So OK Go (you know them, the "Here It Goes Again" treadmill guys) released a five song EP exclusively on iTunes titled You're Not Alone to coincide with Mardi Gras this week. The foursome teamed up with New Orleans brass band Bonerama to update five songs: three from their most recent album, Oh No ("A Million Ways," "It's A Disaster" and "Oh Lately It's So Quiet"), plus covers of David Bowie's "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" and Bob Dylan's "I Shall Be Released." All proceeds from the EP will benefit Sweet Home New Orleans, an organization that has been instrumental in helping musicians get back on their feet after Katrina — which means you should go buy this EP. Right now.
Honestly, here's why:
Both OK Go and New Orleans have a special place in my heart. Around this time last year, I was hanging out with the boys on the set of their "Do What You Want" music video, and they were just the some of the nicest, down-to-earth musicians I've ever met. They were so cool they let me have a little cameo in their video — in which, because of the camouflaged get-ups, you wouldn't know who I am (just look for a little stub hopping around or the picture posted here).
Just so you don't think EW.com's coverage has turned all-scandal-all-the-time, here's a nice video, from our corporate siblings over at This Old House magazine, of Brad Pitt (pictured, left) helping to build affordable, environmentally friendly homes in New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward for those still displaced by Katrina. Whether you choose to watch the clip for its social-uplift value or its Brad-Pitt-in-a-T-shirt value makes no difference to us.
EDITOR'S NOTE: EW's Clark Collis and Vanessa Juarez spent 10 days in New Orleans to research a
piece for the print magazine (which hits newsstands Aug. 10). Here, they share their thoughts on the experience.
When our managing editor suggested — nay, demanded — that we spend two weeks in New Orleans researching a story about the recovery of the music scene in the wake of the Katrina catastrophe, two thoughts sprang to mind. The first was: "What the hell has gotten into Rick?" The second was: "Who cares? Let's get ready to party!" After all, it had been almost two years since the hurricane caused the levees to breach. Presumably, New Orleans was as good as, well, new. Otherwise we'd have heard more about it, right?
Well, no. What had gotten into our editor, during his own fact-finding trip to the Big Easy a couple of weeks before, was the realization that in New Orleans things are, as a wise man once said, pretty f---king far from okay. And, once we'd arrived in the city, it didn't take us long to agree. You don't have to be a Woodward and/or Bernstein to notice on even the most cursory of drives through, say, the Lower Ninth Ward, that the area looks like it was hit by a hurricane two weeks, and not years, ago. True, houses no longer actually lie on top each other as they did after the neighborhood was flooded, but some three out of four homes in the Lower Ninth remain unoccupied — and nearly all still bear the gruesome marking that indicate whether the National Guard had found bodies inside.
The Lower Ninth is where you will find the house of rock 'n' roll legend Fats Domino (pictured), which has been renovated. But many other musicians who used to live here — and in other, similarly still devastated neighborhoods — currently dwell in other cities or in FEMA trailers. The latter may sound cozy, but, as we discovered upon entering one, are cramped and fairly hellish. And with recent reports of people getting sick from exposure to formaldehyde, conditions in these aluminum boxes are officially unsafe. One retired trumpeter who has been living in a trailer since Katrina told us that, at first, he joked that his new living quarters were so narrow he could only eat spaghetti. He went on to inform us that he had long since ceased to find his living situation even remotely humorous.
EW freelancer Cynthia Joyce concludes her reporting from the weekend's Essence Festival in New Orleans. Read her first dispatch here.
Of the more than 40 urban music megastars who performed in the Superdome over Essence Music Festival weekend — Robin Thicke, Kelly Rowland, Mary J. Blige, Chris Brown, Ne-Yo, Common, Public Enemy, Angie Stone, the O'Jays and Lionel Richie among them — only one managed to make the 80,000-seat stadium seem sort of, well, small. Beyoncé and her all female band dumbfounded the entire dome, kicking off a nearly two-hour, tightly choreographed set with "Crazy in Love" before she stepped to the edge of the stage: "New Orleans, y'all look so beautiful — I'm so proud of this city." She looked like a member of some super-race — as someone next to me put it, "She's got legs like tree trunks, and I just want to climb up."
Earlier in the evening, Ludacris and his crew were dining at Emeril's exclusive kitchen table, drinking sherry and, inexplicably, "lots of lemonade," according to our bartender. Seated next to us was Torico Jones of Memphis, who had come down from that city specifically to see Beyoncé, but also to see the post-Katrina version of a city he'd visited his whole life. "I thought it was gonna be a lot of tears, but it's great to be back," he said in a drawling accent that made Terrence Howard's in Hustle & Flow seem subtle. "They say [Memphis'] Beale Street is the new Bourbon Street — it's not even close."
Seeing the equally impressive Mary J. Blige (pictured) the next night was a study in contrasts. Her performance's strength drew from the fact that it was on a far more human scale — smaller band, no costume changes — and from a prowess that was most evident when she was rapping. "I'm so proud of you," she told the audience, and evidently, the feeling was mutual.
EW freelancer Cynthia Joyce sends this report from day one of the Essence Festival in New Orleans. Watch for her wrap-up of the rest of the fest on Monday.
Tell someone in New Orleans you're headed to Essence Fest — or The Essence, as they say in the local parlance — and the first thing they'll ask you is not which act you're going there to see (with Ludacris, Ciara, Mary J. Blige, and Beyoncé headlining a bill of almost 40 acts on five stages, it'd be tough to pick just one), but rather, "What are you going to wear?"
The festival, which returned home to New Orleans for its 13th year after being "loaned" to Houston last summer, has long since proven itself as the "party with a purpose," offering free empowerment seminars by day to those who don't necessarily want to pay for the big ticket hip-hop, soul, and R&B acts the event has been known to draw. This year, the old school/new school balance that the festival has long been celebrated for may have finally tipped, with Ne-Yo, Ruben Studdard, Chris Brown, and Robin Thicke giving old soul favorites like the Isley Brothers and Maze a run for their money.
But unofficially, as NOLA locals well know, Essence is really a three-day-long fashion show (the shoe department at Saks deserves to be an honorary sponsor), and every year over the July Fourth weekend, the entire French Quarter turns into a catwalk — you're not likely to see lower necklines, higher heels, heavier hoop earrings, or whiter white linen anywhere.
The whole thing turns up several notches at night, and I will admit to spending too much time fretting over what to wear for the first night of performances. Believe me, it doesn't matter what you're wearing as you read this: You would have felt underdressed, too.
