Playlist

Esteemed intern Mallary Tenore will be live-blogging from the convention Friday through Sunday, next door to us at Dallas Convention Center and the Hyatt Regency. I'm betting that she'll have tons to observe, with the Tejano Mega Dance, dance classes, the expo, Tejano Live! Unplugged, mingling with the artists, performances and more on the sked. Also, hazy-headed funnyman Cheech Marin is the master of ceremonies, too.

(Photo: Expresion E Imagen)

Syracuse-based saxophonist Evan Knight, who's played with Benny Mardones and has performed at the prestigious Lincoln Center in New York City, recently garnered praise from soulful sax man Kirk Whalum. Mr. Whalum said this of Mr. Knight's CD, Reminiscence:

"Evan Knight! Positive proof that the beat goes on! What's the beat? It's the heartbeat of real people who want and need to be impacted by what's in our souls -- not what's expected from radio consultants. This is really good music. He's only at the beginning though (exciting huh!) so stay tuned."

Mr. Knight, a mere 22-years-old, is on his way to what seems to be a bright career. Learn more by checking out his website and his myspace page.

Photo: Reminiscence CD cover courtesy of Evan Knight.

Check out video of Elvis impersonators crooning and shakin' those hips for a $1,000 prize during a bi-annual contest at one of my favorite restaurants, El Ranchito. When not taken over by white sequined jumpsuits and ample sideburns, the old Tex-Mex joint features strolling mariachi, a boisterous atmosphere and some guuud food.

According to Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, he excels in more than just the entertainment industry.

When asked by New York News Magazine what untested Olympic sports category he could get the gold in, he replied, in all seriousness, "Who could have sex the longest. I think that's an event I can do well in. And probably who could stay up the longest. Just so you know, that's supposed to be funny, even though I am serious."

Al-righty then! And who would he compete against? "Whoever's up for the challenge."

Who, pray tell, would be the judge: his alleged flame of the moment Cassie, or his long-suffering baby mama, Kim Porter? if such a competition ever does go down in this lifetime (ew!), let's hope for that revolution to never be televised....

Wow, I've got to say that I'm impressed with this clip: during a recent live performance of "I Decided," the Neptunes-poduced Dance and R&B/Hip-Hop hit (from the upcoming CD, Sol-angel and the Hadley Street Dreams), Solange Knowles and her pair of background singers are giving the crowd polish and panache when a male fan appears at stage left, openly gawks at Ms. Knowles and even dances with her during the latter half of the song. To their credit, security does bum-rush the man (who does seem a little touched, if you know what I mean), but Solange shoos them away with "he ain't hurtin' nobody!" and keeps right on performing. Go 'head Girl!

Peek the disturbance around the three minute mark and tell the truth: if you were Solange, would you have handled things differently?