TV/radio briefs: ‘Atlanta Plastic’ casting call, Marietta’s Zach Seabaugh on ‘The Voice,’ new CNN Atlanta hire

Dr. Marcus Crawford and Dr. Aisha McKnight-Baron work at Crawford Plastic Surgery in Kennesaw. CREDIT: Rodney Ho/ rho@ajc.com

Dr. Wright Jones of Buckhead. CREDIT: RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com

By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Thursday, September 24, 2015

Lifetime’s “Atlanta Plastic,” featuring three black plastic surgeons, was picked up for 10 more episodes after a test run of eight that just finished up last week. The season finale drew 918,000 viewers.

The three doctors in question are Dr. Wright Jones in Buckhead and Dr. Marcus Crawford and Dr. Aisha McKnight-Baron at Crawford Plastic Surgery in Kennesaw. Each episodes, two people needing surgery are featured, be it a problem stomach area, a problem nose or a problem breast area.

If you are interested in having plastic surgery done for presumably a massive discount, email the casting director Lauren Groom of Reality Road TV via lauren.atlantaplastic@gmail.com with your story.

Here’s the story I originally wrote about them.

***

THE VOICE — Season: 9 — Pictured: Zach Seabaugh — (Photo by: Trae Patton/NBC)

Marietta’s Zach Seabaugh, a 17-year-old Kennesaw Mountain junior with an eye on the country market, made it through the blind auditions this week on “The Voice” singing a Sam Hunt song “Take Your Time.”

The judges were amazed that he was as young as he was, based on his looks and his deep voice. “People in high school joke that I must have been held back a lot,” he said.

Seabaugh, in an interview Wednesday, sounds far older in his strategic career thought process than a teenager. He quit football six months ago to focus on becoming an artistic “triple threat” who can not only sing but dance and act as well. He said he’s been singing in church choir since he was three years old and is now doing musical theater and taking ballet lessons.

He came on “The Voice” blind auditions without nerves, saying he generally feels more comfortable on stage than off. He said while singing, he became a bit anxious because the judges took their time to turn around but three ultimately did: Blake Shelton and Pharrell Williams at the same time, soon followed by Adam Levine. Only Gwen Stefani held back.

He chose Blake with a country career in mind. “He knows the road I can take that can hopefully lead me to greater success after the show,” he said. “He’s a great guy. I feel he’s a real honest person.” (Seabaugh said his very first song he sang at the open casting call was Jack Johnson‘s “Sitting, Waiting, Wishing” but he made it clear country would be his thing once he got to the blind auditions.)

Seabaugh even has an answer that sounds like a future politician when asked about whether his good looks can be a help or a hindrance.

“It’s nice to be recognized for my good looks,” he said. “It’s always a plus. At the same time, hopefully, the viewers watching can look past that and see my artistry.” His handsome features are really, he said, “just icing on the cake.”

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOPA4UK_QE4&w=560&h=315]

He can’t say how far he got. The battle and knockout rounds have been pre-taped so he already knows if he made it to the live rounds.  We’ll know in a few weeks.

***

Former CNN freelancer Kate Riley has been given a full-time sports anchoring gig based in Atlanta. CREDIT: CNN

CNN hardly hires any notable personalities based in Atlanta anymore so it’s amusing that CNN International SVP for worldwide sports Bill Galvin made this specific reference in a memo after hiring Kate Riley as a sports anchor: “We’re excited that Kate is now calling Atlanta home and enjoying her daily run along the Beltline & Piedmont Park.”

The entire memo here.

 

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Rebel flag emblem to stay on redesigned version of specialty Georgia license plate

Georgia officials will soon roll out a redesigned license plate that still features the Confederate battle flag emblem, months after halting the sales of the state-sponsored specialty tag in the wake of the Charleston church massacre.

The Department of Revenue and the Georgia chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans said this week they reached an agreement on the redesign and that it could be available as early as next week.

The redesigned license plate will look much like this, though without the faded Confederate emblem in the background.