Welcome to the last installment in my Pulitzer prize-winning series, "Three Depressing Issues and the Men Who Brought Them To Sundance So I Could Get Really Sad About the State of the World." Today I present Zack Godshall, the director and co-writer of Low and Behold, a docudrama about post-Katrina New Orleans. Zack wrote the movie with his friend Barlow Jacobs (pictured), who also stars as the shy, repressed Turner Stall; Barlow actually lost his house in Katrina and spent some time after the hurricane working as an insurance claim adjuster, and the movie is based on his experiences. They've also spliced in interviews with real live NOLA residents who are now either living in FEMA trailers or struggling to rebuild what they had. It's not a party-time movie, I can tell ya that, but I did laugh out loud several times, mostly just at the communication breakdown between Turner and his insurance clients. It's possible I was laughing to avoid looking at the mold on all the walls, or the cars overturned in the streets.
Anyway, Zack was my last interview of Sundance, and this is my last Sundance post. I'm sorry if I'm going out on a downer, but I really thought this was important to throw in here. Mr. Godshall is a handsome, unassuming Southern lad with a slight drawl and a tentative way of speaking. Check out the clips and photos on the movie's site; some of the shots—of empty lots, abandoned warehouses, vast wastelands—will hang with me for a while.
This is your first Sundance—how’s it going?
Showing the movie to people is overwhelming. Just showing it to a crowd of 400 people. I’ve only watched it in a room with like 15 people, so I’m pretty excited about the way people are responding to it.
Are there certain moments people are jumping on?
I think the thing that excites me most is that the film balances some tragic, sad stuff with some comedic elements—the characters are pretty funny, or at least I think they are—and so I guess it makes me happy when I hear people laughing. ’Cause we’re from down around New Orleans, and me and the co-writer, Barlow, wanted to make a movie that would touch on all the different emotional responses, the different ways people are behaving in that environment, and some of the more offbeat, almost absurdist things that are going on. The tragedy is very obvious. But there are moments of comedy you don’t see other places, and that’s something we thought was interesting. Just the fact of a stranger coming into another person’s home and going through all their personal belongings—that’s a very odd situation. So things come out of that that are pretty weird.
So, ya caught me, PopWatchers: evidently, I don't read my own magazine, or the website associated therewith. It's true. Sad but true. And so, when I wrote a long rant about Aaron Sorkin (pictured) not using real displaced New Orleans jazz musicians in Studio 60 last night, you appropriately called me an idiot and corrected me. (A clip of their performance is here. Want to help them? Click here.) My apologies to all involved. It won't happen again. Jeez, this is embarrassing. And I hadn't even been drinking.
Anyway, my sincere apologies for the mishap, Aaron. We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.
The fall TV season kicks off tonight as Fox premieres the second season of Prison Break and debuts new drama series Vanished (not to be confused with NBC's similar-sounding abduction drama Kidnapped). Kudos to Fox for getting the jump on the other networks, getting us hooked again on PB, and trying to get us all hooked on a new show that could be similarly twisty, preposterous, and compelling.
But it's not like there's not plenty to choose from tonight, which also marks the premiere on HBO of Spike Lee's much-praised Katrina documentary, When the Levees Broke. And if that weren't enough, for sheer novelty value, there's Page Kennedy -- the actor notoriously fired from Desperate Housewives and replaced in the role of basement-dweller Caleb -- who returns to TV tonight to begin a multi-episode guest arc on Showtime's Weeds.
Tell us, PopWatchers: Which show or shows will you watch live? Which will you record for later? And which will you skip?
Inquiring minds want to know: What is Britney Spears' ''major career announcement'' that Access Hollywood has been touting for the last couple of days? Spears is in New Orleans for Mardi Gras (is she becoming a bartender?), covering the festivities for ABC's Good Morning America (is she their new travel correspondent?). While there, she spent a day with some schoolgirls who'd lost homes and wardrobes to Katrina, taking them shopping for new clothes and out to lunch at Emeril Lagasse's restaurant. So, is she becoming a relief worker? Is she joining the Army Corps of Engineers to rebuild levees? Is she going to be Emeril's new cooking-show sous chef? Or is she just planning a new album or tour? We honestly have no idea, so we'll be watching Access Hollywood tonight on pins and needles to learn how Britney plans to reenter the world of gainful employment.
[UPDATE: Apparently, Britney's big "announcement" was that she has no immediate plans for the future. In that case, I have an announcement to make...]
Dec 23, 2005, 09:43 AM | by Michael Slezak
Categories: 'American Idol', 'Desperate Housewives', Britney Spears, Celebrity Couples, Harry Potter, Hurricane Katrina, Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise, Martha Stewart, Michael Jackson
Somehow, I didn't get the memo, but apparently 2005 was the year of the Jacksons. Siblings Janet (left) and Michael topped highly scientific year-end buzz-o-meters by Google and Access Hollywood, despite the fact that neither put out an album this year.
Janet, a.k.a. Miss Jackson, if you're nasty (sorry, couldn't help myself), landed atop the ''2005 Year-End Google Zeitgeist'' report, which ranks the massive search engine's most queried news subjects for the year. Whether folks were jonesin' for another peek at her 2004 Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction or seeking membership in the pop star's Rhythm Nation is a matter of speculation, but Jackson led a top five that included Hurricane Katrina, tsunami, xbox 360, and Brad Pitt. Michael Jackson ranked sixth, followed by American Idol, Britney Spears, Angelina Jolie, and Harry Potter.
Access Hollywood, meanwhile, ranked Michael Jackson atop its ''Top Ten Newsmakers of 2005,'' a list based on the number of stories the program dedicated to each celebrity over the course of the year. Jackson was the subject of a whopping 77 Access Hollywood segments, followed by Eva Longoria (55), Britney Spears (51), Tom Cruise (49), and Jessica Simpson (46). Completing the top 10: Donald Trump, Martha Stewart, Jennifer Lopez, and (tied for ninth) Jennifer Aniston and Oprah Winfrey (each with one segment more than Angelina Jolie).
I have to admit, I'm surprised there was enough Longoria news to put her ahead of Britney, Tom, and Martha, but instead of quibbling, I'm just going to look on the bright side of both of these lists: In a sign that the apocalypse may not be totally nigh, Paris Hilton didn't crack either top 10.
Did anything on these year-end rankings surprise or delight you, PopWatchers?
