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Hines Ward part of a string of ‘Dancing’ athletes

2011-05-26T17:04:11Z

May 26, 2011

By SANDY COHEN

AP Entertainment Writer

LOS ANGELES — It’s become a proud athletic tradition: Winning “Dancing With the Stars.”

When Hines Ward took home the mirrorball trophy on the hit show Tuesday, he joined its winningest group of alumni: Athletes. Professional athletes have taken the “Dancing” title six times in the past 12 seasons.

Since the show premiered stateside in 2005, three Olympians, two football stars and one race-car driver have been named “Dancing” champs. Three other NFL stars and an Olympic skater finished the popular show in second place.

Ward, a Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver and former Super Bowl most valuable player, credits his professional dance partner, Kym Johnson, with their dance victory. He plans to keep his new mirrorball right next to his Super Bowl trophy.

“It’s special,” the 35-year-old said, glittery trophy in hand. “With football, it takes all 53 guys. With this mirrorball, it was just Kym and I together in the studio putting in the hours. I’m just glad I didn’t let her down.”

Ward consistently posted high scores throughout the 10-week competition, and judges praised his showmanship and dedication.

“We’ve had some great footballers on ‘Dancing With the Stars,’ but I don’t think any compare with Hines Ward,” head judge Len Goodman said during the season finale.

Ward was up against Kirstie Alley and Chelsea Kane for the season 12 title. The actresses finished second and third respectively.

His commitment was especially evident after Johnson suffered a serious neck injury during rehearsals two weeks ago. The couple triumphantly returned to the dance floor, earning perfect scores for their performance and drawing tears from Ward, Johnson and judge Carrie Ann Inaba.

“I’m so impressed with you, the way you partnered with her through that routine,” Inaba said. “The connection was beyond what we ask for in a dance routine.”

Through misty eyes, Ward said, “I was just elated that she was out there dancing three days after that horrific injury that she just had.”

The couple earned five perfect scores for their final six dances.

Besides Ward, the other athletic “Dancing” champs are NFL star Emmitt Smith, speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno, IndyCar driver Helio Castroneves, figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi and gymnast Shawn Johnson. Football stars Jason Taylor, Warren Sapp and Jerry Rice were runners-up on the show, as was Olympic skater Evan Lysacek.

Professional athletes actively use their bodies for their work, so they have the mental discipline and physical fitness to train and adapt to the challenges of competitive dancing. They’re also more likely than other candidates to avoid over-training, said casting director Deena Katz.

The professional dancers on “Dancing With the Stars” are “world-class athletes,” said “Sport Science” host John Brenkus, so it follows that their fellow professional athletes might be able to keep up.

But not all can. Legendary boxer Sugar Ray Leonard and pro wrestler Chris Jericho were dismissed from the show last month.

Fans gather for final taping of Winfrey’s show

2011-05-25T15:55:10Z

May 26, 2011

By CARYN ROUSSEAU

Associated Press

CHICAGO — Hundreds of giddy fans struck by their luck at getting tickets to be a part of history gathered outside Oprah Winfrey’s television studio in Chicago Tuesday awaiting the taping of her final talk show.

The show taped Tuesday afternoon was the finale of “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” according to Harpo Productions. The show aired on Wednesday.

Winfrey announced in November 2009 that she would end her popular talk show after 25 years. Tuesday’s taping comes a week after Hollywood’s A-list and 13,000 fans bid Winfrey farewell during a double-episode extravaganza at Chicago’s United Center. The shows that aired Monday and Tuesday included Aretha Franklin, Tom Cruise, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jordan and Madonna, among other stars of television, music and movies.

Sarah Cranley, 32, of Chicago waited in line with her mother, who traveled in from Pittsburgh for the taping. Cranley said she felt very lucky to snag tickets to the last show and the prospect of seeing Winfrey live didnt yet feel real.

“You think about how many billions of people around the world watch her and want to be here,” Cranley said. “What are the odds?”

Allegra Scott, 39, of Chicago, said it's amazing to be a part of the final show, calling it a blessing.

Fans said they went through the normal ticketing process for the final taping by submitting their names online.

