I have nothing against, Katharine McPhee. She is pretty, talented, and very charming. Here is the thing, she is also very dull on screen.

She simply doesn’t pop, there’s no fire, no passion, no thing. She is just as pretty and talented as that sweet girl who goes to your church, or lives in your neighborhood that a really sweet voice.

For a show that advertises in the commercial , Debra Messing saying “she just glows”, it just doesn’t seem like any of the face time Katharine is given adds up to anything more than ‘average’ to ‘okay’. Where is this supposed glow? Does Katharine McPhee make you feel like you can soar when you hear her sing like Christina Aguilera, or Jennifer Hudson? Are her dance moves so astounding that you simply cannot take your eyes off her?

No, that is not gonna happen, sorry guys, but they should have casted someone with more punch, who had that factor “X”, that undeniable thing that easily shows the audience watching there is no question your a star and stand apart from all others.

Maybe once the show premieres I will change my mind, and if I do I will own up to it. But I predict a painfully short run of Smash, unless they immediately switch lead actresses. Just my opinion, but something about her just isn’t gonna sell.  The tag line “Stars aren’t born, their made ” would be a pretty honest way to describe this mess.

Watch the full pilot episode for Smash and tell me what you think?

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Tamron is like the Halle Berry of news anchors. Everyone wants to ‘do’ her, so I am stunned she would go for a guy who is clearly old enough to be her dad! I am also hearing that Lawrence used to date hottie Kerry Washington??? Man, this old white dude has some kind of swagger to get these beautiful, younger black women! Do your thang Lawerence!

According to the NY Post

MSNBC anchors Lawrence O’Donnell and Tamron Hall have a romance spicing up off set. The single “Last Word” host, 60, has been quietly dating the pretty midday anchor and rising star at the network for months.

The duo have kept their relationship low-profile in the studio but have been spotted canoodling at downtown haunts. O’Donnell, a “West Wing” producer who has a daughter with ex-wife Kathryn Harrold, was linked to actress Kerry Washingtonin 2008. MSNBC declined to comment.

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En Vogue and other artists set to perform at Superbowl on January 27.
INDIANAPOLIS — Patti LaBelle, Bret Michaels and En Vogue are among the artists who will perform in free concerts during the week leading up to the Super Bowl in Indianapolis.

The Super Bowl Host Committee made the announcement Wednesday at a news conference at Lucas Oil Stadium, site of the Feb. 5 game.

The artists will perform on stages along Georgia Street beginning Jan. 27. 5. A specific schedule was not announced.

Other artists scheduled to appear include Big Head Todd and the Monsters, Corey Cox, Darius Rucker, Dierks Bentley, Edwin McCain, Fitz & the Tantrums, Fuel, Here Come the Mummies, IU’s Straight No Chaser, LMFAO, O.A.R, Railroad Earth, Sixpence None the Richer, Umphrey’s McGee and Will Hoge. More artists are expected to be added.

Madonna will perform at halftime.

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Less than 12 hours after the horrific death of a woman who was burned alive in the elevator of her apartment building, a man who the police said was “reeking of gasoline” surrendered and implicated himself in the crime, the police said on Sunday.

The police said in a statement that the man, Jerome Isaac, 47, came into a transit police station about two and a half miles from the apartment building in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, around 3 a.m. Sunday.

“He confessed to the crime, claiming that the woman owed him money for work he had done in the last year,” said Paul J. Browne, the chief spokesman for the New York Police Department. Mr. Isaac did not specify the kind of work he had done, but said he was owed $2,000, Mr. Browne said.

The attack was captured in chilling surveillance video, its images disturbingly clear. Two cameras, one in the elevator and one in a hallway of the apartment building, at 203 Underhill Avenue, show a man dressed as an exterminator, wearing white gloves, with a protective mask perched atop his head, and carrying a container on his back.

The man attacks the woman, Deloris Gillespie, 73, as she tries to leave the elevator on the fifth floor, laden with groceries. As the doors open, the man first sprays her in the face and then douses her methodically from head to toe with what a city official said was an accelerant. She turns and cowers, raising her hands, the grocery bags hanging from her wrists.

After cornering her in the elevator, the man struggles to ignite a barbecue lighter, which he uses to set Ms. Gillespie on fire. He retreats momentarily into the hall and then returns with a Molotov cocktail — a wine or Champagne bottle filled with accelerant, with a rag stuffed in its neck — and hurls it at her. Suddenly, the silent video goes white with a conflagration in the small space, capturing what is perhaps a singular act of violence: a woman being burned alive.

