Monthly Archives: February 2013

VH1 Adds New Show The Gossip Game To Roster

VH1’s new series “The Gossip Game,” premiering Monday, April 1^stat 9:00 pm ET/PT, draws viewers into the lives of seven media personalities covering the fast-paced, competitive urban entertainment beat in New York City. Every day, these ambitious women navigate the ever-shifting landscape of the media industry, where they strive to preserve their place in the ‘pecking order’ while chasing the latest exclusive scoop. These rivals, who often find themselves at the epicenter of celebrity controversy, forge an uneasy alliance of friendly foes as they compete to hit their professional marks by being the first to break the latest news and divulge the intimate details of the enviable lives of hip hop’s movers and shakers.

The cast members of “The Gossip Game” are: Angela Yee (right photo), co-host of the top rated “Breakfast Club” show on Power 105.1; K. Foxx (left photo), co-host of “The Cipha Sounds & Rosenberg Show with K. Foxx” on Hot 97 FM; Kim Osorio, Editor-In-Chief of The Source magazine; Sharon Carpenter, reporter on Russell Simmons’ Global Grind website; Jas Fly, freelance writer, whose pop culture column appears on Vibe.com twice a week; Ms. Drama, an outspoken media personality and host of the entertainment news and gossip blog, MsDramaTV, and NYC Gossip Girl (Vivian Billings), whose HipHopGossipSite.com blog provides a taste of what the streets are saying along with exclusive dish on hip hop celebrities.

Ne-Yo Headlines 2013 Soul Beach Music Festival

Three–time Grammy Award-Winning Motown Recording Artist Ne-Yo will headline the 2013 Soul Beach Music Festival being held May 22-27 in Aruba. Bringing his sensational collection of Billboard chart-topping, dance-pop/R&B sophistication and a presence of style reminiscent of all things spectacular, Ne-Yo will headline the main stage of the Nikki Beach Amphitheatre closing night, Sunday, May 26. As Festival-goers escape to the perfect spot, a live stage performance cresting over the Caribbean Sea, megastar songwriter and artist Ne-Yo will splash into an unforgettable set that is sure to release a harmonious mist of grandeur on Memorial Day weekend. R.E.D. (“Realizing Every Dream”), Ne-Yo’s Motown released album, is his 5^th creation of wonder for the Universal Music Group and adds provenance to being named Senior Vice President of A&R for Motown, a coveted role at one of America’s most prestigious blue-chip record labels. The 2013 Soul Beach Music Festival in Aruba has something for everyone.

“Aruba is proud to welcome Ne-Yo to Aruba. International and local fans can expect a spectacular performance at the Soul Beach Music Festival. The festival gets better every year and Aruba is looking beautiful with all the upgrades we’ve introduced in the city of Oranjestad. I am sure artists and fans alike will have a lot of fun at the festival and in Aruba,” said Otmar Oduber, Minister of Tourism, Transportation and Labor.

“We are thrilled to bring the exciting performer and international start Ne-Yo to the 2013 Soul Beach Music Festival in Aruba,” said Mark Adkins, producer. “Fans can look forward to an amazing weekend of great performances on the exceptional island of Aruba this Memorial Day Weekend along with a combination of sizzling beach parties, luscious dining and plush Night Club after parties.”

The 2013 Soul Beach Music Festival will roll out more highly anticipated announcements of main stage performing artists in the weeks to come. For information about ticket sales, accommodations and the latest updates sign up for CLUB SOUL BEACH, visit http://www.soulbeach.net or http://www.aruba.com. Join the Soul Beach Music Festival community: follow us on Twitter @SoulBeachMusic and become a fan of 2013 Soul Beach Music Festival on www.Facebook.com/soulbeachmusic.

19th Annual Essence Music Festival To Include Mrs. Cater World Tour Performance

On the heels of Beyonce’s triumphant Super Bowl halftime performance, Essence, the preeminent brand for African-American women, today announced that her Mrs. Carter Show World Tour is adding a special performance at the 19^th annual Essence Festival, where the international superstar will return to the Superdome to headline one of three stellar nights of concerts taking place July 4-7 in New Orleans, LA.

“We are incredibly excited to welcome Beyonce back to the 2013 Essence Festival line-up. She is truly the ultimate Essence woman,” said Essence Communications President, Michelle Ebanks. “If you missed her tour de force in New Orleans, please join us this Fourth of July weekend so that you can experience it live for yourself at the Essence Festival. The Essence Festival features the best in music, culture, arts and entertainment—all of which Beyonce captures through her extraordinary gifts.”

As the definitive destination for entertainment, empowerment, inspiration and culture, the Essence Festival last hosted Beyonce in 2009, and once previously in 2005 as a member of Destiny’s Child.