A draft of the design wasn’t immediately available, but the Confederate group’s leaders said it would eliminate the larger image of the Rebel flag that forms the background of the plate while retaining a small, “blood red” version of the emblem in the foreground.

Gov. Nathan Deal ordered a redesign of the license plate in June after nine black worshippers were gunned down by a suspect described by police as a white supremacist. But he stopped short of calling for the Sons of Confederate Veterans tags to be phased out our eliminated entirely, as leaders in North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee ordered over the summer.

Georgia law for more than a decade has required a “special license plate for the Sons of Confederate Veterans,” with the proceeds of the sales going to benefit the group. So far, more than 3,500 motorists have signed up for Georgia’s Confederate tag, and the group’s leaders said demand has recently surged.

Confederate symbols of all kinds – flags, monuments, statues, license plates, even retail items – have come under unprecedented attack across the South in the months since the Charleston church massacre.

State leaders quietly erased Confederate Memorial Day and Robert E. Lee’s birthday from the official Georgia calendar in August. And debate has swirled over other symbols of the Old South, including the faces carved into Stone Mountain, the portraits and sculptures enshrined in the state Capitol and even restaurants that feature the Rebel flag.

More than 4,200 people signed a petition released by Better Georgia, a left-leaning advocacy group, calling for the state to stop selling the plates. Members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans countered with a membership drive, a lobbying campaign and the threat of legal action.

Here’s how Tim Pilgrim, a Sons of Confederate Veterans leader, described the new design:

We did agree to remove the faded background as most of the Camps indicated that they would be willing to do as long as the SCV logo was in its place of prominence on the tag. They also agreed to let us darken the red in the logo to a deeper blood red. We hope to have that completed by the end of this week and our tag will start to be available to our membership and the citizens of Georgia by next week.

 

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Girardi: “We’re going to have to be almost perfect”

Here’s Ian Harrison from The Associated Press:

TORONTO (AP) — A huge home run by Russell Martin gave the Blue Jays some breathing room atop the AL East.

Martin hit a three-run homer, Marcus Stroman pitched seven strong innings to win his third straight start and Toronto beat the New York Yankees 4-0 on Wednesday night, extending their division lead to 3 1/2 games.

Martin, a former Yankee, connected off Andrew Bailey in the seventh, matching his career high for homers with 21, as Toronto took two of three from New York in a showdown between the East’s top teams.

“Definitely a good feeling for me,” Martin said. “I know the boys enjoyed it, too. A good win.”

Toronto finished 13-6 against New York, a club record for wins against the Yankees.

New York has 11 games remaining, while Toronto has 10. Yankees manager Joe Girardi acknowledged that his team’s hopes of winning the division are slim.

“It’s not mathematically impossible, but it’s difficult,” Girardi said. “We’re going to have to be almost perfect.”

Stroman (3-0) allowed five hits, walked one and struck out five in his third start since returning from a torn knee ligament suffered in spring training. The outing lowered his ERA to 1.89.

“That was really the perfect game for him to pitch in,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. “It was a big game, a real big game and he came through.”

Brett Cecil worked the eighth and Roberto Osuna finished.

Starting in place of Masahiro Tanaka (right hamstring), New York right-hander Ivan Nova (6-9) took the mound for the first time since allowing six runs in 1 2-3 innings of a Sept. 12 loss to Toronto.

Nova, who had allowed at least three earned runs in each of his previous seven outings, kept the Blue Jays scoreless through five before departing after a two-out walk to Martin in the sixth.

“He did a tremendous job for us,” Girardi said. “It’s unfortunate we weren’t able to score him any runs.”

James Pazos came on and gave up a single to Ryan Goins, sending Martin to third. Yankees manager Joe Girardi replaced Pazos with Caleb Cotham, who allowed a first-pitch RBI single to Kevin Pillar.

“That’s the biggest hit of my life,” Pillar said. “Maybe the best feeling I’ve ever had on a baseball field.”

Pinch-hitter Ezequiel Carrera walked to load the bases, but Brett Gardner made a running catch on Ben Revere’s fly ball to left to end the threat.

