The countdown to film’s big night is on and to celebrate this year’s Academy Awards, the digital team are creating a bit of hype in a different way. The first-ever Oscar Roadtrip kicks off next Monday in New York City. The roadtrip will give Oscar fans the opportunity to hold an actual statuette before it arrives in Hollywood on the 24th of February.
The roadtrip will be covered by Oscar Roadtrip reporters, Ben Gleib and Angie Greenup. They’ll be posting a whole bunch of blog posts, videos, photos, tweets and so much more. You can follow the journey via:
Speaking about the roadtrip, managing director of digital media and marketing for the Academy, Josh Spector said, “We created the Oscar Roadtrip to bring the magic and fun of the Oscar ceremony to movie fans across the country. The Oscar Roadtrip makes it possible to share the once-in-a-lifetime thrill that only comes from holding an Oscar statuette.”
I’m in SA, so I won’t be able to see or hold the Oscar just yet, but if you’re in the US take note of the following dates:
February 4
New York
February 6
Philadelphia
February 7
Washington, D.C.
February 8
Baltimore
February 11
Chicago
February 13
St. Louis
February 14
Kansas City
February 17
Houston
February 18
Dallas
February 21
Phoenix
February 24
Hollywood
Sounds like a lot of fun and hey Josh, next year I’m happy to participate. Being a multimedia journalist and all, I could rock it. #JustSaying
I can’t believe it has been 11 years since we saw the horrible and tragic events of 9/11. New York City’s iconic skyline became a sight nobody ever imagined they’d get to see or experience. Over 2000 people lost their lives in the 9/11 terror attacks on that fateful day. It left a sour and sad taste in my mouth too because this happens to be my birthday and if you know me, you’ll know my love for New York City and America in general, so I was terribly sad. We will never forget those lost of this day, but I thought why not pay tribute to those lost and to the city I love so much by sharing some of my pictures from there.
We Will Never Forget… God Bless America!
Alicia Keys has a brand new single out. It’s called New Day and while we wait for the official video to drop, the star has released a lyric video, which shows off my best… New York City. I be lovin’! Join in on the conversation on Twitter go with #AKNewDay and for more on Alicia Keys, visit her official website: www.aliciakeys.com
Haters, sit down! This has to be one of the most amazing and special gestures I’ve come across. Not even two days after the birth of his and wife Beyoncé’s first child, Blue Ivy Carter at the weekend, rapper Jay-Z has released an ode to his little girl. In the track you’ll hear lyrics like, “I painted the sky Blue, my greatest creation was you”.
I think this is really special. To become a father is a gift, to give this as a gift to his little girl is just as special. Listen out for Blue Ivy at the end of the song too.
After numerous rumours, it has finally been confirmed. Beyoncé and hubby Jay-Z are the proud parents of a baby girl. The little one was delivered via c-section in New York City last, ending all the New Years Eve birth rumours. While the couple haven’t released any official comments yet, their industry peers have confirmed the news. Rihanna Tweeted, “Welcome to the world princess Carter! Love Aunty Rih.”
So everyone’s wandering what the name of one of the world’s most celebrated couples is. Her name is…
Blue Ivy Carter. Unlike many other Hollywood names, it’s ‘normal’, elegant and lovely. I dig it, but then what isn’t enjoyable about these two. Congratulations to them both on the arrival of little Ivy!
I had high hopes for this video because the song is just so good. In fact it’s one of my Summer songs for 2011/ 2012. What song am I talking about? International Love by Pitbull with Chris Brown. It remains one of my favourites, but man this video for me is weak. Regardless of my opinion or not, it has still be viewed seventeen million times so it has found it’s market and you might very well enjoy it yourself. Let me know your thoughts.
Aaaay Papi! Jennifer Lopez has just released her brand new video for the song Papi. You can also understand why there’s a massive frenzy in this video… it’s because the American Idol judge looks ravishing! She enlisted the help of super producer RedOne for this track . She told MTV that the track is all about ”And they were like, ‘We’re going to write a song called ‘Papi,’ and we just wrote the song about loving somebody and just celebrating that.”
I love the flash mob vibe towards the end of the video too! Nice video, great song and I feel it will be one that’ll be remixed by some of our biggest DJs.
Ten years ago today I turned 17-years-old. I was in grade 11 and I recall that Tuesday very clearly. I thought it would be just another Tuesday, another birthday really. Little did I know it would become one of the most significant days in history.
I had a very average day at school, as per usual. Birthdays are birthdays and when you’re 17 and your mates are trying to be cool because of the age you are, nobody really makes a big deal about it. I finished school and headed off home to start studying for a Biology test I had the next day. When I used to study for my tests and exams I could never do so in complete silence. I don’t like dead silence too much, so I had the radio on in the background. One of 5FM’s top DJs at the time was Darren Scott. He, together with his team, presented the drive time show. I remember him doing his show in a normal manner, the usual banter between the team; the news; the sport and of course the traffic every half an hour. etc etc In between all the banter were some banging tunes, but I was focusing on my work. My cellphone was even on silent because I needed to focus on the test (I had dinner to go to a little later).