Who knew Sharon Stone had a basic instinct for songwriting? She co-composed and co-produced the benefit single ''Come Together Now,'' whose all-star roster of vocalists includes Celine Dion, Patti LaBelle, Joss Stone, Ruben Studdard, the Game, Aaron Carter, Nick Carter, A.J. McLean, Natalie Cole, Chingy, JoJo, Mya, Angie Stone, Kimberly Locke, John Legend, Gavin DeGraw, Jesse McCartney, Anthony Hamilton, and Brian McKnight. You can see them and more in the video at AOL Music.
It's the leadoff track on an double CD due out Nov. 1 called Hurricane Relief: Come Together Now.
The album includes another ''We Are The World''-type track, a Sharon Osbourne-produced cover of Eric Clapton's ''Tears in Heaven.'' Singers on the track include Elton John, Ringo Starr, Phil Collins, Rod Stewart, Gwen Stefani, Pink, Josh Groban, Steven Tyler, Velvet Revolver, Gavin Rossdale, Mary J. Blige, Robert Downey Jr., and of course, Ozzy and Kelly Osbourne. Both tracks are currently available for purchase at iTunes.
The two-disc set will also include ''Any Other Day'' (the benefit single featuring Norah Jones and Wyclef Jean), ''Heart of America'' (which NBC's Today will NOT stop playing; they even had Michael McDonald, Wynonna, Eric Benet, and Terry Dexter and the First Full Gospel Choir of New Orleans performing it live on this morning's show), ''Heart So Heavy'' (a John Mayer-Aaron Neville duet), and rarities from Coldplay, James Brown, Barbara Streisand, and Gloria Estefan. Plus, lots of cuts by New Orleans artists such as Harry Connick Jr., the Neville Brothers, Louis Armstrong, and Fats Domino. All proceeds will be divided among the American Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity and MusiCares Hurricane Relief Fund.
Also, Higher Ground, a concert CD from Jazz at Lincoln Center's Sept. 17 benefit show, will be released on Nov. 22, with live tracks from Norah Jones, James Taylor, Diana Krall, Bette Midler, Wynton Marsalis, Cassandra Wilson, Buckwheat Zydeco, and Art and Aaron Neville. Proceeds will go toward Jazz at Lincoln Center's Higher Ground Relief Fund.
Finally, South Park begins a new batch of episodes tonight with a Katrina-inspired story that sees the next town over from South Park flooded when a beaver dam is breached. (Trey Parker and Matt Stone have a Q&A with the Associated Press today where they discuss how they keep the series so fresh and topical after nine -- nine! -- seasons.) Not sure who the proceeds will benefit -- probably just Comedy Central.
Question: When would someone pay $102.50 for a pair of hard-used pink rubber flip-flops? When the proceeds are earmarked for victims of Hurricane Katrina, of course. And also when the gray footprints embossed in the sandals belong to new mama Britney Spears.
Yes, folks, People reports that Spears is auctioning more than 300 personal items on eBay in support of the Mississippi Hurricane Recovery Fund; with the bidding slated to wrap on Oct. 8, items (as of 9:15 a.m. Tuesday) included a lightly used jewel-encrusted bra ($9,100), a two-piece sectional sofa ($1,005), and a "I have the Golden Ticket" T-shirt ($330, like the one she wore to the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory premiere, left), and a black Roberto Cavalli gown ($825). All of the items are accompanied by ''a letter of authenticity from [Britney's] legal counsel'' and the promise that they'll come ''from Britney & Kevin's home to yours.''
By the way, bargain-conscious PopWatchers need not fret: There's still deals to be had, including a rumpled white T-shirt currently trading at $3.58, an old wristband for $15.50. Just stay away from the ''huggable teddy.'' He's mine. Got it? Now tell us: Which item are you bidding on?
-Tom Waits, Death Cab for Cutie, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, and TV on the Radio are offering up previously unreleased tracks for hurricane relief, Billboard reports. They're all part of an exclusive 2-CD compilation assembled by Filter magazine and retailer Urban Outfitters. Also on the set will be remixes by Beck, Gang Of Four, and Calexico. Only 10,000 copies will be sold, and only at Urban Outfitters' stores and website. Proceeds from the anthology, which goes on sale in a couple weeks, will go to the Red Cross.
-Touched by a Beach Boy: If you donate $100 or more to the relief effort via Brian Wilson's website, the music legend will personally phone you to thank you, and he'll also match your contribution. His offer is good only through Oct. 1.
-An all-star ''Broadway Benefit for Hurricane Relief'' will take place on Sept. 25 at New York's Gershwin Theater. Such stage stars as Brooke Shields, Ben Vereen, Liza Minnelli, Bebe Neuwirth, Bernadette Peters, Bill Irwin, Rue McClanahan, David Hyde Pierce, Phylicia Rashad, Jai Rodriguez, Jill Eikenberry, and Michael Tucker will perform, as will the casts of Avenue Q, Rent, The Light in the Piazza, Hairspray, Mamma Mia!, All Shook Up, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Two Gentlemen of Verona, and Wicked.
-Oprah Winfrey pledged $10 million yesterday on her show to house the evacuees. She's also started an online registry where you can buy goods and furnishings for the new homes.
-Stevie Wonder, who introduced a song called ''Shelter in the Rain,'' at Live 8, will offer the tune for download as a benefit single, USA Today reports. It's a track from A Time to Love, due Oct. 18, Wonder's first album of new material in 10 years.
-Arlo Guthrie, who had a hit song about the train called City of New Orleans, will be singing at stations along that Amtrak train's route, from Dec. 5-17. He'll be collecting musical instruments and other equipment along the way to donate to Gulf Coast musicians affected by the hurricane. Check here for updates on venues and guest artists.
-Young Jeezy opens his Atlanta home to survivors.
At a time when a million Americans are still in dire straits amid the aftermath of Katrina, are viewers ready to watch wealthy celebs crack jokes and pat themselves on the back at the Emmys? There will be constant reminders of Katrina throughout Sunday's Emmy broadcast, from New Orleans-bred Ellen DeGeneres' opening monologue to on-screen pleas to donate to Habitat for Humanity, to the magnolia blossoms many stars will be wearing as corsages or boutonnieres, since that's the state flower of both Louisiana and Mississippi. On top of that, there's the nation's already apparent awards show fatigue: ratings for nearly every red-carpet event slumped over the past year, including the Emmys, which suffered their second-worst Nielsen numbers ever in 2004. CBS execs have to be wondering if anyone at all will feel like tuning in to this year's gala.
Still, people asked the same ''Is it safe to laugh yet?'' questions four years ago, when the Emmys followed 9/11 and the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. Turns out the Emmys did lift the nation's mood in 2001, thanks to some deft humor from the emcee, who was, of course, Ellen DeGeneres. If anyone can make it safe to snicker at showbiz superficiality again after Katrina, it's Ellen.
