tell Breezy anything.
I would tell him to see about working with Miley Cyrus for
some guaranteed dough, but Ri-Ri could put a halt to the payday in favor of keeping
her man exclusive only to her. Jealousy is a helluva drug to a young diva, you
know.
2. Beyoncé Gets Traumatized Over Childbirth
Beyoncé may be able to adjust well to being Mrs. Jay-Z, but
the songstress is finding it hard to fully embrace the idea of taking the union
to the next logical step.
During her appearance on Ellen DeGeneres’ talk show on
Tuesday, Bey revealed that her hesitation in having kids came from getting an
up-close look at the childbearing process through seeing little sister Solange
give birth in 2004.
“I was there in the delivery room and it kind of traumatized
me,” the singer/actress admitted. “I said please don’t have me in the room. And
she said, ‘You have to. I’m your sister. Stop being so silly.’ Well, I was
right!”
Despite her willingness to wait a bit before bringing her
own brood into the world, Beyoncé did tell Ellen that she does indeed want to
have kids.
“One day, maybe,” the singer said.
I can’t be mad at her for waiting to have kids, but if
Beyoncé waits to have kids as long as she waited to reveal details about her
marriage to Jigga, then the children could end up getting their first job as
caretakers for mom. Being driven is one thing, but don’t drive yourself to old
age without someone to carry on the legacy, Bey. Being “irreplaceable” only
holds up for so long.
3. Ne-Yo Hits the Stage in the name of Barbra Streisand
With her status among those in entertainment, Barbra
Streisand definitely has her share of admirers. Which makes it not much of a
surprise to find out that Beyoncé and Queen Latifah have committed to perform
one of Streisand’s hits when the revered singer is recognized next month at the
31st annual Kennedy Center Honors gala.
What may raise an eyebrow or three is the fact that Ne-Yo
has signed on for the tribute. A source tells E! Online that the 26-year-old
crooner will hit the stage to sing one of Streisand’s classics. Streisand,
along with Morgan Freeman, choreographer Twyla Tharp and Pete Townsend and
Roger Daltrey of the Who will be honored at the gala, which will take place
Dec. 7 in Washington DC.
OK, so Beyoncé is going to tackle “The Way We Were” and it
isn’t known what the Queen or Ne-Yo will sing for the event, which is slated to
air Dec. 30 on CBS. Let’s hope Schaffer will pick something that won’t fuel
those persistent gay rumors. No need for him to get any “closer” to that than
he needs to be.
4. Pam Grier Tops Black Voices Sexiest Actress List
In what is sure to cause disputes among the fellas, AOL’s
Black Voices has come out with its Top 30 Sexiest African-American Film
Actresses list. While names like Halle Berry, Sanaa Lathan and Stacy Dash made
the cut, the site went back to rank throwback headturners like Dorothy
Dandridge, Nichelle Nichols and Jayne Kennedy on the list.
And with that in mind, the top spot went to none other than
the original Foxy Brown herself Pam Grier.
While I could say my peace on how Miss Grier gets better
with age by grabbing the #1 spot, check out the list for yourself and weigh in
on who you think deserves or didn’t deserve to be on the list. But anyway,
here’s the Black Voices list:
1. Pam Grier
2. Dorothy Dandridge
3. Halle Berry
4. Megan Good
5. Jayne Kennedy
6. Josephine Baker
7. Angela Bassett
8. Lela Rochon
9. Jada Pinkett-Smith
10. Gabrielle Union
11. Sanaa Lathan
12. Vanessa Williams
13. Beyonce
14. Janet Jackson
15. Nia Long
16. Zoe Saldana
17. Diahann Carroll
18. Lynn Whitfiled
19. Lisa Raye
20. Kerry Washington
21. Tamara Dobson
22. Stacey Dash
23. Lauren London
24. Vanity
25. Eartha Kitt
26. Nichelle Nichols
27. Paula S. Patton
28. Robin Givens
29. Vivica A. Fox
30. Tracy Camilla Johns
Honorable Mention:
Thandie Newton (WTF?! An honorable mention for Thandie Newton?! She definitely
should’ve made the list. This truly doesn’t do her justice at all.)
5. The Temptations Kick off the Christmas Season
Now that the Christmastime is upon us, I figured I’d get
people in that frame of mind with a classic Christmas song. And what better way
to set it off than with the Temptation’s version of “Silent Night.” I don’t
know about you, but the holidays just aren’t complete without hearing this
classic.
So with that in mind, I’ll be posting a different classic
every week until Christmas Day. If these songs don’t get you ready, I don’t
know what will. Enjoy the Temps!Silent Night – Temptations
In Other Words…
* If you’re not getting with the usual Christmas music that
is played everywhere, you can switch it up with a new Christmas CD from Ledisi.
The 12-song album, titled It’s Christmas,
is available now in stores and offers original material as well as remakes of
seasonal jazz and pop standards.
* Looks like Arsenio Hall has found life after dominating
late-night TV with his talk show in the ‘80s and ‘90s. The entertainer, who has
appeared sporadically with acting roles on the small screen, has signed on to
lend his voice to the animated film Color City. The film, which also features the voices of Rosie Perez, Craig
Ferguson, and Christina Ricci, revolves around a group of crayons that join
forces to stop a tyrant from robbing their world of color.
* Justin Timberlake’s new single, “Follow My Lead” will do
more than make your head nod. The song, which is available exclusively for
download on the crooner’s website, is helping a good cause as proceeds from the
track will go to the Shriners Hospitals for Children.
* It’s been awhile since we’ve heard from Naomi Campbell,
but the supermodel is making news for a new photo show featuring more than 50
photographs and several illustrations of her. According to the Associated
Press, top ranked photographers such as
Arthur Elgort, Albert Watson and Steven Meisel all contributed pictures for the
retrospective, which is part of a larger exhibit called In Fashion Photo. The
photo show will run from Dec. 2-7 at Art Photo Expo Miami.
* Looks like
Amy Winehouse has returned to the hospital for another encore. A spokesperson for
the embattled singer revealed that Winehouse was admitted to the London Clinic
on Sunday (Nov. 23) and is being treated for a reaction to medication. No word
on what specific medication caused the reaction. Just another day for Amy with
no serious rehab in sight. Somebody let me know when she gets serious about
music again.
