AP photo

Katy Perry’s “E.T.” has entrenched itself as the most played song on Atlanta for a third week.

Her song is in top rotation on three stations: Star 94 (47), Q100 (92) and Wild 105.7 (121), plus a spin on V-103.

The one new entrant in the top 10 is Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep.” It’s the rare song that is on regular rotation on Dave FM and Wild 105.7.  It’s now at No. 6 .

Lady Gaga’s first single from her latest album, the former No. 1 song “Born This Way” is still in the top 20 nationally while her second song stalled out so quickly, it’s already losing steam at No. 15. So the label, smelling a bomb, quickly introduced a third single, “The Edge of Glory,” which just entered the top 40 chart at No. 35.

The top 10 most played songs in Atlanta
1. Katy Perry “E.T.” 261 (+12)
2. Black Eyed Peas “Just Can’t Be Enough” 205 (-5)
3. Kanye West “All of the Lights” 196 (+7)
4. Ke$ha “Blow” 191 (+28)
5. Rihanna “S&M” 185 (-14)
6. Adele “Rolling in the Deep” 165 (+36)
7. Cee Lo …

Continue reading Three weeks on top for Katy Perry’s ‘E.T.’ on Atlanta radio »

A shot from Fox's "Terra Nova."

This past season was a virtual death trap for new shows on the five major English language broadcast networks. Of the 45 or so programs introduced, only 10 are coming back. And there wasn’t a “Modern Family” or “Good Wife” in sight.

But there’s always another year. The networks this past week presented upcoming schedules and teasers to 30-plus new shows to advertisers in an annual ritual called “upfronts.” Billions of dollars are at stake.

Fortunately, with ad spending up, the networks are being a bit bolder this year:

Going big: Fox has the most ambitious show in “Terra Nova.” Two words helped it get a green light: Steven Spielberg. Humans in 2149 are on the verge of extinction and travel back 85 million years  as a human colony. Problem: carnivorous dinosaurs.

Simon says: To keep Simon Cowell in the Fox family, the network exported his “X Factor” singing competition show this fall. And Paula Abdul will join him. But has NBC’s “The …

Continue reading A preview of the 2011-12 broadcast TV season »

CREDIT: VH1

Atlanta’s Cee Lo Green is having a very very good year. He has an unlikely Grammy-nominated hit in “F-You.” He is a coach on the surprise NBC hit show “The Voice.”

Now he’s getting his very own “VH1 Storytellers,” which airs Friday, May 20 at 11 p.m. and will certainly repeat multiple times after that.

True, he doesn’t have the catalog of hits many other subjects have had such as Christina Aguilera or John Mayer. But he’s an interesting guy with interesting stories along with good music.  And that makes for a fun hour.

Here’s a quick teaser of what you’ll see:

Dressed in all white under three disco balls and wearing jewel-encrusted sunglasses, he opens with  his collaboration with Danger Mouse “Crazy” as part of Gnarls Barkley from 2006. This was his first mainstream hit and is still a staple on radio and karaoke bars worldwide.

He then breaks into the story-telling part. He grew up in Southwest Atlanta Georgia, “a place where the limitations were obvious and …

Continue reading Cee Lo Green on ‘VH1 Storytellers’ May 20 »

AP photo/Chris Pizzello

The wonderful folks at Lifetime’s “Drop Dead Diva,” shot in Peachtree City, invited me, Mara Davis of Dave FM and Emily Foley of Jezebel magazine yesterday to spend a few minutes with their latest guest star Kathy Griffin.

Griffin joins an illustrious crew of guests who have shown up on the dramedy, including Tim Gunn, Liza Minnelli, Rosie O’Donnell, Cybill Shepherd and Paula Abdul. Creator Josh Berman (who was part of my college graduating class in 1991 but someone I never knew at the time) was there, too, from Los Angeles. Griffin’s episode is set to air in early August. She plays the bitchier sister of the bitchiest character on the show, played by Kate Levering, Kim Kaswell. We watched a scene in which one character says “You are a virus!” at Kathy’s character, something that perhaps has been said to her in real life, too.

The Emmy-winning actress/stand-up comic is tiny in physical stature but plenty big in the personality department. She was still …

Continue reading Kathy Griffin, on set of ‘Drop Dead Diva,’ riffs on Arnold, Oprah, Trump, Kirstie »

Vern Yip talks UNICEF to donors at his home earlier this month. CREDIT: Rodney Ho/rho@ajc.com

HGTV “Design Star” host and local interior designer Vern Yip last week held a private party at his home for UNICEF for patrons and a visit from CEO Caryl Stern.

Late last year, he became a UNICEF ambassador. Celebrities are used to draw donors and publicity for the cause. He joins the likes of Selena Gomez, Lucy Liu, Clay Aiken and Sarah Jessica Parker.

Yip a couple years back designed a UNICEF fundraiser in New York. UNICEF liked him so much, the organization invited him in 2010 to do it again. And the feelings were  mutual. He grew to identify deeply with the organization’s efforts to reduce needless childrens’ deaths around the world. The group estimates that 22,000 kids die daily due to preventable diseases. He hopes to travel on the group’s behalf later this year.

