Weekend Warmup
Arts
- Arts Festival Oklahoma: Take in arts, crafts, children’s activities, fair food, live entertainment from Edgar Cruz, Byron Berline, the Oklahoma City Philharmonic and more at the annual Arts Festival Oklahoma at Oklahoma City Community College, 7777 S May Ave. Hours are 3 to 9 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday. For more information, call 682-7576 or go to www.occc.edu/afo.
Movies
- “Traitor”: An FBI agent (Guy Pearce) searches for a Muslim American (Don Cheadle) with a special forces background and ties to a dangerous terrorist organization. (Opened Wednesday)
- “Babylon A.D.”: A mercenary (Vin Diesel) takes the high-risk job of escorting a mystery woman from Russia to the United States, not realizing she is part of a cult trying to create a new Messiah.
- “Disaster Movie”: The writing-directing team of Aaron Seltzer and Jason Friedberg, who created “Meet the Spartans” and “Scary Movie,” take on movie disasters in their latest spoof.
- “College”: Three high school students, one who is played by a post-Disney Channel Drake Bell, have a wild weekend when they tour a college as prospective freshmen.
Music
- Kellie Pickler: Hear up-and-coming country star and former “American Idol” contestant Kellie Pickler at 6 p.m. Saturday at Frontier City, 11501 N I-35 Service Rd. For more information, call 478-2140 or go to www.frontiercity.com.
- Corbin Bleu: Or, get a live look and listen at “High School Musical” star Corbin Bleu, with special guest Justin Stein, at 6 p.m. Sunday at Frontier City. For more information, call 478-2140 or go to www.frontiercity.com.
- Ali Harter with Followed by Static: Catch Oklahoma City singer-songwriter Ali Harter, along with Austin, Texas-based grime group Followed by Static, at 10 p.m. Friday at VZD’s, 4200 N Western. For more information, go to www.vzds.com.
- Mama Sweet: Listen to the Western rock sound of Norman-based band Mama Sweet at 10 p.m. Saturday at The Deli, 309 White Street in Norman. For more information, call 329-3534 or www.thedeli.us.
- Shawna Russell: Hear up-and-coming country star Shawna Russell of Okemah play at 8 p.m. Friday at the Sac and Fox Casino Heartland Amphitheater, 42008 Westech Road in Shawnee. The all-ages show is free. For more information, call 275-4700.
Statewide
- BOK Center’s Multi-faith Celebration, Tulsa: Count down to the opening of the new BOK Center at the Multi-faith Celebration “One Song. Many Voices” at 3 p.m. Sunday at the arena, 200 S Denver. The free event will feature Broadway and TV performer Sam Harris, who was raised in Sand Springs. For more information, call (800) 678-7177 or go to www.bokcenter.com.
-BAM
Carrie Underwood, David Cook “Stand Up to Cancer”
More than 50 famous personalities in film, sports and music will come together to make TV history on “Stand Up to Cancer.”
The lineup includes the “American Idol” winners with Oklahoma ties: Carrie Underwood, who was raised in Checotah, and David Cook, who was raised in Blue Springs, Mo., and lived and performed in Tulsa before “Idol.”
The live fund- and awareness-raising TV special will air simultaneously on ABC, NBC and CBS at 7 p.m. Sept. 5. The hour-long prime-time special will air commercial free. The proceeds will go to cancer research, according to an Associated Press story.
The event’s Web site, www.standup2cancer.org, lists an impressive lineup of talent who will be appearing, including Cook, Jennifer Aniston, Scarlett Johansson, Meryl Streep, Christina Applegate, Lance Armstrong, Jack Black, Kirsten Dunst, Charles Barkley, America Ferrera, Halle Berry, Hilary Swank, Forest Whitaker, Jimmy Fallon and Keanu Reeves.
These celebrities and more will make personal appearances and answer viewers’ pledge calls in the celebrity phone bank.
Cook’s brother, Adam, has brain cancer.
