GRAMMYs 2015: Ledisi, John Legend Respond to Beyonce's 'Selma' Controversy

Ledisi is addressing fan uproar over Beyonce performing her song from Selma, the spiritual Precious Lord, Take My Hand.

When word spread that Beyonce would take the GRAMMY stage instead of Ledisi, fans felt the 42-year-old R&B singer wasn't getting her due. "No one is saying Beyonce shouldn't perform at #GRAMMYs. What we're saying is it should be Ledisi performing the song for #Selma perf," one tweet reads. "Ledisi sung it in the Selma film, so they should have asked her. Beyonce doesn't have the chops for that one. She'll over do it," another angry tweeter chimed in.

PICS: The Stars' Best Looks at the GRAMMYs 2015!

Ledisi, who plays gospel singer Mahalia Jackson in the Martin Luther King Jr. biopic, responded to the controversy on the GRAMMY red carpet Sunday and admitted that she had no clue why Beyonce was performing it over her.

What I will say and what Im excited about is that I had the pleasure of playing an iconic figure in Selma, and the song, Take My Hand, Precious Lord, its been going on forever starting with the queen Mahalia [Jackson], the queen of soul Aretha Franklin, Ledisi told ETs Kevin Frazier on the carpet.

FULL LIST: See the Complete GRAMMYs 2015 Winners!

Then, I was able to portray and sing my version of the song, and now we have Beyonce. Her generation will now know the song, so Im a part of history, she continued.

Meanwhile John Legend, who joins Common later this evening to perform their Oscar-nominated song Glory, revealed to ET that Beyonce approached them about singing Precious Lord, Take My Hand.

We were actually approached by Beyonce. She wanted to do an intro to our performance and introduce us," Legend told Kevin. "You dont really say no to Beyonce if she asks to perform with you."

Interestingly, Beyonce and Ledisi are both nominated in the same GRAMMY category Best R&B Performance for Drunk in Love and Like This, respectively. Beyonce ended up winning the award.

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Source: http://www.etonline.com/awards/grammys/159381_ledisi_john_legend_respond_to_beyonce_selma_controversy/

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GRAMMYs 2015: Ledisi, John Legend Respond to Beyonce's 'Selma' Controversy

Ledisi is addressing fan uproar over Beyonce performing her song from Selma, the spiritual Precious Lord, Take My Hand.

When word spread that Beyonce would take the GRAMMY stage instead of Ledisi, fans felt the 42-year-old R&B singer wasn't getting her due. "No one is saying Beyonce shouldn't perform at #GRAMMYs. What we're saying is it should be Ledisi performing the song for #Selma perf," one tweet reads. "Ledisi sung it in the Selma film, so they should have asked her. Beyonce doesn't have the chops for that one. She'll over do it," another angry tweeter chimed in.

PICS: The Stars' Best Looks at the GRAMMYs 2015!

Ledisi, who plays gospel singer Mahalia Jackson in the Martin Luther King Jr. biopic, responded to the controversy on the GRAMMY red carpet Sunday and admitted that she had no clue why Beyonce was performing it over her.

What I will say and what Im excited about is that I had the pleasure of playing an iconic figure in Selma, and the song, Take My Hand, Precious Lord, its been going on forever starting with the queen Mahalia [Jackson], the queen of soul Aretha Franklin, Ledisi told ETs Kevin Frazier on the carpet.

FULL LIST: See the Complete GRAMMYs 2015 Winners!

Then, I was able to portray and sing my version of the song, and now we have Beyonce. Her generation will now know the song, so Im a part of history, she continued.

Meanwhile John Legend, who joins Common later this evening to perform their Oscar-nominated song Glory, revealed to ET that Beyonce approached them about singing Precious Lord, Take My Hand.

We were actually approached by Beyonce. She wanted to do an intro to our performance and introduce us," Legend told Kevin. "You dont really say no to Beyonce if she asks to perform with you."