Winfrey’s best friend Gayle King mixed with the waiting fans — who cheered, “Oprah! Oprah! Oprah!” — and interviewed several with a camera phone. For her, the show’s end is bittersweet.

“I have such mixed feelings about it,” King told fans.

The finale of “The Oprah Winfrey Show” has remained a secret, even as Harpo Studios hyped it as a television event.

In a promotional video posted online May 16, clips of famous television finales plays over a sad song with the lyrics “It’s hard to say goodbye.” It includes Mary Tyler Moore, Walter Cronkite, Johnny Carson, “M.A.S.H,” “The Cosby Show,” and “Cheers.”

The video asks viewers “Where were you?” and “Where will you be?” Another promotional video for the final three episodes prompts viewers to “Say farewell.”

When Winfrey announced her show would end she promised her viewers she would use the final season to “knock your socks off.” On her 25th and final season premiere she danced onstage with John Travolta and told everyone in the audience they were going to Australia.

Other season highlights included interviews with President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, former President George W. Bush and Michael Jackson’s family. Winfrey also revealed she found a sister who her mother gave up for adoption.

Already a television journalist, Winfrey came to Chicago in 1984 to WLS-TV’s morning talk show, “A.M. Chicago.” A month later the show was No. 1 in the market. A year later it was renamed “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”

Winfrey opened Harpo Studios on Chicago’s West Loop neighborhood in 1990. On Jan. 1 of this year she launched the Oprah Winfrey Network, which is based in Los Angeles.

The White House Celebrates American Poetry

2011-05-19T18:05:28Z

May 19, 2011

From nnpa.org

First Lady Michelle Obama hosted a workshop for students from California to New York at the White House to celebrate American poetry, which she said “helps us see the world in an entirely different way.”

The workshop was designed to educate and inspire talented young people, who met and worked with the First Lady’s invited guests, including prominent writers such as former poets laureate Rita Dove and Billy Collins; Elizabeth Alexander, who wrote and delivered the poem at President Barack Obama’s inauguration; musician Jill Scott; and Grammy Award-winning rapper and actor Common, who drew strong criticism from Republicans, who contended the rapper advocated violence against former President George W. Bush and the police.

Common later tweeted: “… The one thing that shouldn’t be questioned is my support for the police officers and troops that protect us every day.”

WAVEFEST Turns 15

2011-05-12T17:14:14Z

May 12, 2011

BY JOY CHILDS

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

It was a cool, crisp night under the stars at the Greek that brought out 94.7 WAVE fans for the 15th Annual WAVEFEST concert. With a diverse group of acts slated to perform — Sheila E. and her family, Macy Gray, Kem and Roberta Flack — there was something for every smooth-jazz taste.

This lady, it seems, can do it all. Recently Sheila E. could be seen jumping on stage to party with Cuba Gooding Jr. and a whole bunch of other people at one of her mentor Prince’s recent Forum concerts. Here, she led her brothers Juan and Peter Michael, sister and percussionist papa Pete Escovedo in a celebration of Latin salsa, jazz and funk. Nowhere else will you see practically an entire family perform with such gusto.

Singing songs from their new “Now and Forever” album, like “Do What It Do” and “All Around,” they totally inspired a party atmosphere. There was dynamic lead singer Juan and guitar lead Peter Michael, creator of several sterling solos this night. And in the midst of all that, there was the small, toned body and arms of Sheila E., beating and funking on the drums like one of the guys.

Next up was a beautifully adorned Macy Gray. Accompanied by two plus-sized backup girls, who danced and pranced their way all over the stage and provided amazing support roles, Gray sang some audience favorites in that uniquely raspy voice of hers, songs like “G-H-E-T-T-O Love” and “I’m So Glad You’re Here.” With an organ solo, Gray gave a long introductory explanation for her set’s finale, a song, she explained, that she wrote about relationships: “I Try.”

Hands down, Kem and his seven-piece band and three backup singers, all dressed in white, were the biggest hits of the night. When Kem sashayed singing “You’re On My Mind,” female audience members were screaming and swooning.