Underwood will be among the high-profile recording artists who will perform the star-studded charity single “Just Stand Up” in its TV premiere on the special.
Other artists who will perform it include Mariah Carey, Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Rihanna, Fergie, Sheryl Crow, Miley Cyrus, Melissa Etheridge, Ashanti, Natasha Bedingfield, Keyshia Cole, Ciara, Leona Lewis and LeAnn Rimes, according to the site.
The celebrities, along with news anchors Katie Couric, Charles Gibson and Brian Williams, will offer an evening of “edutainment,” executive producer Laura Ziskin, a cancer survivor who helped establish the event and the nonprofit group behind it, told the AP.
“There will be laughter. There will be tears. And you’ll learn something about how we can turn the outcome of this disease if we just set our minds to it,” Ziskin told the AP.
She described the special as “a phone-in, a sit-in, a love-in” in which people can call in and talk to a famous person while doing a good deed.
She said the goal of the event is to encourage scientists to follow the networks’ lead: put aside competitive differences to work together to improve the fight against cancer.
“This is what we’re asking the whole cancer community to do,” she told the AP. “Put aside your competitive issues and come together for the greater good.”
-BAM
David Cook takes a victory lap, plans for the future
When Season 7 winner David Cook and the other “American Idol” top 10 contestants come tonight to Oklahoma City’s Ford Center and Sept. 13 to Tulsa’s BOK Center, it will be a sort of victory lap for Cook.
Cook, who was raised in Blue Springs, Mo., and lived and played in Tulsa before “Idol,” won’t be playing any new material from his upcoming album, set for November release.
“For me the tour’s just kind of celebratory, so I think in my set, I cater to the fans of the show, and I do some songs from the show. I do “Hello” and “Billie Jean” and … “Don’t Want to Miss a Thing.” And then I do sing “Time of My Life,” which is a single. And then I do a song by the Foo Fighters called “My Hero,” a song that I wanted to do on the show and it just never seemed to fit a theme. So, I feel like my set really just kind of encapsulates what I was about on the show. I like songs with a vibe, I like songs with some energy,” Cook told me in a recent phone interview.
Cook said the tour tentatively has a day off in Tulsa the day before the BOK Center show, although “whether or not that’s a day off for me, I have no idea.” He is working on his new album while on the road.
He politely refused to reveal any plans he might have while in Tulsa.
“I’d tell you but if you put it in print then I can’t go there,” he said with a laugh.
He said the mob scenes that accompany his announced appearances, along with the tabloid stories that have appeared about him, are “weird.”
He did share that after the tour, he and his younger brother Andrew, the one who got him into auditioning for “Idol” in the first place, at a Kansas City Chiefs baseball game.
“And then I head back to L.A. from there to get finished on the record. So downtime will be quite the commodity between now and Christmas,” he said.
-BAM
What to do in Oklahoma on Aug. 28
Today’s featured event:
Hear Tulsa rocker and “American Idol” winner David Cook when the “American Idols Live” tour comes to the Ford Center, 100 W Reno, at 7 p.m. today.
Along with Cook, the show will include the other Season 7 top 10 contestants: Brooke White, Carly Smithson, Chikezie Eze, David Archuleta, Jason Castro, Kristy Lee Cook, Michael Johns, Ramiele Malubay and Syesha Mercado.
For more information, go to www.okfordcenter.com.
For more events, go to www.wimgo.com.
-BAM
Wednesday Video Spotlight: Shawna Russell’s “Shed a Tear”
Along with releasing her sophomore single and planning her first headlining show in her home area, Okemah country music up-and-comer Shawna Russell also has produced a video to go with her heartwrenching song “Shed a Tear.”
The song is about a female National Guardsman who goes off to war, leaving behind her young daughter, and it makes me cry every time I hear it.
According to her Web site, Russell was inspired to write the song while performing for troops on a 2005 USO tour in South Korea. Moved by the number of female soldiers, she talked on the plane ride back with her uncle/bassist Tim Russell about the dearth of songs about servicewomen. She and Tim Russell co-wrote the non-political song with Tim Rushlow to honor the women – the mothers, daughters and sisters – serving in the armed forces.