New York used a walk and a single to put runners at first and second with two outs in the seventh, but Stroman finished his outing by getting Dustin Ackley to line out to center.

“If he puts it in the gap we’ve got two runs,” Girardi said. “He just hit it right at him.”

Josh Donaldson doubled off Bailey to begin the seventh and went to third on Jose Bautista’s groundout. Edwin Encarnacion was intentionally walked and Justin Smoak struck out before Martin drilled a 2-2 pitch into the left field bullpen, delighting the sellout crowd of 48,056.

“I was trying to go inside and didn’t execute my pitch,” Bailey said. “In that situation you’ve just got to be better and make better pitches.”

Before the game, a video tribute and moment of silence honored former Yankees catcher Yogi Berra, who died of natural causes on Tuesday night at age 90. An image of Berra wearing catcher’s gear was in the background of New York’s lineup cards.

The Yankees wore Berra’s 8 on their left sleeve, and will do so for the remainder of the season. The team intends to honor Berra before Thursday’s home game against the Chicago White Sox.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Girardi said Tanaka will be examined by doctors again Thursday. “We’ll try to get him back on the mound as soon as we can,” Girardi said. “He feels pretty good. We’re encouraged with the way he feels.”

UP NEXT

New York returns home to begin a four-game series against the White Sox on Thursday. RHP Michael Pineda (11-8, 4.10 ERA) starts for the Yankees against Chicago LHP Chris Sale (12-10, 3.47). Pineda is unbeaten in his last four starts, his longest such run since the first seven starts of the season.

Associated Press photos

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Who won ‘Big Brother 17’?

Vanessa wins the Power of Veto competition, on BIG BROTHER, Wednesday, September 16th (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Photo: Best Possible Screen Grab ©2015 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved

By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Geeky super fan Steve Moses took home the $500,000 on “Big Brother 17” tonight, outdueling poker player Vanessa Rousso in a crucial final Head of Household competition and wisely bringing the weaker player Liz Rolan into the finals with him. He received six out of nine votes, which was not a surprise.

The trombonist who loves his mom has no specific plans how to spend his winnings.

Liz pockets $50,000. Vanessa? Third place gets her nothing but a pat on the back.

Steve played a smart game, using his knowledge of the show to his advantage. He laid low the first seven weeks and was virtually invisible in episodes I watched the first few weeks. (He didn’t believe he was “floating” but building bridges to get him to the finals.) He didn’t want to bloody his hands until absolutely necessary. Once other potentially stronger players had knocked each other out, he began making alliances and winning challenges. He was always likable and made few enemies.

Liz created an early alliance and showmance with Austin. She was very loyal to that group and protected people when she needed to after she won five challenges. She kept her twin around a long time and did a good job there. But from a strategic standpoint, she tended to bow to Austin and that cost her the game. She was only able to garner votes from her boyfriend Austin Matelson, her twin sister Julia Rolan and her closest alliance partner Vanessa.

The vote count:

Vanessa voted for Liz.

Johnny Mac voted for Steve.

Austin voted for Liz.

Julia voted for Liz.

James voted for Steve.

Meg voted for Steve.

Becky voted for Steve.

Jackie voted for Steve.

Shelli’s vote was Steve.

Favorite houseguest, based on “Big Brother” fan vote was James Huling. He took home $25,000. He earned it. He was a funny goofball and vastly entertaining to watch until the end. He beat out Johnny Mac and Jason Roy.

There was a three-part Head of Household competition over the week. The first round winner Vanessa Rousso, a physical endurance challenge involving whipped cream, powdered sugar and a regular slam, was guaranteed a spot in the final round of Head of Household.

Fortunately for Steve, the second competition was a mental one. It was a crossword puzzle. Steve beat Liz by about three minutes. So the live final competition decided who would go to the final two.

Steve planned to get rid of Vanessa if given the chance even though she might think otherwise. Vanessa would also ditch Steve over Liz. So Liz was guaranteed a slot already. It ultimately came down to who won the final competition.

In the end, it was Steve, who guessed better in terms of what the jurors said about the show in fill-in-the-blank form. He then evicted Vanessa, the smartest move he could make because it was unlikely he would be able to beat her in the jury.

