Filed under: Gossip, News, Celeb Updates

If only Spike Lee was as clairvoyant as he is imaginative with his big screen visions, the Academy Award-nominated director may have had a new profession as of this week.

Unfortunately Lee’s dream of landing LeBron James in a New York Knicks uniform faded away last night.

Two weeks ago BV caught up with the ‘Do The Right Thing’ director (coincidentally) in South Beach, Miami during the 14th Annual American Black Film Festival where he predicted James’ decision.

“LeBron’s coming to the New York Knickerbockers…he’s going to get to choose, since New York has two max contracts, he explained to ‘The Spark’ hostess Amanda Diva. “So LeBron will have the choice to chose maybe Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade… Amare Stoudemire…So I hope LeBron does the right thing.”

Funny how much two weeks can make a difference in an avid LeBron fan.
Following LeBron’s much publicized decision to choose a new NBA franchise, the die-hard Knicks fan appeared to be slightly disappointed over the MVP’s choice to play for New York rival Miami.

“I gotten word that he was doing that, so it was not a shock to me when he announced it last night,” Lee expressed Friday afternoon via ESPN. “I really can’t understand why they chose Greenwich, Connecticut, the show was kinda cheesy to me. You could look at LeBron’s face, he was on edge. I mean rarely smiling, and he smiles twenty-four, seven.”

“And we have to understand that was a very hard decision to make. When they cut to the shot of his jersey being burnt, I mean that was a killer. Like Michael Jackson’s saying, ‘it cuts like a knife.’ You could tell it hurts.”

Lee continued, “I don’t know how he’s going to be able to live in Akron or Cleveland anymore. They’re going to make his life miserable. I don’t care if you were born there, life is too short. Why live some place where you’re going to be hated?”

Although the Knicks didn’t manage to land three of the filmmaker’s potential prospects this week, the organization did sign former Phoenix Suns forward Amare Stoudemire. With Stoudemire on board, Lee expects to reignite New York’s Madison Square Garden next season similar to their battles during the 1990s with Michael Jordan and Reggie Miller.

“For me, I don’t think any team should help Miami,” he added. “Don’t do any sit ins, don’t do anything for Pat Riley. The Knicks are going to gear up. We had our battles with Michael Jordan and the Bulls. We didn’t beat them, but we didn’t lay down for them. The Knicks fought them tooth and nail. And we’re going to do the same thing with the Heat. We’re not scared of them…he’s going to get it worse than Reggie Miller.”

“They’re not better than Chicago; I don’t think they’re better than Boston. We gotta see what Pat Riley does to fill out the rest of the squad.”

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: Music, News, Theater, Celeb Updates

Kudos to Rihanna.

The platinum-selling music superstar is lending her name and using her influence for something other than promoting a product; the ‘Pon De Replay’ singer is urging her fans to help save the life of Shannon Tavarez, an 11-year-old star of Broadway’s hit musical ‘The Lion King’ who was recently diagnosed with Acute Leukemia.

“Being a performer myself I know what it’s like to be given the opportunity of a lifetime at a young age and I would have been destroyed if that was taken away from me,” the Def Jam Records chart-topper and Cover Girl cosmetics spokeswoman said. “Shannon deserves to live and share her beautiful voice with the world.”

Rihanna, who Tavarez considers her idol, got wind of her plight and felt she had to do something to help – urging her fans to register with DKMS at WWW.GETSWABBED.ORG to save the life of Shannon’s or another leukemia patient’s life.

Tavarez, who performed four shows a week as Young Nala in ‘Lion King,’ needs as much support as she can get with a bone marrow transplant. Her mother is African American and her father is Dominican. According to a spokesperson, only eight percent of the seven million registered donors are African American which means that only seventeen percent of African Americans in need of a transplant will receive one.

“When I found out, it hit me really hard, like someone was throwing a ball at me,” the talented tween, who currently lives at Schneider Children’s Hospital in Long Island where she receives daily chemotherapy treatments, said. “It was shocking and I thought, why me?”Brought to America in 2004 by Katharina Hart, the organization’s mission is to save lives by recruiting bone marrow donors for leukemia patients. More than 20,000 DKMS donors have helped save lives by donating their bone marrow. Founded in 1991 by Peter Hart in Germany, DKMS is the largest bone marrow donor center in the world with over 2 million registered donors.

“When I listened to Shannon’s voice, I got really sad. Her voice is so beautiful. She should be performing on Broadway, but she is confined to her bed, fighting for her life. Shannon needs to find a bone marrow donor to survive. I urge all my fans to register with DKMS,” said Rihanna., who has close ties to DKMS.

The cost to DKMS for registering a new potential bone marrow donor is $65. DKMS does not make paying the fee mandatory, but we depend on public donations and appreciate any contribution. We are grateful for every dollar.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: Movies, News, Theater, Celeb Updates

When she came to see her fellow Academy Award winning pal Denzel Washington’s triumphant performance in ‘Fences’ last month, buzz started to build that Halle Berry was eyeing a role on the Great White Way.

Well, it’s true.

Sources close to the forthcoming Broadway production of ‘The Mountaintop’ has confirmed that the Revlon cosmetics spokeswoman is attached to star in the play.

Katori Hall’s Olivier Award-winning drama about Martin Luther King, Jr.’s final hours, is reading a debut in New York City this fall. And the ‘Monster’s Ball’ beauty will make her debut, too.

Early word is that her role will be of a mysterious maid who visits Dr. King in a Memphis hotel room the night before his assassination.
Tony winner Anika Noni Rose recently read the role at a reading of the play at the William Inge Theatre Festival last spring. And Samuel L. Jackson read the role of King at a recent New York reading, which -according to our sources – made him a shoo-in for the Broadway turn.

Kenny Leon, the Tony Award nominated director of ‘Raisin in the Sun’ and ‘Fences,’ is attached to helm.

Stay tuned to Blackvoices.com for more information.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments