So many things to tell you from last night’s Haiti relief fundraiser at Donna Karan’s magical Urban Zen space on Greenwich Street. Not the least of it is how many different kinds of amazing events occur on a daily basis at Urban Zen. It’s quite the facility.

Out of nowhere, Haiti Hope Help & Relief has popped up, and started raising money to send 50,000 tents to Port au Prince for people to live in. The tents cost $1,000 and you can buy them by emailing haitirelief@urbanzen.org. Mitch Davis, one of the organizers, turned me on to this new group because all the money, 100%, is going straight to Haiti.

So Whoopi Goldberg and Wyclef Jean each spoke, and Soledad O’Brien was master of ceremonies, and the well-heeled folks in the audience listened. They included organizer Andre Harrell, plus Robert DeNiro and Grace Hightower, Michael Stipe, Patti Smith, Robert Kennedy Jr., Gayle King, Russell Simmons, Al Sharpton, BET’s Debra Lee, Lyor Cohen, Tory Burch, Alina Chow, Donna D’Cruz, Daphne Guinness, Amy Sacco, and Jay Z. Even Anna Wintour stopped by.

All of these people got a treat, too: Mary J. Blige did a full set with her band. Let’s just say she ripped the ceiling off. It’s nice to see a room full of rich people bouncing up and down, arms in the air. And Mary J. did her showstopper, “I See Colors,” which she wrote for “Precious” but somehow didn’t get nominated for an Oscar. (If she performed this number in the Kodak Theater, they’d have to have smelling salts for everyone.)

Read the rest of this entry »

As the world knows, Dr. Conrad Murray was arraigned yesterday and set free on $75,000 bail. The government wanted $300,000. Dr. Murray’s lawyer thought he should just go free. The judge found a middle ground.

Now the case moves to downtown L.A. on April 5th for a preliminary hearing. But my sources say that we won’t have a trial before September, and it could be as long as a year before Dr. Murray has to face a jury of his peers.

Meantime, the government scored a point: Dr. Murray, while he waits for his medical license to be revoked, can longer administer anesthesia. He won’t be putting anyone else out or under. That’s a good thing. You may recall a story I did last summer: Dr. Murray’s late doctor father also had problems giving patients such drugs. He was suspended for two years. The Murrays apparently like knocking out their patients. A lot.

There’s a lot of controversy going on about pop spectacle Lady GaGa, aka Stephanie Germanotta.

I told you last week that she declined the opportunity to be part of “We Are the World 25.” She turned them down flat.

By concidence, GaGa’s producer, Red One (yes, that’s his name), aka Nadir Khayat, worked with Quincy Jones on the new “We Are the World.” Because of that there was talk of GaGa joining in, but it didn’t happen. At a meeting with about 20 people, apparently, Red One said he might be able to get Ga Ga. In the end, he couldn’t.

At no time did executive producer Randy Phillips ever promise Ga Ga to anyone. But all the people he did say were coming, came. And a few more, like Fergie, taped their parts later. Phillips and Quincy Jones put together 80 artists in about four days. It was an amazing achievement, frankly. I still haven’t gotten over seeing Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion, Tony Bennett, Gladys Knight, India Arie, and so on all in one room. Yowza.

“We Are the World 25″ debuts on Friday.

Paul McCartney watched the rehearsals for the Beatles’ “Love” show from Cirque du Soleil and this is one thing he had to say: “We were a great f-ing band.”

This moment is captured in the documentary “All Together Now,” which seems like it was supposed to have come out last fall, did or didn’t, and is being pushed this week. Regardless, I watched it over the weekend, and it’s wonderful. Beatles fans will just eat this up. What a pleasure.

First of all, you get a real sense of the main players involved: George Martin, who deserves a purple heart; his devoted and talented son Giles; McCartney, of course; and Ringo Starr. You also get a real sense of Olivia Harrison, George’s incredibly loyal and devoted widow; and Yoko Ono. And there are the people from Cirque du Soleil: from creators Guy Laliberte and director Dominic Champagne, to a South African dancer who’s struggling to fit in.

