04-19-06 EUR: MiJac Hires Manager, Signs Record Deal / TD Jakes Signs w/Sony

EUR Headlines

MIJAC HIRES NEW MANAGER; SIGNS RECORD DEAL: Producer of Crazy Frog hit now in charge of singer’s career.
*The man responsible for the Crazy Frog craze that hit the U.K. last year has been hired by Michael Jackson to be his new manager as well as oversee the singer’s new record label. Read Full Story

BISHOP T.D. JAKES SIGNS DEAL WITH SONY PICTURES: Three-year agreement distributes film and DVD projects from his production company.
*Sony Pictures Entertainment has signed a three-year deal with Bishop T.D. Jakes to release films and DVDs created under his production company, TDJ Enterprises. Read Full Story

GORDY’S MOTOWN MUSICAL TO PREMIERE IN SUMMER 2007: “Ain’t No Mountain” will be part of Ahmanson’s 2006-07 season.
*We heard it through the grapevine that a Berry Gordy-created musical, featuring songs from his legendary Motown record label, will be dancing in the streets of Los Angeles next summer. Read Full Story

PROOF’S ALLEGED SHOOTING VICTIM DIES: Keith Bender died Tuesday after being shot a week ago at a Detroit nightclub.
*Keith Bender, the 35-year-old man allegedly shot by rapper Proof in the club shootout that took Proof’s life, died early Tuesday in Detroit, a hospital spokeswoman said. Read Full Story

DOES RAP MUSIC LEAD TO DRUG PROBLEMS?: New study suggests a link between the two.
*Folks who listen to hip hop are more prone to abuse drug and alcohol than listeners of other music genres, according to new data collected from the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation's (PIRE) Prevention Research Center. Read Full Story

VERIZON NABS ARCHITECT OF OPRAH’S CAR GIVEAWAY: Andrea Fant-Hobbs is cell phone company’s new vice president of brand management.
*The African American woman who masterminded Oprah Winfrey’s car giveaway to every member of her studio audience has accepted a new high-ranking position at Verizon. Read Full Story

TOM JOYNER HEADED TO LA'S KKBT?: If so, what does that mean for John Salley's future?
According to Broadcast Band Update, a regional radio newsletter based in LA, the Tom Joyner Morning Show is headed back to the City of the Angels starting in June via Radio One's KKBT The Beat. The publication cites laradio.com as its source. Read Full Story

THE EUR ('Black White') INTERVIEW: Black Man Reflects on Being White for Five Weeks
*41 year-old Brian Sparks was a contractor before he and his wife, Renee, and their 17 year-old son, Nick, agreed to appear on FX’s Black White. And now that the show is over, he and his family have returned to Georgia, where he’s back at his former profession, despite all the sudden attention which comes from being on a hit TV program. Read Full Story

THE 'CHITLIN’ CIRCUIT': Do some of today’s Black plays qualify?
By DeBorah B. Pryor
Dig, if you will, the picture. You’re a journalist backstage at the 16th Annual NAACP Theatre Awards. Where a steady stream of actors with varying degrees of stature and notoriety are being paraded back by anxiety-ridden publicists, who, suffering from the ill effects of too much caffeine, usher them on and off the speakers’ podium before any questions requiring them to actually think are asked by the reporters who have been waiting for at least three hours. Cautioned to say nothing more than the content surrounding their latest project, many performers are more often than not left standing in silence for an uncomfortably-long minute, with no project to speak of beyond the canned-answer they’ve been prompted to give, to save face. “I’m working on a few things, but I can’t speak too much on them right now.” Right. Read Full Story

FILM/TV BITS: Newton, Gooding, Griffin join ‘Norbit’; big-a** plasma screen; Oprah’s rumors; Eubanks honored; Narain settles.
*Thandie Newton, Cuba Gooding Jr., Eddie Griffin and Terry Crews will join Eddie Murphy in DreamWorks Pictures' "Norbit." Read Full Story

MUSIC BITS: Blige’s bling; Milian vs. Cannon; Kim’s friends; Em, Aretha money unclaimed; Ashanti’s grief; Savol the next Luther; Carroll at NY’s Feinstein’s.
*Mary J. Blige says her excessive jewelry is something that is definitely in God’s plan. Read Full Story

SPORTS BITS: Duke players charged; Bonds heckler arrested; Sparks nab Kobe’s pops.
*North Carolina police have arrested the two Duke University lacrosse players who were named in sealed indictments handed down Monday in the alleged rape of a 27-year-old North Carolina Central University student. Read Full Story

BLACK HISTORY BITS: MLK picture enlarged; lawmakers push for “Coretta Scott King Drive,” Freedom Center teams with eBay Foundation.
*The portrait of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Georgia's Capitol has finally been enlarged to fit among the larger framed faces of other state VIPs. Read Full Story

GULF COAST PAPERS WIN PULITZERS FOR KATRINA COVERAGE: Pulitzers also given to Washington Post’s Robin Givhan and Thelonius Monk.
*The Times-Picayune of New Orleans and the Sun Herald of southern Mississippi each won the Pulitzer Prize for public service Monday for their continuous coverage of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath despite damage to their buildings and disruption to their staff. Read Full Story

THE EURweb FREE-4-ALL PAGE/BOARD: Talk about the stories we didn't cover in this issue.
Just like the headline says, this page/board is where you can discuss the stuff that we didn't cover in today's issue. (It's sort of like feedback with a twist) Remember, NO name calling, racial taunting, graphic sex talk and vulgarity in general, PLEASE. Read Full Story

04-19-06 EUR FEEDBACK: EUR's WalMart story 'is obviously a PR piece'
"The piece you recently ran on WalMart's plans to build more than 50 stores in 'high crime/high unemployment areas' is obviously a PR PIECE /Press Release issued by WalMart itself. Yet you do not identify it as such." Read Full Story

04-19-06 EUR ALL ON ONE PAGE
04-19-06 EUR$ Newsbits and Feedback all on ONE Page Read Full Story