Kid Rock, Britney, now Beyoncé…lots of New Orleans-related celebrity news today (and we didn’t even touch Brad and Angelina’s date at Elmwood last night). We’ll just quote here:

To celebrate its 15th anniversary, next year’s Essence Music Festival in New Orleans is featuring a 15 percent discount on select tickets through Jan. 31, 2009. Beyoncé will make her third appearance at the Essence Fest by headlining the 2009 edition, which will take place July 3-5. Additional performers will be announced soon. Organizers hope the upcoming edition of Essence is just as triumphant as this past July’s, which was its most successful ever and hosted more than 270,000 attendees.

To hold you over until July, take a gander at the trailer for Beyoncé’s latest, the Etta James bio-pic Cadillac Records, then tell us whether she “performs dynamic versions of Etta James classics and delivers the dramatic goods” or “doesn’t seem to have splurged on acting lessons since her wooden turn in Dreamgirls“:

New Orleans gets its first holiday procession in 15 years this Saturday, when the Downtown Development District will present a Christmas-themed parade down Canal Street, followed by a free outdoor concert:

The parade, which will begin at 10:00 a.m., will roll from Convention Center Boulevard up Canal Street to Robertson Street (near Claiborne Avenue) and back to its starting point. It will be followed by an all-star outdoor concert beginning at 12 noon at Elk Place. Entertainers include Jeremy Davenport, Rockin Dopsie, Jr., jazz trumpeter Marlon Jordan and vocalist Stephanie Jordan, the Batiste Brothers, Rebirth Brass Band, Amanda Shaw and James Andrews.

Lauren Hotard, marketing director for the DDD, said today that Mr. Bingle will be front and center on his own float. “He’s 30 feet long and 16 feet wide. He’s going to pause near his old stomping grounds [the site of the former Maison Blanche] for people to take pictures, then he will go back to City Park for Celebration in the Oaks.”

Staging the concert on Elk Place at Canal, according to Hotard, was a deliberate decision: “We’re trying to bring life to all of Canal Street, not just the places people already go [to shop].”

The DDD plans to make the parade (which doesn’t seem to have an official name yet) an annual event, says Hotard: “We actually have a 3-year deal with the Roosevelt Hotel to be the title sponsor.” The Roosevelt (formerly the Fairmont, formerly-formerly the Roosevelt) opens its doors next June.

Since New Orleans loves its traditions, we had to ask: Will the Roosevelt’s Christmas spirit extend to bringing back the Fairmont’s much-lamented Angel Hair Lobby in 2009?

“Yes!” said Hotard.

The second restaurant venture from chef Guillermo Peters at his lower St. Charles Avenue property has come to an end with the closing of Stop 9 Refueling Station & Culinary Specialties.

The restaurant, named for the streetcar stop just outside, opened last spring as a breakfast/lunch café with a sideline of gourmet groceries.  It never seemed like the right fit for the huge, two-level building, which is because the property was built out for grander things.
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Introducing a new series in which we highlight press releases that either a) go above and beyond the sales call of duty, or b) simply reek of sheer, unadulterated awesomeness. This inaugural one-sheet winner has a foot in both camps: Last week, supposedly, Cash Money recording artists — including, purportedly, CEO Birdman and homegrown GOAT Lil Wayne — took to Taylor Park to hand out more than 1,200 holiday dinners for the 12th annual Turkey Give-A-Way. (Can anyone confirm this actually happened?) The clincher is the generous header, courtesy of Universal Music’s Nicole Garvey:

Apparently albums with a circus motif are really hot for the end of ‘08. Imagine the harried phone calls from the photo-shoot producers: “T-Pain already reserved the elephant? Dammit. No, just get her a lion. And a really big tent. Bigger than his tent. Okay, ciao.” 

In other news, Axl Rose picked up on the trend and will be dropping his own big top-themed record in late 2024. 

Also, click “read more” to see a picture of T-Pain riding an elephant. Read the rest of this entry »