By Dean Goodman
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - What does it take to get pop singer Fergie, R&B star Akon and members of the rock band Linkin Park out of bed at the crack of dawn?
A Grammy, perhaps?
The chart-topping acts are among the artists who will announce nominees for the music industry's most coveted awards in Hollywood on Thursday at 8:30 a.m. PST (1600 GMT). At past events, most of the early risers have been mysteriously rewarded with nominations, and many have gone on to take home statuettes.
Of the nine announcers last year, eight were nominated, including leading contenders Mary J. Blige, James Blunt and Justin Timberlake. The year before, it was five out of eight.
This year's lineup also includes country veteran Vince Gill, who already has 18 Grammy wins, actor/comedian George Lopez, and rookie country star Taylor Swift.
Black Eyed Peas singer Fergie, a.k.a. Stacey Ferguson, already has three Grammys, while Linkin Park has two (the band will be represented at the event by singer Chester Bennington and multi-instrumentalist Mike Shinoda).
The musicians have all enjoyed chart success with their latest albums. Linkin Park went to No. 1 in May with "Minutes to Midnight." Fergie peaked at No. 2 with her debut solo album "The Dutchess," which yielded three No. 1 singles.
Akon, a Grammy nominee last year, also went to No. 2, with his second release, "Konvicted." The album generated two No. 1 singles. Swift peaked at No. 8 last month with her self-titled debut. Gill's four-disc set "These Days" opened at No. 17 in October 2006.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
ARMY SGT. IN MISS AMERICA PAGEANT
Utah Guard sgt. Aims For Miss AmericaAmerica 2008
Staff reportPosted : Thursday Nov 29, 2007 20:15:19 EST
Sgt. Jill Stevens will trade in her Army uniform for a designer dress when she participates in the illustrious Miss America pageant Jan. 26 in Las Vegas.
To boost publicity of “GI Jill,” the Army recently launched a Web site devoted to chronicling her preparation for the event, which will air live on TLC. The site features a blog written by Stevens.
Stevens is a member of the Utah National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 211th Aviation Regiment. She had just started nursing school at Southern Utah University in the fall of 2005 when the school’s pageant director recruited her to run for Miss SUU, according to the Army.
“I was like, ‘Yeah, right.’ I wear combat boots; I don’t do heels,” she said in a statement.
That year, she won Miss SUU and went on to become second runner-up in the 2006 Miss Utah pageant, according to the Army.
Stevens joined the Army National Guard six months before 9/11. Two years later, she deployed to Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, where she cared for 10 to 40 soldiers a day at the medical aid station.
Her rise through the ranks — both military and pageant — will be the subject of a feature article in the December issue of Soldiers magazine.
To help viewers get to know each of the 52 Miss America contestants, TLC will air a new reality series the night before the pageant.
ARMY TIMES
Staff reportPosted : Thursday Nov 29, 2007 20:15:19 EST
Sgt. Jill Stevens will trade in her Army uniform for a designer dress when she participates in the illustrious Miss America pageant Jan. 26 in Las Vegas.
To boost publicity of “GI Jill,” the Army recently launched a Web site devoted to chronicling her preparation for the event, which will air live on TLC. The site features a blog written by Stevens.
Stevens is a member of the Utah National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 211th Aviation Regiment. She had just started nursing school at Southern Utah University in the fall of 2005 when the school’s pageant director recruited her to run for Miss SUU, according to the Army.
“I was like, ‘Yeah, right.’ I wear combat boots; I don’t do heels,” she said in a statement.
That year, she won Miss SUU and went on to become second runner-up in the 2006 Miss Utah pageant, according to the Army.
Stevens joined the Army National Guard six months before 9/11. Two years later, she deployed to Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, where she cared for 10 to 40 soldiers a day at the medical aid station.
Her rise through the ranks — both military and pageant — will be the subject of a feature article in the December issue of Soldiers magazine.
To help viewers get to know each of the 52 Miss America contestants, TLC will air a new reality series the night before the pageant.
ARMY TIMES
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
CLINTON RACE WIDE OPEN
Bloggers' Obsession with Clinton Hints that the Race is Wide Open
Ron Paul rises, but Hillary Clinton surprises; Wonkosphere.com reports that buzz share results for September indicate the possibility of a wild campaign season.
(PRWEB) October 8, 2007 -- Texas representative and Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul lived up to his Internet fame in September. Wonkosphere.com has reported that Paul finished in first place amongst Republican candidates for buzz share from conservative bloggers. Buzz share measures how much the political blogosphere is talking about a particular candidate, and Paul's 16% beat out Senator Fred Thompson (13%) and Mayor Rudy Giuliani (10%). The real untold story however of Internet politics in September is bloggers' obsession with New York Senator Hillary Clinton.