PopWatch readers, are you ready for the glitz and guffaws of the Emmys, or is it still too soon?
(Get complete Emmys coverage from AOL, People, InStyle, and EW)
You wouldn't think that disaster relief and comedy would go together, but a lot of famous funny folk are starting to organize fundraisers for the victims of Katrina.
According to MTV News, Steve Harvey (who co-hosted BET's ''SOS (Saving OurSelves)'' concert last Friday) is emceeing the Sept. 26 ''Saving Lives With Laughter'' show at the Forum in Los Angeles, topping a bill that includes Wanda Sykes, Mo'Nique and Mike Epps.
Also in L.A., on Sept. 22, Tenacious D are hosting a fundraiser at the Wiltern LG theater for the American Red Cross, with guests David Cross, Sarah Silverman, Fiona Apple, Dave Grohl, and Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme with Jesse Hughes (his bandmate in Eagles of Death Metal).
Even the semi-reclusive Dave Chappelle is pitching in. He'll appear at a Sept. 19 hip-hop benefit at B.B. King's Blues Club in New York hosted by rappers Dead Prez. Also on the bill are David Banner, Q-Tip, Talib Kweli, Remy Martin, Memphis Bleek, Styles P, the Last Poets, the X-ecutioners, the Beatnuts, and Bazaar Royale. Proceeds will go toward Mississippi relief organizations, including Banner's Heal the Hood Foundation.
Meanwhile, the not-funny Pearl Jam have scheduled a rare club date for Oct. 5 at Chicago's House of Blues (where Twista is headlining a benefit on Monday). Tickets will sell for a not-funny $1,000 a head, with funds earmarked for Habitat for Humanity, the Red Cross, and the Jazz Foundation of America.
Thursday's USA Today has a comprehensive roundup of what stars are doing on the ground to help, and some tell the paper they couldn't help but get involved. ''It's human to want to get your hands in it,'' says Sean Penn, who says he embarked on his recent rescue boat effort because ''day by day, it became apparent there weren't enough healthy bodies there to help, so I just went down there.'' He insists that he was not seeking attention. ''I'm a 45-year-old man with two kids, and I've had plenty of attention in my life. I don't need to dive into toxic waste for that.''
Other stars whose involvement extends beyond opening their checkbooks:
-Tommy Lee Jones spent two days at San Antonio's Kelly Air Force Base preparing meals for 15,000 evacuees.
-Macy Gray, who handed out supplies at the Astrodome a couple weeks ago, is returning to do more of the same this weekend.
-Teri Hatcher is modeling and selling a line of rhinestone-studded T-shirts bearing motivational messages, with proceeds going to the Red Cross.
- Celebs who have launched Katrina fundraising websites include Sandra Bullock (katrinahelpaustin.org), John Grisham (rebuildthecoastfund.org), and Master P (teamrescueone.com).
Additional gestures from the showbiz world are outlined elsewhere in today's issue of the paper:
-In Philadelphia, The Roots and Jill Scott will headline benefit concert Friday, with proceeds going to HurricaneHousing.org.
-In Chicago, Twista will rap at a benefit concert Monday at the House of Blues, with proceeds going to the United Way Hurricane Fund's drive to shelter evacuees who've come to the Chicago area.
-In AMC multiplexes, the proceeds from moviegoers' concession and ticket purchases today will go toward relief efforts.
Finally, USA Today reports that newly minted reality star Mr. T has cast away his trademark gold chains in the wake of the disaster. He says, ''Because of the situation we're in now [after Katrina], I told myself, 'No, T, you can never wear your gold again.' It's an insult to God.''
-Yet another live benefit show is in the works; actually two, since the Sept. 20 ''From the Big Apple to the Big Easy'' concert set for New York's Madison Square Garden has spilled an overflow of performers into a simultaneous show at Radio City Music Hall.
Simon & Garfunkel have joined the roster at MSG, along with Elvis Costello and Diana Krall, Elton John, Jimmy Buffett, Stevie Nicks, Bette Midler, Lenny Kravitz, Ry Cooder, faux bayou dweller John Fogerty, and real regional musicians Fats Domino, The Neville Brothers, Irma Thomas, Clarence ''Frogman'' Henry, and Dave Bartholomew.
At Radio City: Tom Waits, Dave Matthews, Dave Matthews soundalike John Mayer, Trey Anastasio, Joss Stone, and such New Orleans mainstays as The Meters and The Mardi Gras Indians. Beneficiaries include the Bush Clinton Katrina Fund, Habitat for Humanity, the MusiCares Hurricane Relief Fund and the Children's Health Fund.
-While donations have been generous, the TV telethons are drawing much smaller audiences than similar past benefit shows. Last Friday's ''Shelter from the Storm,'' concert, despite airing on virtually every channel, drew fewer than 24 million viewers, compared to 89 million for ''America: A Tribute to Heroes,'' the first multi-channel benefit held after 9/11.
Katrina headlines continue to dominate the entertainment news this week, and as my pal Martha might say, as long as fundraising efforts don't get pushed to page 11, ''It's a good thing.'' Here's the latest roundup:
-Michael Jackson is getting some all-star help with his charity single, ''From the Bottom of My Heart.'' Reportedly on board: Mariah Carey, Snoop Dogg, Jay Z, James Brown, Lenny Kravitz, Wyclef Jean, Lauryn Hill, Missy Elliott, Ciara, Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, Yolanda Adams, R. Kelly, and Mary J. Blige.
-Nelly's fundraising drive in St. Louis yielded two 18-wheelers filled with clothing and other supplies, according to MTV.com.
-And Variety and Billboard have got roundups on the latest Hollywood and music-industry responses to Katrina, including updates on concerts, online auctions, and other creative fundraisers.
-Jazz at Lincoln Center hosts the ''Higher Ground Hurricane Relief Concert,'' broadcast live on PBS on Sept. 17. The lineup includes an impressive list of names: Norah Jones, Diana Krall, Elvis Costello, Bette Midler, Paul Simon, Toni Morrison, Robert De Niro, among others. Tickets are now on sale.
-Live With Regis and Kelly guest Eva Longoria was in the giving mood today announcing that she's auctioning off the Shay Todd swimsuit she wore to the VMAs to benefit Katrina relief. (Maybe now people will forget she ever said, ''I wasn't going to let a little hurricane keep me from wearing my bathing suit.'')