During one of the songs, Darren cut it and said something along the lines of sorry to cut that song, but we’ve just heard about a plane crashing into the World Trade Center in New York City. One of the my favourite cities in the world is New York City and so as soon as I heard that I thought oh damn, I need to see what’s going on. It was there that the rest of the events unfolded. I mean that doesn’t happen in our lifetime right? So I, together with millions of people around the world, sat glued to my TV screen watching one of the world’s tallest and most iconic buildings smouldering away in what was otherwise a beautiful day in the magical New York City. It was bizarre and quite freakish actually. A plane had hit the tower by accident and it was awful… So we thought. You could see people were trapped and were obviously trying to get out of the building, some even jumped because what we later found out, there was no other way to escape as the emergency exits had been damaged due to the plane crashing into them. Some fifteen minutes later a big shock came. We saw another passenger jet coming in from the left of the screen at such a rapid speed and it literally flew straight into the second World Trade Center building. When you see this you don’t actually know what to think. It’s unheard of. I mean not one plane, but two? Each plane flying into two of America’s most iconic buildings. Who does this? Why do they have so much hatred and what the hell is going on were just some of the thoughts going through my head? What were you thinking? Where were you?
As the buildings smouldered, news network CNN was reporting that several other jets couldn’t be accounted for and that there were fears that there might be more coordinated attacks on the go. American State Security went into a tizz, trying to locate the missing planes, but the terrorists were one step ahead of them. A third plane hit the Pentagon in Washington DC. It later emerged that a fourth plane, believed to be on route to the White House, crashed in an open field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The occupants of that plane turned on the hijackers and after hearing about both the Trade Center and the Pentagon disasters. The plane crashed killing everyone on board. When you hear about all of this you really don’t know how to take this all in. The word ‘terror’ and the term ‘terrorist attack’ had never been in my vocabulary up until this point. I sat watching the smouldering Towers, the Pentagon disaster unfolding too, all the while trying to make sense of all of this. Some 56 minutes later, the first Tower fell. It literally dissolved into a big mass of thick, dark cloud of dust, rubble. The South Tower covered everything in its path and killing scores of innocent people.
Watching those events unfold was one of the most unbelievably sad moments of my life. You could sense the sheer desperation so many must’ve felt in the minutes before the tower fell and how so many of them had contacted their loved ones to say their final goodbyes. There was absolutely nothing that could be done to stop the tower from collapsing and nobody could’ve predicted that from happening. Some of the reporters actually didn’t know how to put this into words.
A few minutes later the second Tower fell. I remember tears welling up in my eyes and I vividly remember watching some of the news anchors absolutely dumbstruck by all of this. Their job was and is to tell stories, deliver them to a global audience. Their loss for words told more of a story than could ever meet the eye. “There you see the second tower, the front tower the top portion of which is collapsing. Good Lord. There are no words. This is just a horrific scene and a horrific moment”
I have had the privilege of visiting New York City three times in my life. I’ve been to Ground Zero and I spent some time walking around the museum that was set up to honour and remember those lost. Reading some of the stories, seeing parts of the building, firemen’s helmets, hearing some of the trapped voices from inside the Towers still saddens me, even ten years on. Today I watched family members on site reading the names of their loved ones around what is now called the 9/11 Memorial site and I realized how strong and how powerful these families and others are. They’re showing they are the leaders of the ‘Free World’ and that terrorism will be beaten, that there is no place for such weak and dark forces in this world. As hard as it still is for many of them, their loved ones were never and will never be forgotten. My condolences, thoughts and prayers go out to the families still.
Nick Ashford of singer/ songwriter duo Ashford & Simpson has died. The news was confirmed to AP yesterday by his long time friend and publicist Liz Rosenberg. The star, who battled throat cancer, died in a New York City hospital. He was 70 years old.
Ashford & Simpson are known for their work with Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. The duo are credited for writing tracks such as Ain’t No Mountain High Enough and Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing among many others. Celebrities have taken to Twitter to send their condolences onto his wife (Valerie Simpson) and his two daughters:
Alicia Keys said, “I’m so sad that he’s gone…..So many of the greatest are going to a greater place….what a legacy of infectious music… man!”
Singer Gavin DeGraw has been released from a New York hospital following a vicious attack at the weekend. The star is said to have a broken nose and a concussion, but he is stable. DeGraw, who was touring with Maroon 5 and Train, was attacked by a group of unidentified males late Sunday. The NYPD are yet to make any arrests but the case is being investigated.
Not to be funny or anything and don’t get me wrong, but DeGraw is set to release his new album, Sweeter in September. With an incident like this happening, DeGraw is bound to sell a few extra records now. Wishing him a speedy recovery.
