Heads and tales: TV nation
By Wade Kwon
Hicks in '06: The world’s biggest karaoke contest is down to the final 24, including Birmingham native Taylor Hicks. He joins American Idol Ruben Studdard, and runners-up Bo Bice and Diana DeGarmo as hometown singers gone Hollywood. Hicks sings at 7 p.m. Wednesday on Fox 6, as the 12 men compete for six spots. How big is “Idol”? Bigger than the Olympics, bigger than the Grammys If only he could get some local coverage … Meanwhile, try his sound out for free.
• Taylor Hicks bio [Fox]
On the Dial: Our pal Celia Carey has picked up another award, this time for a yet-to-be-aired documentary on Black Belt-native folk artist Thornton Dial (see a preview in Windows Media). The 20-minute film earned the Golden Gate Award for Best TV Documentary Short Form at the upcoming 2006 San Francisco International Film Festival. Carey won an Emmy in 2005 for “The Quiltmakers of Gee’s Bend,” airing again in March.
• San Francisco film fest honors APT documentary [Birmingham Business Journal]
The Oprah touch: Look, an extreme home makeover, the first in Birmingham. Without sextuplets. Or stuck on basic cable. Colette, the homeowner, said, “We planned on doing a lot of the work ourselves, but there were so many costs we didn’t foresee. We didn’t expect to have to rewire the electrical system, change the plumbing, and move heating vents.” Oprah Winfrey put her best man on the job, redoing the kitchen, foyer, living, dining room and den.
A rug really pulls a room together.
As do chairs, paint, a lamp, mirrors, a coffee table …
Hey, O, how about helping us finish the damn raking?
• Nate’s Sweet Home Alabama makeover [O at Home magazine]
Literary atonement: OK, to make up for all the TV hype, don’t forget the Southern Voices 2006 writers’ conference Friday and Saturday at the Hoover Library. One panelist will be our pal David Rachels, co-author of "What The Shadow Told Me." Ah, everything in balance.
• Southern writers converge on Hoover library event [Birmingham News]
Also:
- City’s young professionals getting old
- New landmark to honor area’s white trash heroes
- State quail send taunting faxes to White House
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