Showing Out

Last we saw Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco, he was cozying up next to Monica in her new video for “Everything to Me” (watch that here). Now, he’s taking it to VH1 to look for a real love. According to Variety, the baller, formerly known as Chad Johnson, will headline the reality show The Tournament for VH1, which will see him traveling the country to meet with 85 ladies, each of whom will be entered into a March Madness-style bracket where they will be eliminated until he ends up on a final “championship” date. Additionally, Ochocinco can next be seen on Dancing with the Stars before he begins shooting his 10-episode show, with each hourlong ep to begin airing in July. This is going to be both happy for him and sad for us.

You know that song that plays at the end of the CBS broadcast of the NCAA men’s basketball championship game? The one that’s been played every year since 1987? Well Jennifer Hudson’s going to give it a shot. According to the AP, the Oscar-winning soulstress will perform the David Barrett tune “One Shining Moment” this year, making her the first woman to sing the tune (previous singers include Teddy Pendergrass and Luther Vandross). ”The song inspires you,” Hudson said in a release. ”It moves you. It motivates you and helps you reach that goal and that dream.” The song has already been laid down in L.A. on February 13th with Harvey Mason Jr., her producer who played for the Arizona team that reached the Final Hour in 1988. Guess Hudson really is a dream girl.

We could all use a little more Tracy Morgan in our lives. After the trailer for Laffapalooza!: Live from Las Vegas debuted at the end of last month, we get a clip from the evening’s emcee Morgan, who does a nice little routine about being an old perv who’s gotten to the sick point of watching women shop for cucumbers in the supermarket. The DVD release, which hits retail on March 16th care of Code Black Entertainment, features stand-up routines from Lavell Crawford, Mark Curry, Earthquake, Corey Holcomb and Sheryl Underwood from their night of comedy at a club in Las Vegas, having originally aired on TBS back in November 2009. Click here to pre-order, fool.

There’s nothing better than celebrities using their star power for good, and this recently released PSA for the “Greater Than AIDS” campaign is almost as good as it gets. The Black AIDS Institute just released a new PSA for its campaign, putting out a clip directed by gay power couple Quincy LeNear and Deondray Gossett. The PSA features Nia Long, Jurnee Smollett, Vanessa Williams, Eva Marcille, Lance Gross, Samuel L. Jackson, Tia Mowry and more, conveying a powerful message about fighting the AIDS epidemic. “I’m the Black AIDS Institute,” said Phil Wilson, director of The Black AIDS Institute. “So, my first priority and obligation is to develop messages that resonate with black folks. I’m trying to get their attention. My audience does not believe AIDS is about them. I never say, never imply and never suggest AIDS is only a black disease. I never suggest and never imply it is any less tragic when anyone [else] gets infected with or gets sick or dies from HIV/AIDS. But when 50 percent of all new HIV cases in this country are in black communities, when 50 percent of the 1.1 million people estimated to be living with HIV in America are black and when 50 percent of all AIDS-related deaths in the United States are black, I don’t think there’s any room to debate that AIDS in America is a black disease.” Real talk.

As much as we haven’t bought into the whole Twilight craze, it begrudges us to post the trailer for it. But here we are, doing just that. Above is the freshly released trailer for The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, which is slated for release in theaters on June 30th. In this one, Bella (Kristen Stewart) finds herself at the center of a dangerous series of murders in Seattle as a vampire continues on her journey for vengeance. Meanwhile, she’s torn between her love of Jacob (Taylor Lautner) and Edward (Robert Pattinson), a decision that has the potential to spark a war between vampires and werewolves. With her impending graduation, Bella is at a crossroads where she’ll have to make one of the toughest decisions of her life. Count us out on this one.

After the first trailer for Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood debuted last December, we get another one for our viewing pleasure. Above is the final trailer for the upcoming remake of the film, which stars Russell Crowe as Robin Longstride aka Robin of the Hood in this epic, brutal drama-action. In the above trailer, you get to see Crowe shooting an arrow into a guy’s neck, regal fight scenes and Cate Blanchett looking mighty fine in her classic garb. The film, which hits theaters on May 14th, is based on a script written by Brian Helgeland (Mystic River, L.A. Confidential), and it looks like it’s going to be pretty nice. Keep on the lookout for this jawn.

For those of you who got tired of your local bar’s Rock Band night for a lack of a decent catalog of songs to choose from, prepare to put back on your drinking cap. Taking it to their official Facebook page, Harmonix has announced that it’s developing Rock Band 3 for a worldwide release this holiday season. Though there’s no exact release date set in stone, the game, which will be published by MTV Games and distributed by Electronic Arts, is said to “innovate and revolutionize the music genre once again, just as Harmonix did with the original Rock Band, Rock Band 2 and The Beatles: Rock Band.” In the meantime, a Jimi Hendrix Rock Band is due later this year in addition to a Green Day edition. Yay for better theme nights at your local watering hole!

Word? Teairra Mari is being given another shot? OK, we’ll take the bait. Above is the ex-Roc star’s new video for “Sponsor” featuring Gucci Mane and Soulja Boy, the second single off her forthcoming sophomore album At That Point. The Yolande Geralds-directed clip shows Mari posted up in a mansion while Gucci raps about keeping her decked out in diamonds (he, of course, doesn’t appear on the video, as he’s currently do a bid) before Mari takes over and flosses extra hard. How hard? She hops in a pricey whip, flaunts a black card with her name on it and gets treated to a spa day at her own home. To put it bluntly, Mari is living a lavish life that we frankly didn’t know she was capable of living. Shrug.

Disney seems pretty confident that their upcoming film Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is going to be a hit. So much so, in fact, that they’re bringing it to the big, big screen. According to THR, the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced and Mike Newell-directed film will be released on IMAX screens on May 28th in conjunction with its normal theatrical run. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal as the Prince of Persia, the Walt Disney Pictures film, based on the Ubisoft game, focuses on a street urchin in 6th century Persia that teams up with Princess Tamina (Gemma Arterton) to prevent villain Nizam (Ben Kingsley) from abusing the Sands of Time, a gift from the gods. Prepare to get blown away by this epic flick.

Bravo is on their reality game grind right now, and they ain’t gonna stop. Of a new block of programs in development, one in particular caught our eye, and it goes by the name of Hitmakers. Though songwriters and producers have come to the foreground in recent years, many of the hottest hitmakers have kept a relatively low profile, getting the credit and the royalty checks without receiving any of the shine. But all that’s about to change with the show, which is shaping up to be an elimination competition series where contestants are put through a series of songwriting challenges. At the end of each episode, the winner with the best song will have their track performed by a special guest singer. The show is being developed by producers Steven Weinstock, Glenda Hersh, Tim Bogart and Evan Bogart (member of the Writing Camp, a collective that wrote Beyonce’s “Halo” and Pussycat Dolls’ “Jai Ho”). Look out for this one when it hits the small screen some time this year.