Bringing McDonald's and hip-hop together

Bringing McDonald'sand hip-hop together
LOS ANGELES -- Looks as if the already faint line between art and commerce is about to be wiped away courtesy of McDonald's, which is offering hip-hop artists cash to drop "Big Mac" into their rhymes. Should we all be outraged that music is becoming little more than a crass vehicle for mass-produced products? Heck, yes. Then again, considering our times, maybe not. According to Advertising Age mag, McDonald's isn't giving any cash up front, but promises to pay rappers $1 to $5 each time a song containing the burger name is played on the radio. The fast-food Goliath, which says it hopes to have the first songs out by summer, will have the final say on each song's lyrics, but will give rappers total artistic control over "how they incorporate the pitch into their songs."
Crowe, Howard plancollaboration on movie
LOS ANGELES -- In one of those power moves by two of the biggest power movers in Tinseltown, actor Russell Crowe and director Ron Howard are in talks to join forces for their third film collaboration. Variety says "The Power of Duff," written by Stephen Belber, is a powerful (natch) drama about a TV news anchor (Crowe) who suffers such anguish over his father's death that he begins to pray on the air. Possibly pitched to studio suits as "Network" meets "Joan of Arcadia" meets "The Insider," the flick gets its dramatic frisson when those desperate prayers are answered.
'Ray' team takes lookat Jackie Robinson
NEW YORK -- The award-winning artistic team behind "Ray" is taking on another weighty matter -- a celluloid biography of baseball legend Jackie Robinson, to be produced by and star that all-natural, baseball-loving all-American, "The Natural's" Robert Redford. The Sundance Film Festival founder will play Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey, who in 1947 signed Robinson as the first black player in the major leagues. "This will be our next 'Ray,"' a no-doubt very hopeful producer Howard Baldwin told The Associated Press.
Omarosa on 'Surreal'
LOS ANGELES -- It might all translate as a laughable "Surreal Life" on TV, but just consider, for some of these F-List pseudo-celebs, theirs is a very sad real life. We are, of course, referring to the personalities who have signed on to star in VH1's reality show, "The Surreal Life 5." The, um, winners include: "The "Apprentice's" own little Pinocchio, Omarosa, a native of Youngstown; baseball's steroid-controversy-addled Jose Canseco; the model and former party girl Janice Dickinson; and decent character actor (the funny art-gallery dude in "Beverly Hills Cop") Bronson Pinchot. The cast is rounded out by Salt-N-Pepa's Sandi Denton, model Caprice and freestyle motocross champ Carey Hart.
Gig for Will Smith's son
LOS ANGELES -- Will Smith's 12-year-old son, Trey, will be a special correspondent for "Access Hollywood" at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, reports The Associated Press. The awards, hosted by Ben Stiller, will air live Saturday on the Nickelodeon cable channel from UCLA's Pauley Pavilion. Trey's coverage, which will include interviewing celebrities on the red carpet and getting reactions from this year's winners, will air Monday on the syndicated entertainment show "Access Hollywood." Trey also will reveal a "special surprise" for his rapper-actor father at the awards ceremony.
Today's birthdays
Actor William Daniels is 78. Hockey Hall-of-Famer Gordie Howe is 77. Actor Richard Chamberlain is 71. Actress Shirley Jones is 71. Country singer-songwriter John D. Loudermilk is 71. Musician Herb Alpert is 70. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., is 65. Actor Christopher Walken is 62. Comedian Gabe Kaplan is 60. Former Vice President Al Gore is 57. David Eisenhower is 57. Actress Rhea Perlman is 57. Rock musician Angus Young (AC/DC) is 50. Actor Marc McClure is 48. Actor William McNamara is 40. Actor Ewan McGregor is 34.