Four years ago, Jeff Dunham was a working standup comic, headlining the Punchline with his cast of puppets. Then he nabbed a Comedy Central special that struck a chord. He released a DVD that sold millions. His audience grew exponentially larger.

YouTube came along and video of  his dead terrorist Achmed character (”Silence! I keel you!”) in 2007 has since received a whopping 101 million page views:

Soon, he was doing 2,500 seat theaters, now 12,000-seat arenas. He even has his own Comedy Central show. It’s been quite a ride for a ventroliquist who struggled for years to break it big.

Now Dunham is so busy, his most valuable commodity – his voice – is being rationed. In fact, I couldn’t do a phone interview with him. The man’s too busy even for a live online chat. So I got an email interview. And even then, I was limited to four questions.

So this is it. It’s not nearly as interesting as a real interview would have been, but it’s the best I could get:

You were doing the …

Continue reading Jeff Dunham interview for Philips Arena show December 28 »

Earlier this week, I posted the most played songs on each radio station in 2009. Here are the most played artists.

Kiss 104.1
1. Luther Vandross
2. Isley Brothers
3. Earth, Wind & Fire
4. O’Jays
5. Anita Baker
6. Michael Jackson
7. Stevie Wonder
8. Marvin Gaye
9. Al Green
10. Teddy Pendergrass

Fish 104.7
1. Third Day
2. MercyMe
3. Jeremy Camp
4. Chris Tomlin
5. Casting Crowns
6. Big Daddy Weave
7. Matthew West
8. Tobymac
9. Steven Curtis Chapman
10. Brandon Heath

Majic 107.5
1. Mary J. Blige
2. Luther Vandross
3. Maxwell
4. Michael Jackson
5. Jodeci
6. Charlie Wilson
7. R. Kelly
8. Anthony Hamilton
9. Usher
10. Musiq Soulchild

95.5/The Beat
1. T.I.
2. Lady Gaga
3. Flo Rida
4. Kanye West
5. Keri Hilson
6. Beyonce
7. Black Eyed Peas
8. Pitbull
9. Lil Wayne
10. Rihanna

El Patron
1. Grupo Montez De Durango
2. Trono de Mexico
3. Vicente Fernandez
4. Los Alacraines Musicales
5. Banda El Recodo
6. El Chapo De Sinaloa
7. Los Dareyes de la Sierra
8. Conunto Primavera
9. La Arrolladora …

Continue reading Most popular artists on each Atlanta radio station in 2009 »

If you’re loyal to any of the particular radio stations below, here are the songs you heard the most from each station.

Averaged over an entire year, some stations (such as the Beat and Star 94) played a song nearly 3,000 times or 8 times a day. For others, such as V-103, it’s more like 1,000 times.

The two top 40 stations (Star and Q100) played the Fray to death. And Shinedown was popular on both rock and pop stations. Urban stations loved Jamie Foxx’s “Blame It.” On both the Bull and Kicks, north Georgia’s own Zac Brown Band had the most played song of the year.

The top 5 most played songs in Atlanta, January 1 – December 10, 2009

Hot 107.9
1. Jamie Foxx – Blame It
2. Fast Life Yungstaz – Swag Surfin
3. Gucci Mane – Wasted
4. The-Dream – Rockin’ That Thang
5. OJ Da Juiceman – Make the Trap Say Aye

Majic 107.5
1. K’Jon – On the Ocean
2. Charlie Wilson – There Goes My Baby
3. Musiq Soulchild – Sobeautiful
4. Mary J. Blige – Just Fine
5. Maxwell – Pretty Wings

True Oldies
1. …

Continue reading Atlanta radio’s biggest songs of 2009 »

Mediatakeout today led its gossip site with an item saying Sheree Whitfield of “Real Housewives of Atlanta” is romantically tied to Atlanta actor Chris Tucker (”Rush Hour”), using a photo of them together on the red carpet of a charity event Saturday as the pretense for generating such a rumor.

Whitfield’s publicist Carlos Scott this afternoon categorically denied to me that there is any hanky panky between the two. “They don’t have a relationship like that,” he said. Rather, they met on the red carpet at the United Negro College Fund Mayor’s Masked Ball at the Marriott Marquis downtown, agreed to photos and spoke for a couple of minutes.

The former wife of ex-NFL player Bob Whitfield is not dating anybody, he added.

Join me on Facebook or Twitter.

Continue reading Sheree Whitfield’s publicist denies Chris Tucker rumor »

Lil Wayne is the headliner for Hot 107.9’s first ever Jingle Bash concert Saturday at Philips Arena.

This isn’t to be mistaken for Star 94’s sold-out Jingle Jam last week featuring the likes of the Fray and Justin Bieber.

Rather, Lil Wayne will be rapping with Bird Man and joined by Plies, Trey Songz, Young Dro, Shawty Lo and Lil Scrappy to name a few. Show starts at 6 p.m. You can get tix at www.ticketmaster.com. Prices range from $29.99 to $149.99. I just checked and good seats at $99.99 and  $149.99 tix are still available and I found some in the third level at $49.99 but the cheapest seats ($29.99) and mid-priced seats ($59.99) appear to be gone. Promotions director Ravi Shelton confirmed this level of availability.

The concert will be in the round, resulting in far more seats available than under a normal stage set up.