Liz was actually shocked by Steve’s move. “I am so happy you did this,” she said to Steve. “I have no words to thank you.”

Vanessa was not shocked by the outcome.

“To be perfectly honest, it wasn’t outside the realm of possibility,” Vanessa told Julie. “I never fully trusted Steve in the game. He stabbed me in the back quite a few times.”

At the same time, she couldn’t blame Steve for evicting her because she would have ditched him if the shoe were in the other foot. Of course!

There was an earlier discussion among the jurors before the final three became two:

Every single person in the jury felt Vanessa was an influence in getting rid of everyone there. She also won plenty of competitions. Atlantan Shelli Poole is certain to vote for Vanessa. James Huling agreed with Shelli’s assessment. Meg Maley is more circumspect, saying they weren’t always fooled, that she won competitions when she needed to. But isn’t that an argument in her favor?

Becky Burgess felt she swore too much on her mother’s grave or whatever when she was in fact lying. That was a bit much for her.

Shelli said Steve was brilliantly social in his awkwardness. Meg said he smartly stayed out of the way. “Steve’s a rat,” Johnny Mac said. “Everyone protected him.” Vanessa, he noted, was on his own. Liz felt he was a little cowardly and didn’t own up to his moves when he had to have blood on his hands.

Jackie respected Liz for helping taking people out and win competitions. Meg said her decisions were done to protect her alliance. Becky didn’t think she was a good strategic player, using Austin as cover.

 

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‘Empire’ season 2 debut recap: don’t rock the boat

EMPIRE: Terrence Howard as Lucious Lyon. ©2015 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Chuck Hodes/FOX.

By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Wednesday, September 21, 2015

“Empire” was the TV phenomenon of the spring of 2015, growing audience every episode in its initial 12-episode run, an unprecedented growth spurt in recent TV history.

Entering season two tonight, the creators weren’t going to mess with the formula of soapy plot twists, sassy line readings and a Trump-ian like presentation of the hip-hop world.

Expectations are as big as Lucious Lyon’s ego. Overall, this was a pretty typical episode amped by impressive celebrity appearances – some as themselves, some as characters.

The season opens with a big protest three months after Lucious was arrested for Bunkie’s murder. Cookie set the protest up although she knows he’s guilt and comes down from a cage in a gorilla suit to illustrate in a ridiculously over-the-top way how blacks often feel they are treated in the prison system.

Protesters hold up signs and chant the “Free Lucious” (hashtag #FreeLucious, of course) and “Empire” plants cameos galore, indicative of the power the show now wields in pop culture. A sampling:

• Al Sharpton isn’t willing to protest Lyon’s arrest because he isn’t sure how innocent he is. Cookie quickly brushes him off as soon as he says this.
• Fashionista Andre Leon Talley gives Cookie a compliment (“Gucci!”) followed by some shade: “Last season!”
• Don Lemon of CNN, after failing to nail an interview with a polite Cookie, receives some back-handed shade from her outside of his earshot regarding his use of the N-word on CNN earlier this year.

What’s fascinating in this fictional world of “Empire” is how much freedom Lucious has in prison given that he is accused of first-degree murder. Guards are scarce and he seems to be able to just walk around at will. When outsiders visit him, they aren’t placed behind a glass barrier and forced to talk via phone. They get to meet face to face.

He meets up with Chris Rock’s character, a bad drug dealing magnate named Frank Gathers. Frank happens to be the man Cookie snitched on to get out of prison early. Inside prison, Frank quickly susses out who got him in there and he is not pleased. So he starts sending her roses and a gift box of someone’s head to an alarmed Cookie. I am not sure who that head is of, though, but it sure wasn’t Gwyneth Paltrow. (So Brad Pitt, rest easy…)

Cookie is so freaked out, she tells her family to stay in the Lucious Lyon mansion while she tries to “fix” the situation. She goes over to see Lucious (who is conveniently in a nearby prison, not placed upstate) and Lucious admits he loves her and hates her at the same time. She asks him to “deal’ with Frank. And he does so.

