Wiz Khalifa didn’t win anything at the 5th annual Pittsburgh Hip-Hop Awards Sunday night at the August Wilson Center.

He’s a “graduate,” along with tour- and labelmate Mac Miller and breaking political rapper Jasiri X.

That left the field open for an influx of new, or at least different, winners.

Taking top honors Sunday were male artist 2GZZ, female artist Lady Homi, rap crew Formula 412 and, for mixtape, Mysterious. The one representative of Khalifa’s Taylor Gang was producer of the year Sledgren.

The evening kicked off with an appearance by Jasiri X and included performances by Formula 412, M.A.C.

Full Post…

“Jersey Shore” isn’t slowing down.

Mike Sorrentino of MTV series “The Jersey Shore” arrives at the 2010 American Music Awards in Los Angeles November 21, 2010. REUTERS/Danny Moloshok

MTV’s hit reality show delivered its highest-rated season finale yet on Thursday night, drawing a 7.3 rating in the 12-to-34 demographic, up 20 percent from the Season 2 finale.

About 7.6 million total viewers tuned in to the telecast. “Jersey Shore”‘s third season is the top TV show of the year in the 12-to-34 demographic.

Season to date, “Jersey Shore” is up 35 percent from its second season average (7.7 vs.

Full Post…

Even as a child, Paul Galdone knew he would be an artist: Drawing was his life. But it wasn’t until he was in his mid-40s that Mr. Galdone illustrated his first children’s book and launched a career that would ensure his artistic legacy.

From 1951 until his death in 1986 at age 79, the prolific Mr. Galdone illustrated and/or wrote more than 300 children’s books, many of them classics that have become favorites for several generations of young readers. Two books that he illustrated, “Anatole” and “Anatole and the Cat” — both written by Eve Titus — won Caldecott Honors, given to the best illustrated children’s books in a particular year.

But Mr.

Full Post…

Two friends stopped by the Benedum Center on Thursday night. They brought with them some tagalong family members, old-school musician buddies and their favorite guitars. A packed house stopped by to hear them, and they got an earful. That’s just what happens when Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith decide to hit the road together.

For for diehard fans, it was a musical walk down memory lane with a peek of what’s around the corner. There were no histrionics, explosions, special effects. Heck, there wasn’t even a video screen projecting the typical tear-at-your-heartstrings videos so common at concerts these days.

The whole shebang took three hours, and with very little chatter, they still didn’t come close to playing all of the fan favorites.

Full Post…

Kevin Spacey is on board to star in and executive producer “House of Cards,” a political thriller based on a novel and a BBC miniseries.

Actor Kevin Spacey is seen at the 2011 Vanity Fair Oscar party in West Hollywood, California February 27, 2011. REUTERS/Danny Moloshok

No network is currently attached to the project. The pilot will be directed by David Fincher, who shot “The Social Network” on which Spacey was also an executive producer.

The “House of Cards” novel was written by Michael Dobbs, former Conservative Party chief of staff.

Full Post…