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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
Filed under General | Comments (2)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!
Filed under General | Comments (2)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!
Filed under General | Comment (1)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!
Filed under General | Comments (2)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!
Filed under General | Comments (4)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!
Filed under General | Comment (1)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!
Filed under General | Comment (1)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!
Filed under General | Comment (1)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!
Filed under General | Comments (2)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!
Filed under General | Comments (2)chicago 2016 olympics w/ abc’s “private practice” kate walsh
i met kate years back at a really cool event i hosted to raise money for kids all over the chicagoland area that need scholarships to study art & theatre. she was blowing up on “grey’s anatomy” but never forgot her roots of living in chicago, studying under joyce piven in evanston, and wanted to join me in giving back in any way possible. with that, we clicked, and i have really enjoyed her talent, heart & friendship ever since.
if remember my blog a couple months ago about our last hang out (scroll down to if want!) we had a fun night on the town and over did it at sunda…..the part i didn’t mention was that we were going to do an interview like the rest here but we got way too caught up in the fun to do it right, and we figured best to postpone….but, as cool as she is, kate actually felt bad and knocked it out soon as she got home on her own, and sent it to me! how cool is that? a lot of love for the for chi….
and remember all, how can you show your love for the chi? take one minute today to tell all your friends and contacts, by email, twitter, facebook, phone calls, whatever….to ask all to listen to these celebs share their stories so the rest of the world knows how great our city is too!
Filed under General | Comments (2)we are full of talent this week! (as usual)
Not only have I enjoyed sharing chicago loving talent interviews w/ you all, and will continue to post one celebrity interview here per day until the official announcement in Copenhagen on oct. 2nd as to whether chicago will host the 2016 olympics, but as usual, letting you know there is talent all around us this week!
chicago 2016 olympics w/ csi’s william petersen
i grew up down the street from chicago’s infamous biograph theatre – been going there since my grade school days at st. clements when movies where $1 on tuesday (omg) – so it was super shocking to see how redesigned and upgraded it is. now showcasing amazing theatre productions like this one i visited to interview chicago actor bill petersen. i cut to the highlights for you all so it’s a quick taste – which was hard – we shared so much awesome love for chicago we lost track of time!
by the way, hope you are coming to my party tonight?!?!?!?! it’s at rockit (22 w. hubbard) from 7-9pm w/ food, drink, celeb video previews, familiar faces….and fun! its only a suggested donation of $20 to benefit youth sport efforts in chicago, thru “world sport chicago” – which makes it a great cause – good fun – and a perfect way for me to say thank you to you for giving me a chance to share this with you all…..really hope to see ya at least stop in to say hi!
Filed under General | Comments (2)chicago 2016 olympics w/ grammy winner john legend
chicago 2016 olympics w/ “will & grace” sean hayes
ok, I always loved Jack on “will & grace” but this is just ridiculous! Sean was so nice to let me into his home (I think he owned it?) when I surprised him to talk about his love for his hometown chicago! And I must say, I think my surprise visit caught me more off guard then he was? I was laughing my head off- you’ll see…. Enjoy!
oh, and don’t forget, I’m posting at least one new celebrity interview a day here until I land in Copenhagen on oct. 2nd to hear the official announcement that (hopefully) chicago/usa wins the title of home to the 2016 olympics! how does that happen? you help spread the news! Twitter, facebook, myspace, email blast,.. whatever you can to get everyone in your city, country, world,… to watch these videos and hear how great Chicago is (and the USA is in general), and hear how much we want to host this cultural, sport, and friendship strengthening celebration in our home country in 2016!
Filed under celebrities, chicago, olympics | Comments (6)chicago 2016 olympics w/ Destiny’s Child Michelle Williams
Michelle has been a sweet friend for years so was hard to actually interview her all serious… but had to since she is huge in gospel, huge on stage (she is performing in “chicago” in London right now),… and of course, is a huge part of the number one female recording group w/ the highest female recording group sales in history, destiny’s child. It was cool that we got to shoot this at a chicago recording studio while she was making music right in her hometown… she cracks me up…. hope you enjoy!
oh, and don’t forget, I’m posting at least one new celebrity interview a day here until I land in Copenhagen on oct. 2nd to hear the official announcement that (hopefully) chicago/usa wins the title of home to the 2016 olympics! how does that happen? you help spread the news! Twitter, facebook, myspace, email blast,.. whatever you can to get everyone in your city, country, world,… to watch these videos and hear how great Chicago is (and the USA is in general), and hear how much we want to host this cultural, sport, and friendship strengthening celebration in our home country in 2016!
Filed under Music, celebrities, chicago, olympics | Comments (4)chicago 2016 olympics w/ nbc late show jimmy fallon
When I was twittering about hanging with jimmy fallon so many people freaked out! so i know there are fans out there that will love this one… i love Jimmy fallon too, he is a huge chicago sport fan… which of course made the Olympics in chicago a no brainer for him to talk about! (I also got my man questlove, drummer from the roots, in a killer interview coming soon). I have had the pleasure of being in 30 rock green rooms and backstage in the past, and every time, it’s a completely intimidating example of the biggest in tv production at its greatest… but it didn’t matter to jimmy, he still dropped everything to sit w/ me and get real about his love for chicago… enjoy!
oh, and don’t forget, I’m posting at least one new celebrity interview a day here until I land in Copenhagen on oct. 2nd to hear the official announcement that (hopefully) chicago/usa wins the title of home to the 2016 olympics! how does that happen? you help spread the news! Twitter, facebook, myspace, email blast,.. whatever you can to get everyone in your city, country, world,… to watch these videos and hear how great Chicago is (and the USA is in general), and hear how much we want to host this cultural, sport, and friendship strengthening celebration in our home country in 2016!
Filed under celebrities, chicago, olympics | Comments (3)celebrities love chicago & our 2016 olympic bid!
If you follow me on twitter you get to come along for some serious fun behind the scenes craziness… like when I filmed 50+ Celebrity friends about why they love Chicago & why they want to see the olympics in chicago (and the usa in general) in 2016! If missed it, start following me now as there is way more to come, like when I announce the launch of one of those celebrity interviews for the world to see on the internet each day starting tomorrow, until I arrive in copenhagen on oct. 2nd w/ the olympic committee (& hopefully president obama) for the official announcement of (hopefully) chicago/usa being the home of the 2016 olympics!
the best view ever!
hate to say this, but summer is running out, and i’m all about enjoying one of the greatest chicago assets ever as fast as possible – the lake!
if haven’t yet, get on a boat asap and look back on all we have like pic above – you will love…
i’m gonna check this summer concert series on mystic blue cruises i just read about….w/ bands, food, drink….on board, but there are a billion other ways to get out there….go to www.explorechicago.org for some fun suggestions! and don’t wait!
Filed under General | Comment (0)Chicago’s best dancers, FootworKINGz, finally “Take Flight!”
my favorite dance crew, Chicago’s FootworKINGz, are blowing up! Been watching them on the internet for years, doing my best to share their talent so yet another “style” of entertainment can originate out of chicago culture, and catch on around the world! Slowly it seems they are making it big, breaking out nationally and internationally representing chicago on platforms like “america’s got talent” (see video above), Ellen, VH-1, MTV, Rolling Stone, Madonna’s World Tour,… and more!
Want to enjoy, share & support these chicago talents as they celebrate and claim right to their very own “chicago” style of dance?!? Join them on October 3rd at the Harold Washington Cultural Center Theater where the FootworKINGz will host a launch party for their very 1st DVD called “Take Flight!” And spread the news!
Filed under Music, chicago | Comment (0)