Along with the story line based on the video, which includes a sweet little girl, it features performance footage of Russell at Cherokee Casino Will Rogers Downs in Claremore, and in Omaha, Neb.
Russell has performed the song on various occasions for groups of troops, including at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City.
Check out the video, courtesy Russell’s Web site, www.shawnarussell.com, and YouTube.
-BAM
Shawna Russell releases new single, to perform in Shawnee
Rising Oklahoma country music star Shawna Russell has been a busy woman this month.
The Okemah singer-songwriter will make her first headlining appearance in her home area at 8 p.m. Friday at the Sac and Fox Casino Heartland Amphitheater, 42008 Westech Road in Shawnee.
The show will be free to the public and open to all ages.
In March, Russell released her debut CD, “Goddess,” winning praise from numerous music critics, including yours truly. She is forecast to become a major star, getting accolades from Nashville’s top music critic, Robert K. Oermann, and Country Weekly magazine, which wrote: “Her promising debut is contemporary country soaked in the influence of 1970’s country-rock and California pop – it’s a winning fusion.”
Russell last week released her second single from “Goddess” to country radio. Titled “Should’ve Been Born With Wheels,” she co-wrote the song - along with much of the album – with her father, Keith, and her uncle Tim, who also play in her band.
The song tells Russell’s story. She says in a news release, ”From an early age, I have had the luxury of being able to travel and make music for a living. This has always been such an important part of my life. So naturally, I wanted to give my listeners a peek into the events that have impacted both my life and my career.”
Russell first started singing as a child, and by age 13 she was performing regularly. At 17, she went on the road full time, honing her skills at clubs, casinos, and concert venues across the country, where she continues to build her fan base.
Obviously, she grew up in a musical family: Her father plays guitar in her band, and her uncle plays bass, produces, co-manages, and is the founder of her record label, Way Out West Records.
Recorded in Oklahoma City, “Should’ve Been Born With Wheels” features L.A. drummer, Russ Kunkel, whose credits include James Taylor, Carly Simon and Stevie Nicks; David Santos, bassist for Elton John, Billy Joel, and currently with John Fogerty; and guitarist, Jon Conley, who has played onstage with Wynonna, LeAnn Rimes and others. Russell’s kicking vocals were engineered by Grammy-winning Julian King, who has worked with Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. The track was mixed by Emmy and Grammy award recipient, Nathaniel Kunkel, in Los Angeles, between projects with The Police and Diana Ross.
“Should’ve Been Born With Wheels” is a rollicking track with a crunchy guitar riff, playful drums and a catchy B-3 organ. It’s a fun song to listen to as you drive down the road with the windows down.
In the past few months, Russell’s first single, the title track to “Goddess,” earned airplay across the country. Russell visited radio stations in several states to support the album, winning coveted musical guest spotson the top-rated KBEQ morning talk show in Kansas City and on Voice of America’s “Border Crossings” show, which broadcasts from Washington, D.C., to more than 60 countries around the world.
For more information on the show and single, go to www.shawnarussell.com.
-BAM
Movie review: “Traitor”
From Wednesday’s The Oklahoman. 3 of 4 stars (plus highest praise to Don Cheadle and Guy Pearce for strong performances).
‘Traitor’ falls on the good side as espionage-terrorist thriller
Strong performances and intriguing plot twists elevate “Traitor,” the latest terrorism-espionage thriller to open in movie theaters.
Oscar nominee Don Cheadle (“Hotel Rwanda”) stars as mystery man Samir Horn. Born in the Sudan, where he witnessed tragedy at a young age, Samir is a devout Muslim American with a special forces background.
But he is arrested in Yemen selling detonators to suspected terrorists. In the primitive prison, he gets a visit from a pair of FBI agents: Roy Clayton (Guy Pearce), a Southerner, Baptist and intellectual, and Max Archer (Neal McDonough), an old-school investigator with fast fists.
