Grammy Nods & News, Nelson Mandela’s former bodyguards speak & Tyler Perry’s new play “Madea’s Big Happy Family” tour info!

Clint Eastwood’s latest movie, INVICTUS hits theatres nationwide next week Friday!

Yes, while I am still very geeked that Hollywood is telling a story about the iconic and much loved and admired Madiba [Nelson Mandela], I am still sobered by the fact that South Africans are not playing the prominent parts in the movie. “Aluta continua”

But…I am still geeked that OUR stories inspire the world!

Here’s an interview with Jason Tshabalala, the former head of Nelson Mandela’s security unit who says that “one of the keys things I learnt from Madiba is to be humble, to be simple, to be disciplined. And to respect people, no matter who they are. And also to smile.” -

Madiba is very inspiring to me and it is one of my life goals to meet him and sit at his feet….& learn!

Another interview with Linga Moonsamy, Nelson Mandela’s former bodyguard, “he always believed that sports had the capability, capacity to bring people together…South Africa is a sports loving nation and he capitalized on that“.

Nelson Mandela’s love for walking, “Madiba would walk the weirdest of hours and would walk for kilometers…” and on the excitement of the crowd at Nelson Mandela entering stadium at the World Cup “it was crazy, it is inexplicable. You actually felt the ground under your feet shaking, trembling because of that. People were  sort of jumping up and down the grand stands, and you could just hear this, Nelson, Nelson, Nelson. It was amazing!”

Grammy nominations are in…check out the full list here!

Celebs stepped out in full force yesterday for the The Grammy Nominations Concert Live! at Club Nokia in Los Angeles.

LL Cool J was host of the event and Maxwell performed a tribute to Michael Jackson with the song “Lady In My Life” from the album Thriller, last night as part of the live Grammy Nomination telecast on CBS. Maxwell got six Grammy nods for “Pretty Wings” and his album “BlackSummer’s Night”…nice!

The Black-Eyes Peas also performed

Kudos to Beyonce for her 10 Grammy’s nominations including Album of The Year (I Am…Sasha Fierce), Record of the Year (Halo), Song of The Year (Single Ladies) & Best Female Pop performance (Halo). Behind Beyonce, is Taylor Swift, with 8 grammy nominations, followed by surprise, surprise….Kanye West with 6 nominations! Sean “Jay Z” Carter and Lady Gaga received 5 Grammy nods each!

Melanie Fiona & Iyanla [winner of Nigeria's Project Fame] in New York City

Jamie Foxx was nominated for 3, Ms. Keri “baby” Hilson was nominated for two and new to the music scene, Melanie Fiona was nominated for Best Female R&B Vocal (It Kills Me).

The Grammy Awards will be handed out January 31, 2009 in Los Angeles…

And in some Tyler Perry news…Tyler will play the title character in his new play Madea’s Big Happy Family, which will begin a 2010 national tour on January 4th, according to an announcement on his blog. Here are the tour dates & cities…

Denver, CO – January 4 – Pepsi Center

Colorado Springs, CO – January 5 – World Arena

Sacramento, CA -  January 7 – Arco Arena

Seattle, WA – January 9 – Key Arena

Portland, OR – January 10 – Memorial Coliseum

San Diego, CA – January 12 – Sports Arena

Fresno, CA – January 13 – SMG

Oakland, CA – January 15-16 – Paramount Theatre

Los Angeles, CA – January 19-24 – Kodak Theatre

Florence, SC – February 2 – Civic Center

Raleigh, NC – February 3-5 – RBC Center

Fayetteville, NC – February 6 – Crown Coliseum

Charlotte, NC – February 7 – Cricket Arena

Macon, GA – February 9 – Macon Centreplex

Charleston, SC – February 10-11 – North Charleston Coliseum

Columbia, SC – February 12-13 – Colonial Life Arena

Augusta, GA – February 14 – James Brown Arena

Winston-Salem, NC – February 19-20 – Veterans Memorial Coliseum

Nashville, TN – February 25 – Nashville Municipal Auditorium

Memphis, TN – Febuary 27-28 – Orpheum Theatre

Chicago, IL – March 2-6 – Arie Crown Theatre

Dallas, TX – March 12-14 – Nokia Theatre

Milwaukee, WI – March 16 – US Cellular Arena

Hartford, CT – March 19-21 – The Bushnell Theatre

Dayton, OH – April 6 – Nutter Center

Cincinnati, OH – April 7 – Cintas Center

Louisville, KY – April 8 – Freedom Hall

Savannah, GA – April 13-14 – Savannah Civic Center

Atlanta, GA – April 15-18 – Fox Theatre

Baltimore, MD – April 22-25 – Lyric Theatre

Philadelphia, PA – April 27-May 2 – Liacouras Center

* More cities will be added…I am not mad at Tyler for testing out his material before he makes them into movies…that’s like double the income! Make that paper Tyler! I know, I know…at what cost? You can’t get mad at his formula though…just sayin’!

Cheers,

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