People: Local violinist, 16, moves ahead in competition
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Violinist Inori Sakai , a 16-year-old sophomore at The Ellis School, is a national finalist in the Music Teachers National Association performance competition in the senior string category.
She won the eastern division MTNA string competition Jan. 7 and will travel to New York for the national competition March 25. The Wilkins native, the daughter of Tetsuro and Sonomi Sakai , has studied violin for 10 years and is a student of Hong-Guang Jia , assistant concertmaster in the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
The three-tiered MTNA competitions begin at the state level. State competition winners advance to division competition, and division winners advance to the national finals.
Apparently enough water has flowed under the bridge for Barbara Walters and Star Jones to reunite for a day, the Associated Press reports.
"The View" announced Wednesday that Jones will appear on the daytime talk show on Feb. 22 to promote an awareness campaign about heart disease among women.
Walters and Jones had a falling out in 2006 when Jones, one of the five original co-hosts of the daytime chat show, exited "The View." ABC decided not to renew her contract and Jones took Walters by surprise by announcing on June 27 that she would be leaving the show.
That exit came more quickly than expected. Walters wouldn't allow her back the next day.
Walters later said that Jones had compelled her co-hosts to lie for her by not revealing that Jones had undergone gastric bypass surgery while on "The View." Jones took her own shots, criticizing Walters for writing an autobiography that revealed details of an affair.
The women later had something serious in common. Both underwent open heart surgery to repair faulty heart valves within two months of each other in 2010.
Jones is coming back to the show to discuss her involvement in the American Heart Association's "Go Red for Women" public information campaign. Women are asked to wear red on Feb. 3 to support heart patients.
It ain't over till it's over. And it certainly seems like Heidi Klum and Seal , despite their media-ready statements to the contrary, aren't quite ready to say goodbye to their seven-year marriage, E! News reports.
Just a day after the couple announced that they were amicably separating, Seal was spotted making the rounds all while proudly still wearing his wedding ring.
And while they may be split, the duo is clearly still of one mind, as just yesterday, paparazzi caught the supermodel out in Los Angeles with a curious if unsurprising accessory: her gold wedding band.
Klum made no attempt to hide the ring or herself, quite unlike earlier in the day, when photographers snapped the famous face doing her best to go incognito while emerging from a studio.
So what gives? Simply what Seal already explained while sitting down with Piers Morgan this week:
"Because I'm still married to this incredible woman," he said. "And you don't all of a sudden one day to the next - unless you're those type of people - just say I hate you and take off your wedding ring. What this means to me and what it stands for, it stands for respect. It stands for loyalty, it stands for incredible memories and it stands for these four little miracles and Heidi making five that have come into my life over the past eight years."
Whether it also might someday stand for a reconciliation remains to be seen.
Maybe Jimmy Fallon should have a cell phone shootout to settle this thing instead.
A former employee has filed a gender discrimination suit against "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon" and NBC, claiming the comedian and his network bosses fired him after he complained about being demoted when a female staffer took his job.
Here's the deal.
According to court docs obtained by E! News, Paul Tarascio alleges he was replaced as first stage manager by a woman who was "not qualified" for the job. Tarascio also claims his immediate supervisor told him, "Mr. Fallon simply felt 'more comfortable' with the woman chosen to replace him."
The ex-staffer added that he never received any "constructive criticism" regarding his job performance, and in fact "only received praise," while his successor, Niclana Tolmasoff , was immediately a "disaster" and routinely turned to him to ask how things worked. Not only that, but his immediate supervisor indicated to him that he was afraid of losing his job as well because of his gender.
Tarascio wants a court judgment for front and back pay and benefits along with unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
Ever wonder why Pat Sajak has unending enthusiasm toward the purchase of a vowel?
Turns out, margaritas have something to do with it.
The host of the long-running game show "Wheel of Fortune" says that back in the day, he and Vanna White occasionally had a drink - or six - while working on the show, People reports.
When asked by Dan Le Batard of "Dan Le Batard Is Highly Questionable," which airs on ESPN 2, if he ever hosted the show while intoxicated, Sajak, 65, came clean.
"Yes," the TV veteran admitted with a laugh. "When I first started and was much younger and could tolerate those things. We had a different show then."
With a 21?2-hour dinner break during the game show's early format, Sajak and White would drop by Los Arcos, a Mexican joint in Burbank, Calif., for margaritas.
"Vanna and I would ... have two or three or six and then come and do the last shows and have trouble recognizing the alphabet," he says. "I had a great time. I have no idea if the shows were any good, but no one said anything, so I guess I did OK."
Although he insists he no longer imbibes while at work, Sajak has a feeling those old shows would be fun to watch. "They're really great tapes to get a hold of," he says.
We'll bring the chips and salsa when you find 'em, Pat!
His memory will last forever, and now Michael Jackson's children have helped memorialize him with a hand and footprint ceremony in Los Angeles on Thursday, People reports.
Prince, 14, Paris, 13, and Blanket Jackson, 9, attended the ceremony outside of Hollywood's Grauman's Chinese Theater and paid tribute to their late father.
"This, right here, is his lifetime achievement award," said Prince, 14. "This is what he strived to get, and this is what we are giving him now."
The Jackson kids made an imprint in the cement using Michael's famous sequin glove and a pair of his dancing shoes, and they added their own handprint as well.
Also there to celebrate the King of Pop's memory: his mother, Katherine, brothers Tito and Jackie, as well as Justin Bieber, Chris Tucker, Smokey Robinson and Quincy Jones .
"He meant so much to me," said Bieber. "He was more than entertainer; he was an inspiration."
Country music legend Merle Haggard has returned home to northern California to recuperate from multiple illnesses, the Associated Press reports.
Haggard had been hospitalized in Macon, Ga., for about a week with double pneumonia. While there, doctors discovered three stomach ulcers and eight polyps in his colon.
At one point, the 74-year-old checked himself out of the hospital to return to Redding, Calif., by tour bus. But he returned a few hours later after deciding the trip would be too taxing.
The "Okie From Muskogee" singer was diagnosed with lung cancer a few years ago but recovered after part of his lung was removed.
It's unclear how Haggard's recent health issues will affect his touring schedule. His website shows him playing next on Feb. 28 in Tucson, Ariz.
Erica Campbell of the Grammy-winning sister duo Mary Mary has given birth to a new daughter, the Associated Press reports.
Campbell's representative says Zaya Monique was born Tuesday. The baby weighed 6 pounds, 12 ounces.
Erica and her sister Tina comprise the gospel duo.
It's the third child for Campbell and her husband, producer-songwriter Warryn Campbell . The singer said she was blessed by the baby's birth and said the family "couldn't be more happy than we are today."
Campbell will be taking a few weeks off, but she'll soon have to return to work. Mary Mary, known for hits like "Shackles" and "God in Me," have a self-titled reality show that debuts March 29 on We TV.
Rascal Flatts bassist Jay DeMarcus and his wife, Allison, are expecting their second child, the Associated Press reports.
Jay DeMarcus calls the pregnancy "a huge surprise" in a Wednesday news release. The baby is due this summer and the couple are unsure whether daughter Madeline Leigh , born in December 2010, will have a little brother or sister.
Allison, a former Miss Tennessee who is an on-air personality at CMT, says they are preparing for "many sleepless nights ahead."
Rascal Flatts is on tour and recently announced the release of its next album, "Changed," on April 3.
First Published January 26, 2012 12:00 am