Then, true to his past performances, he began sermonizing about his days as a homeless addict and how, as he has said, his career “didn’t take off until I connected with my spirituality. That’s why I take time on stage … to administer spirituality to people.” All the while a video about homelessness was showing on the Greek’s JumboTrons. As he sang one of his bigger hits, “True Love,” he gave the ladies a cheap thrill when he took a camera from an audience member and shot a picture of himself for her enjoyment.

It’s really a shame that Roberta Flack appeared last — a shame since about one third of the audience had left by that time. But she didn’t disappoint those true fans who’d come to the festival just to see her. The 70-plus-year-old songstress from Black Mountain, N.C. — looking and sounding very much like she did when she first burst on the scene in the 1960s and ’70s — played the piano and sang perennial hits “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” and “Killing Me Softly,” on the latter encouraging folks to “imagine we’re in Brazil … all these gorgeous bodies …” as they sang backup with her. She threw in a personal favorite with “Sweet Georgia Brown.”

Thankfully, WAVEFEST, which was scheduled to end at 11 p.m., didn’t so as to afford Flack to put the icing on this year’s WAVEFEST cake on a “Feel Like Makin’ Love/You Sure Love to Ball” (Marvin Gaye) medley, and the song that she announced was passed over by Diana Ross and Julio Iglesias, “Tonight I Celebrate My Love.”

Sights and Scenes

2011-05-12T16:12:11Z

Photos by Clinton H. Wallace

This week’s sights and scenes photos are from, The Disneyland world premiere of, “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.”

Prince and his new power generation band reign at the Forum

2011-05-12T16:03:38Z

May 12, 2011

By Joy Childs

Sentinel Contributing Writer

To really comprehend Prince’s enormous talents — and to see him jam with many of his muses and celebrity friends, you’d need to go to all 21 of his “WELCOME 2 AMERICA LIVE Featuring PRINCE Plus Special Guests” concerts at the Forum.

That, however, is most likely impossible.

At only $25 a pop (plus fees in some cases), the next best thing for many a fan may be to go once, twice, even thrice. Just know that how much you enjoy him may depend on which show you catch — and how long you’re willing to wait around after the show appears to be over to see if he comes back out to do encore(s).

For the most part, however, it’s all good.

Then there’s at least one show that started at 8 p.m. and opened with Prince’s Minnesota homeboys, Mint Condition. Prince did a great show that night: Halfway through, Sheila E. and Cuba Gooding Jr. joined Prince and others onstage to party. But the highlight of that show was when new mama Alicia Keys dueted with him on his “How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore,” the Prince ballad she covered back in 2001.

At 11 p.m., that show was over — or so it seemed. Most of the crowd waited for about 45 minutes to see if what they’d heard from others was true — ‘Don’t leave,’ they’d been told. ‘Prince will definitely come back out.’ But most of crowd emptied out of the arena, never to know whether he had.

Not so at last week’s Thursday concert. First of all, he had his funk muse, Chaka Khan, as his opening act. At one point, she was joined onstage on “Tell Me Something Good” by the strong vocal backings of Whitney Houston, who’d been seated in the VIP lounge near and below the stage.

This night he ended with “Kiss” — or so it seemed. About 10 minutes after that ended, he began his encores, including “Let’s Go Crazy,” “Delirious” and “Let’s Go.”

At one point Prince announced that “My house (The Forum, that is) is your house” for the next few Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and that “you’ll hear real music by real musicians.”

And at $25, maybe you can afford go — at least twice?

A Q-and-A with Sister Souljah

2011-05-05T14:50:34Z

May 05, 2011

By Joy Childs

Contributing Writer

When you Google her name, you might be inclined to think it’s spelled colloquially, i.e., “Sistuh” or “Sista Soldier.” But you’d be wrong. As Sister Souljah explained in a recent phone interview, she came up with that particular spelling “because ‘soldier,’ as it’s spelled in the regular dictionary, is a masculine word, with a masculine feeling and a masculine sound. So when I want to call myself a ‘soldier’ — because I am a fighter (but) I want to have a feminine presence, I spell ‘sol,’ ‘soul,’ which means “the essence of …” and ‘jah,’ which means ‘God.’ ”

Put it all together and you get the full meaning of her name: “Sister Souljah, fighting to bring back the essence of God — fighting to arouse the essence of God in you.”

