The Tyler Perry Studios Opening Gala took place on October 4, 2008 in Atlanta, Georgia.  Tyler Perry has made history, becoming the first African-American to establish his own TV and film studio.   Gala attendees included numerous A-list celebrities, luminaries and living legends, including Sidney Poitier, Will Smith, Oprah Winfrey, Ruby Dee, Cicely Tyson, Louis Gossett, Jr., Holly Robinson Peete, Tracey Edmonds, L.A. Reid, Patti LaBelle, John Legend, Hank Aaron and Barry Bonds.

Tyler Perry Studios occupies 30 acres in southwest Atlanta, and has more than 200,000 square feet of studio and office space.     He will shoot his TBS sitcoms, “House of Payne” and “Meet the Browns” in the new studio.  Speaking of Tyler Perry’s achievement, screen legend Sidney Poitier (pictured above with Tyler Perry) had this to say:

“I spent 56 years making movies and this is the reward that I have that means the most to me,” said Poitier, 81, the first African-American to win a Best Actor Oscar, for 1963’s Lilies of the Field.

A New Orleans native with a troubled childhood, Perry, 39, credited all of his guests with inspiring his life. Of Winfrey, who attended the celebration with longtime beau Stedman Graham and best friend Gayle King, Perry said, “She owns her life. I am learning that. I never would have shown this to people a few years ago. I was embarrassed by the success.”

As a large cast of attendants passed around champagne and tissues for the teary-eyed (who were many), Perry shared his rags-to-riches story over a large video screen that eventually gave way to a live singer and band delivering “The Impossible Dream,” followed by a fireworks display. Mary J. Blige, Patti Labelle and Gladys Knight also treated guests to separate performances.

Patti LaBelle and Gladys Knight

At one point, Perry unveiled a special surprise for veteran trailblazers Poitier, Dee and Tyson: each now has a soundstage named after him and her.

Sidney Poitier

“Is this my wall?” joked Poitier – as Winfrey dissolved into tears.

Sidney Poitier and Oprah Winfrey

All joking aside, it was Will Smith who best summed up Perry’s accomplishment and the tide of change taking place in America today.

Will Smith and Sidney Poitier

“This is an American first, and the first in the universe,” said the I Am Legend star. “There is something happening in America and in the world that’s powerful. He is not letting anyone get in his way.

“Those are the wonderfully naïve, arrogant, humble, powerfully American concepts that make things powerful in this country. It’s big.”

Source: Tyler Perry Makes History – & Oprah Is There!

See also: Oprah Winfrey and Will Smith at Tyler Perry’s Studio Opening (ET’s Kevin Frazier report and video)

Photo credit: Rick Diamond/Getty Images North America

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Video Tyler Perry Studios Opening Gala - Atlanta, GA October 4, 2008 - Red carpet interviews

Ruby Dee

Ruby Dee and Tyler Perry

Tyler Perry, Cicley Tyson, Will Smith

Will Smith and Tyler Perry

Video & Photos: Tyler Perry Studios Opening Gala 10-4-08 pics pictures

Beyonce was honored for her charitable work at the Miami Children’s Hospital 2008 Diamond Ball and Private Concert at the American Airlines Arena on October 4, 2008.  Although Beyonce did not perform at the concert, the amazing 7-year-old piano prodigy Ethan Bortnick did perform and dedicated a song to her.

Beyonce Knowles, disco legend Gloria Gaynor and the “King of Motown” Smokey Robinson were among the stars who came out in support of the Miami Children’s Hospital Diamond Ball & Private Concert at the American Airlines Arena on Saturday. Knowles was inducted into the International Pediatric Hall of Fame for her efforts in Hurricane Katrina relief and evacuees in the Houston area.

[…]

Beyonce with Ethan Bortnick

Among the performers was 7-year old piano-playing prodigy Ethan Bortnick, who has performed with the likes of Nelly Furtado and Sheryl Crow and also has appeared on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” and “Oprah”. Tonight, he was playing alongside the stars, including on Gaynor’s “I Will Survive.”

Knowles, who looked ravishing in a floor-length red dress, took the stage to accept the award but did not perform. She looked on as Bortnick, whose brother was treated at Miami Childen’s Hospital for heart defect, dedicated a musical number to the pop star.

Source: Beyonce Among Stars Who Headlined Miami Children’s Hospital Diamond Ball

Photo credit: Getty Images North America

No video is available of the performance at the 2008 Diamond Ball Private Concert of piano prodigy Ethan Bortnick, but the video of his appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno reveals his remarkable musical genius.



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Photos: Beyonce Honored at Miami Children’s Hospital 2008 Diamond Ball 10-4-08

Legendary design house Calvin Klein’s 40th anniversary party took place at the High Line in New York City on September 7, 2008.  The party drew numerous celebrities–including Halle Berry, Eva Mendes, Kimora Lee Simmons, Claire Danes, Leighton Meester, Natasha Bedingfield, Naomi Watts, Paula Patton, Estelle, Rosario Dawson–and was held in a remarkable setting, at New York City’s High Line in a structure specially designed by John Pawson with a light installation by artist James Turrell.

New York’s High Line has traveled from freight rail to potential public park (I think I can, I think I can…) in the past eight decades, but it’s most surprising use came on Sunday night when it hosted Calvin Klein’s 40th anniversary party. Three stories into the open air over Tenth and Eleventh Avenues, the long field of weeds that has overtaken the more typical New York asphalt landscape greeted the fashion elite and red carpet celebrities including David Schwimmer and Kevin Bacon.

Calvin Klein, the legendary design company, celebrated its anniversary with the week’s must-go party thrown on the West-side freight rail line that closed in 1980 and has since been the terrain of urban explorers and preservationists. The southern leg of the line is set to open by the year’s end as an aerial park, and a second leg will follow in 2009. But the future of the third leg, where Calvin Klein assembled the fashion world’s elite on Sunday night, remains unsure as developers wrangle with economics.

The rail line was built in the 1930s as a Robert Moses project, running roughly from the Javits Center to Canal Street. It’s now a weedy patch of rail tracks that is often unnoticed from the street.

[…]

The enticing outdoors seemed to lure guests away from James Turrell, the famous light artist whose “Two Blues 2008” installation was on view in a building specially constructed for the occasion. Mr. Turrell was intended to be a highlight of the seminal party with his instillation — a large rectangular blue light whose depths appear infinite. But the artist seemed unsure of the whole scene. “I don’t know, actually,” he said, when I asked how his collaboration with Calvin Klein came about. Then he looked around at the handful of people chatting in front of his art, and wondered, “I thought I was coming to a fashion thing.” He left a half-hour later, but Francisco Costa, Calvin Klein’s designer, raved, ”He is magical…spiritual. I just want to jump in” to his light installation.

Source: Calvin Klein’s High Line

Photo credit:  Top photo: Halle Berry, Getty Images North America; Photos 2, 3 Joe Schildhorn/Patrick McMullan; remaining photos Getty Images North America



Calvin Klein 40th anniversary tribute video

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Halle Berry

Halle Berry and Gabriel Aubrey

Eva Mendes

Kimora Lee Simmons

Estelle

Rosario Dawson

Claire Danes

Paula Patton

Leighton Meester

Joy Bryant

Natasha Beddingfield

Zoe Saldana

Naomi Watts

Video & Photos: Calvin Klein 40th Anniversary Party at the High Line 9-7-08 - pics - pictures