TOP ILLI MO ENTERTAINMENT STORIES of 2014
This year in entertainment has been quite interesting. From St Louis native actor Lavell Crawford
winning a Screen Actors Guild Award along with his castmates from the show “Breaking
Bad,” Robbins, Ill native actress/talk
show host Keke Palmer turning heads wearing a revealing dress on the red carpet at the BET Awards and
her debut as a talk show host on the network to OWN’s delayed documentary on Mizzou alum Michael Sam
getting scheduled air time. Below are the Top 20 entertainment stories with
Illinois-Missouri influence, roots or
impact on national entertainment news.
20.St Louis based freelance writer Daniel Durchholz’s review
of BB King’s less than stellar concert at The Pageant had gone viral (APRIL)
19.Chicago native basketball player Dwayne Wade got married
to actress Gabrielle Union (AUGUST)
18.Chicago native cartoonist/satirist Aaron McGruder quit “The
Boondocks” before the show’s last season (MARCH)
17.NHL team Chicago Blackhawks vied for first team in 20
years to win back to back NHL titles but lost to the Kings in Game 7 (MAY)
16.The First Lady Michelle Obama's Turnip Or What video had gone viral on The Vine and breaks records on Internet (OCT)
15.Springfield, Mo. Native actor Brad Pitt won his first
Oscar producing the film, “12 Years A slave” for Best Picture (FEB) and married Angelina Jolie later in the year.
14.Chicago Bulls player Derrick Rose wore an “I Can’t
Breathe” shirt during warm-ups (DEC)
13.Oak Park, Ill comic Kathy Griffin was given late comic
Joan Rivers' job on Fashion Police after dispelling rumors of getting the job during
Rivers’ convalesce. (NOV)
12.St Louis Blues player TJ Oshie grabbed the spotlight during Winter
Olympics in Sochi scoring the winning goal
against Russia dubbing it second to “The Miracle on Ice” in 1980. (JAN).
11.The National Baseball Hall of Fame winners were inducted in
Cooperstown which included former St Louis Cardinals player Joe Torry and
former St Louis Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa (JULY)
10.ILLI Moians Jason Brown and Grace Gold won Bronze medals in figure skating at this year’s Winter
Olympics in Sochi (JAN)
9.Kansas City Royals advanced to the World Series after a
nearly 30 year absence. They lost to the San Francisco Giants. (OCT)
8.Chicagoans Sherri Shepherd and Jenny McCarthy had a topsy
turvy year. They were fired from The View
in June, Shepherd got a divorce from Lamar Sally, McCarthy got married to
singer Danny Wahlberg and Shepherd was on Broadway in Cinderella, had a part in
the film, “Top Five” and will join the cast of the sitcom, “The Soul Man.”]
7.Kansas City native actor Columbus Short’s career downspiraled. He was unceremoniously
fired from the show “Scandal” in April
due to his personal life and demons. At the same time, his infamous interview
on the Tom Joyner Morning Show where he sounded incoherent made news. In September
he hosted a Season Four Scandal viewing
party in Atlanta that killed off his TV character, Harrison. At years end, he disclosed that
he had a cocaine addiction and his Scandal family tried to intervene.
6.This year we had two significant deaths of two prominent
people in the arts and entertainment field.
One was St Louis native poet/educator Dr Maya Angelou, famed poet of “I
Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” novel, died
May 28 at the age of 86. Oprah Winfrey, who was Maya’s spiritual daughter,
oversaw her funeral that was held in her adopted city Winston Salem, NC.
5.During the
aftermath of the non-indictment verdict of Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson
from the death of teen Mike Brown, continued civil unrest throughout St Louis
and throughout. The sports world was also affected. In December, the major event was being The St Louis Rams
when five players (Wide receivers
Stedman Bailey, Tavon Austin, Chris Givens and Kenny Britt and tight end Jared
Cook )raised their hands in the Don’t Shoot position with
their hands up. The gesture made international headlines, one of The St
Louis Police Board demanded an apology as well as the fans.