-David Bowie was among the celebs visiting On 3 Production's gift lounge at Condé Nast's Fashion Rocks (with proceeds helping victims of Hurricane Katrina), but unlike other stars who snatched up everything from a Keurig's coffee machine to frames from LensCrafters, Bowie is auctioning off his gift bag to benefit the Red Cross and the Salvation Army. Well, that explains why he was overheard asking for ''the most expensive'' Lauren Merkin bag.
-In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina the New Orleans Saints will play their first ''home game'' against New York at Giants Stadium on Sept. 19. The telecast (which will air on ABC and ESPN) will conclude with a telethon to raise money for the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund (the money will go towards special funds established by the governors of Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi to assist in the long-term recovery plan).
-Mos Def and other rappers have been quick to write Katrina-inspired tracks. On Mos Def's ''Katrina Klap,'' the rapper blasts not only President Bush but also Bono, for spending more time trying to alleviate poverty in Africa than in America. (Um, last I checked, U2 performed at two of this weekend's three telethons. Doesn't that count?)
-Matthew McConaughey, whose own relief efforts in the ravaged areas were shown on Oprah last week, blogs about the experience at Oprah's website, complete with photos.
-Gloria and Emilio Estefan, Jimmy Smits, Andy Garcia, Arturo Sandoval, and a delegation of Latino stars plan a relief trip today to the Gulf Coast to distribute supplies and urge people to donate blood.
-The cast of Lost gathered in Honolulu on Saturday to sign autographs and pose for photos with fans to benefit hurricane relief. ''We have the good fortune to play people in a desperate situation but feel compelled to help those in a real desperate situation,'' said Harold Perrineau Jr. (who plays Michael) to the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. ''We only understand a small amount of what they must be going through, because every day we all get to go home.''
-Logistics have forced the cancellation of the Warped and Taste of Chaos tour organizers' ''Unite the United'' benefit concert scheduled for next month, but they'll be holding a silent auction instead at UniteTheUnited.com. They'll also donate 50 cents from each ticket sold on their 2006 tours, which should amount to an estimated $450,000.
Consensus about this weekend's televised concerts for Katrina relief seems to be that ''Shelter from the Storm'' (the one that aired on virtually every channel) was staid and somber, BET's ''SOS (Saving OurSelves)'' was loose and political, and MTV"s sprawling, four-hour-plus ''ReAct Now: Music and Relief'' was unfocused and all over the place.
Which of the three telethons do PopWatch readers think offered the best music? Who gave the best performances? (Randy Newman? Mary J. Blige and U2? Alicia Keys? Patti LaBelle? Aaron Neville? Red Hot Chili Peppers? Fiona Apple? Buckwheat Zydeco? Audioslave?)
Also, what do readers think of Chris Rock's offhand jabs at Kanye West (''George Bush hates midgets'' and ''George Bush hates albinos'')? Funny? Inappropriate?
-Fox is programming a substitute episode of Family Guy (''Peter's Got Wood'') for the one that had been scheduled to run Sunday (''Perfect Castaway'') that contained a couple of hurricane references. ''Out of sensitivity to what happened, we're moving it back a couple weeks,'' a network spokesperson says. That's probably the first time Family Guy has shown any sensitivity to anyone. CBS wasn't so quick; yesterday, they reran a December episode yesterday of The Price Is Right where the showcase prize was a trip to New Orleans. Oops.
-U2, Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, the Foo Fighters, the reclusive Garth Brooks, and the sure-to-be-closely-watched Kanye West have all been added to tonight's ''Shelter From the Storm'' telethon. For thsoe keeping score, that's 12 musical acts that they'll cram into this hour-long show.
-Immediately following the telethon, at 9 p.m., CBS is airing the ''Fashion Rocks'' concert, held last night at New York's Radio City Music Hall. The New York Post reports that fashion mag publisher Condé Nast is donating proceeds from the ticket sales, about $250,000, to Katrina relief. Performers on the special include the Arcade Fire, David Bowie, Duran Duran, Billy Idol, Alicia Keys, Tim McGraw, Nelly, Shakira, Gwen Stefani, Joss Stone, Rob Thomas, and in what's being billed as their last televised performance, Destiny's Child (above).
-The New Yorker magazine is hosting a literary/musical benefit called ''Parting the Waters'' at New York's Town Hall on Sept. 24. Giving New Orleans-inspired readings will be Toni Morrison, Richard Ford, and Kevin Kline, while New Orleans-style music will be performed by such artists as Elvis Costello, Buckwheat Zydeco, Rebirth Brass Band, bluesman David ''Honeyboy'' Edwards, and noted Dixieland clarinetist Woody Allen.
-Joel Gallen, producer of tonight's multi-network ''Shelter from the Storm'' hurricane relief telethon, says there'll be a 30-second tape delay, but only to bleep out profanity; stars who blurt out Kanye West-like political comments won't have their remarks cut. (West will be performing tonight, but he won't be a presenter.)
-Some stars are offering actual, not metaphoric shelter. Bo Bice has moved a family into his unused Alabama home (he's moved to Nashville himself), plans to launch a relief drive (though the URL he announced, BoBiceRelief.com, is already taken) and has written a song called ''We Can't Change This World,'' which he'll sing when he returns to the American Idol tour on Sunday, its final night, in Syracuse, N.Y. The concert's proceeds will go toward hurricane relief. Meanwhile, Diary of a Mad Black Woman's Tyler Perry, whose parents live in New Orleans, has booked 40 hotel rooms in Atlanta for evacuees. And Sandra Bullock is working with various Austin, Texas-based relief groups to provide supplies and housing for displaced people.
-More benefit concerts are being organized. Jazz at Lincoln Center's fundraising concert in New York, which will air live on PBS on Sept. 17, will feature Wynton Marsalis, Elvis Costello, Paul Simon, Bette Midler, Bill Cosby, and Robert De Niro. Dashboard Confessional has three consecutive benefit shows lined up: Sept. 18 (Toronto), Sept. 19 (Chicago), and Sept. 20 (Sayreville, N.J.). Death Cab for Cutie have a benefit concert planned for Sept. 21 in Seattle.
-Other celebs continue to contribute in their own way. The Joy Luck Club author Amy Tan hosted a literary benefit, ''Writers4Relief,'' last night in San Francisco. Rosie O'Donnell (above) is donating $3 million, earmarked for emergency child care. The Rolling Stones are donating $1 million of their tour proceeds to the Red Cross. And Cosby, Carol Burnett, Dick Van Dyke, Mary Tyler Moore, Tony Danza, and Alyssa Milano are among the old-time TV stars doing public service announcements for Katrina relief on TV Land and Nick at Nite. Wait, Alyssa Milano? Who's the Boss? qualifies the Charmed star as an old-timer?