In September, approximately one out of every four blog posts that talked about a presidential candidate talked about Senator Clinton. "Clinton (22%) barely beat out John Edwards (20%) for buzz share amongst liberal bloggers," said Wonkosphere's Kevin Dooley, "but she was all conservative bloggers could talk about -- she had more conservative buzz share than Fred Thompson and Rudy Giuliani combined."
"Senator Clinton's dominance in the political blogosphere is important for three reasons," added Wonkosphere's Steve Corman. "First, it means she is succeeding in driving the discussion, which can be powerful. Second, because the race is being defined as Clinton versus Not-Clinton, it means that anyone on either side can potentially fill the contender role; the narrative is 'Who will beat Hillary?' Third, because conservative bloggers have concentrated on Clinton, their own Republican candidates have gone largely un-vetted by the blogging community."
September Results Foretell ChangeBecause political bloggers tend to be thought-leaders in the political process, changes in candidate buzz share tend to be followed by changes in voter polls: the rise in Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee's poll numbers, the resurgence of John McCain and John Edwards, and Mitt Romney's recent dip all fit that pattern.
"Based on buzz share trends over the last couple of weeks, look for John Edwards to make a strong move for second place in the Democratic race, and expect Joe Biden's numbers to increase," said Dooley. "Amongst Republicans, expect Paul and Huckabee to pick up new voters and for Fred Thompson to lose some ground." Corman added, "The elephant in the room is Al Gore. The Nobel Peace Prize is announced October 12 and some bloggers are predicting that a win will coincide with him jumping into the race. Then it's really up for grabs."
Amongst conservative bloggers, Mitt Romney (9%) came in fifth place in September buzz share, behind Clinton, Paul, Thompson, and Giuliani. Romney was followed by Barack Obama (5%), Mike Huckabee (5%), John McCain (5%), and John Edwards (5%). Amongst liberal bloggers, Barack Obama (13%) finished in third place in buzz share behind Clinton and Edwards, and was followed by Giuliani (11%), Thompson (7%), Biden (7%), McCain (5%), Romney (4%), Bill Richardson (3%), Chris Dodd (3%), and Paul (2%).
PRWEB.COM
Ron Paul rises, but Hillary Clinton surprises; Wonkosphere.com reports that buzz share results for September indicate the possibility of a wild campaign season.
(PRWEB) October 8, 2007 -- Texas representative and Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul lived up to his Internet fame in September. Wonkosphere.com has reported that Paul finished in first place amongst Republican candidates for buzz share from conservative bloggers. Buzz share measures how much the political blogosphere is talking about a particular candidate, and Paul's 16% beat out Senator Fred Thompson (13%) and Mayor Rudy Giuliani (10%). The real untold story however of Internet politics in September is bloggers' obsession with New York Senator Hillary Clinton.
In September, approximately one out of every four blog posts that talked about a presidential candidate talked about Senator Clinton. "Clinton (22%) barely beat out John Edwards (20%) for buzz share amongst liberal bloggers," said Wonkosphere's Kevin Dooley, "but she was all conservative bloggers could talk about -- she had more conservative buzz share than Fred Thompson and Rudy Giuliani combined."
"Senator Clinton's dominance in the political blogosphere is important for three reasons," added Wonkosphere's Steve Corman. "First, it means she is succeeding in driving the discussion, which can be powerful. Second, because the race is being defined as Clinton versus Not-Clinton, it means that anyone on either side can potentially fill the contender role; the narrative is 'Who will beat Hillary?' Third, because conservative bloggers have concentrated on Clinton, their own Republican candidates have gone largely un-vetted by the blogging community."
September Results Foretell ChangeBecause political bloggers tend to be thought-leaders in the political process, changes in candidate buzz share tend to be followed by changes in voter polls: the rise in Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee's poll numbers, the resurgence of John McCain and John Edwards, and Mitt Romney's recent dip all fit that pattern.
"Based on buzz share trends over the last couple of weeks, look for John Edwards to make a strong move for second place in the Democratic race, and expect Joe Biden's numbers to increase," said Dooley. "Amongst Republicans, expect Paul and Huckabee to pick up new voters and for Fred Thompson to lose some ground." Corman added, "The elephant in the room is Al Gore. The Nobel Peace Prize is announced October 12 and some bloggers are predicting that a win will coincide with him jumping into the race. Then it's really up for grabs."