4.The second prominent death was Chicago native
actor/comedian Robin Williams who was found dead Aug 11. It was ruled an
apparent suicide. It was speculate that his suicide was brought on from his knowledge
that he had early Parkinson's Disease and was battling depression,. He was 63.
At this year’s Emmy Awards, longtime friend Billy Crystal done a heartfelt
tribute to Williams. He was also the most Googled person of 2014.
3.This year was dominated by the events leading up to
the
marriage of Kimye. The first was the
infamous cover of the
couple on Vogue in April and Kanye’s bullying tactics
with
publisher/editor Anna
Wintour to give the cover spot to his
fiancee. The magazine issue had its
publisher to make a statement saying she approved of the cover. The sales of
the issue reportedly failed below expectations. The next big story was their wedding
in May in Paris, France and the millions paid just for security but the “event”
occurred in Italy. In June, the photo of the couple’s kiss broke an Instagram
record of nearly two million but West had
gone on a tirade about the photo and blamed famed photographer Annie Leibovitz
for ruining his honeymoon because he had to spend four days retouching a photo she didn't take.
for ruining his honeymoon because he had to spend four days retouching a photo she didn't take.
2.The outcry after the death of slain teen Mike Brown
struck a nerve across the world. The media also had a frenzy in reporting the
after effects. It was soon after the
August 9 event, Hollywood came to Ferguson when life coach and motivational
speaker Iyanla Van Zandt brought cameras to film a special episode of her
popular “Fix My Life” series on OWN. Titled, “IYANLA: FIX MY LIFE SPECIAL REPORT:
HEALING IN FERGUSON" the
episode followed Iyanla Vanzant as she worked
with the Ferguson, Missouri community to promote peace and healing. She also brought
face-to-face Ferguson police chief Thomas Jackson and Michael Brown's uncle, pastor
Charles Ewing to discuss the need for peace, then hosted a community discussion
with leaders and citizens. In the hip hop world, twelve hip hop artists -- The
Game, Diddy, 2 Chainz, Rick Ross, Wale, DJ Kaled, Swizz Beatz, Yo Gotti,
Curren$y, Problem, and King Pharaoh & TGT -- collaborated on the track “Don’t Shoot,” in memoriam of Mike Brown and in protest of
police violence.The song was released recently on the Empire Distribution SoundCloud page,adding itself to the growing list of tribute songs
inspired by Michael Brown, such as Lauryn Hill's "Black Rage" and J. Cole' s "Be Free."
(AUGUST)
AND THE NO. 1 ILLI MO
ENTERTAINMENT STORY OF 2014 WAS
1.Mizzou alum Michael Sam
made headlines on and off the grid iron becoming the first openly gay football
player trying to win a spot on a team in the NFL. His story played like a
Hollywood movie . After coming out of the closet while still a student at Mizzou in Columbia, Mo., the
move was controversial and the media reacted feverishly. The news of his openness got him the front cover of
Sports Illustrated in February. In May, during the NFL Draft, The St Louis Rams drafted him and
made even more headlines when he kissed his boyfriend in celebration when cameras were at his
house. Soon after media from across the country came to Rams Park in Earth
City, Mo to get his comments about being drafted (POTUS even sent him congrats). In the same month,The Oprah Winfrey Network announced
plans for a multi-part documentary series that will chronicle Sam’s life
as he prepared to enter the world of
professional football. But the organization disapproved of the happening
which it felt would deter Sam from receiving a spot on the roster and extra attention to The Rams. Thus, the project
was postponed. In July, he received the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at this years
ESPYs. In
August, he played as a Ram in a pre season game at the Edward Jones Dome
against the Cleveland Browns putting up impressive numbers with two sacks (He punctuated
his first sack with a signature money sign celebration.) In September, The Rams
cut Sam, much to the chagrin of the organization claiming it didn’t cut him becasue
of his sexuality but due to the major talent to choose from (and much to the rumor
from the ESPN report that the teammates felt uncomfotable around him in the
lockerroom). Soon after, The Dallas Cowboys drafted Sam on its practicing squad
but was released a month later. In November, he copped one of the six cover
spots for GQ magazine and OWN reported that it would air his delayed documentary
in late December.
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