LOS ANGELES (PRNewswire)-- CeeLo Green and Goodie Mob, the legendary Southern rap group made up of CeeLo, Big Gipp, Khujo & T-Mo, reunited to announce the winners of the "Elevate Young Black Voices" online talent contest in Los Angeles on Tuesday night. The contest gave four talented singers the opportunity to win a two-hour private mentoring session, and perform live with the group during the finale concert at Hollywood nightclub, Playhouse, in front of friends, celebrities, and VIP guests. In honor of June's Black Music Month, AT&T* and BlackBerry collaborated to develop the contest that encouraged aspiring solo artists to upload a video of an original song that is inspiring and motivational to the African-American community to www.att.com/voices.

The four rising stars received an exclusive VIP experience from their mentoring session to the performance venue. CeeLo Green and Goodie Mob mentored the winners at a popular Los Angeles studio, The Boom Boom Room, to prepare them for their debut performance as "Elevate Young Black Voices" winners.  The four aspiring solo artists are Justice Ami from Palmdale, California; Kno'Bodie, from Inglewood, California; Rahkua, from Jackson, Mississippi; and Eveready, from Kansas City, Missouri.

"Goodie Mob is one of the most eclectic groups in Hip Hop," says Matt Teshera, Sr. Diversity Marketing Manager – West Region, AT&T. "With their recent reunion, CeeLo Green's nationally recognized experience as a mentor and the innovative personalities of both brands, a collaboration fit perfectly for Black Music Month."

"We're passionate about inspiring and encouraging people to pursue their ambitions, and we're thrilled to see this program come into fruition," says Adrian Faull, Vice-President, Channel Marketing, BlackBerry.

"It's an amazing feeling to help develop an artist, and we had a chance to work with four extremely talented people. I have had the unique opportunity to find and cultivate talent throughout my career, and I am proud that with my Goodie Mob brothers by my side, we are in a position to work with AT&T and BlackBerry to help 'Elevate Young Black Voices' through this contest," said CeeLo Green.

You can view the star four's winning videos at www.att.com/voices.   

Goodie Mob's new album "Age Against the Machine" is scheduled for release on August 27th and will be the group's first album together in 14 years.

This CD cover image released by Concord Jazz shows "Except Sometimes," by Molly Ringwald. (AP Photo/Concord Jazz)
 

by Charles J. Gans

NEW YORK (AP) — Molly Ringwald has moved from "The Breakfast Club" to the jazz club.

The redheaded actress who describes herself as "your former teen-age crush" in her Twitter bio will always live in her generation's memories for portraying the angst of high school life as an everyday girl, teen princess and outsider in her iconic 1980s films "Sixteen Candles," ''The Breakfast Club," and "Pretty In Pink" with writer-director John Hughes.

Now the 45-year-old has taken on a new role as a jazz singer with the release last month of her album "Except Sometimes," a collection of Great American Songbook and Broadway tunes.

Thursday 20
Showcase Reading
The Cave Canem Foundation Inc. presents Cave Canem’s 4th Annual Showcase Reading at 6:45 p.m. at 1410 Montercy St., North Side. The evening will include saxophonist James Brandon Lewis and poets Chris Abani, Toi Derricotte, Cornelius Eddy and Hamyette Mullen. This is a free event. For more information, visit www.cityofasylumpittsburgh.org.

by Dwight Brown
NNPA Film Critic

They can sing a joyful noise. In pitch-perfect harmony. Never missing a beat. Yet they rarely take center stage. Why? Background singers, are the unsung heroes of music. Without them, lead singers sound hollow. Now their voices are heard, in an enlightening documentary that is as illuminating as it is thoroughly entertaining.

Back in the day, backup singers just sang the notes on the page. In the ‘60s, a new breed of singer evolved, and these divas sang from the heart. Hard to say who was the first, but certainly, Darlene Love is one of the godmothers of the genre. Says Love, “God gave me this talent and I intended to use it.” Love led the background group the Blossoms, who were introduced to the world on the ‘60s musical TV show Shindig. Love was the one in the center, with the puffy red hair who wailed like a gospel singer but sang rock, pop and soul music. You may not recognized her face, but you know her voice.