chicago 2016 olympics w/ "american idol" david cook

if  you follow me on twitter, you can get in on all my “behind the scenes” experiences as they are happening. like the time i told you all on twitter that i was about to interview david cook from “american idol” before his big dinner at sunda, and you all hit me w/ hundreds of tweets back wanting me to ask him specific questions! well, as promised, i gladly asked him some of them here for you….enjoy!  

oh, and i thought since i am launching one celebrity interview here a day until i land in copenhagen on oct 2nd to see if chicago/usa wins the honor of being the host of the 2016 olympics, that it would be particularly great to release this one today since ryan seacrest texted me that he is in town casting for the next “american idol” today! you know you have that one friend that needs to know about these auditions! that and it only helps chicago (and the entire usa in general) if you spread the news about these celebrity endorsements to help get the olympics back in our home country…..so spread www.achicagothing.com anyway you can!  

for details on american idol auditions, go to…..www.americanidol.com/auditions

Tags: 2016, american idol, chicago, chicago 2016, copenhagen, david cook, olympics, ryan seacrest, sunda

chicago 2016 olympics w/ grammy nominated busta rhymes

busta rhymes is one of my favorite rappers….has been since the 90s….so it was a dream come true to have him perform live at my aChicagoThing blog launch party while nick cannon dj’ed and a packed room of chicago’s movers and shakers went bananas! 

he is a big fan of chicago and our rap talent, even picked up chicago management (whatup jon jon!), but what really struck me was his american pride and determination in improving our outlook to the rest of the word….that and his ability to stand in the middle of our room with a mic and freestyle with no music making the crowd go crazy…..enjoy! 

remember all, how can you show your love for the chi (& the usa as a whole)? take one minute today to tell all your friends and contact by email, twitter, facebook, phone calls, whatever….& ask all to listen to these wonderful personalities share their stories so the rest of the world knows how great our city (& country) is and how we want to share & strengthen friendships with the rest of our world! don’t forget, i am posting one new celeb interview per day here until the oct 2nd announcement that chicago (& the usa) will be the home of the 2016 olympics! so keep checking out who’s next! thx and….best of luck to all!

Tags: 2016, Busta Rhymes, chicago, chicago 2016, chicago 2016 olympics, grammy, grammy nominated, olympics

chicago 2016 olympics w/ nbc's "tonight show" andy richter

i have been watching conan o’brien since the first day they came on back in the day! and andy, always just cracked me up…totally makes sense that he is a product of the whole improv, second city, columbia college….chicago phenomenon. glad to see he still supports his favorite town that made a huge impact on his life and career….enjoy! 

remember all, how can you show your love for the chi (& the usa as a whole)? take one minute today to tell all your friends & contacts by email, twitter, facebook, phone calls, whatever….& ask all to listen to these wonderful personalities share their stories so the rest of the world knows how great our city (& country) is and how we want to share & strengthen friendships with the rest of our world! don’t forget, i am posting one new celeb interview per day here until the oct 2nd announcement that chicago (& the usa) will be the home of the 2016 olympics! so keep checking out who’s next! thx and…best of luck to all!

Tags: 2016, andy richter, chicago, chicago 2016, chicago 2016 olympics, columbia college, conan o'brien, improv, NBC, olympics, second city, tonight show

chicago 2016 olympics w/ fx's "rescue me" daniel sunjata

daniel is a super smart hardcore chicago lover that is home whenever he can be….caught this interview on the fly from one of our fun nights out….hope you enjoy!  

remember all, how can you show your love for the chi (& the usa as a whole?) take one minute today to tell all your friends & contacts by email, twitter, facebook, phone calls, whatever…& ask all to listen to these wonderful personalities share their stories so the rest of the world knows how great our city (& country) is and how we want to share and strengthen friendships with the rest of our world! don’t forget, i am posting one new celeb interview per day here until the oct 2nd announcement that chicago (& the usa) will be the home of the 2016 olympics! so keep checking out who’s next! thx and….best of luck to all!

Tags: chicago, chicago 2016, chicago 2016 olympics, daniel sunjata, fx, olympics, rescue me

chicago 2016 olympics w/ nbc's "my name is earl" nadine velazquez

so my friend nadine is just a trip – super funny, great on “my name is earl” and other stuff, in a bunch of films, makes maxim & other top 100 hot lists, and is about to blow up in lala land even more….but i respect her because she is just so true to her chicago upbringing and her beautiful puerto rican heritage…..props nadine….keep going girl! 

remember all, how can you show your love for the chi (& the usa as a whole) take one minute today to tell all your friends & contacts by email, twitter, facebook, phone calls, whatever….& ask all to listen to these wonderful personalities share their stories so the rest of the world knows how great our city (& country) is and how we want to share & strengthen friendships with the rest of our world! don’t forget, i am posting one new celeb interview per day here until the oct 2nd announcement that chicago (& the usa) will be the home of the 2016 olympics! so keep checking out who’s next! thx and….best of luck to all!

Tags: chicago, chicago 2016, chicago 2016 olympics, maxim hot 100, my name is earl, nadine velazquez, NBC, olympics, puerto rican

chicago 2016 olympics w/ "the green mile" michael clarke duncan

love michael’s story….from his early days of being raised on the south side of chicago by a single mom…to being nominated for oscars and golden globes….to winning a critic’s choice award for his role in “the green mile!” i also love how when i met michael at the superbowl a couple years ago when the bears sorta got whooped, and everyone looked down, he still smiled big in a very sweet and contagious way, so the rest of us understood that it was still just a blessing to be there. 

thankfully i ran into him again at sunda for dinner a bit ago (blogged about it a bit back) where he invited me out to a wnba chicago sky celebrity basketball game he was playing in for charity! he loves coming home, especially to support chicagoans, and as you can see from this video, loves the idea of having the olympics in chicago in 2016! enjoy….. 

remember all, how can you show your love for the chi (& the usa as a whole?) take one minute today to tell all your friends & contacts by email, twitter, facebook, phone calls, whatever…& ask all to listen to these wonderful personalities share their stories so the rest of the world knows how great our city (& country) is and how we want to share & strengthen friendships with the rest of our world! don’t forget, i am posting one new celeb interview per day here until the oct 2nd announcement that chicago (& the usa) will be the home of the 2016 olympics! so keep checking out who’s next! thx and…best of luck to all!