Mr. Isaac faces charges of first-degree and second-degree murder and arson.

On Sunday morning, puddles of black water and charred debris covered the fifth floor of the apartment building. Police caution tape hung from banisters.

People there said they recognized the man in still images of the surveillance video as a familiar face around the building.

Ramon Vargas, 65, who lives on the fifth floor and said he knew the victim for over 30 years, said he frequently saw the man in the photo carrying the woman’s shopping bags and once helping her with a heavy bookcase. Though he did not know the man’s name, he described him as well dressed and recalled discussing religion, war and politics with him. “He was a very intelligent guy,” Mr. Vargas said.

Rickey Causey, who said he was Ms. Gillespie’s nephew and had lived with her since late June, said his aunt had hired the man to clear out her cluttered apartment earlier in the year. He said the man had harassed Ms. Gillespie after she fired him over the suspicion that he had stolen a VCR and a large cake pan, among other things.

In November, Mr. Causey said, the man stuck an invoice on Ms. Gillespie’s door that said she owed him more than $300; she did not pay him.

Mr. Causey said his aunt had no particular reason to fear anyone. But Dorinda Thomas, 56, who described herself as a relative, said Ms. Gillespie put several additional locks on her door and reported the man to the police.

“She knew that something was going to happen to her in that building,” Ms. Thomas said.

The police said Mr. Isaac admitted that he had set a second fire later on Saturday, at his home at 315 Lincoln Place. There, an apartment door was sprayed with what appeared to be gasoline and torched. The police had discovered a Molotov cocktail.

In that second fire, Mr. Isaac sustained burns to his face, hands and neck. He said he hid on a nearby rooftop, at 571 Lincoln Place, and fell asleep, concerned that the burns were a “giveaway” regarding his identity, according to Mr. Browne, the police spokesman. After wandering the streets of Brooklyn, he turned himself in when he learned that the police were looking for him, Mr. Browne said.

A neighbor at 315 Lincoln Place, Eric Charles, 42, said Mr. Isaac had lived in the building for several years. Mr. Charles said he often saw Mr. Isaac on his bicycle around the neighborhood collecting cans and bottles. On Sunday afternoon, the second floor still smelled of gasoline; there were black scorch marks at the top and bottom of the door to Apartment 2F.

Mr. Isaac also told the police that he had left his equipment on the rooftop where he had fallen asleep, and a search of the roof recovered the implements, Mr. Browne said.

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The battle against breast cancer just got some super power!

Wonder Woman, Cat Woman, Storm and She-Hulk have teamed up to tackle breast cancer awareness for a new ad campaign released in the African nation of Mozambique.

The renditions of the extra busty heroines checking for potentially cancerous lumps were drawn by artist Maisa Chaves for ALCC Associacao da Luta Contra o Cancer) and are sure to grab plenty of attention. But ultimately the ads are a call to action for young women to perform their own self examinations–the idea being, if Cat Woman can get breast cancer, so can you.

The ads read: “When we talk about breast cancer, there’s no women or superwomen. Everybody has to do the self-examination monthly. Fight with us against the enemy and, when in doubt, talk with your doctor.”

Using comic book heroines is a clear (and clever) way to target a younger audience, which was also the objection behind the controversial “I Love Boobies” bracelets. And while cases of breast cancer are rare in women under the age of 30, early detection is key.

This isn’t the first time ALCC has used shock value to push their cause. The company previously released ads depicting creepy insects under the skin of a woman’s breasts. Eek! We get the message–let’s start feeling our ladies, ladies!

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LOS ANGELES — Terrence Howard was ordered Tuesday to stay 100 yards away from his estranged wife after she claimed the Oscar-nominated actor repeatedly threatened and hit her during their marriage.

The star denies the allegations.

Superior Court Judge Scott Gordon granted the stay-away order sought by Michelle Howard after she filed a lengthy declaration alleging abuse began within a week of the couple’s January 2010 marriage.

Michelle Howard filed for divorce a year later.

The restraining order remains in effect until a Jan. 17 court hearing.

She claims Howard, 42, has repeatedly hit her and threatened her in a text message last week. She stated in a sworn declaration that she is in constant fear of Howard and has chronic health issues caused by the actor’s treatment.

Howard in his own sworn declaration wrote that he has never threatened his wife and that she has repeatedly vowed to ruin his reputation and release private details.

“I live in constant fear of Michelle’s endeavors to ruin my reputation; even providing this declaration may well lead to my being subjected to a paparazzi blitz which would not be good for my career,” Howard wrote.