Beyonce joins an incredible 2013 Essence Festival musical line-up, including: Jill Scott, Maxwell, New Edition, Charlie Wilson, Keyshia Cole, LL Cool J and Brandy, and more, with additional performers to be announced soon.

To purchase tickets, get more exciting news, talent and program updates go to www.essencefestival.com . Join the Festival community: follow us on Twitter @essencefest #essencefest and become a fan of ESSENCE Festival on Facebook.

Kelly Rowland & Boris Kodjoe Deliver New Energy & Fashion To BET’s “Rip The Runway”

Delivering high energy and high fashion, GRAMMY winner Kelly Rowland and Actor Boris Kodjoe join BET Networks to deliver top designers and live performances to “RIP THE RUNWAY,” fashion’s leading and sexiest telecast. In its ninth year, “Rip The Runway” returns larger than ever infusing unprecedented fashion and music’s brightest entertainers to provide an extraordinary fashion experience on one runway. On Wednesday, February 27, 2013 at the historic Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City the runway will be ripped by music and television’s hottest celebrities for a night showcasing top emerging designers in street wear, swimwear and high fashion couture.

For the first time, “106 & PARK’s” “Rip The Runway” Amateur Model Contest is open to males providing both male and female aspiring models the opportunity to enter the online casting at Bet.com. Supermodel Jessica White and “gone with the wind fabulous” reality star Kenya Moore will appear on “106 & PARK” to judge “Rip The Runway” Amateur Model Contest on February 25, 2013. During this final phase, they will compete in a series of three (3) challenges – “The Look,” a ‘photo’ contest, “The Talk,” mock commercial competition and “The Walk,” a ‘catwalk’ contest. The panel of celebrity judges combined with a viewer text vote will weigh the results and determine who will walk in “Rip The Runway.”

BET.com will follow Kenya Moore as she captures behind the scenes interviews with models, Billboard’s chart topping artists and our phenomenal hosts as they prepare for “Rip The Runway” premiering March 20, 2013 @ 10 pm* on BET.

For more information on “RIP THE RUNWAY,” visit http://www.bet.com/riptherunway. Viewers can also find series updates on Facebook by liking the fan pages at http://www.facebook.com/BETstyle.

Netflix and Queen Latifah’s Flavor Unit Entertainment Announce Multi-Year Agreement

Netflix, Inc. and Flavor Unit Entertainment, the production company owned by Queen Latifah and Shakim Compere, today announced an exclusive licensing agreement for movies in the U.S. In the first-look deal, Netflix will have its pick of movies that will debut on the world’s leading Internet television subscription service shortly after their theatrical release from the company that produced box office hits like “Bringing Down the House” and “Beauty Shop”. Beginning in Spring 2013, Netflix members can exclusively enjoy Flavor Unit titles including the thriller, “House of Bodies”, starring Terrence Howard and Peter Fonda and “Percentage” starring Ving Rhames, Cam’ron and Macy Gray.

“We are delighted to work with Queen Latifah to be the exclusive destination for what are sure to be relevant, entertaining movies,” said Ted Sarandos, Chief Content Officer of Netflix. “Queen Latifah has a long track record of creating hits and Flavor Unit Entertainment is a fresh and exciting voice in the industry.”

“Shakim and I are thrilled to do business with Netflix. Netflix is such a strong brand and the perfect place to showcase our projects,” said Queen Latifah.

Among a long line of hits, Flavor Unit is most recently responsible for producing the Lifetime Original Movie “Steel Magnolias” starring Queen Latifah, Phylicia Rashad, Jill Scott and Alfre Woodard, which became the third most-watched telecast ever on a network with 6.5 million viewers.

Flavor Unit Entertainment is a production company owned and operated by Queen Latifah and her partner, Shakim Compere. Flavor Unit Entertainment, which started in New Jersey and is now based in Miami, is quickly establishing itself as one of the most important production companies in the film industry.

They began by executive producing Disney’s box office # 1 hit Bringing Down the House and then continued with Beauty Shop for MGM and The Perfect Holiday for Paramount. They have also produced The Cookout with Lionsgate as well as the film Just Wright with Fox Searchlight. On the small screen, they executive produced HBO’s critically acclaimed film Life Support which garnered a number of awards including an Emmy nomination and Golden Globe win for Queen Latifah . Flavor Unit Entertainment made a multi-year deal with BET to create new original programming including the original movie The Cookout 2 and its first-ever scripted romantic comedy titled Let’s Stay Together which premiered with 4.4 million viewers.

In 2011, Flavor Unit Entertainment’s original film Single Ladies, was expanded into VH1’s first hour-long scripted series with approximately 3 million viewers throughout its two season run. Flavor Unit produced Latifah’s film Joyful Noise. Most recently, Flavor Unit produced Lifetime’s Original Movie, Steel Magnolias which stars Queen Latifah, Phylicia Rashad, Jill Scott and Alfre Woodard. The movie premiered this October as the third most-watched telecast ever on the network, averaging 6.5 million total viewers. Last summer, Flavor Unit Entertainment is premiered the CW show The Next: Fame is at Your Doorstep. The show is a new take on the music competition genre and included superstar mentors Gloria Estefan, John Rich, Nelly and Joe Jonas.

