Nominees Unveiled for Image Awards
Los Angeles Wave
January 8, 2009
BEVERLY HILLS — Singers Jennifer Hudson and Beyoncé Knowles, the ABC television network and the film “The Secret Life of Bees” emerged as leading contenders as nominees for the 40th NAACP Image Awards were unveiled Wednesday morning.
The awards — which mostly honor achievements by people of color in the arts, but have in recent years been expanded to cover other categories — will be handed out Feb. 12 at the Shrine Auditorium. To be broadcast on Fox, the ceremony will be hosted by Academy Award-winning actress Halle Berry and multifaceted entertainer Tyler Perry.
Along with NAACP Hollywood Bureau Executive Director Vicangelo Bulluck, who will executive-produce the telecast, performers Corbin Bleu, Audra McDonald, Regina Taylor and KeKe Palmer were on hand Wednesday at the nominations press conference at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
Among other nods, Hudson was nominated for both her work as a musician and a starring role in the “Secret Life of Bees;” Knowles earned several nominations for her hit single “Single Ladies,” and an acting nod for a critically acclaimed turn as singer Etta James in the film “Cadillac Records.”
Among others receiving multiple nods: the ABC miniseries “A Raisin in the Sun,” TBS sitcom “Tyler Perry’s House of Payne,” and singer Alicia Keys.
Other honorees include two Nobel Prize winners — former Vice President Al Gore and Dr. Wangari Muta Maathai — who will receive the NAACP Chairman’s Award for their environmental activism. Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons will be presented with the Vanguard Award for charitable endeavors that include work with the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, the Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation, and the Diamond Empowerment Fund.
The awards — which mostly honor achievements by people of color in the arts, but have in recent years been expanded to cover other categories — will be handed out Feb. 12 at the Shrine Auditorium. To be broadcast on Fox, the ceremony will be hosted by Academy Award-winning actress Halle Berry and multifaceted entertainer Tyler Perry.
Along with NAACP Hollywood Bureau Executive Director Vicangelo Bulluck, who will executive-produce the telecast, performers Corbin Bleu, Audra McDonald, Regina Taylor and KeKe Palmer were on hand Wednesday at the nominations press conference at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
Among other nods, Hudson was nominated for both her work as a musician and a starring role in the “Secret Life of Bees;” Knowles earned several nominations for her hit single “Single Ladies,” and an acting nod for a critically acclaimed turn as singer Etta James in the film “Cadillac Records.”
Among others receiving multiple nods: the ABC miniseries “A Raisin in the Sun,” TBS sitcom “Tyler Perry’s House of Payne,” and singer Alicia Keys.
Other honorees include two Nobel Prize winners — former Vice President Al Gore and Dr. Wangari Muta Maathai — who will receive the NAACP Chairman’s Award for their environmental activism. Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons will be presented with the Vanguard Award for charitable endeavors that include work with the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, the Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation, and the Diamond Empowerment Fund.