KELLY ROWLAND DELIVERS HOT NEW “HERE I AM” SOLO ALBUM:
In celebration of her new album, “Here I Am,” Kelly Rowland visited the peeps at Essence. She gave them the lowdown on her hit single, “Motivation,” dished on Beyonce and talked about her favorite fashion, beauty and hair moments. Besides her video with managing editor Emil Wilbekin, she spoke on dating and love.
Rowland, who admits she has no time for anything serious right now, gave a clue as to what kind of man could “motivate” a sweet Southern belle like her to one day change her mind. “He’s got to have great confidence,” Rowland says. “He’s got to be assured in himself as a man and have great goals. Ambition looks so sexy on anybody. Plus, I think it’s really important for him to have a great sense of humor. That’s just so sexy to me.”
Regarding “Here I Am,” she says it took a while to decide on an album title. “At one point I asked my fans to help,” says Rowland. “Finally, I was having a meeting with my product manager and I said, ‘I want people to know that I’m here, that this is the most revealing record I’ve ever done, that this is the record, here I am.’ Then my product manager says, ‘That’s it.’”
Rowland took a lot of creative control on this album, down to the sequencing of the songs. “I wanted everything to be so definitive, like the songs and the lyrics, the arrangements, everything,” she said. “I wanted to make a statement on this record. If there’s anything I’ve learned over the years, it’s that the sequencing of a record is so important. The titles and the sounds just have to flow into one another-that’s incredibly important.”
FYI: Rowland worked with her favorite producers. “I met back up with Rodney Jerkins because I hadn’t seen him since the last Destiny’s Child record. Being back with him was as if we had finished the D.C. record yesterday, and we picked right up where we left off. He has such amazing energy.
“Rico Love laid the foundation. I love him. He pushed me so much, and I am just so grateful to him because he brought out a different side of me. I also loved working with Red One and Jim Johnson. His mom made me chocolate brownies, so I was really happy.”
Personally speaking, I wrote Destiny’s Child first major CD biography when the group released its star-making album at Sony Records. So here’s wishing Kelly Rowland’s sizzling new “Here I Am” album much worldwide success.
TIGER WOODS RETURNS TO GOLF:
Well, it’s official. Three months after being away from golf because of medical problems, golf superstar Tiger Woods recently announced he’s returning to the game at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, Ohio.
“I’m excited to get back out there,” Woods said on his website. Woods said he aggravated a mild medial collateral ligament strain to his left knee and a strained left Achilles tendon at the Players Championship in May. He withdrew after nine holes and hasn’t played in a tournament since.
Woods originally injured himself while hitting a recovery shot during the third round of the Masters in April. At the AT&T National last month, a tournament that benefits Woods’ foundation, Woods said he probably came back too soon.
“Probably in retrospect it was a borderline call whether I should have played the Players,” Woods said. “I made the call on that and played and wasn’t quite 100 percent. Unfortunately, I hurt myself there. Now this time around it’s different. I’m going at it differently. I’m setting no timetable, which is very different for me.”
Tiger has only played in six events this season. Fortunately for Woods, he’s returning at a tournament without a 36-hole cut on a golf course where he’s had plenty of success, winning the title a record seven times.
Not only will the focus be on Woods, but eyes will also be on who is carrying his bag. Last week, Woods fired Steve Williams, his caddie for the past 12 years. Furthermore, he hasn’t named a permanent replacement. According to Golf Channel, Bryon Bell, a close friend and president of Tiger Woods Design, would caddie for Woods at Firestone.
Here’s wishing Tiger Woods much success on his 2011 golfing comeback.
TRILOGY: AN OPERA COMPANY PRESENTS “TREMONISHA” AND “EMMETT TILL” AUG. 6:
It was great to be informed by Kevin Maynor (founder and director of Trilogy: An Opera Company) that two great plays, “Tremonisha” by Scott Joplin and “Emmett Till” by Michael Raphael, will grace the stage of the Central Theatre (246 18th Ave., Newark, N.J.), on Saturday, Aug. 6 at 7:30 p.m. The powerful production stars 12-year-old Robert Stephens as Emmett Till and Pam Jones as Tremonisha.
The plays were directed by Kyle Coles, produced by Artistic Director Kevin Maynor and conducted by Julius Williams.
Admission is free. For more information, visit www.trilogyaoc.homestead.com, email trilogy@june.com or call (973) 985-5881.
I highly recommend you make plans with family and friends to go see and thoroughly enjoy “Tremonisha” and “Emmett Till” at New Jersey’s Central Theatre.
Wishing you, your family and friends a great week ahead.