Amongst conservative bloggers, Mitt Romney (9%) came in fifth place in September buzz share, behind Clinton, Paul, Thompson, and Giuliani. Romney was followed by Barack Obama (5%), Mike Huckabee (5%), John McCain (5%), and John Edwards (5%). Amongst liberal bloggers, Barack Obama (13%) finished in third place in buzz share behind Clinton and Edwards, and was followed by Giuliani (11%), Thompson (7%), Biden (7%), McCain (5%), Romney (4%), Bill Richardson (3%), Chris Dodd (3%), and Paul (2%).
PRWEB.COM
TODAY'S DEMOCRATIC DEBATE
Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2007 10:13 EST
Today's Democratic debate on NPR
As a pre-Chanukah present for political junkies, NPR is hosting an early afternoon Democratic debate today (2 p.m. Eastern time), the next to last face-off before the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses. There is a wonderful Al Smith-era retro quality to staring at a radio dial for two hours and -- an even bigger bonus -- Anderson Cooper and CNN will not be in charge of the questions.
At a time when political reporters should demand hazard pay to check their e-mail (too many stinging press release attacks by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama), a radio debate brings with it intriguing challenges. With no visible smiles to soften the blow, even the mildest critiques of other candidates risk sounding mean and strident. And natural radio voices give an edge to two candidates -- Obama, who can easily adopt the tone of a late-night jazz host on public radio, and Chris Dodd, whose deep resonant sound would have been tailor-made for selling Maxwell House coffee during the commercial breaks on, say, "The Fred Allen Show."
Today's debate may also mark the return of a familiar figure, John Edwards playing the Nice-Guy Candidate. This was Edwards' self-assigned role during the run-up to the 2004 caucuses, and it served him well as he surged from the back of the pack (and, trust me, Bill Richardson and Joe Biden remember) to finish a close second to John Kerry. There is no happier place in a multicandidate political race than to be smiling on the sidelines as your principal rivals chew one another up. Despite his aggressively populist rhetoric this time around, Edward still retains some of the glow from that 2004 halo in Iowa. In the Des Moines Register poll released this week, 26 percent of likely caucusgoers consider Edwards to be the most likable Democrat. That puts him behind Obama in that smile-button contest but way ahead of Clinton (14 percent).
A final pre-debate thought: Joe Biden deserves credit for having been the least panicked Democrat about Iran's purported headlong rush to become a nuclear power. In an interview with me two weeks ago (before the alarmist intelligence estimate about Iran was publicly scaled down), Biden stressed that the real nuclear risk zone is Pakistan, which currently has the capacity to reach the Middle East with a missile. Now, with a little hindsight, the interview transcript may be worth rereading, especially if you cannot endure the white-knuckle tension of waiting for the NPR debate to begin.
― Walter Shapiro
Today's Democratic debate on NPR
As a pre-Chanukah present for political junkies, NPR is hosting an early afternoon Democratic debate today (2 p.m. Eastern time), the next to last face-off before the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses. There is a wonderful Al Smith-era retro quality to staring at a radio dial for two hours and -- an even bigger bonus -- Anderson Cooper and CNN will not be in charge of the questions.
At a time when political reporters should demand hazard pay to check their e-mail (too many stinging press release attacks by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama), a radio debate brings with it intriguing challenges. With no visible smiles to soften the blow, even the mildest critiques of other candidates risk sounding mean and strident. And natural radio voices give an edge to two candidates -- Obama, who can easily adopt the tone of a late-night jazz host on public radio, and Chris Dodd, whose deep resonant sound would have been tailor-made for selling Maxwell House coffee during the commercial breaks on, say, "The Fred Allen Show."
Today's debate may also mark the return of a familiar figure, John Edwards playing the Nice-Guy Candidate. This was Edwards' self-assigned role during the run-up to the 2004 caucuses, and it served him well as he surged from the back of the pack (and, trust me, Bill Richardson and Joe Biden remember) to finish a close second to John Kerry. There is no happier place in a multicandidate political race than to be smiling on the sidelines as your principal rivals chew one another up. Despite his aggressively populist rhetoric this time around, Edward still retains some of the glow from that 2004 halo in Iowa. In the Des Moines Register poll released this week, 26 percent of likely caucusgoers consider Edwards to be the most likable Democrat. That puts him behind Obama in that smile-button contest but way ahead of Clinton (14 percent).
A final pre-debate thought: Joe Biden deserves credit for having been the least panicked Democrat about Iran's purported headlong rush to become a nuclear power. In an interview with me two weeks ago (before the alarmist intelligence estimate about Iran was publicly scaled down), Biden stressed that the real nuclear risk zone is Pakistan, which currently has the capacity to reach the Middle East with a missile. Now, with a little hindsight, the interview transcript may be worth rereading, especially if you cannot endure the white-knuckle tension of waiting for the NPR debate to begin.
― Walter Shapiro
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