But not just any sister. Souljah is a wife and a mother, an educator of the young and a student of life — and a New York Times bestselling author of “The Coldest Winter Ever” (entering at No. 7) and “Midnight.” In her third novel, “Midnight and the Meaning of Love” — which came out this past April, entering at No. 15 — protagonist Midnight, a ninja warrior, devoted Muslim and protector of his family, falls passionately in love with and marries a younger, Japanese teenager, Akemi, in Japan.

Asked what kinds of feedback she’s gotten about the interracial relationship of her novel, Souljah says:

“The overwhelmingly majority of people who have responded ... have given me a positive response. She (Akemi)’s so creative. I think her expression of her art makes people love her. It kind of shows her soul through her eyes and through her creation of beautiful artwork. I think are people are fascinated with the fact that she’s Japanese and (about) Japanese culture and the country itself, which kind of mirrors reality in the sense that a lot of people are fascinated with Japan and with what that small island has been able to accomplish in the world … Some people are upset that the character is not an African American female but they were definitely in the minority.”

LAS: What’s up next for you?

SS: The next novel that I’ll put out will be the Porsche Santiaga story. And I’m also writing the next “Midnight” story simultaneously ... When I finished “Midnight and the Meaning of Love,” I found that to be such a powerful story that the characters continued talking even after I put my pen down. So when my characters continue talking — continue living in my mind — it’s important for me to write it down.

LAS: Thirty to 40 years ago, there were only a few ways to do a book tour. Nowadays there are the actual book tours, virtual book tours, etc. So you have all of these avenues available to you nowadays to promote and market your book. Is there one of those media forms that you really prefer?

SS: I’m on Twitter and that’s something that I do on a daily basis. Also, I like the setting that is the most attractive because I don’t wanna just talk and have everybody listen. I kind of enjoy more a meaningful conversation. When I do my in-person events, I’m looking to read to the audience or speak to the audience but I’m really listening to their responses, to their questions and interacting with them, even when I‘m being challenged or debated. That’s really the most exciting part of the whole thing.

LAS: What brings you joy?

SS: Actually, learning. Learning is a very joyful thing for me. When I’m traveling the world, I’m being introduced to all of the different languages, culture and people that God created. I’m amazed constantly by the expressions of our creator — all of the wonderful things and people and creatures. So I just love exploration and I love learning. And that’s what brings me joy.

LAS: Tell me about your upbringing, especially your early upbringing.

SS: The first book I wrote was “No Disrespect.” It told the whole story of my childhood of living in the projects, and so people who want to know about my background [should read that.] … I think everything that happens is everyone’s life has an effect on them, leaves an impression on them, has some kind of impact on them. So my living in the projects in the Bronx in the early part of my life, you know, definitely gave me certain insights.

Online:

Twitter: @souljahbooks

E-mail: sistersouljah@sistersouljah.com

A mother’s passion for music and life

2011-05-05T14:45:25Z

May 05, 2011

By Brandon I. Brooks

CO-Managing Editor

Karen A. Clark is not your average everyday woman. Better stated, Clark is not your average everyday mother.

This mother of two defines the phrase “triple threat,” as she juggles her busy life as a corporate executive, talented artist and loving mother.

Since the release of her second album, “The Karen A. Clark Project,” on her family owned label, C-Sick Records, Clark’s life has been busier than ever fulfilling her dreams as a performing artist and making history as an executive force in the banking industry.

2011 has been one of the busiest times for Clark, as she transitioned from her job at US Bank, where she worked as the multicultural marketing manager, to now working with City National Bank, where she works as Senior Vice President. Clark was brought in to help City National build a multicultural marketing program and to assist them with building their base of diverse customers.

Her other focus is to assist City National Bank with talent acquisitions and to bring in some highly seasoned African-American professionals across business lines.

With such a demanding day job, it’s hard to believe that this working mother can find the time to do anything but work in the corporate world.