The agents offer to spring Samir in exchange for information, but Samir refuses. Because of his race, Samir faces persecution in prison until a smooth, educated terrorist, Omar (Said Taghmaoui) befriends him.
When Omar’s radical cohorts bust him out of prison, he takes Samir along. Roy and Max embark on a globe-trotting pursuit of Samir.
Samir starts colluding with Omar’s terrorist cell, led by suave businessman Fareed (Aly Khan), and even plots an embassy bombing in France. Fareed then entrusts Samir and Omar with planning a major attack on U.S. soil.
But as the agents chase Samir from Europe to Canada to the United States, desperate to halt the planned attack on the American heartland, Roy starts to suspect that Samir may not be what he seems.
Cheadle makes his character believable and relatable despite the shroud of ambiguity enveloping him. Australian Pearce again proves his mettle, pulling off another American accent and adding color to the cop role. Jeff Daniels adds to the mystery with his turn as an inscrutable CIA contractor.
The speedy story by first-time writer-director Jeffrey Nachmanoff, based on an idea from Steve Martin, has some plot holes and inert stretches.
But the interesting twists (including one that is unfortunately revealed in the trailer) and cinematographer J. Michael Muro’s natural, realistic style make “Traitor” a mystery worth following.
Strong performances and intriguing plot twists elevate “Traitor,” the latest terrorism-espionage thriller to open in movie theaters.
Oscar nominee Don Cheadle (“Hotel Rwanda”) stars as mystery man Samir Horn. Born in the Sudan, where he witnessed tragedy at a young age, Samir is a devout Muslim American with a special forces background.
But he is arrested in Yemen selling detonators to suspected terrorists. In the primitive prison, he gets a visit from a pair of FBI agents: Roy Clayton (Guy Pearce), a Southerner, Baptist and intellectual, and Max Archer (Neal McDonough), an old-school investigator with fast fists.
The agents offer to spring Samir in exchange for information, but Samir refuses. Because of his race, Samir faces persecution in prison until a smooth, educated terrorist, Omar (Said Taghmaoui) befriends him.
When Omar’s radical cohorts bust him out of prison, he takes Samir along. Roy and Max embark on a globe-trotting pursuit of Samir.
Samir starts colluding with Omar’s terrorist cell, led by suave businessman Fareed (Aly Khan), and even plots an embassy bombing in France. Fareed then entrusts Samir and Omar with planning a major attack on U.S. soil.
But as the agents chase Samir from Europe to Canada to the United States, desperate to halt the planned attack on the American heartland, Roy starts to suspect that Samir may not be what he seems.
Cheadle makes his character believable and relatable despite the shroud of ambiguity enveloping him. Australian Pearce again proves his mettle, pulling off another American accent and adding color to the cop role. Jeff Daniels adds to the mystery with his turn as an inscrutable CIA contractor.
The speedy story by first-time writer-director Jeffrey Nachmanoff, based on an idea from Steve Martin, has some plot holes and inert stretches.
But the interesting twists (including one that is unfortunately revealed in the trailer) and cinematographer J. Michael Muro’s natural, realistic style make “Traitor” a mystery worth following.
-BAM
What to do in Oklahoma on Aug. 27
Today’s featured event:
TULSA – Hear legendary folk/rock singer-songwriter Bob Dylan at 8 p.m. today at the Brady Theater, 105 W Brady Street.
For more information, go to www.bradytheater.com.
For more events, go to www.wimgo.com.
-BAM
“Nick and Norah’s” indie rock soundtrack
Atlantic Records has announced that “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack” will be released in stores and online on Sept. 23.
The soundtrack to the rock ‘n’ roll rom-com includes songs from some great indie rock bands, including Vampire Weekend, Band of Horses, We Are Scientists, Bishop Allen, and Devendra Banhart.
“Nickand Norah’s Infinite Playlist” will open in theaters Oct. 3.