Interestingly, Beyonce and Ledisi are both nominated in the same GRAMMY category Best R&B Performance for Drunk in Love and Like This, respectively. Beyonce ended up winning the award.

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Source: http://www.etonline.com/awards/grammys/159381_ledisi_john_legend_respond_to_beyonce_selma_controversy/

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Kickass Cupcakes stales, files bankruptcy

Another local cupcake company crumbled this week, filing for bankruptcy after closing its Somerville store in August.

Kickass Cupcakes filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, a proceeding used to liquidate a companys assets to pay off its debts. The company owes its creditors $263,000, according to court documents filed late Tuesday.

Kickass opened in Davis Square in 2007 and had moved to a new location on Highland Avenue in May before shutting down. It also had expanded to a food truck and was involved in several food truck throwdowns.

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Source: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2015/01/kickass_cupcakes_stales_files_bankruptcy

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Nauset Graduate Pop Sensation Meghan Trainor Destined To 'Leave A Legacy'

BOSTON (CBS) With her number one 1 hit, All About That Bass, Meghan Trainor may seem like an overnight pop sensation. But at Nauset Regional High School, many people saw firsthand her years of passion for singing and songwriting.

She was a good student, very tenacious. She knew what she wanted and she went after it, says Tom Faris, Meghans music teacher at Nauset Regional. She was a student here then she would go home in the afternoons and spend hours and hours just crafting songs.

The walls in Faris classroom now document Meghans rise to stardom, from local newspaper clippings to her Billboard Magazine cover. Meghan was born in Nantucket but her family sent her and her two brothers to school on Cape Cod.

Heres a kid that you knew as a freshman in high school and is now on the world stage. Its pretty spectacular, says Faris.

Throughout high school Meghan was part of the jazz band. Her senior year she was voted most likely to leave a legacy. And next to her senior photo is the John Lennon quote Count your age by friends not years.

I think everyone always kind of knew what her dream was. I dont know if everyone realized it actually would happen so quickly, says Emily Faris who graduated with Meghan in 2012. Emily was part of the jazz band with Meghan, it was really fun singing with her because she just has so much confidence when she sings.

And that confidence inspired many classmates well before she had a hit song on the radio. Its just very cool. Its like anyone can do anything if they set their mind to it, says Eliza Fitzgerald, a junior at Nauset Regional. It was a really kind of a uniting feeling on the Cape to have this connection to this huge star now, explains Karli Herwig, also a junior.

Right after graduation Meghan packed up and moved to Nashville to pursue her dream of singing and songwriting. Meg was her own person. She kind of knew what she wanted to do and you didnt get in the way of Meg, says her former guidance counselor Brian White. The gamble paid off. In May Rascal Flatts recorded one of her songs and one month later Meghan was at the mic with what would become an anthem of self-empowerment.

Principal Tom Conrad beams when talking about the Nauset regional graduate.

Its caught our school, our community, and I would think the whole Cape with a great deal of pride, said Conrad.

Source: http://boston.cbslocal.com/2015/02/08/nauset-graduate-pop-sensation-meghan-trainor-destined-to-leave-a-legacy/

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College basketball fans remember Dean Smith with the perfect story

North Carolina head coach Roy Williams, center, and his players observe a moment of silence in honor of former North Carolina head coach Dean Smith. (AP Photo/The News &Observer, Robert Willett)

When the death of legendary North Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith was announced, a story from a 2014 John Feinstein column began making the rounds around the Internet. Feinstein, who wrote the column shortly after Smith celebrated his 83rd birthday told an anecdote from when he was working on a story about Smith during his coaching days.

From the Washington Post:

In 1981, Smith very grudgingly agreed to cooperate with me on a profile for this newspaper. He kept insisting I should write about his players, but I said I had written about them. I wanted to write about him. He finally agreed.

One of the people I interviewed for the story was Rev. Robert Seymour, who had been Smiths pastor at the Binkley Baptist Church since 1958, when he first arrived in Chapel Hill. Seymour told me a story about how upset Smith was to learn that Chapel Hills restaurants were still segregated. He and Seymour came up with an idea: Smith would walk into a restaurant with a black member of the church.