Celebrity response keeps pouring in for Hurricane Katrina's victims, and while I've got to admit to occasionally feeling overwhelmed by all the coverage (both hard news and entertainment-related), I keep reminding myself it's important this story stays in the headlines and doesn't get buried beneath, say, the latest on Paris Hilton's wedding plans. Here's the latest:
-As if I didn't already have a million reasons to love her, Kathy Griffin is auctioning off a night as her guest at Kelly Clarkson's Vegas concert this weekend, donating the proceeds to hurricane relief.
-Jared Leto interrupted (warning: contains profanity) his band 30 Seconds to Mars' performance last night on Late Night With Conan O'Brien for three seconds of silent tribute to Katrina victims. (Thanks to Defamer for the heads up.)
-Jamie Foxx made quite an impression on one New Orleans evacuee when he visited displaced folks at Houston's astrodome. ''He was so fine. I was just wishing he could have took me home with him," said Venus Junius. Good to see people are keeping their senses of humor (or lust) in tact.
-While tomorrow's Shelter for the Storm telethon concert airing on all six networks is only an hour long, fundraising efforts will kick off on the station's morning news shows.
Of course, the controversy over sluggish Katrina relief efforts hasn't gone unnoticed by Hollywood types.
-The Daily Show had a particularly scathing take on the situation last night, while Jeannette Walls reports that Michael Moore is considering helming a Katrina documentary.
-And Kinks frontman Ray Davies, who was shot last year in New Orleans while chasing the mugger who robbed his girlfriend, writes in the Times of London that the city's descent into a disaster zone shouldn't have taken anyone by surprise.
-New York's Madison Square Garden will host a Katrina benefit, ''The Big Apple to the Big Easy,'' on Sept. 20. Elton John, Jimmy Buffett, Rod Stewart, Stevie Nicks, Lenny Kravitz, John Fogerty, Loggins and Messina, Earth, Wind & Fire, the Neville Brothers, and the rescued Fats Domino are among the performers.
-John Grisham appears to be the most generous celeb so far; the Mississippi-based author has donated $5 million to relief efforts. Steven Spielberg is donating $1.5 million. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the group behind the Golden Globes, gave $250,000.
-Kevin Smith is hosting an online auction at his ViewAskew.com website, with proceeds going to the Red Cross. Among the items up for bidding are a cameo in Clerks 2: The Passion of the Clerks.
-Farm Aid guru Willie Nelson has launched a drive to help farmers hit by Katrina.
-Warped Tour organizer Kevin Lyman plans a fundraiser, ''Unite the United,'' on Oct. 8 in Irvine, Calif. Hoobastank, the Used, and Pennywise are among the performers.
-Wilco, three of whose members come from Katrina-ravaged areas on the Gulf Coast, is auctioning off autographed posters at the band's website.
-Following Wil Wheaton's lead, BosPoker.com will host a celebrity poker tournament Friday, with the $100,000 pot going to the Red Cross. Participants include poker champ Jennifer Tilly, pop-rock couple Hilary Duff and Joel Madden, Hank Azaria, Shannon Elizabeth, Ron Livingston, Danny Masterson, and Jeremy Sisto.
-Mississippi-based rapper David Banner, who's been sharply critical of the federal response, is hosting a benefit on Sept. 17 in Atlanta, with Nelly, Twista, and Young Jeezy on the bill. Proceeds go to Katrina relief via Banner's Heal the Hood foundation.
-Timbaland, who said he plans to donate goods when he visits shelters in Texas this week, urged the hip-hop community to stop spending money on bling and start spending it on necessities for the displaced.
-Moby, Tim Robbins, John Cusack, and Rosie Perez are among the stars who have recorded public service announcements on behalf of HurricaneHousing.org, urging people to offer shelter to Katrina evacuees.
-In other Katrina news: ABC is going ahead with Invasion as scheduled on Sept. 21. It started airing promos again yesterday, but hurricane scenes in the pilot have been toned down.
-Katrina dominates the Nielsen ratings: NBC's Wednesday edition of Dateline is last week's top-rated show (12.2 million viewers), with three other primetime Katrina news broadcasts in the top 10. Nielsen didn't rate Friday's commercial-free telethon on NBC/MSNBC/CNBC, but the network claims that 13.8 million watched at least some of the show on the three channels.
-''This makes me so mad. This should not have happened,'' said Oprah Winfrey
(left) of the delayed relief efforts. ''I think we all -- this country owes
these people an apology.'' Winfrey filmed two episodes of her show on
location in New Orleans and other ravaged areas over the weekend.
Yesterday's program showed Jamie Foxx, Matthew McConaughey, and Faith Hill
handing out food to hurricane victims. ''Mississippi Girl'' Hill sang
''Amazing Grace'' in response to a request from a survivor in a shelter
in Gulfport, Miss. Stars shown pitching in on today's show reportedly
include Chris Rock, Julia Roberts, and Lisa Marie Presley.
-The lineup has finally been announced for ''Shelter from the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast,'' the benefit airing Friday on all six broadcast networks. The telethon will feature performances by Sheryl Crow, Dixie Chicks, Randy Newman, Neil Young, Rod Stewart, Alicia Keys, and Paul Simon. Presenters will include Jennifer Aniston, Ellen DeGeneres, Ray Romano, Jack Nicholson, Cameron Diaz, Sela Ward, and Chris Rock. Two dozen cable outlets will simulcast the hourlong program as well, including ABC Family, Bravo, E!, TBS, USA, FX, and Oxygen. It will also be seen in 95 other countries.
-Prince is offering three new download tracks for sale on his website, with proceeds going to Katrina relief.
-According to USA Today (scroll down), the Red Cross estimates that Friday's NBC telethon raised $50.8 million.
Add Michael Jackson to the roster of musicians pitching in for Katrina relief. From his current hangout in Bahrain, he's issued a statement saying that he plans to record and release an all-star benefit single, tentatively titled ''From the Bottom of My Heart,'' on a label owned by Bahrain's Prince Abdulla Hamad Alkhalifa, the unfortunately named 2 Seas Records. No word yet on who'll be joining him at the ''We Are the World''-like recording session, which Jackson says will take place within the next two weeks. Let's just hope this song doesn't end up in limbo, like ''What More Can I Give,'' the indefinitely stalled benefit all-star singalong Jackson recorded four years ago for 9/11 relief.