“I’ve been in banking for 20-something years,” Clark shared. “But how I got into it was my husband and I had two kids in college and we were both artist, he more on the production side and filmmaking, and me as a performing artist. But when we came to L.A., I went to a head hunter and had to get a day job because I wasn’t making money. I had a degree in economics and fell into banking, but I always pursued the arts. I have always been into arts in some form or fashion.”

Clark and her late husband, who passed away about three years ago, produced and wrote many plays, and even produced many artists.

“We had started a little business, an independent record label.” Clark shared, “We have done all types of shows, big theatres and little theatres. The company is called C-Sick Records.”

Clark recalls, one day her late husband said, “I want to produce you.” They went in the studio and did a project immediately.

The project was not all spoken word, as it showcased Clark’s singing ability. But after meeting some new producers and connecting with the right people, Clark went back in the studio and found spoken word would be the genre that she would go after. Her poetic style of writing was magnetic and had to be center stage.

“When people started doing spoken word, you know that whole resurgence, a decade or so ago it was lovely,” said Clark. “I grew up doing spoken word ... I do sing, but I want to drive the spoken word home.”

Her favorite track on the album is “Determined” because the word determined sums up what we all have to be to in order to make it in this world.

“No matter what you are trying to do, you have to be determined,” Clark shares. “Keep on the grind and keep going. It kind of combines a whole earthy thing about how I have to keep it moving. I am determined to reach my dream. But then it also builds in some real sexy content and takes it to a different level talking about relationships.”

Clark is a lyricist. You normally hear the term lyricist when discussing hip-hop music, but Clark is a lyricist with lasting impression. She combines words and phrases as if she was a Shakespearian poet and delivers them in a passionate tone to capture the audience.

Being that Clark is a corporate executive, performing artist and dedicated mother, she was asked by the Sentinel to share and give advice to women who balance many things on their daily plate.

“I would say this to people: Life is short; in the twinkling of an eye it is over,” said Clark. “So every day you wake up, you better figure out how you want to use those 24 hours because we all have 24. …

Clark is leaving no stone unturned as she lives out the rest of her life. She may have lost her husband but she will never lose her passion for music and life. She is a living testament to mothers everywhere that you must deal with the cards that are dealt. But always remember you play the cards you have your way.

“You know I’ve just been blessed in my corporate life to always meet people who always put me in a place to have unique jobs,” said Clark. “And I’ve been traveling for 20 to 25 years through my job and seeing the world. You know it’s all God but in terms of this project, I just love to perform, so I have never stopped. I’ve always performed and so now this just gives me another vehicle to share. I just have joy when I am on the stage, and I just love being in front of people.”

Karen A. Clark will be performing live at UCLA’s Reggae Jazz Festival on May 29.

The “Karen A. Clark Project” is available via iTunes, spoken word category. The CD is available at Midnight Records, 2867 S. Robertson Blvd., Los Angeles. For more information, visit www.thekarenaclarkproject.com.

1 in 4 children in U.S. raised by a single parent

2011-04-28T18:00:39Z

April 28, 2011

By CHRISTINE ARMARIO

Associated Press

MIAMI — One in four children in the United States is being raised by a single parent — a percentage that has been on the rise and is higher than other developed countries, according to a report released Wednesday.

Of the 27 industrialized countries studied by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the U.S. had 25.8 percent of children being raised by a single parent, compared with an average of 14.9 percent across the other countries.

Ireland was second (24.3 percent), followed by New Zealand (23.7 percent). Greece, Spain, Italy and Luxemborg had among the lowest percentages of children in single-parent homes.

Experts point to a variety of factors to explain the high U.S. figure, including a cultural shift toward greater acceptance of single-parent child rearing. The U.S. also lacks policies to help support families, including childcare at work and national paid maternity leave, which are commonplace in other countries.

“When our parents married, there was a sense that you were marrying for life,” said Edward Zigler, founder and director of Yale’s Edward Zigler Center in Child Development and Social Policy. “That sense is not as prevalent.”

Single parents in the U.S. were more likely to be employed — 35.8 percent compared to a 21.3 percent average — but they also had higher rates of poverty, the report found.

