DT's B&P: Alumni Dealings with Quentin Tarantino, Russell Crow and John Legend

Transitioning now out of our "Delicious Leftovers" series to bring you some exciting entertainment tidbits from our alumni and undergrads:

• Lots of celebrity dealing with our alumni this week
• She's casting For A new TV show
• She will be starring in a new thriller as a prisoner
• A Hot Los Angeles Penn event you'll want to go to on September 1!
• Free music!
  

Click HERE for the scoop!

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"Reality Hell", the faux-reality show that Lesley Wolff (C'93, Bloomers) casts for, recently debuted on E! (Sunday nights).

"Most reality shows have people looking for their 15 minutes of fame. Reality Hell will have people wanting to give their's back! The reality genre has all but taken over television programming, making stars out of regular people. Now E! is turning the tables on all those reality-star wannabes by staging a show where the whole cast is in on an act to set up one unknowing reality-show contestant. Staged scenarios include an over-the-top modeling competition with extreme challenges, wacky contestants and insane judges and a family swap that will have the mom trying to find a way to escape the crazy Hollywood clan she's been placed with. This summer on E!, Fake is the new Reality!"

I've watched this show and the part I look forward to is the end of the show at the moment when the actors tell the victim they're on "Reality Hell" and the person that is being pranked doesn't know what "Reality Hell" means until they realize all the actors are laughing at them.  It's briliant!

My past posts about stand-up and casting director Lesley Wolff HERE

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Jordana Horn's (C'95) interviews Quentin Tarantino (!) about his new film, Inglorious Basterds HERE

...Jordana also reviews the film for the Wall Street Journal. Read all about "Torah and Tarantino" HERE

...And speaking of Inglorious Basterds, read the early review HERE that Brian Tran (W'10) wrote last May for our Penn in Cannes '09 series

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Elizabeth Banks (C'96) to star with Russell Crow in Next Three Days

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Liz "will play the lead role of Laura, a woman who is imprisoned for a murder she claims she didn't commit, as her husband, the recently cast Russell Crowe, desperately tries to vindicate her."

I will tell you I recently saw Liz in the thriller The Uninvited. Liz definitely plays evil real good... in that she creeped me out real good.   She reminded me of Rebecca De Mornay in The Hand That Rocks the Cradle.

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John Legend (C'99, Counterparts) will be performing at the Greek Theatre on Tuesday, September 1 at 7:30PM.  Join PennClubLA for this fantastic event.  Tickets can be purchased on the PennClubLA website HERE  Come hear great music and network with new people.

+ For more information about his tour, click HERE

+ More of my posts about John Legend and his appearances at Penn HERE

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Speaking of John Legend, Malik Smith (C'10), a similar sounding (undergraduate!) artist I covered HERE is giving all of us his 1st single "Crazy" for free HERE

+ More of my DT Music posts HERE

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Getting You Buzzd: He's Helping You Discover The Nightlife Around You

What do you think a guy who DJed in his senior year (under the name Metafizik) and hosted weekly parties at 4010 Spruce (a house known as "Browntown") went on to do?

While he's not a DJ anymore, Nihal Mehta (C'99, Pi Lam fraternity, see picture to left) is still tapped into everything "nightlife" and is sharing it you with his web based and mobile free service called buzzd.

buzzd is the premier location-sensitive city guide and social network for your mobile phone.  buzzd answers “what’s going on around me right now?™” by delivering up-to-the-minute info on bars, restaurants, concerts and events in a specific set location. buzzd features listings from Flavorpill, Time Out, Citysearch, ZAGAT, Upcoming as well as real-time posts (“buzzes”) from members of the buzzd community. Create a profile, add/invite friends and – if you post a “buzz” – it is sent as a text-message to your nearby friends in the network.

Recently, Nihal released a new BlackBerry application in that has been among the most downloaded apps since its release, and was covered in such outlets like the New York Times. (Mehta received funding from Blackberry Partners Fund, who are interested in funding entertainment ventures that are on the mobile phone. )

On a related note, Nihal had another "nightlife" company before buzzd.  In 1999, Nihal started his entrepreneurial career by co-founding (and later selling) Philly2nite an online nightlife and entertainment portal with fellow Penn alum Vijay Chattha (C'00, see picture to right) while they both lived on the bottom floor of 4010 Spruce (side note: I actually lived exactly there my senior year too!).  Browntown, as the house was known was famous for its many evening gatherings featuring open mic sessions with many future media alums like John Stephens, now John Legend (C'99), Aaron Jones (W'99)  of Hip-Hop Act Dujeous, Ted Chung (W'99), who is running Snoop's Label, DJ Bunnylove,  Paras Shah (C'99), Nimo Patel (W'01) and Swapnil Shah (C'99) of Rap Group Karmacy,  Sumit Bothra (W'99), now President of Embargo Management and Max Blumenthal (C'99), MC and current writer for TheDailyBeast and Huffington Post.