Michelle Howard wrote that Howard has hit her several times and threatened to throw her from a hotel balcony in South Africa last year. She included a text message she said he sent to her on Thursday in which he begged her not to pursue the divorce and threaten his career, ending the missive, “I can’t promise how I will respond.”

Howard wrote in his filing that he immediately followed up the message with another text stating that he wasn’t threatening her.

“Despite my efforts to remove myself physically from (Howard’s) life, his periodic mood swings from anger, threats and violence to statements of love and requests for reconciliation continue and have not subsided,” she wrote.

Howard appeared in the first “Iron Man” film and received an Oscar nomination in 2005 for his role in “Hustle and Flow.”

His attorney Christian Markey III did not immediately return an email message seeking comment.

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CNN weekend anchor T. J. Holmes is leaving the cable channel at the end of the year, TVNewser has confirmed. Richard Prince  first reported the move in his daily media column.

Holmes began his career as a producer for KSNF in Joplin, Missouri, and would go on to work at local stations in Little Rock, Arkansas and San Jose, California before joining CNN in 2006.

Holmes’ destination is unclear, though one CNN staffer says he already has another gig lined up. In a memo to staffers this afternoon. CNN director of programming Janelle Rodriguez says Holmes is leaving “to pursue other opportunities.”

 

T. J. Holmes is headed towards BET.

 

T.J. Holmes, the affable CNN weekend anchor who told colleagues on Sunday he was leaving the network at the end of the year, is heading for Black Entertainment Television, according to a source familiar with Holmes’ situation.

BET plans to build a show around Holmes, 34, the source said. Holmes was not available for comment.

BET made the announcement official later Wednesday.

BET Networks has inked a multi-platform talent agreement with award-winning journalist and television personality T. J. Holmes, as announced Wednesday,” it said. “The deal with Holmes includes a new show on BET as well as content on BET.com in which he can bring his many talents to some of what BET says it regards as ‘the most important and interesting stories’ for the BET audience.

” ‘We are simply ecstatic to have T.J. Holmes coming to our fold. He’s been an outstanding news anchor and we look forward to working with him in a variety of new ways on BET,’ said Stephen G. Hill, President of Music Programming and Specials at BET Networks. ‘It’s now upon us to develop vehicles that capture his intelligence, curiosity about the world, warmth, humor and compassion. It’s a challenge that we are happy to have.’ “

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Coming out this week is the controversial, yet provocative and well acted film, ‘Shame.’

Directed by Steve McQueen, ‘Shame’ revolves around Michael Fassbender’s character Brandon, a 30-something

man living in New York who is unable to manage his sex life. After his wayward younger sister moves into his apartment, Brandon’s world spirals out of control. Carey Mulligan plays his sister Sissy, while James Badge Dale plays his boss.

The film was recently given an NC-17 rating for its explicit sexual scenes.

For McQueen, the film reunites him with Fassbender, whom he directed in the critically acclaimed film, ‘Hunger.’ Among the many awards McQueen won for that film, he also received the Caméra d’Or (first-time director) Award at Cannes.

A director who’s stock is rising in the film industry, the London native is slated direct ‘Fela,’ a biopic about the Nigerian musician and activist Fela Kuti. His next project will be ‘Twelve Years as a Slave,’ starring Fassbender, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Brad Pitt.

In speaking with Blackfilm.com , McQueen spoke about working on ‘Shame,’ casting the talent and shooting in New York.

How did you come to decide that ‘Shame’ would be your next film after ‘Hunger’?

Steve McQueen: It sort of happened from a conversation between me and Abi Morgan, the co-writer of this film. I was also developing another film at the time and one thing led to another where this one was before another one. I didn’t know Abi at the time. We started talking and the topic of sex addiction came up and the internet pornography. I thought it was interesting and we did some research in London and no one wanted to speak to us about it. I think at the time there was a lot of media attention on sex addiction. We went to New York to meet with two women who were experts in this field and they were great. These were two women who were recovering sex addicts. I then said “Why don’t we make this film in New York?”

Not much is known about Michael and Sissy’s relationship as siblings. Was there a challenge to include the back-story of their characters?

SM: Not at all. I was more interested in including the reality of the situation as opposed to the movie reality. When you are shooting a person for the first time, you have no idea who that person is, and as often is the case, people will present the best side of themselves to you of course. Over a period of time, you get to see the past in the present and that’s how I wanted the movie to be. I wanted her to be more familiar than mysterious. In reality, we don’t talk about what could have happened to them in the past.

