Arts and Entertainment

Apr 23 2013

Second piano-and-vocal-only hit

Thanks to “Stay,” Rihanna is the first artist in the 20-year history of Billboard’s Pop Songs radio airplay chart to have 10 No. 1 hits.

The singer’s pop ballad with Mikky Ekko pushed her past Katy Perry, who has racked up nine No. 1s since 2008.

As Billboard notes, “Stay” is the second piano-and-vocal-only hit (out of 259 songs) to reach No. 1 on the chart. Bruno Mars’ “When I Was Your Man” is the first.

Here are all 10 of Rihanna’s No. 1 songs:
“SOS” (2006)

Apr 18 2013

Upcoming con artist comedy

The upcoming con artist comedy “Focus” appears to have changed its casting plans once again.

According to Variety, Will Smith is in talks to play the film’s lead hustler, a role that was once filled by Ben Affleck.

Back in December, Affleck was set to portray the more experienced swindler who takes a newbie con artist under his wing. At the time, Kristen Stewart was set to play the young, inexperienced grifter, but she’s apparently no longer attached to the movie, either.

Apr 18 2013

Hollywood by Choice

The 2013 Pulitzer Prizes were announced Monday, April 15, by the Pulitzer Prize board at a ceremony at Columbia University. The nonfiction accounts of two heroes of African descent emerged: Thomas-Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, born in 1762 in the Caribbean French sugar colony of Saint-Domingue on the island of Hispaniola (the place of his birth now lies in Haiti, which shares the island), and famed civil rights attorney and Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.

“Devil in the Grove” (Harper) by Gilbert King won in general nonfiction.

Apr 17 2013

"BET Experience" launches three-day event

After co-starring in one of the most critically acclaimed movies of 2012, “Silver Linings Playbook,” Chris Tucker is stepping into the spotlight solo.

The actor and comedian will host the 2013 BET Awards this June as the awards ceremony launches a three-day weekend event.

In a statement, Tucker said he’s “honored to be asked to host this year’s BET Awards,” and that he’s “looking forward to being part of a really great show.”

Apr 17 2013

Allege they are owed more than $1 million

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Two weeks after filing labor complaints alleging they haven’t been paid for both regular and overtime hours, writers for the E! Network’s “Fashion Police” went on strike today.

Officials with the Writers Guild of America said producers of the show — which features Joan and Melissa Rivers — have not signed a contract with the union.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.
 

Alabama
Freeman A. Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will address the annual African American Business Council luncheon on June 28. Hrabowski, who is chairman of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for African Americans, has a national reputation for his work studying the performance of minority students in math and science. Hrabowski, named one of the 10 best college presidents in the country by Time magazine, was a child leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham in the 1960s.
 

Arkansas
The Liberty Counsel filed a motion and a brief in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas seeking to intervene on behalf of a Concepts of Life crisis pregnancy center to defend against a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The groups seek to impose a permanent injunction before the Human Heartbeat Protection Act goes into effect July 18. Liberty Counsel also filed a brief opposing the ACLU’s request for an injunction. The “Heartbeat” bill states that when a woman seeks an abortion at or after the 12th week, doctors must test for a fetal heartbeat before an abortion is performed and inform the pregnant mother that the child in her womb has a heartbeat. If a heartbeat is detected, a woman cannot have an abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, and if a mother’s life is in danger. “As we promised when the legislation was introduced, Liberty Counsel will defend this law without reservation for the people of Arkansas, born and pre-born,” said Matt Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “No right is more foundational than the right to life. Without life, all other rights are irrelevant,” concluded Staver.