Years later Nihal started the first mobile marketing firm which was bought by Omnicom Group in 2005.  From there, Nihal got the idea for buzzd, which he founded in 2006 which was essentially his first idea: Philly2nite on a phone.

Nihal is yet another example of Penn friends working together as he continues to work with Vijay who is an investor and advisor in the company.



Get Buzzd!: www.buzzd.com

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John Legend on Good Morning America (VIDEOS) + See Him in Concert with 120 LA Penn Alumni!

Tune into Good Morning America on Friday morning as John Legend (C'99, Counterparts) performs for GMA's Summer Concert Series live from New York's Central Park.  (If you miss it, check back here for video.)

UPDATE:
Check out videos from his performance below! (they talk about and show clips from the speech John gave at Penn's commencement a few weeks ago)

On a related note, the Penn Club of Los Angeles will be kicking off their Fall '09 events with a John Legend Concert on September 1 at the Greek Theater!

PennClubLA, WhartonSoCal, and SCRAB have secured a large block of seats for their clubs and are in the process of organizing a club reception. Please save the date if you would like to join.  Club tickets will go on sale next week HERE.

Please note that this is not a private concert and there unfortunately won't be a meet and greet with John. ...But perhaps if you hold up Penn signs you'll probably get a shout out from him!

Watch John Legend inspire everyone at this year's (2009) Penn Commencement HERE

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John Legend Sees Soul In All of Us at Penn Graduation (VIDEO)

Yesterday I shared with you video from the 2009 graduation from Penn President Amy Gutmann and Google's CEO Eric Schmidt.

Now, thanks to some of my twitter and facebook friends, check out Penn graduation speaker John Legend's (C'99) very inspirational speech. Below is an excerpt from his speech which is especially moving:

"I believe that you, as graduates of this prestigious institution, the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania, have soul power. No matter what careers or hobbies you pursue after leaving here, do them with SOUL.

You are empowered to be great leaders. You are equipped--in your jobs, your hobbies, your relationships. You are equipped with the ability to think critically, to listen attentively, to navigate the gray areas, to read between the lines, to bear witness, and to lead in the pursuit of truth.

You have knowledge.

Knowledge is power.

And, as my late grandfather would say, or as the freedom fighters of the civil rights movement would SING, if you know the truth, the truth will set you free. The truth will set you free someday.

Class of 2009, your someday begins today."

My other John Legend posts (including performances at Penn this past year) HERE

Check out videos from this year and previous Penn graduations HERE



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These 2 Penn Alumni Interview John Legend

In light of his new recently released Evolver album, John Legend (C'99, Counterparts) was interviewed by 2 different Penn alumni for 2 different mediums.

Last week, Penn alum and WPIX Entertainment Reporter Emily Frances interviewed John (see video above).  Emily filled me in on some John Legend tidbits that I didn't know:

• Legend is a musical prodigy. 
• He started playing the piano at the age of 4 and he started attending the University of Pennsylvania when he was only 16-years-old. 
• To fit in with the college crowd, he joined an acapella group (Counterparts). 
• Legend was the first in his family to attend college and after he graduated, he worked at Boston Consulting Group for 3 years in NY while he was trying to make it.
• He was an English major and lived in Butcher his freshman year. 

Then Jillian Ivey (C'06, Kelly Writer's House) sat down with John Legend earlier this month for the  Phillyist blog to talk with him about his new album.  In the interview, John talks about his new album and also talks about whether he'll be returning to Penn for the Counterparts 10th reunion this spring and why he loves Philly so much.  Check out her article here

Listen to Evolver tracks here

John Legend - Evolver - If You're Out There (remember when he performed this on campus HERE for the Obama Rally?)


John Legend - Evolver (album)


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John Legend Performs at National Democratic Convention!

Did you see John Legend (C'99, Counterparts) perform his hit song  "Yes We Can" with will.i.am at last night's Democratic National Convention?   Check it out in the moving video above! 