Having worked with Michael (Fassbender) before, what did want him to bring to this character?

SM: The film is all about Brandon really. I don’t write specifically for Michael at all. I don’t have to. I’m interested in the character and the story. What Michael brings to the film what he could is inhabit the character in a way which it speaks like Valentino in a strange way. Brandon’s imploding, but you’re seeing this front that he’s putting for everyone around him. I wanted that connection with Brandon although he doesn’t say much. It’s a huge contrast to ‘Hunger,’ where he was very much verbal. In this film, things are being said without being said.

Can you talk about casting Carey (Mulligan), Nicole (Beharie) and James (Badge Dale)?

SM: Well, Carrie found the script and I don’t know how she found it. It was hunt for Sissy. It was like casting the role of Scarlett O’Hara. I was thinking hard as to who could play Sissy and I met her. I could tell she really wanted to spot like Sissy wants something, so I gave her the role on the spot. As far as Nicole, she was hot. I had seen her in a play at Lincoln Center called ‘A Free Man of Color’ and I was like, “Whoa! Who’s that amazing person?” I had to see her and see if I could audition her. She was difficult to get for an audition. She was in the play, and it was initially hard to get a ticket for the play as well. Finally, she did audition and she was amazing. Nicole is pretty special. She has the capacity of being a great actress. Absolutely. It’s just about opportunities. That’s all she needs. It was a similar thing with James. I actually offered him on the spot as well. He was introduced to me by Amy Kaufman, the casting director, and that was it. I spoke with him and that was it. He had the role. End of story.

How did you choose the song ‘New York, New York’ for Sissy to sing?

SM: For me, the song is a blues song when you listen to the lyrics. It wasn’t as triumphant as to when Frank Sinatra sang it originally or when Liza Minelli sang it. It has a history. I thought of it as a blues song and I worked with Carrie and a vocal coach. In the scene where she sings the songs, it’s about the past and the present. She’s communicating with Brandon through the song. He can’t move as he’s listening to her sing. We see the reaction of the past in his face.

How was shooting in New York and picking out locations?

SM: I never thought about that before. I wanted to get to know Brandon and where he goes for his dry cleaning and where he goes for his Chinese food. When he travels by subway, what route does he take? Where does he work, and where’s his apartment located? With those things, I was really meticulous about. I know New York very well. I’ve been coming here since I was seven years old and a lot of my family lives there. I still wanted the film to be on the characters and the daily life of Brandon, and the surroundings just happened to be in New York. The people who live there are always in the perspective of the city. As if they want to be near the sky. It makes you feel very small in a way. It points you in a position where you are always reflecting on yourself. For Brandon, he’s always up and by windows, such as in hotel room where he takes Maryann, his office, and in his apartment.

What do you make of the NC-17 rating the film was given?

SM: I don’t see the rating as a death penalty. Of course, there is some content that shouldn’t be seen by certain people but we are living in a time where two clicks on your Iphone, you’re seeing the most explicit images you can possibly think of. Pornography has never been prolific in the history of existence on this planet. The majority of use on the internet is for pornography. I think what we are doing here is pretty tame and I also it’s a responsible movie about how we live today and how people are struggling to cope with certain things today.

source

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But not long after getting the goop on her head, it was clear things weren’t working as planned for this Louisiana native.

Instead of leaving her with a silky-straight mane, the perm left the locks that once coiled down her back shriveled, broken and pitiful at the nape of her neck.

Less than a year later she got another perm, but this time, things turned out much worse. “I had a deep chemical burn across my whole head,” Dugas said. “The chemicals ate through my scalp. My whole head was a scab. It was like a helmet.”

Dugas eventually had to go to a dermatologist for medicine injected into her scalp to get her hair to grow again. She later swore off the chemicals, and boy, did it do wonders for her Do!

In the more than 12 years since she’s been off the stuff, her Afro has grown to an astounding 4 feet 4 inches around, a world record.

We caught up with Dugas — a petite bombshell a la a young Chaka Khan  — this week at a cocktail party hosted by the Guinness World Records folks.

Dugas joined Ashrita Furman — who holds the record for the most Guinness world records (this guy once pogo-sticked 11.5 miles up Mt. Fuji!) — to make the rounds and promote Guinness World Records Day.

At the Nov. 17 event, competitors from around the world set their sights on breaking any number of world records.