Lil Wayne begins a year-long jail sentence in February for weapons charges stemming from a 2007 incident when a gun was found on one of his tour buses. He …

Continue reading Lil Wayne headlining Hot 107.9’s Jingle Bash Saturday »

Watching TV this week is very much like comfort food, say, your grandma’s apple pie — familiar, warm, perfect for the occasion.

That means bumbling angel Clarence driving George Bailey nuts on NBC Christmas Eve, Ralphie almost shooting his eye out again and again on TBS for 24 hours starting at 8 that same night and Kevin McAllister foiling two bumbling thieves while going it solo on FX Christmas Day.

Sure, there are a few new episodes of shows, mostly leftovers and discards such as the final episodes of “Raising the Bar” on TBS and the likely farewell to “Brothers” on Fox Sunday.

So eat, drink and be merry, even if it means escaping to the basement to watch Billy Bob Thornton curse his way through “Bad Santa” on Spike Friday.

MONDAY
“The Sing-Off” 8 p.m. NBC (first season series finale) — Keep those guitars and drums at home! I predict cool Latino singing group Nota will take home the crown. The Beelzebubs remind me of a group that Andy on “The Office” would have embraced …

Continue reading TV best bets with Jimmy Stewart, Ralphie and Billy Bob »

Former Atlantan Nik Pace, who was runner up on “America’s Next Top Model” four years ago, has sued New York Jets wide receiver Braylon Edwards for child support, asking for up to $70,000 a month.

She gave birth to Braylon Jr. in August in Atlanta. The pair are not married. (The story broke in The New York Post today.)

Randy Kessler, an Atlanta attorney who represents the football player,  said his client filed in Fulton County to be recognized as Braylon Jr.’s dad in June, two months before the baby’s birth.

But to Edwards’ surprise, 25-year-old, Pace is trying to get the case moved to New York, where she now lives. Pace’s attorney Raoul Felder told me today that Edwards deliberately filed in Georgia because the state has less generous child support laws than New York. He also says she has not lived in Georgia for a long time.

Hogwash on both counts, said Kessler.

“He took affirmative actions to declare himself the father,” Kessler said. “He filed in Georgia because that’s …

Continue reading Former Atlantan ‘America’s Next Top Model’ runner up chasing child support from NFL player »

Office parties can be a drag but in the case of  Dave FM and V-103, two very different radio stations, the combo made for an “Ebony and Ivory” sort of situation.

CBS Radio, which owns both stations, held the party yesterday at Hudson Grille and it featured karaoke.

“Best office party we’ve had in years,” said V-103 morning co-host Wanda Smith, who is getting married to her second husband on Christmas Day in Miami and will be going to Honduras and Mexico for her honeymoon. She won’t be back on air until January 11.

Smith wasn’t sure why the party went so well but believed her boss Rick Caffey’s opening speech helped. He noted how tough the economic times are but that actually means it’s a good time to celebrate what you have.

Smith crooned Bon Jovi’s “Wanted Dead or Alive,” then joined Caffey in a duet of the holiday classic, “The Christmas Song.”

Dave FM’s Yvonne Monet also busted a move with “Hot in Herre.” “She was like a real white rapper,” Smith said. “She had a hoodie and …

Continue reading V-103/Dave FM office party with… karaoke! »

After a lackluster first season on Lifetime, the network is bringing back season seven of “Project Runway” next month featuring Atlantan Anthony L. Williams as one of the designers.

The Birmingham native who moved to Atlanta a couple of years ago will join the cast starting January 14. Most of the show, of course, has been taped already.

The good news is the show is back in New York City, enabling judges Michael Kors and Nina Garcia more airtime. (They were frequently absent when the show taped in 2008 in Los Angeles.).

Season six, the first on Lifetime, didn’t do too badly in the ratings, averaging more than 3 million viewers a week. But fans complained the cast was boring, the fashions uninspired and the celebrity guest judges less than enthralling.

Lifetime got Williams on the phone with me Wednesday. He is definitely a savvy character. I’ll write a bit more once I get a screener of the first episode.

Continue reading Next ‘Project Runway’ features an Atlantan »

Justin Bieber

Star 94 two years ago hit it the jackpot for its Jingle Jam with the Jonas Brothers. This year, it’s Atlanta’s own Justin Bieber, who is the tween/teen poster boy of choice right now. In fact, the bulk of the crowd is gals, ages 10 to 16, with a few stray parents thrown in for good measure.

Yes, I am completely out of place here. But I’m actually here for Leona Lewis and for my Idol blog, Jordin Sparks. I saw headliner the Fray two years ago so I may skip out on them.

I got here too late for Owl City (riding the top two hit “Fireflies”) but just caught Cobra Starship, who had a No. 1 hit in the fall with “Good Girls Gone Bad.” They have that Knack-lite feel. “Cobra Starship isn’t just a band but a lifestyle,” lead singer Gabe Saporta said with a straight face.

He brought Bieber up on stage to do a drum solo. Pandering? Why not? That kid’s hot!

Leading into Cobra’s latest song “Hot mess,” Saporta said it’s not just Atlanta but “Hotlanta.” He pointed out his …

Continue reading Blogging from… Star 94’s Jingle Jam featuring Justin Bieber, Jordin Sparks »