He comes to Frankie in a room devoid of guards. Frankie says he has no beef with Lucious unless Lucious wants to create a beef. Lucious is loyal to Cookie – even after she tried to take over the company behind his back. More on that later.

“If you got war with her,” Lucious says to Frank, “you’ve got a war with me.”

“You crazy! Crazier than I thought,” Frank says, bemused. He then tells his minions: “Kill him. Make it fast and quiet. Bye!”

But Frank is gravely mistaken. Lucious has bought out their loyalties because it’s that easy!

“Kill him,” he tells Frank’s former minions. “Make it loud and make it loooong.”

And so Chris Rock is a goner by the end of episode one.

Earlier, Cookie tries to engineer a hostile takeover of Empire in an attempt to dump Lucious from power. She brings in Marisa Tomei‘s lesbian venture capitalist Mimi Whitman and tries to ply her with lady delights – including frenemy Anika, who sleeps with her – for work reasons, of course.

But alas, Lucious sees Cookie cozying up to Mimi on TV during the protest and has Jamal, his chosen successor, to figure out who she is.

When Cookie, Akina, Hakeem (on skates? What is he? 10?) and Andre enter the board of directors meeting ready to take over, Jamal is ready. After they make their bold declarations, Jamal has Mimi turn around in a chair (like “The Voice”!) and declare that she has thrown her loyalties to Lucious. He met with her that morning and she realizes he is too important to Empire to dump willy nilly.

Jamal is deeply embittered by the family betrayal – at least for now. Wait a couple of episodes. Alliances will shift again.

After Cookie finds out that Frank is dead and the coast is clear, Jamal boots everyone out of Lucious’ home, where he is staying.

Cookie tries to talk some sense in him and in classic soap opera fashion, she slaps him. “Who do you think you’re talking to?”

But he doesn’t fall back. “Are you done now lady?” he says with rebellious intensity that is borderline scary.

“You’re turning into your daddy,” Cookie says before leaving with sadness and regret. “I’m watching it happen.”

After she closes the door, Jamal begins to cry, then emboldens himself and walks away, more determined than ever to be like his daddy. Ahh… daddy issues.

Best Lucious line of the night

“Game over, b*****,” Lucious said to his betraying two sons and wife from prison via video.

Best Cookie line of the night

“You can’t even dyke right.” – Cookie to Anika after she finds out the takeover had failed despite Anika’s amorous efforts with Mimi.

 

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151: Yankees at Blue Jays

YANKEES (83-67)
Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Brett Gardner LF
Alex Rodriguez DH
Brian McCann C
Carlos Beltran RF
Greg Bird 1B
Chase Headley 3B
Dustin Ackley 2B
Didi Gregorius SS

RHP Ivan Nova (6-8, 5.11)
Nova vs. Blue Jays

BLUE JAYS (86-65)
Ben Revere LF
Josh Donaldson 3B
Jose Bautista RF
Edwin Encarnacion 3B
Justin Smoak 1B
Russell Martin C
Ryan Goins SS
Kevin Pillar CF
Darwin Barney 2B

RHP Marcus Stroman (2-0, 3.00)
Stroman vs. Yankees

TIME/TV: 7:07 p.m., YES Network and ESPN

WEATHER: Last game of the season being played with a just-in-case roof.

UMPIRES: HP Jim Reynolds, 1B Jim Joyce, 2B Greg Gibson, 3B Chad Fairchild

MAGIC NUMBER: The Yankees’ magic number to clinch a playoff berth is seven.

FOR YOGI: Mayor Bill de Blasio has ordered all flags in New York City to fly at half-staff in honor of Yogi Berra. De Blasio said Wednesday that the order to fly flags at half-staff applies to American flags, the New York state and city flags and the POW-MIA flag. Flags will be returned to full staff at sunset Thursday.

ON THIS DATE: It was on September 23, 2001 that Yankee Stadium hosted “A Prayer for America” service for those lost on September 11. It was the first large-scale and formally staged program offered in memory of those killed or missing and presumed dead in the terrorist assault on the World Trade Center towers.