You have to remember, Reverend Seymour said. Back then, he wasnt Dean Smith. He was an assistant coach. Nothing more.

Smith agreed and went to a restaurant where management knew him. He and his companion sat down and were served. That was the beginning of desegregation in Chapel Hill.

When I circled back to Smith and asked him to tell me more about that night, he shot me an angry look. Who told you about that? he asked.

Reverend Seymour, I said.

I wish he hadnt done that.

Why? You should be proud of doing something like that.

He leaned forward in his chair and in a very quiet voice said something Ive never forgotten: You should never be proud of doing whats right. You should just do whats right.

Feinsteins column is nearly a year old, but worth another read today. You can find it here.

(Thanks to Mother Jones for bringing this to our attention)

Dean Smith, North Carolina Tar Heels, NCAAB

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Source: http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/02/dean-smith-feinstein

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This weekend on TV: 'Better Call Saul' is like 'Bad' in a good way

After Sunday's premiere, Episode 2 airs Monday at 11 p.m. on AMC in the show's regular time slot.

Friday on TV ...

Women's college gymnastics (6 p.m., P12N): Arizona State at Utah

"Undercover Boss" (7 p.m., CBS/Ch. 2): The CEO of Armando Montelongo Companies, a top real estate company that specializes in educational seminars that teach wealth creation and financial independence, goes under cover.

"Constantine" (7 p.m., NBC/Ch. 5): Manny helps John investigate a mysterious attack in a hospital.

"World's Funniest Fails" (7 p.m., Fox/Ch. 13): Terrry Crews hosts,

"Hart of Dixie" (7 p.m., CW/Ch. 30): Zoe and Wade realize they need more money before the baby arrives.

Men's college volleyball (7 p.m., BYUtv): Cal Baptist at BYU

Women's college basketball (7 p.m., P12N): Utah at USC

NBA (7 p.m., ROOT): Utah Jazz at Phoenix Suns

"Hawaii Five-0" (8 p.m., CBS/Ch. 2): The team hunts for a notorious criminal who has never been seen.

"Grimm" (8 p.m., NBC/Ch. 5): Nick and Hank investigate a series of murders that lead to a mysterious Wesen bounty hunter.

"Shakespeare Uncovered" (8 p.m., PBS/Ch. 7): Morgan Freeman presents "The Taming of the Shrew"; David Harewood presents "Othello."

"Glee" (8 p.m., Fox/Ch. 13): Mercedes returns to Ohio to convince Rachel to pursue her Broadway dreams.

Source: http://www.sltrib.com/blogs/tv/2150067-155/this-weekend-on-tv-better-call

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'Flip this House' Montelongo on TV again - in disguise

San Antonio real estate investor Armando Montelongo of Flip this House fame will be on TV again on CBS Undercover Boss but you may not recognize him.

In a first for the show, CBS said that he hired a body double to help conceal his identity while undercover at one of his seminars. His episode airs at 7 p.m. Feb. 6 on CBS.

Montelongo rose to prominence with the now-defunct A&E reality show Flip this House. He currently is CEO of Armando Montelongo Cos. Inc., which is based in the Alamo City and specializes in seminars on wealth creation and financial independence.

According to a CBS release, Montelongo hoped to see first-hand what keeps his company on solid ground.

This isnt the first time a business owner with S.A. ties has gone undercover on Boss.

Shane Evans, who makes her home here and started one of the largest massage chains in the country in the Alamo City, went incognito as a masseuse on the show in 2013. Massage Heights COO Evans had to overcome her aversion to touching people while going undercover.

More recently, Rocket Fizz candy store on East Houston Street buzzed with excitement over last weeks episode featuring the chains founder and President Robert Powells.

jjakle@express-news.net

Source: http://www.mysanantonio.com/entertainment/article/S-A-CEO-goes-Undercover-for-CBS-6049824.php

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