He will also be at a launch party for the UNICEF Experience at Lenox Square Mall in the luxury wing this Sunday …

Continue reading HGTV’s Vern Yip promotes UNICEF event May 22 »

This is the second of four weeks that breaks 32 people down to 16.

Team Cee Lo Green: Tje Austin vs. Nakia (Ne-Yo’s “Closer”). Both are good singers. Tje is a more traditional R&B singer, a smooth Ne-Yo sound a like. Nakia is more like Joe Cocker, a white soul singer. Nakia is more unusual and the quirky Cee Lo opted for him.  Winner: Nakia (right)

Team Blake Shelton: Duo Elenowen vs. Jared Blake (”Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”) – Reba advises Jerry to keep eye contact and fight for his attention. The male-female duo needed more confident, she said. I never really liked Elenowen. They seem like a latter-day Captain & Tennille. I always preferred Jared. And on stage, Jared blew away the duo both in terms of stage presence and vocals. I was surprised it took two tries before he was picked at all. Winner: Jared.

Team Adam Levine: Javier Colon vs. Angela Wolff. (”Stand By Me” by Ben E. King) – NBC told me last week that Atlanta’s Rebecca Loebe was up this week. Guess not.  …

Continue reading The Voice recap: battle rounds #2 »

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This was not the ending of “The Karate Kid” where Ralph Macchio’s character wins it all and Mr. Miyagi nods approvingly.

Instead, the classy actor failed to make  the finals of “Dancing With the Stars.” The voters couldn’t overcome the wide margin between his judges’ scores Monday night and those of third-place Kirstie Alley.

“The fans have driven us through every week,” Macchio said. “It inspired me. I’d run here every Monday to present what we worked on. My gratitude is overwhelmed.”

The 49-year-old over the weeks looked ageless and danced with determination and grit, even when injured. Unfortunately, he tended to appear a bit jangly, his arms and legs not quite the right ratio to his body for consistently fluid dancing. But he was always fun, seldom complained and came off sweet …

Continue reading Who is out on ‘Dancing With the Stars’ and missed the finals? »

Bill Maher on the set of his show. CREDIT: Sam Jones/HBO

Bill Maher, the unabashed liberal comedian and talk-show host, has been in a rather upbeat mood since the Navy SEALS killed Osama bin Laden under Pres. Obama’s watch.

On his weekly Friday night HBO show “Real Time With Bill Maher,” he recently dubbed Obama “one efficient, steely-nerved, multi-tasking, black Ninja gangsta president!”

He’ll be giving left-leaning fans plenty more bon mots during his upcoming stand-up appearance Thursday May 26 at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, his first concert in Atlanta in nearly two years.

In a recent interview, he riffed on Obama, George W. Bush and Donald Trump.

Q: Were you stunned when Rush Limbaugh gave the President props for a few minutes?

Maher: I think the key is a few minutes. How quickly he went back. I think he and others like him were just stunned that Obama had done it… He aced the exam. He said from his campaign we’d go after bin Laden. He focused on al-Qaida. Some …

Continue reading Q&A with Bill Maher, coming to Cobb Energy Centre May 26 »

The Simpsons: 22 seasons and still kickin'! CREDIT: Fox

This is one busy week for season finales. The major networks are finishing up their regular season, which was littered with even more freshmen flops and even fewer hits than normal.

The CW is finishing up most of their shows this week. So is CBS. Some aging shows are taking off for the summer, including NBC’s “Law & Order: SVU” Wednesday (12 seasons), ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” Thursday (seven seasons), NBC’s “The Office” the same night (seven seasons), the CW’s ‘Supernatural Friday (six seasons) and Fox’s “The Simpsons” Sunday (22 seasons!)

MONDAY

“90210” 8 p.m. the CW (third season finale) — The gang prepare for graduation but Naomi may not get her diploma.
“Chuck” 8 p.m. NBC (fourth season finale) — Will Vivian destroy Chuck and Sarah’s big wedding?
“Dancing With the Stars” 8 p.m. ABC — Can Ralph Macchio recover from injury?
“House” 8 p.m. House — Thirteen has a friend with drug-related problem.
“How I Met Your Mother” 8 …

Continue reading TV best bets with season finales of ‘The Mentalist,’ ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ ‘The Office,’ »

CREDIT: CNN

CNN’s Don Lemon, who last year stunned audiences when he said he was molested as a child, has revealed he is gay.

Lemon, 45, has a new memoir coming out called “Transparent.” He told Bill Carter of the New York Times of the inherent risks of coming out as a news personality.

“I’m scared,” he said to the Times. “I’m talking about something that people might shun me for, ostracize me for.”

Although some TV personalities are out, most notably Rachel Maddow of MSNBC, he said being a black male makes it even tougher to be gay.

“It’s about the worst thing you can be in black culture. You’re taught you have to be a man; you have to be masculine. In the black community they think you can pray the gay away.”

Continue reading CNN’s Don Lemon says he’s gay »