::THE SLICE REPORT WITH MONA AUSTIN

CEDRIC THE ENTERTAINER AND GRAMMY WINNER SMOKEY ROBINSON SET TO HOST MOTOWN LEGENDS SMOKEY ROBINSON, DIANA ROSS, AND STEVIE WONDER WILL BE JOINED BY BOYZ II MEN, CHLOE X HALLE, CIARA, LAMONT DOZIER, FANTASIA, BRIAN & EDDIE HOLLAND, THELMA HOUSTON, TORI KELLY, JOHN LEGEND, LITTLE BIG TOWN, NE-YO, PENTATONIX, MARTHA REEVES, VALERIE SIMPSON, MICKEY S...

buzzz worthy. . . By Mona Austin The Old Spice guy -- Terry Cruz will replace Cedric The Entertainer as the host of "Who Wants to Be A Millionaire." Cedric is so busy he can no longer maintain the 'Millionaire'  gig, he said in a statement. Ceddie (as his girlfriend on the "Steve Harvey Show" called him) served as host for a year following  a decade of hosting by Meredith Vierra.  The King of Comedy said in a statement that the moving parts of his acting schedule will no loner be able to accommodate the show's move to a new production facility in Connecticut. "With the many television and film projects that I have going on which shoot and promote in various parts of the country, a production-base in Connecticut would make it quite difficult to maneuver the many moving parts on my plate," he said in a statement. "So, after much thought and some serious conversations with senior executives at the studio, I decided to let Disney-ABC...

buzzz worthy. . .   Usher and R Kelly are both  on this year's list of Soul Train Award nominees in record breaking capacities.  Usher, nominaed for 5 (including nods for Song of the Year and Album of the Year) , has surpassed MJ and Beyonce's record for the most lifetime nominations.  Album of the Year nominee, R. Kelly may be aptly called the "Pied Piper of the Soul Train Awards" gaining two nods this year to total the most nominations in the history of the award show.  International songstress Estelle leads women in nominations with three nods including Song of the Year for “Thank You” and Best Female Soul/R&B Artist . Rapper Nas also receives three nominations, including Album of the Year for “Life is Good.” Singers Trey Songz and John Legend, who received two nods each, will compete in the Song of the Year category with Estelle, Usher, Tyrese and Wale. The late Whitney Houston and Amy Winehouse each received a posthumous nomin...

buzzz worthy. . . Actor Sherman Hemsley, known to millions as "George Jefferson" and "Deacon Frye," passed away on July 24. Hemsley first appeared on "All in the Family" as the bigot Archie Bunker's immutable neighbor and counterpart.  He continued to put race and prejudice in the spotlight on the spin off show, "The Jeffersons."  No other Black character got away with abrasively speaking their mind like Jefferson did and perhaps no one else succeeded with putting racism under America's microscope. George Jefferson was going to be treated as an equal though his approach was ironically a double standard (his counterparts could never get away with saying the things that he called them i.e "zebra" and the "H-word"). Right or wrong as a Black man who made it to the "deluxe apartment in the sky" Jefferson represented what so many Blacks wanted to be. He did and said what most Black people wanted to do and sa...

NEW YORK, Oct. 3, 2011 / PRNewswire / -- CENTRIC announces the 3rd annual  SOUL TRAIN AWARDS , the classic music awards show that highlights R&B music's finest and bridges the gap between the soulful sounds of yesterday, today and tomorrow. Celebrated actor and stand-up comedian  Cedric the Entertainer  will host the 3rd annual SOUL TRAIN   AWARDS, taping at the iconic Fox Theatre in Atlanta, GA on  Thursday, November 17  and premiering on both CENTRIC and BET in a special simulcast at  9:00 PM* ET on Sunday, November 27 . Celebrating 40 years, the 3rd annual  SOUL TRAIN AWARDS   will honor the longstanding careers and musical influences of the renowned   group  Earth, Wind, and Fire  and "Empress of Soul"  Gladys Knight . "We are honored to be celebrating 40 years of Soul Train by bringing the  SOUL TRAIN AWARDS back to CENTRIC," stated Paxton Baker, CENTRIC's General Manager and Executive Vice President...