On that note, as you may recall, John debuted this song at Penn when he rallied on campus for Obama back in April. Watch this great video here!

It's clear that John is getting some serious national exposure these days with his involvement in this campaign.  If you didn't see, John also did an interview yesterday with Paul Williams on MSNBC at the Democratic National Convention. Watch the video below and find out how many millions of people saw his "Yes We Can" video when he posted it on youtube!

Check out all the Penn activity surrounding the Presidential Campaign 2008!

More of my John Legend posts here!

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John Legend Debuts Obama Rally Song At Penn!

John Legend (C'99, Counterparts) was on campus at an Obama rally performing his new song "If You're Out There". Apparently, this is a new song he wrote last week for the Obama campaign because he was inspired by the young people out there getting involved with the election. A pretty appropriate rally song if you ask me.

Check out some of the other songs he performed:



"Take It Slow"





"Get Lifted"





"Ordinary People"





"Good Morning"



It's always fun when celebrities come to campus to endorse candidates. ...Like when these celebrities came to Penn back in 1993 to support Bill Clinton.



Speaking of John Legend, catch an appearance John made on the Ellen Show a couple months ago!



More of my John Legend posts here!
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Where Do I Get One Of These?

University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine just came out with a short, interesting, bordering on "cute" PSA video.

Watch it here!

My question is.. Where do I get one of these animal treadmills (above) so I can exercise my two new wildly energetic puppy Vizlas!?

Other Penn PSAs here from musician John Legend (C'99), newscaster Andrea Mitchell (c'67), and John Heisman (not actually him)!

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Legend-ary Oscar Commercial

So I started watching the Oscar red carpet show on E! in real time ...so there's no padding on my TiVo to fast forward through the commercials. (which is fine because it allows me to watch and blog at the same time)

As I sit here watching, I just spotted a John Legend (C'99) commercial which I think may be new. The above image is from John's Baileys (alcohol) commercial encouraging viewers to act responsible before they drink.

Speaking of the Oscars and Penn alumni, just in case you never saw this post, click here to check out Gabriel Mann's (C'95) very cool appearance on last year's Oscars!

Check out my other John Legend posts

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John Legend (C'00) gets "curbed"

Did you catch John Legend (C'00) on this past weekend's season finale of Curb Your Enthusiasm? He was playing himself performing at Susie and Jeff's daugther Sammy's Bat Mitzvah.

Speaking of Bar/Bat Mitzvah's, did you see this recent "Bar Mitzvah" video from Penn-Six? Click here to check it out!

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John Legend's (C'99) music on last night's Grey's Anatomy

Did you catch John Legend's (C'99) music ("Sun Comes Up") in the last scene of last night's Grey's Anatomy?

(from ABC.com, it's the scene where "Derek has a serious conversation with Meredith. Stanley visits Adam. Lexie thanks Cristina for helping her. Alex brings Izzie tissues. Callie sits alone and cries.")

Listen to the song here
(note this youtube user has assembled a montage of previous Grey's Anatomy clips using John Legend's songs)

More John Legend videos here!

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When one successful Penn alum interviews another successful Penn alum...

Sorry I just got wind of this one, but last night John Legend (C'99, Counterparts) was interviewed by Donny Deutsch (W'79) on Donny's show, The Big Idea in a segment called "Your Daily Roadmap to the American Dream".

I'll be on the lookout for video, but in the meantime, you can check out Donny's site here for updates.

More of my posts on John Legend (C'99)

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More of my posts on Donny Deutsch (W'79)

More of my posts about the Class of 1979

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Jennifer Weber (C'00) brings hip-hop ballet(!) to Seattle this weekend

"Hip-hop ballet" sounds cool, doesn't it?

And it is ...thanks to Jennifer Weber (C'00, Strictly Funk Dance) who this weekend performs in Seattle's Bumbershoot (music and arts) festival.

Founded in 2000, Jennifer's all-female performance group called Decadance recruits women from the United States and Japan to perform hip-hop ballets that transcend the world of dance. Inspired by the urban folk culture found in clubs and on the streets of contemporary cities, the group tells stories through dance of the evolving hip-hop generation.

Jennifer is not the only Penn talent that will take the stage this weeknd. Also performing is singer-songwriter and Penn alum, John Legend (C'99)

Click to see hip-hop ballet in action!

Click to check out Jennifer's Decadance Theatre

Click here to see how Jennifer's "beginnings" and how she got her start

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