-Mr. Congeniality, Kanye West, is joining MTV's ''ReAct Now: Music & Relief'' telethon scheduled for Sept. 10, along with the Rolling Stones, Kelly Clarkson, Maroon 5, Good Charlotte, Audioslave, Simple Plan, Common, John Mayer, Kid Rock, Sheryl Crow, Dashboard Confessional, Paul McCartney, Neil Young, Brian Wilson, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Melissa Etheridge, Mötley Crüe, Goo Goo Dolls, Staind, and Alan Jackson. Also added to the bill are several artists with ties to the afflicted area, including Trent Reznor, 3 Doors Down, Cash Money's Baby and Lil' Wayne, the Neville Brothers, Marc Broussard, and the Radiators. They join a roster of previously announced artists, including Green Day, Usher, Alicia Keys, and Dave Matthews Band.
-Speaking of West, the New York Post reports that this Friday's six-network simulcast, ''Shelter for the Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast'' will air on tape delay, lest anyone vent their unscripted anger as the rapper did on NBC's telethon on Friday. Um, it's one thing to use tape delays to guard against profanity or wardrobe malfunctions, but aren't we crossing into a dangerous area by using them to block politically charged statements?
-According to the New York Daily News, Sean Penn personally rescued some trapped New Orleans residents, despite initial problems with his boat that had him bailing a leak with a beer cup.
-Besides the MTV telethon, the Neville Brothers, New Orleans' first family of music, have several plans in the works for Katrina relief efforts, which they describe to USA Today.
-Big Star's Alex Chilton had been missing but he got out of New Orleans safely, according to the Memphis Commercial Appeal.
-Ellen DeGeneres dedicated the kickoff of her talk show's new season on Monday to the relief effort for her hometown.
-Rush Limbaugh is taking his radio act to Broadway for one night, Oct. 18, with the proceeds going to hurricane relief. Dittoheads have already made ''Rush on Broadway'' a sold-out event.
-Tyler Christopher, who plays Nikolas Cassadine on General Hospital, is selling bobblehead dolls of himself to raise relief money.
If you missed Kanye West's emotional, unscripted tirade (and co-presenter Mike Myers' bewildered reaction) during NBC's Concert for Hurricane Relief, you can catch the video here.
But whether or not you agree with the outspoken rapper's opinion that ''George Bush doesn't care about black people'' — a comment that was edited out of NBC's West Coast and Mountain time zone telecasts, and which the network has since noted were off-script and did not reflect its own views — at least he turned a critical eye on himself, too.
West noted that he'd be a hypocrite for complaining about the relief efforts because he had initially turned away from Hurricane Katrina coverage on TV, deeming it too hard to watch. ''I've even been shopping before even giving a donation,'' West added, ''and so now I'm calling my business manager right now to see what is the biggest amount I can give.''
The rest of the telecast proceeded without controversy, and included performances by musicians with Louisiana and Mississippi ties such as Wynton Marsalis, Harry Connick, Jr., Aaron Neville, Tim McGraw, and Faith Hill.
Much like the NBC telethon, the Labor Day weekend brought with it a mix of help, hope, and controversy in terms of entertainment-industry response to Katrina. Macy Gray flew to Houston to help with some hands-on work with displaced Louisiana residents at the Astrodome, while Celine Dion, Jay-Z, and Diddy made big-money pledges to the relief efforts. R&B legend Fats Domino, who rode out Katrina in New Orleans including a two-day stint at the Superdome, crashed at LSU quarterback JaMarcus Russell's Baton Rouge apartment. Pierce Brosnan, meanwhile, joined West in criticizing ''this man called President Bush,'' arguing that he ''has a lot to answer for.''
Finally, cable and network coverage of Katrina and its aftermath got a thumbs-up from New York Senator Hillary Clinton, who pleaded on Greta Van Susteren's Fox News show that news organizations stick with the story for the long haul, instead of returning to a celebrity-news focus. And TV Barn brings up a good point from Scott Fybush, editor of NorthEast Radio Watch: Why are news channels hiding their excellent Katrina footage with massive, redundant banners that say ''Breaking News'' or ''Graphic Images''?
What do you think of this weekend's Katrina coverage? And of the response from celebrities such as West, Brosnan, and Gray?
There's been a lot of grumbling about the Katrina coverage on network news. Like, where is it? TVNewser reports that all the networks are planning to expand their nightly newscasts to an hour tonight -- but with a couple exceptions (NBC yanking Tommy Lee Goes to College, ABC cutting an episode of Lost), they have not preempted primetime entertainment shows to report on one of the deadliest natural disasters in American history. On the other hand, the cable news channels have been doing a heroic job, given the desperate conditions they've had to work under. They haven't shied away from presenting images we seldom see on American television news, including footage of poverty-stricken African-Americans, whose lack of means to escape made them a majority of the victims.
Understandably, many reporters have abandoned their pose of objectivity. (You'd be on edge too if you needed armed guards to protect you on the streets of an American city.) CNN's Anderson Cooper (left) got so angry that he berated a U.S. senator during an interview. (Read the transcript here.) Yet this subjectivity could be just what TV news needs to restore its reputation. If nothing else, Katrina could be the event that gets viewers to stop seeing TV journalists as out-of-touch elitists, if only because the reporters have been forced to stop acting like out-of-touch elitists.
MEANWHILE: More celebs are stepping up to contribute. New Orleans-born Ellen DeGeneres hopes to raise $1.5 million; she and Warner Bros. Television, which produces her talk show, will each match up to $500,000 in fan contributions to the Red Cross. Nicolas Cage, who has a home in New Orleans, has pledged $1 million; Hilary Duff has pledged $250,000.
Cable's Great American Country is the latest channel to add a telethon. Its Sept. 27 event will feature Alan Jackson, Alison Krauss, Keith Urban, Marty Stuart, Craig Morgan, Julie Roberts, and Billy Currington. The telethon that had been scheduled for early next week on all six broadcast networks has been moved to Friday, Sept. 9, to give producers time to organize phone banks. No host or stars have yet been named for that show. E! is creating a series of public service announcements that will debut tomorrow, with stars including Eva Longoria, Pamela Anderson, Destiny's Child, Steve Carell, Nicole Richie, John Larroquette, Julie Andrews, Brooke Burns, George Lopez, Lucy Lawless, Mariah Carey, Carlos Santana, and Paula Abdul.
On their own initiative, a group of Jessica Simpson fans at jessicastyle.com have organized a fund drive to help rescue animals stranded by the flooding. No word yet on whether Simpson herself will lend her name to the cause.