“The in-work poverty is higher in the U.S. than other OECD countries, because at the bottom end of the labor market, earnings are very low,” said Willem Adema, a senior economist in the group’s social policy division. “For parents, the risk is higher because they have to make expenditures on childcare costs.”

The Paris-based organization looked at a broad sector of indicators that affected families and children, including childhood poverty, early education and amount of time spent on parental care.

Across the nations examined, preschool enrollment has grown from 30 to 50 percent between 1998 and 2007. The average enrollment was 58.2 percent, while in the U.S. it was lower.

The report noted that public spending on child welfare and education is higher in the U.S. than in other countries — $160,000 per child compared to $149,000. However, the authors say most of that money is spent after the crucial early childhood years.

“This means early investment — including childcare and support for families around the time of birth — could be strengthened,” the authors wrote in a separate paper examining the United States.

The study pointed out that the U.S. is the only OECD country that does not have a national paid parental leave policy. Some states have started to adopt such policies, but most parents are offered 12 weeks of unpaid leave. This is particularly difficult for unwed mothers, who may not be able to afford to take time off, Zigler said.

“We have not built in the kind of national support systems for families and children that other countries have,” he said.

Childhood poverty rates in the U.S. are also expected to climb — 23.5 percent from 20 percent. Adema said the rise is a direct result of the financial crisis and higher unemployment rates.

“The financial strain causes all sorts of other strain, so ultimately it might contribute to family dissolution,” Adema said. “At the same time, it might bring some families together. I suspect that the response differs across families.”

The single parent phenomenon has been occurring over recent decades. The study noted the U.S. and England have higher teenage birthrates than other countries, partially contributing to the higher single-parent numbers, though the proportion of children born outside marriage was not significantly higher than the other countries.

Christina Gibson Davis, a professor at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Police, said changing gender roles, the rise of contraception, high incarceration rates in some communities and an acceptance of having children out of wedlock have all contributed to the growing number.

Terry O’Neill, president of the National Organization for Women, added it isn’t being a single parent in itself that raises difficulties.

“Single moms do a brilliant and amazing job raising their children,” said Terry O’Neill, president of the National Organization for Women. “It is also true that single moms in this country are systemically underpaid, and systematically under-resourced and systemically unrespected. It’s not the fact they are single moms that makes things difficult.”

Nintendo says successor to Wii coming in 2012

2011-04-28T17:55:45Z

April 28, 2011

By PETER SVENSSON

AP Technology Writer Peter Svensson

NEW YORK — The successor to Nintendo’s hit Wii console will arrive next year.

In disclosing its plans Monday, Nintendo Co. didn’t say what the new system will do. The Japanese company plans to show a playable model of the new console at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, which runs June 7-9 in Los Angeles.

Nintendo has dominated sales of video game consoles and sold 86 million Wiis since launching it in 2006. The Wii caused a splash with its innovative motion-sensing controller. Sports-style games such as baseball and boxing let players move their arms to simulate the pitching of a ball or the throwing of a punch. Nintendo also makes a step-board accessory, the Wii Fit, that allows players to try dance steps or yoga.

The Wii setup has been copied and elaborated on by the other major console makers since then.

But the Wii is showing its age. Even when it launched, it was behind the other consoles of the era, Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360, in not offering a high-definition image.

The modest hardware of the Wii has also meant that while Sony and Microsoft have been able to update their consoles with new capabilities, the Wii has seen only relatively minor updates, such as addition of the optional Wii Fit and the ability to play Netflix movies.

Microsoft launched its Kinect game-control system last fall. Using a 3-D camera, depth sensors and voice-recognition software, it recognizes your face, voice and gestures as you move around and talk, without requiring you to hold a controller or wear a headset. Sony, meanwhile, began selling a Move controller that is essentially a higher-tech version of the Wii remote.

Nintendo announced plans for the Wii successor as part of its financial results Monday. Nintendo said its annual earnings dropped for the second straight year as sales declined. It’s expecting sales to increase again in the fiscal year that just started, thanks to its new handheld 3DS device, which launched last month.