October 27, 2007
On Friday, October 12, actor-comedian Wayne Brady, host of FOX's Don't Forget the Lyrics, performed at this year's "Girls & Guys Night Out" fundraising event, helping to raise thousands of dollars for Girls Inc. of Metro Denver, an organization that provides a supportive environment that helps empower young women.
The event took place at the Denver Marriot City Center, from 6pm to 10pm. More than 840 guests showed up for the event, all hailing their support for Girls, Inc. The guests were given a string of festive beads for every raffle ticket that was purchased. Some of the items that were raffled off included a men's and women's Ralph Lauren shopping spree worth $3,500, a Tiffany Atlas Diamond Square women's watch valued at $6,400, a two-night stay at the newly renovated Tivoli Lodge in Vail accompanied by gourmet dining and massage packages, and a Desert Dreams package with a two-night stay at the Scottsdale Marriot Suites Old Town.
October 18, 2007
Wayne Brady, host of Don't Forget the Lyrics, has appeared in kid-friendly projects as a mainstay on ABC Family, took his young daughter Maile Masako to the Emmy awards, and went to Kansas City last month to support a local charity for families in crisis, but the actor-comedian is hoping the public won't peg him as a family-oriented and wholesome guy.
“I think that it gets tough if there are people who want to slap that label on you that you have nothing to do with,” Brady told The Kansas City Star during a phone interview. “I think that I'm respected by families, but for the most part I've gotten the chance to do films where I'm the bad guy or TV appearances and guest spots.”
September 27, 2007
Karaoke-style game shows like Don't Forget the Lyrics are becoming the music industry's strong ally towards survival and perhaps, even immortality. Don't Forget the Lyrics and its contemporary, The Singing Bee, are providing the music business a much needed boost in more ways than one.
For one thing, such singing competitions are intended for the regular people who may or may not be endowed with any actual singing prowess. As such, the programs bring various tunes from different genres, as well as generations, to a greater number of people. Secondly, because of certain fees the shows have to pay for use of musical intellectual property, Don't Forget the Lyrics and its kind contribute substantially to an already flailing industry.
September 20, 2007
The recently concluded 59th annual Emmy Awards had its share of stunning upsets, most notably, Boston Legal eagle, James Spader, snatching the Best Dramatic Actor from heavy favorites James Gandolfini and Hugh Laurie. While we don't hear either Gandolfini or Laurie whining about their defeat, rapper Kanye West lived up to his reputation as a crybaby loser when he shouted “I never win!”
West was pitted against The Office's Rainn Wilson during one of the awards ceremony's intermission stunts. In typical fashion, the artist who has made a living of complaining about being passed over or shut out in prestigious music awards, wound up on the short end of the duel.
July 11, 2007
Tonight, Wayne Brady hosts the OTHER singing show, Don't Forget the Lyrics. Last night, NBC premiered The Singing Bee, and now it’s the FOX show with a nearly identical premise. Contestants must, one at a time, give the correct lyrics to 10 of the biggest hits of all time in order to walk away with one million dollars. When they first start singing, the music and lyrics are there but as they go on, they disappear, leaving contestants on their own.
Tonight’s singer is pretty bad. The show runs like a karaoke version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, complete with lifelines. Brady has more life in him than Regis Philbin and Meredith Viera combined and provides some lighthearted humor throughout. It's still not enough to save the show.