The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour Starring BEYONCE

Parkwood Entertainment today announced that The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour starring Beyonce kicks off in Europe on April 15, 2013. With stops in twenty European cities, including Dublin, Ireland; Berlin, Germany; Paris, France and a four-night stint at The 02 in London, UK, this is Beyonce’s first multi-city tour in over three years.

Live Nation also announced today that Beyonce’s North American Tour begins on June 28 in Los Angeles, California. The tour will travel to over twentycities throughout North America this summer, including Brooklyn, New York at the Barclays Center, Atlanta, Georgia, at the Gwinnett Center, Houston, Texas at the Toyota Center, Toronto, Ontario at Air Canada Centre, and Boston, Massachusetts at TD Garden.

On June 28, Beyonce returns to Los Angeles, California as part of the BET Experience At L.A. Live at the Staples Center. She is set to headline the first of the three-night STAPLES Concert series. And continuing her successful run at international music festivals, following a headlining night at Glastonbury in 2011, she is confirmed to headline at the world’s largest music festival, Rock in Rio, on its first night, September 13 at the “City of Rock” in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Rock in Rio has set records for its massive crowds and its powerful media drive.

Fans can join the Beyhive Blog for free at www.beyonce.com to access exclusive content, pre-sale tickets, VIP packages and more, including an exclusive MasterCard package to the Bey Stage. A limited number of tickets to The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour will be available early for purchase in the US and Europe. Fans can sign up now for the chance to be among the first to purchase tickets. Public sales for the European dates start on Friday, February 8. North American dates begin on Monday, February 11, 2013 at www.ticketmaster.com. Pepsi, MasterCard and Cotysponsor The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour . A complete list of tour dates, markets and on-sale dates follow. Additional information including on-sale times in all markets, available at www.beyonce.com

Beyonce’s last tour, the critically acclaimed and incredibly successful, I AM…WORLD TOUR was ranked #1 on Billboard’s Hot Tour chart. The show thrilled more than 1.1 million fans at more than one hundred shows in 32 countries and six continents across the globe.

On February 16, HBO will premiere Life Is But A Dream, an intimate feature-length documentary film directed and produced by Beyonce for Parkwood Entertainment. The film provides unprecedented access into the on and off-stage world of the entertainer. For complete tour and ticketing information, please visit www.livenation.com and www.beyonce.com

NORTH AMERICA DATES:

June 28	Los Angeles	BET Experience/Staples Center	On Sale Mon. Feb. 11
Jun-29	Las Vegas, NV	MGM Grand Garden Arena	On Sale Mon. Feb. 11
Jul-2	San Jose, CA	HP Pavilion at San Jose	On Sale Mon. Feb. 11
Jul-5	Oklahoma City, OK	Chesapeake Energy Arena	On Sale Fri. Feb. 15
Jul-6	Dallas, TX	American Airlines Center	On Sale Mon. Feb. 11
Jul-9	Ft. Lauderdale, FL	BB&T Center	On Sale Mon. Feb. 11
Jul-10	Miami, FL	American Airlines Arena	On Sale Mon. Feb. 11
Jul-12	Atlanta, GA	The Arena @ Gwinnett Center	On Sale Sat. Feb. 16
Jul-13	Nashville, TN	Bridgestone Arena	On Sale Fri. Feb. 15
Jul-15	Houston, TX	Toyota Center	On Sale Mon. Feb. 11
Jul-17	Chicago, IL	United Center	On Sale Mon. Feb. 11
Jul-18	St. Paul, MN	Xcel Energy Center	On Sale Fri. Feb. 15
Jul-20	Detroit, MI	The Palace of Auburn Hills	On Sale Mon. Feb. 11
Jul-21	Toronto, ON	Air Canada Centre	On Sale Mon. Feb. 11
Jul-22	Montreal, QC	Bell Centre	On Sale Sat. Feb. 9
Jul-23	Boston, MA	TD Garden	On Sale Mon. Feb. 11
Jul-25	Philadelphia, PA	Wells Fargo Center	On Sale Fri. Feb. 15
Jul-26	Atlantic City, NJ	Boardwalk Hall	On Sale Fri. Feb. 15
Jul-27	Charlotte, NC	Time Warner Cable Arena	On Sale Fri. Feb. 15
Jul-29	Washington, DC	Verizon Center	On Sale Mon. Feb. 11
Aug-2	Uncasville, CT	Mohegan Sun	On Sale Fri. Feb. 15
Aug-3	Brooklyn, NY	Barclays Center	On Sale Mon. Feb. 11