Beyonce, Tyler Perry dominate NAACP Image nominations

Wednesday, Jan 07, 2009 10:59PM UTC

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Singers Beyonce, Alicia Keys and Jennifer Hudson, along with the cast of TV comedy "Tyler Perry's House of Payne", were among top nominees for the NAACP Image Awards, the oldest U.S. civil rights organization said on Wednesday.

Television mini-series "A Raisin in the Sun" also received multiple nominations, while "Cadillac Records" and "The Secret Life of Bees" dominated movie entries for the 40th NAACP Image Awards.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People also announced that hip-hop music producer and businessman Russell Simmons will receive its prestigious Vanguard award next month for helping to increase understanding of racial and social issues.

Simmons, 51, the co-founder of Def Jam Recordings, was cited for using the power of hip-hop culture to inspire American youth. He joins past Vanguard recipients Aretha Franklin, Prince, Steven Spielberg and Stanley Kramer.

Beyonce led the music nominations with five nods including outstanding artist, album, song, and music video for "Single Ladies" and "If I Were a Boy."

Former "American Idol" contestant Hudson, and Keys were close behind in the music category, and along with Beyonce, they picked up more nominations in the film section for roles in dramas "The Secret Life of Bees" and "Cadillac Records."

In television, TBS sitcom "Tyler Perry's House of Payne", towered over the best comedy nominees, with cast members LaVan Davis, Cassi Davis, Lance Gross, Larramie 'Doc' Shaw, and Keshia Knight Pulliam all winning nods in the acting categories.

The ABC miniseries "A Raisin in the Sun", based on the 1950s play about life in a black neighborhood of Chicago, won nominations for outstanding drama and for its five leading actors and actresses.

The NAACP Image Awards in 53 categories spanning music, literature, television and music, will be handed out in Los Angeles on Feb 12.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

Lionel Richie and Steve Miller honoured at L.A. awards

Lionel Richie and Steve Miller honoured at L.A. awards

Thursday, Apr 10, 2008

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Lionel Richie didn't dance on the ceiling, and Steve Miller didn't fly like an eagle, but both veterans seemed pretty thrilled to pick up lifetime achievement honours at a music industry awards show in Hollywood on Wednesday.

Richie and Miller received Golden Note Awards during the 25th annual Pop Music Awards organized by ASCAP, an organization that collects public-performance royalties for its member songwriters and copyright owners.

The black-tie event, which took place at the Kodak Theatre, honours the writers and publishers of ASCAP's most-performed compositions during the past year. R&B producer Timbaland was named songwriter of the year, while Fergie's "Big Girls Don't Cry" and Gwen Stefani featuring Akon's "The Great Escape" shared the award for song of the year.

Miller, 64, took to the stage to perform six songs, including such '70s hits as "The Joker" and "Fly Like An Eagle," accompanied by his eponymous band.

In accepting his award, the rock guitarist said, "I never saw myself receiving any awards or doing anything."

Richie, 58, who did not perform, paid tribute to his former bandmates in the Commodores, the Motown hitmaking machine from which he launched a hugely successful solo career in the 1980s. Pondering a video retrospective that preceded the presentation, Richie joked that the only thing he wished he could go back and change was his hairstyle.

Timbaland was unable to accept his award in person, sending a message that said he was busy mixing the new solo album by former Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell.

Black Eyed Peas singer Fergie recalled that she came up with "Boys Don't Cry" five years ago while she was living at her mother's place and collecting unemployment benefits.

(Reporting by Dean Goodman)

"Harry Potter" wins YouTube award

Saturday, Mar 22, 2008

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A puppet show version of "Harry Potter" featuring a naked Dumbledore and an enigmatic song called "Chocolate Rain" by a Minnesota graduate student were among the winners of YouTube's second annual video awards, the Web site said on Friday.

Tay Zonday, a 25-year-old baritone PhD student in American Studies, won best music with his original song "Chocolate Rain," a rhythmic electric keyboard-backed number whose curious lyrics could be a political statement or humorous nonsense.

The song, one of about 30 videos Zonday has posted, has been covered by singer John Mayer and rockers Green Day, and he has performed it live on Jimmy Kimmel's late night talk show.

"I would say basically (I started) just like millions of other people making videos in their living rooms," Zonday told Reuters. "That's become so much a part of our lives."

A homemade version of the special effects-laden Harry Potter movies, called "The Potter Puppet Pals in 'The Mysterious Ticking Noise' captured the comedy award.

The puppet show features an a capella song with an appearance by a naked, but not anatomically correct, Professor Dumbledore and an explosive ending.

Despite a huge number of views and worldwide media attention, "I Got a Crush on Obama" lost the politics award to "Stop the Clash of Civilizations", about mutual prejudices held in Islamic and Western worlds, by the "global web movement" Avaaz.org.

The short film winner, "My Name is Lisa" by Shelton Films, focuses on a teenager coping with a mentally ill mother, while commentary winner "LonelyGirl15 is Dead!" by "What the Buck Show" gave a gossipy, arch review of the demise of the popular Web character.

Winners were chosen from among six nominees in 12 categories, including "Adorable", commentary, eyewitness, instructional, politics, short film, comedy, creative, inspirational, music, series, and sports.

Nominees and winners were selected by a combination of ways including the number of people who viewed and selected the short, user-generated videos as their favourites, as well as "general buzz," YouTube spokesman Aaron Ferstman said.

The videos in this year's contest received a quarter-billion views, Ferstman said.

(Reporting by Gina Keating)