Read the rest of this entry »

“I never thought I’d live this long,” Natalie Cole told the sold-out-to-the-rafters crowd Saturday night at New York’s City Winery. “I thought I’d be dead by 30.”

Instead, she’s lived twice as long, and celebrated her 60th birthday on Saturday night with style, grace, and her amazing voice.

The Saturday-night show was the second in a row, and capped a birthday week that included her singing on Quincy Jones‘ remake of “We Are the World” this past Monday. In between, though, Natalie managed to have a little trouble — she fell in her home and broke her elbow. The result was a black sling to go with her slinky black dress.

But elbows aside, Natalie rarely performs in New York, so her appearance was really a treat. (She would have done better to leave her rude corpulent female road manager at home, but that’s another story.) The show was mostly standards, which was just fine. Of course, there was “Unforgettable,” with a video of late dad, the original R&B superstar, Nat “King” Cole.

Read the rest of this entry »

It may have been said before, but The Who got famous singing, “Hope I die before I get old.” That was 45 years ago.

Well, it didn’t happen (except to Keith Moon, who took the line literally). Roger Daltrey (age 65) and Pete Townshend (age 64) are still around, and they absolutely killed as the Super Bowl half time entertainment. The group broke up in the 80s, but then kept going. Some twenty five years later, Daltrey sounded better than ever. Pete is still a guitar madman. “Baba O’Riley” and “Won’t Get Fooled Again” came out in 1971 on “Who’s Next,” yet they are better than anything we heard on the Grammy show last Sunday. Unfortunately, we’ve been fooled over and over…

Read the rest of this entry »

2:20am Saturday, Feb 6, 2010

Range Rover plows into Gray’s Papaya, corner of 8th St. and Sixth Avenue. The staff kept serving, which was nice.

Gray’s always has funny sayings posted in the window. Of course, there is no window now. But when it’s fixed, curious to see what they’ll say. Maybe “Mayor Bloomberg. Get rid of the bike lanes.”

And a blizzard is coming. Snow cones tomorrow instead of papaya juice!

TMZ’s long week of predicting, nay, demanding, the arrest and arraignment of Dr. Conrad Murray has come to an end.

Despite the Web site’s wacky hourly announcements about Dr. Murray’s legal situation, Michael Jackson’s alleged killer will actually be formally charged on Monday in Los Angeles.

How do we know? Because the LAPD and District Attorney have each sent out a press release with the info. That takes the mystery out of it! Dr. Murray will be arraigned at the Airport Court on So. La Cienega on Monday after charges are filed with the DA.

Read the rest of this entry »

Meryl Streep vs. Sandra Bullock: It’s the only real race in the Oscars besides best picture.

Should we vote for Meryl, who is perfection in “Julie & Julia” as Julia Child? She hasn’t won an Oscar since 1982. She’s the best actress in the world. And she’s won a lot of awards this year.

Or Sandra Bullock: lots of fun, very friendly, very real. This is probably her one shot at an Oscar, playing a Kathie Lee Gifford lookalike. I’ve always had a thing for Sandra Bullock, but her high-water mark was in “While You Were Sleeping.” She’s a B-plus comedienne. She makes a lot of movies of varying quality. Witness “All About Steve,” which she made in the same year as “The Blind Side” and “The Proposal.”

Read the rest of this entry »

I gotta feeling: The gorgeous and full-throated Fergie — Stacy Ferguson — of the Black Eyed Peas has joined the cast of Quincy Jones’s “We Are the World 25.” The powerhouse song and video for Haiti relief debuting next Friday, February 12th during the Olympics.

Fergie did not make the recording session this past Monday, but she has since added her vocals and been filmed by Paul Haggis’s video crew. Her pea in the pod, Will.i.am, participated in Monday’s marathon session.

Fergie is only the second artist to add vocals to the record. On Thursday, Janet Jackson added hers by satellite link from Atlanta.

That’s it, then. No other artists are scheduled. As for Michael Jackson’s kids, Quincy Jones has an idea to have them read a poem by Maya Angelou at the end of the video version of the new recording. But so far nothing’s happened in that regard.

Read the rest of this entry »