The soundtrack includes a previously unreleased track from L.A.-based newcomers Army Navy. It also features an exclusive selection from the film’s score, performed by composer Mark Mothersbaugh (Devo, “Rugrats,” “Big Love”).
Preorders for the soundtrack started today at http://store.atlanticrecords.com. If vinyl’s your thing, the Atlantic Records Web store will be offering the album in a limited edition vinyl release.
Here’s the film’s summary, according to a news release:
“Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist” is a comedy about two people thrust together for one hilarious, sleepless night of adventure in a world of mix tapes, late-night living, and live, loud music. Nick – played by Michael Cera (“Juno,” “Superbad,” “Arrested Development”) – frequents New York’s indie rock scene nursing a broken heart and a vague ability to play the bass. Norah (Kat Dennings, “The 40 Year Old Virgin,” “The House Bunny”) is questioning pretty much all of her assumptions about the world. Though they have nothing in common except for their taste in music, their chance encounter leads to an all-night quest to find a legendary band’s secret show and ends up becoming the first date in a romance that could change both their lives.
Peter Sollett directed the film, based on the popular novel by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan.
For more information, go to www.atlanticrecords.com/nickandnorah or www.nickandnorah.com.
Here’s the song list for the soundtrack:
1. Chris Bell – “Speed Of Sound”
2. Devendra Banhart – “Lover”
3. Bishop Allen – “Middle Management”
4. Vampire Weekend – “Ottoman”
5. The Dead 60s – “Riot Radio”
6. Takka Takka – “Fever”
7. The Submarines – “Xavia”
8. We Are Scientists – “After Hours”
9. Band Of Horses – “Our Swords”
10. Army Navy – “Silvery Sleds”
11. Richard Hawley – “Baby You’re My Light”
12. Shout Out Louds – “Very Loud”
13. Paul Tiernan – “How To Say Goodbye”
14. The Real Tuesday Weld – “Last Words”
15. Mark Mothersbaugh – “Nick & Norah’s Theme”
-BAM
“Idol” adds fourth judge
The hit reality TV singing contest “American Idol” is adding a fourth judge for its upcoming eighth season.
Grammy-nominated songwriter and former singer Kara DioGuardi will be critiquing contestants alongside Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson when the new season premieres in January.
According to the Associated Press, DioGuardi’s songs have been recorded by Oklahoma native Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson, Christina Aguilera, Gwen Stefani, Celine Dion, Faith Hill, Pink and others.
“With Kara by her side, Paula has some backup and now there is going to be a lot more `girl power’ on the show,” Mike Darnell, president of alternative programming for Fox said in a statement to the AP.
Executive producer Cecile Frot-Coutaz told the AP that “Idol” was originally supposed to have four judges.
“We’ve seen from our international series that having a fourth judge creates a dynamic that benefits both the contestants and the viewers,” she said.
The show’s official Web site, www.americanidol.com, includes a video with DioGuardi in which she describes herself as feisty, opinionated and unafraid of confrontation. Should be interesting, and it will be nice to have a woman on the show who isn’t gushing about how strong everyone’s spirit is and how their talent shines.
Still, I have to wonder two things: 1. If there was always supposed to be a fourth judge, why did it take seven seasons of Paula slurring and blathering, Simon insulting and grumping and Randy blurting “yo, dawg” to inject some new blood?
2. Could we not get someone with a big higher profile to judge the top-rated, hitmaking show? For heaven sakes, “America’s Got Talent” at least has Sharon Osbourne and David Hasselhoff – whatever you think of them, they’re people you’ve actually heard of and seen on TV before – to go along with their cranky Englishman.
With the reality show working to keep its hold on TV’s top spot, it will be interesting to see how many other changes the producers make by the time Season 8 begins.
While we’re on the subject of “Idol,” don’t forget that the Season 7 top 10 contestants, including winner and former Tulsa club player David Cook, are playing at Thursday at the Ford Center as part of the “American Idols Live” tour. Go to www.okfordcenter.com for more information.
-BAM
