Lauren Hill

Soul legend Smokey Robinson will launch his new clothing line with a fashion show on the eve of the Oscars. The dapper singer has teamed up with late boxer Joe Frazier's tailor, James Andrew, to create a signature collection of suits and casual sportswear and the items will be modeled at a pre-Oscar, red carpet event in Los Angeles. Andrew tells Wenn, "Men and women's suiting and sportswear dominate the collection and are intended for today's fashion conscious urbanites." The fashion show will be held at Couture on 23 February (13). The Smokey Robinson Collection will be exclusively available online at: www.JamesAndrewClothing.com.

Alicia Dixon

The Britain's Got Talent judges arrived in Birmingham to scour the cream of what the midlands has to offer. Will there be the next big dance troop? Another top-dog ready to charm its way to the top? Or are we just round the corner from the next big pop star? That's what Simon Cowell, David Walliams, Amanda Holden and Alesha Dixon were there to find out. Music mogul, Simon Cowell was sporting a near full-length blue jacket and grey v-neck while eager autograph hunters jostled for his signature. In addition to his significant musical exploits, Simon is apparently considering launching a cooking show. We're not sure about that one, Mr Cowell. David Walliams - in a jovial mood as ever - was joking around with Stephen Mulhern, signing a picture of himself for the BGT host, while genuine fans had to wait their turn! An ever present on Twitter, Walliams used the social networking site to poke fun at his colleague. “I am in Birmingham, the final city of the BGT audition tour. Fingers crossed we find some talent or my Simon may have to downsize his yacht,” he posted to the usual drove of re-tweets. Amanda Holden can now be considered a stalwart of the show, having been a judge since 2007. Alesha Dixon is known for her honest words on the show. So will she be able to find any talent in Birmingham? Will they, as she loves to put it, 'bring it?' (ContactNews)

The time Bob Marley played New Zealand has been turned into a family drama starring singer Stan Walker and Temuera Morrison. Writer and director Tearepa Kahi tells Tom Cardy about his own journey to make Mt Zion. 

The kernel for what can grow into a movie can come from anywhere - and sometimes it's from out of the blue.

For new Kiwi feature film Mt Zion, the idea of setting a film in 1979 when Bob Marley and the Wailers played in New Zealand came to writer and director Tearepa Kahi by accident.

Kahi was directing a series for Television New Zealand when one day he was nosing around in an archive room during his lunch break. Kahi spotted a VHS videotape.

"It was totally random. It really was a stab in the dark," he says. Curious to know what was on it, he popped it into a VCR and pushed play. It was an old news clip by television journalist Dylan Taite called Good Morning, Come a Long Way. It showed Marley in 1979 at a powhiri, which included a wero or challenge.

Up until he viewed the video, Kahi was only vaguely aware that a powhiri had been given for Marley, who died in 1981, before his 1979 show in Auckland. More:  http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/film/8277960/Bob-Marley-and-me

Jazz-man Donald Byrd dies.  The news was announced by the trumpeter's nephew Alex Bugnon, who told AmoebaMusic.com that certain family members were trying to keep the death under "an unnecessary shroud of secrecy."

Byrd reportedly passed away on Monday, but details of his death have not been released.

The jazz man launched his career with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers in the 1950s and performed alongside the likes of John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk and Herbie Hancock.

His Blue Note Records album "Black Byrd" became a bestseller for the iconic company and led to the trumpeter forming a group called The Blackbyrds in the 1970s.

Byrd's work has been sampled by hip-hop artists including Public Enemy, Nas and the Pharcyde.

A statement from his nephew reads: "Let's remember Donald as a one of a kind pioneer of the trumpet, of the many styles of music he took on, of music education. In sum, Donald was an avid, eternal student of music, until his death." (MSN) Also departed last week was singer Cecil Womack, brother of Bobby and husband to daughter of Sam Cooke, Linda Cooke. Onto this weeks show...


 
Sunday 10th February 2013's playlist

 Hour One 
Ray, Goodman & Brown - Where Did You Get That Body?
Lalah Hathaway - Breathe
Kenny G - G-Bop [welcome bed]
Tania Marie - Come Go With Me
Alexander O'Neal - Look At Us Now
Teddy Pendergrass - When Somebody Loves U Back
Marcus Miller - Much To Much
Teena Marie - Marie Banita
Luther Vandross - Better Love
RJ's Latest Arival - Please Stay
Daving - So Good

 Hour Two 
'Three-Inna-Row' Lauren Hill:
1 Tell Him 2 Nothing Ever Matters 3 Can't Take My Eyes Of You
Gap Band - Keep Holding On
Steve Parks - Moving In The Right Direction
Micia Paris - I Should've Known better
Roberta Gilliam - All I Want Is My Baby
Billy Paul - Bring The Family Back
Marvin Gaye - What's Going On
Maze feat: Franlie Beverly - Joy & Pain

Lauren Hill Biography

Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, and actress. Early in her career, she established her reputation as an actress in Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, and then as the front woman of the hip-hop group Fugees. In 1998, she launched her solo career with the release of the critically successful album and the 19m-seller, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. The album earned Hill five Grammy Awards, including the coveted Album of the Year and Best New Artist. To date, she has won a total of eight Grammys.

Following the success of her debut album, Hill co-produced the commercially successful Supernatural for Carlos Santana, in 1999, for which she won another grammy for album of the year. This made her the only female artist to win two album of the year grammys consecutively, which set a record for most album of the year wins by a female artist (tied with Norah Jones). Shortly after this she mainly dropped out of public view, in part due to her displeasure with fame and the music industry. After a four-year hiatus, she released MTV Unplugged No. 2.0, a live recording of "deeply personal songs" performed mostly solo with an acoustic guitar.

In more recent years, she has recorded songs for soundtracks and mixtapes, as well as performing live at several music festivals, such as Coachella. She has also collaborated with artists, such as Ronald Isley, and Joss Stone. She has six children, five of whom are with Rohan Marley, son of reggae musician Bob Marley.