So at least one person has been rescued from Katrina. They still don't know where Fats Domino (left) is, but the ''Walkin' to New Orleans'' singer's daughter spotted him in a news photo taken Monday of a rescue boat.
- Meanwhile, stars continue to pitch in, as several TV specials take shape. Late additions to Harry Connick's NBC telethon tonight are New Orleans music mainstay Aaron Neville, Faith Hill, Hilary Swank (whose movie shoot for The Reaping had to flee Louisiana), Lindsay Lohan, John Goodman, Claire Danes, and Mike Myers. The BET Sept. 9 event, announced yesterday by Russell Simmons and Chris Rock, will feature Jay-Z, Diddy, Stevie Wonder, Omarion, Common, rappers Master P and Juvenile (who both lost their New Orleans homes), Wynton Marsalis, and Mississippi rapper David Banner. The CBS-ABC-Fox special will air next Tuesday or Wednesday, with Ellen DeGeneres in talks to host.
- More star charity: Jay-Z, Diddy, and Celine Dion have each pledged $1 million. Jay Leno will auction off a Harley-Davidson autographed by next week's Tonight Show guests. Eddie Griffin, performing two stand-up shows at a Louisiana casino this weekend, is donating the proceeds. Jane Kaczmarek and Bradley Whitford will donate the proceeds from their annual Clothes Off Our Backs auction of celebrity formalwear from the Emmys (Sept. 18). 3 Doors Down are urging concertgoers to bring food and clothing. Barry Manilow is matching -- and doubling -- hurricane relief contributions made to his Manilow Fund for Health & Hope, aiming to raise a total of $150,000. And Wil Wheaton is helping to organize some benefit poker tournaments.
- Reality TV is affected: Tim Farris of INXS announced on Wednesday's Rock Star: INXS that the band had made a donation. And the American Idol auditions scheduled for Monday in Memphis, a city overwhelmed by refugee aid efforts, have been canceled.
Call me crazy, but if news outlets were going to, oh, get hurricane reaction from the lead singer of Katrina and the Waves, or utilize the storm's name to make political potshots, maybe they should've done it well in advance of the death count that's begun to mount in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida.
Instead, though, today's New York Times tracks down Katrina Leskanich, former lead singer of Katrina and the Waves, to see how she felt seeing her name linked with the category 5 hurricane that's left hundreds of thousands homeless, and perhaps up to several thousand dead. (Um, guys, how did you think she'd feel?) To her credit, Leskanich tries to make the most of an icky interview by noting she hopes ''the true spirit of [the group's hit single] 'Walking on Sunshine' will prevail'' in the wake of the destruction.
Unfortunately, that spirit seems to have been forgotten by Rush Limbaugh; as recently as Aug. 31, the conservative radio host referred to the storm as Katrina vanden Heuvel (after the editor of The Nation), and worried aloud that ''the left is going to use this tragedy against the right.'' (Read the transcript of Limbaugh's broadcast here.) Am I the only one who finds Limbaugh's blathering tasteless, especially when the depressing news just keeps pouring in?
At least the people at ABC are showing restraint, pulling promos for its hurricane-themed series Invasion out of respect for Katrina's victims. Meanwhile, celebrities with New Orleans ties such as Ellen DeGeneres, Harry Connick Jr., and Patricia Clarkson, are all talking about the horror they felt over the storm's destructive effects, and discussing their plans to help in the fundraising and rebuilding process.
NBC and its sister cable news channels will be first out of the gate with a Katrina telethon, to air Friday night at 8 p.m. New Orleans native Harry Connick Jr. (far left) organized this one, calling upon fellow area natives Wynton Marsalis and Tim McGraw. (Also on board is Leonardo DiCaprio, near left.) Proceeds will go to the Red Cross' hurricane relief drive.
According to Variety, the other broadcast networks have grumbled about NBC's haste, since NBC was already in talks with CBS, ABC, Fox, UPN, and The WB for a special to be simulcast next Tuesday or Wednesday, with New Orleans-born Ellen De Generes having expressed interest in hosting. Is NBC trying to get a jump on relief efforts, or is it cynically capitalizing on its weak Friday schedule -- and possibly diluting next week's efforts in the process?
Other telethons are also in the works. MTV, VH1, CMT, and their offshoots will air a benefit concert on Sept. 10 featuring Green Day, Alicia Keys, John Mellencamp, Ludacris, Usher, Gretchen Wilson, David Banner, Rob Thomas, Chester Bennington (of Linkin Park), and Dave Matthews Band. Later today, Russell Simmons will announce the lineup for a concert to air on BET on Sept. 9.
Besides playing the MTV show, DMB have added a fourth night to their engagement at Denver's Red Rocks, with the proceeds going to relief efforts. That's one of several smaller-scale fundraisers planned. Bowling for Soup is playing a benefit in Shreveport, La. New Orleans rappers Master P and Juvenile have their own relief mini-drives.
Also pitching in: Jerry Lewis has pledged to redirect $1 million from his upcoming Labor Day muscular dystrophy telethon toward Katrina victims. Mississippi resident Morgan Freeman has organized an online auction. And on her website, Louisiana native Britney Spears has reported that her own family (in the affected states) is safe, while offering area residents her ''thoughts and prayers.''
Some stars will soon be stepping up to help fundraising efforts for Hurricane Katrina relief, as they did for tsunami relief drives a few months ago. New York's WNBC is one of many local TV stations around the country airing impromptu telethons; the station says that some celebrities will appear on tonight's broadcast and solicit pledges. (It's not clear if other NBC stations will pick up this broadcast from the flagship, as they did with WNBC's tsunami telethon in January, or just air their own fundraisers.) Proceeds will go the the American Red Cross. Meanwhile, MSNBC's Jeannette Walls says music industry insiders and Red Cross officials are talking about a benefit ''mega-concert,'' with Willie Nelson being mentioned as a possible participant.
Besides the disaster's enormous human costs, Hollywood is feeling the effects of Katrina via a number of Louisiana film and TV shoots that had to shut down and evacuate. Among those features affected were Déjà Vu (starring Denzel Washington), The Reaping (Hilary Swank), The Guardian (Ashton Kutcher and Kevin Costner), and The Last Time (Brendan Fraser and Michael Keaton). Also forced to flee were Lucy Lawless (shooting the TV movie Vampire Bats) and Pat Sajak and Vanna White (Wheel of Fortune had been on a road trip to New Orleans). Along with the countless locals forced from their homes, the Hollywood crews on these shoots may not be able to return for a long time -- or ever.