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Pregame notes: “We’re just going to need a good start”

Not even Joe Girardi could spin this as if it’s the Yankees’ best-case scenario. It’s not Plan A. Not Plan B. Not even Plan C. It’s simply the best of what’s left.

Nathan Eovaldi’s elbow is inflamed. Masahiro Tanaka’s hamstring is strained. Michael Pineda just pitched three days ago and Luis Severino pitched lsat night. And so, Ivan Nova is tonight’s Yankees starter for their series finale in Toronto.

A week ago, he was pulled from the rotation because he wasn’t reliable enough. Now he’s starting a game might be the Yankees’ best opportunity to stay in the hunt for the division.

“He’s had some good starts and some bad starts the past month,” Girardi said. “We’re just going to need a good start in his next start.”

Tanaka was lined up for this game, but he strained his hamstring running to first base on Friday, and so the Yankees had to find someone else. Their best option was the guy they kicked out of the rotation just a few days earlier, immediately after he allowed six runs in the second inning against this very same Blue Jays team.

Nova was 2-5 with a 7.46 ERA in his past seven starts before the Yankees bumped him to the bullpen.

“It’s not what you want to hear,” Nova said of his demotion. “You want to pitch every five days, but you also have to understand the situation. At the time, I wasn’t pitching great. I wasn’t winning games for the team, and at this point of the year, it’s what is best for the team.”

At times, Nova has been what’s best for the Yankees.

He had a 3.10 ERA through his first seven starts back from Tommy John surgery this season. He had a 2.59 through the final three months of 2013. He was fourth in Rookie of the Year voting in 2011.

But Nova’s career has been defined, not by his dominance, but by his extreme peaks and valleys.

Before that tremendous second half of 2013, he was so unreliable the Yankees optioned him to Triple-A. The year after his strong rookie season, Nova had a 5.02 ERA, including a 7.05 in the second half. He faded significantly this season.

And Nova can’t explain why that’s happened. Beyond the obvious – he hasn’t pitched as well – Nova can’t explain the difference between his good outings and his bad outings.

“I have a start like last time I pitched,” he said. “I feel like everything (was the same as earlier) this year, and look how I pitched. Whatever happened there, you start looking at some things. If you pitch good, you can find I did this different than I did last time. But you may pitch bad the next time, and you see the same thing that you did (in the good start).”

So what to expect tonight? All the Yankees can lean on are the high points in Nova’s career, and the fact he won a start in Toronto last month

“I’m going to have the chance to pitch again in something different now,” Nova said. “It’s an important game like always for us, but I got a chance to try to get a win for the team.”

—

• Obviously this day has been focused on the passing of Yogi Berra, and the Yankees will wear a No. 8 on their uniform sleeves for the rest of the season to honor the great catcher. Meredith Marakovits and some others tweeted pictures of the lineup card that will hang in the Yankees dugout tonight. It includes a picture of Yogi in the background. Very cool.

• Hal Steinbrenner said on ESPN Radio today that the Yankees will do “some nice things” to honor Berra at Yankee Stadium before tomorrow’s game. The Yankees rarely mess up moments like this. When it time to honor one of their greats, they tend to do it right.

• Alex Rodriguez had a press conference to talk about Yogi’s passing. He said that, through all of the ups and downs of his Yankees career, he always felt that Berra stuck with him. “I always appreciated that,” Rodriguez said.

• Funny story: Brett Gardner said Yogi always called him “shorty,” which is funny since Yogi was listed at 5-foot-8. “He’s Yogi Berra, he could call me whatever he wants,” Gardner said.

• According to a press release, the Empire State Building will be lit in blue and white stripes in honor of Berra tonight.

• Kinda cool story from my paper: Robert Brum talked to the actor who played Yogi in the movie *61. Turns out Yogi taught him to swing left-handed for the film. “You gotta make me look good,” Yogi told him.

• In non-Yogi news: Masahiro Tanaka will be examined by Yankees doctors tomorrow, but Dan Barbarisi said it still sounds like Tanaka will make his next start next week.

Associated Press photos

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