Now other than Keshia Knight Pulliam, I can't think of any other major celebrities that call Atlanta home. But soon, you can add Justin Bieber to the list as he has reportedly purchased a home in the exclusive Buckhead area, which has been dubbed the Beverly Hills of the South.
Apparently, some people were so against their newest resident that they wanted Bieber out...or so we thought? A group that called themselves the "Buckhead Neighborhood Coalition" started up a Facebook page and on Monday morning, even went all out to hold a protest near Blackland Street, where the house is located. It garnered worldwide media attention, but in the end...it was all for show! Yes, this whole thing was brought to us by Rock 100.5 radio's The Regular Guys, the brains behind the phony group/fake protest, and we were all duped. Even though there were only five "protesters", two others were actually pro-Bieber. Sam Massell, the head of the real Buckhead Coalition, had nothing to do with the faux protest and is welcoming Bieber with open arms.
After that prank, I'm really all for Biebs shacking it up in Atlanta; but since it's that time of year once again, the Girl Scouts should be given fair warning.
And now...with the Winter Olympics in Sochi already over, we are immediately moving forward to two big events this weekend: the 42nd annual running of the Iditarod back in Alaska in which dog mushing's biggest names will be roughing it to see who'll be the first to Nome; and of course, the 86th Annual Academy Awards on Sunday. For the latter, crews have been working round the clock to prevent a soggy red carpet as those aforementioned rains are continuing to pound Los Angeles with a vengeance.
Meanwhile, host Ellen DeGeneres will be doing everything in her power to get the show back to becoming a major event again in the face of not just Richter scale ratings, but also AMC's "The Walking Dead" already ruling Sunday nights after taking a chunk of viewers away from the Olympics. A lot has changed since DeGeneres last hosted in 2006, but after last year's host Seth MacFarlane got some lambasting (thanks primarily to "We Saw Your Boobs") followed by Billy Crystal's rusty return and James Franco and Anne Hathaway bombing (though Hathaway got a lot of redemption also last year with her Supporting Actress win), the Academy felt that Ellen is the safe bet.
"American Hustle", "Gravity", and "12 Years A Slave" are locked in a three-way battle for Best Picture with "Slave" already the heavy favorite. As for "Captain Philips", "Dallas Buyers Club", "Her", "Nebraska", "Philomena", and "The Wolf of Wall Street"? They wished it was back to just five nominees.
Supporting Actor may be all about Jared Leto, but Barkhad Abdi, Bradley Cooper, Michael Fassbender, and Jonah Hill in the mix. The Supporting Actress showdown is between Lupita Nyong'o and Jennifer Lawrence, who wants to add that to go along with the Best Actress she collected last year (Sally Hawkins, 2000 Best Actress Julia Roberts, and June Squibb are also in there).
Matthew McConaughey may have Best Actor in the bag, but he's not alone as Christian Bale, Bruce Dern, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Chiwetel Ejiofor could take that away from him. And Best Actress? If not Cate Blanchett, then Amy Adams', Sandra Bullock's (winner of that same category four years ago), Judi Dench's, or three-timer Meryl Streep's names could be on that envelope instead.
With all that said, here's whose names I think will be embedded on that ultimate piece of hardware after Sunday night:
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Jared Leto
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Jennifer Lawrence had one hell of a 2013 with her memorable trip to the Oscar stage as the headliner, but she's been a workaholic and is deserving of a long breather. The chances of back-to back Oscars have already been against her, so it's safe to say that Lupita Nyong'o is the easy bet.
BEST ACTOR: Matthew McConaughey
BEST ACTRESS: Sandra Bullock may have also shared the same sentiment with Jennifer Lawrence, but remember what Mo'Nique said when she won in 2010: It's the performances, not the politics (or your name, for that matter), that land you the Oscar, and Cate Blanchett's in "Blue Jasmine" was a whole lot powerful than political.
DIRECTOR: Alfonso Cuaron, "Gravity"
BEST PICTURE: "12 Years A Slave"
We'll see how I fare Sunday on the original Show of Shows (sorry, Wrestlemania!), with my full recap to follow on this blog Monday. So long and stay strong.
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