In England, they tried to fit the most people in a single pair of pants. In Ireland, leprechauns were massing in hopes of becoming the largest gathering ever (Really? No, really?). Someone in France constructed what they hoped would be the largest rag doll. And a bunch of high school students in California planned the longest “Soul Train” line ever assembled.

Speaking of “Soul Train,” Dugas, 36, in all her 70s-inspired glory, said as a child she was mesmerized by the “Soul Train” dancers, their funky moves and of course, their bountiful Afros. But her first true inspiration was her mother’s, followed by the follicly-famous Angela Davis, Chaka Khan and Diana Ross.

“People think I’m automatically stuck in the 70s,” she quipped to The Huffington Post, lounging on a sofa at 48 Lounge, a New York City hot spot. “I am a 70s baby and I love the 70s but I have so many different looks and styles. I’m not just going to walk around in platform shoes or walk around in polyesters. They assume that I’m just, you know,” she said, throwing a fist in the air.

Dugas said she submitted her measurements (of her hair!), to the folks over at Guinness after her sister posted a picture of her with a full-blown Afro on Facebook. A friend saw the post and urged her to try out. Which she did. But her initial measurements weren’t good enough. A second measurement, though, qualified her. The results were verified and the rest is history.

“My life has changed tremendously. I went from every day going to work, going home to traveling. I’ve been to London, to D.C., to New York, back home and back to New York. Who knows what else is going to come after this. It’s just changed a lot,” she said.

Dugas said the newfound fame has definitely broken the monotony of her life as a social worker in Garyville, La., at her family’s group home that serves women with developmental disabilities. “The ladies just love the hair,” Dugas said of the clients.

Her huge halo of hair has gotten her into a few, shall we say, hairy situations. On the way to New York’s 48 Lounge, a man said something dirty and disrespectful about her and her bush. Also, “People like to touch it and pull at it,” she said.

“Out of nowhere, people have reached in and just pulled it. And you know my thing is if you ask, you can pat it but don’t just yank my head,” she said. “I think you should go to jail for that. That’s assault!”

Dugas said she’s gotten used to all the stares, the people whipping out cell phones and snapping pictures, and of course, the men who find it so groovy that they can’t keep their tongues in their mouths.

“Most black men love my hair. They love it. Everybody loves it. Everyone says it is so sexy,” she cooed.

And yes, she said, there are a few downsides. An Afro the size of hers makes peripheral vision problematic. It’s great during the winter months but it gets crazy hot under there during summer. And she’s even gotten it stuck in car doors. She also has a healthy fear of candles, campfires and open flames. (She’s working on getting the ‘Fro insured.)

But ultimately, the accolades and sometimes unwanted attention is worth it, Dugas said.

She knows the impact her proudly sported Afro could have on all the girls who “have problems with wearing their hair in its natural state,” be they little black girls, white girls with poofy hair or sisters in constant battle with their Jew-fro’s.

“It’s your hair. That’s what you were born with,” she said. “Whatever kink it is, whatever curl it is, however tight it is or loose it is, you should love it. That’s what God gave you and that’s what he wanted you to have.”

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By restricting food and cutting calories, models have it all wrong, says Alek Wek.

Wek, a veteran runway model now residing in the US, was raised in Southern Sudan, where hunger is a widespread problem. So when she found herself thrust into the modeling world, she was shocked by what she saw.

“In this world,”Wek tells the Daily Beast, “I found many people were hungry too, but for different reasons. They wanted their bodies to look a certain way, whether their bodies were meant to or not. They chose not to eat.”

Wek’s perspective is unique,given her background: in the 1980s, she fled civil war in Sudan and settled as a refugee in London… only to find herself an Elle cover girl just a few years later. Despite ascending to fashion’s highest heights, her outlook remains firmly rooted in her past and her experiences. She tells the Daily Beast:

“In restaurants in my Brooklyn neighborhood, I always ask for a doggie bag, to bring the leftovers home. My ex-boyfriend suggested more than once that I cut this out, as he found it embarrassing. (Perhaps that’s why he is no longer my boyfriend.) I told him, ‘What’s embarrassing is that I should have so much more than others.”

It’s a refreshing dose of common sense in a world where unreasonable expectations — and whatever it takes to meet them– often seem to trump all.

Wek has previously used her level-headed voice to speak out about refugees. In July, she attended the first ever Refugee Congress in Washington DC, where refugees from all ove the world told their stories and offered suggestions for American policies.

“The most humbling thing fashion has given me is a voice, and I hope to use that for other refugees,” she said back in August. Now she’s using it to speak out about hunger — the kind in Sudan and the kind in the fashion world.

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