Tags: charity, chicago sky, golden globes, michael clarke duncan, oscars, people's choice awards, south side, the green mile, wnba

chicago 2016 olympics w/ nbc's "the office" john krasinski

after enjoying a lookingglass theatre production, john and i were eating at sunda, talking about how cool it would be to have the olympics in the usa…and was super excited to hear i was involved with the effort, so was more than happy to jump on camera real quick with me to talk about it! not only is he a hilarious, talented, nice guy…..but he’s a huge sports fan, olympic fan & chicago fan (even though he acts like a hater from boston……haha!)  

remember all, how can you show your love for the chi (& the usa as a whole?) take one minute today to tell all your friends & contacts by email, twitter, facebook, phone calls, whatever….& ask all to listen to these wonderful personalities share their stories so the rest of the world knows how great our city (& country) is and how we want to share & strengthen friendships with the rest of our world! don’t forget, i am posting one new celeb interview per day here until the oct 2nd announcement that chicago (& the usa) will be the home of the 2016 olympics! so keep checking out who’s next! thx and….best of luck to all!

Tags: chicago, chicago 2016, chicago 2016 olympics, john krasinski, lookingglass theatre, NBC, olympics, the office

chicago 2016 olympics w/ "america's got talent" nick cannon

my buddy nick cannon takes a quick break every once in a while from his new show “america’s got talent” and his lovely wife mariah carey to visit friends in chicago, dj at the underground, host events like the last one he did a couple months ago at rockit to celebrate his new “executive” position at nickelodeon, and to search out all the talent that resides here! 

he even says in our video above that “america’s got talent” started their nationwide search right here in chicago because not only do the biggest celebrity performers come from here, but last year’s winner of the show is from chicago! with all of that, nick was more than happy to get on camera with me to talk about how much he loves our city, our country and the greatest display of talent in the world, in history……the olympics! 

remember all, how can you show your love for the chi (& the usa as a whole?) take on minute today to tell all your friends and contacts by email, twitter, facebook, phone calls, whatever…& ask all to listen to these wonderful personalities share their stories so the rest of the world knows how great our city (& country) is and how much we want to share & strengthen friendships with the rest of the world! don’t forget, i am posting one new celeb interview per day here until the oct 2nd announcement that chicago (& the usa) will be the home of the 2016 olympics! so keep checking out who’s next! thx and…best of luck to all!

Tags: America's Got Talent, chicago, chicago 2016, mariah carey, Nick Cannon, nickelodeon, olympics

chicago 2016 olympics w/ ben lyons & ben mankiewicz of abc's "at the movies"

just heard ben & ben just got dropped from the show! dang, too bad, such good guys….glad disney took some responsibility for their role backing my boys as professionals fulfilling their direction. http://tr.im/wWAD in honor of their contribution & efforts, i’m still honored to post this. i think they rock & had great things to say about our city & country that must be shared! 

i also am excited about this interview because “at the movies” is and always will be “a chicago institution” as ben says here, from the first days of the great gene siskel, and my man roger ebert! which by the way, i enjoyed having dinner with his wife chaz ebert a couple nights ago and she was telling me roger has a great new show in the works….congrats ebert family! i can’t wait to see it! 

remember all, how can you show your love for the chi (& the usa as a whole?) take one minute today to tell all your friends and contacts by email, twitter, facebook, phone calls, whatever….& ask all to listen to these wonderful personalities share their stories so the rest of the world knows how great our city (& country) is and how much we want to share & strengthen friendships with the rest of the world! don’t forget, i am posting one new celeb interview per day here until the oct 2nd announcement that chicago (& the usa) will be the home of the 2016 olympics! so keep checking out who’s next! thx and….best of luck to all!

Tags: abc, at the movies, ben lyons, ben mankiewicz, chicago, chicago 2016, chicago 2016 olympics, olympics

chicago 2016 olympic's w/ cbs' "criminal minds" joe mantegna

joe is an absolute stand up guy w/ a ton of talent, an amazing resume & career, a beautiful family and so much love for chicago that he brought it out to “la la land” with him to share with the world serving them chitown favorites in his infamous restaurant in burbank, cali called “taste chicago!” (love that!) 

i had the pleasure of joining him and his amazing wife last time in town (posted pic below a month ago?) he invited me out to the set of “criminal minds” last time i was in l.a. to hang, and to me, he has just been one of those guys i just love to stop and listen to. hope you feel the same way after hearing him here….enjoy! 

and remember all, how can you show your love for the chi (& the usa as a whole)? take one minute today to tell your friends and contacts by email, twitter, facebook, phone calls, whatever….& ask all to listen to these wonderful personalities share their stories so the rest of the world knows how great our city (& country) is and how much we want to share & strengthen friendships with the rest of the world!! don’t forget, i am posting one new celeb interview per day here til the oct 2nd announcement that chicago (& the usa) will be the home of the 2016 olympics! so keep checking out who’s next! thx and….best of luck to us all!

Tags: cbs, chicago, chicago 2016, criminal minds, joe mantegna, olympics, taste chicago