The Big Daddy Celebrity Golf Classic & Gala took place this past week and the eventful day raised funds for the Merging Veterans & Players, as well as the Lt. Michael Murphy Navy Seal Museum.
Former NFL’er and executive producerΒ Michael Strahan debuted his new docu-series, ‘The Religion of Sports’ at the firstΒ Tribeca TV Festival in New York City alongside his partner Gotham Chopra,Β to a crowd of journalists and sponsors at the CinΓ©polis Chelsea this pastΒ weekend.
Jamie Foxx like youβve never seen him before. Raw and unfiltered. From stories behind the scenes stories of his latest project βBeat Shazamβ, to advice from his adopted Grandmother, all the way down to his love for playing classical music. In conversation with Michael Strahan at Β 92 Y, the Oscar winning actor kicked off the night with a bang:
Where the idea of this show come along for this show:
We just got done working on Robin Hood, we were working on Robin Hood for 6 months in Budapest. And you just look at your life and go wow itβs really good, you know it could be so different so you just always have to keep that smile on your face and just be like man it could be so different. I think about what my grandmother did, they picked cotton, my grandfather would wake up 5 in the morning go mow someone’s lawn so when Iβm doing what I’m doing and they’re talking about do you want the Avion or Vox. I donβt care if itβs tap water I just want to go and enjoy what Iβm doing so every time I go I just think itβs another opportunity to do something great.
On the showβs fun layout:
Iβve been trying to get back to t.v for three years with this show, I was jealous Kevin Hart had his show on t.v, JLO has a show on t.v-Iβm jealous, The Rock has a show on t.v-Iβm jealous, everybody has a show. This show is perfect for me because itβs music and itβs giving out money and thatβs always a cool thing. I remember name that tune so that is a key element in the DNA so when they added the Shazam part it really made it dope. So Mark Burnett who did Survivor and The Voice and a young man named Jeff AppleoffΒ he beat Shazam first and then got with Mark and then we all got together and thought how can we make this show like none other and still make it fun. Then we all got together and we were like how can we make this show like non other where we have great contestants but at the same time Iβm hosting and getting great people to stop by? So once Fox O.Kβd it, then it was trying to master the game show. Now Iβve done movies but doing a game show is tough. So I really had to buckle down and learn the format, and learn that itβs three teams that are going to battle against each other to see whoβs the fastest and recognize the hot hit songs, and they can get five songs or six songs in a row.
His best and funniest moments on set of Beat Shazam:
βOnce we got the contestants on, the show really lit up. Because these are regular everyday people from regular everyday America. Not how weβre [Michael Strahan and himself] used to large sums of money. These are people who if you think about it, before I made it I was like how can a rustle up $200, how can I rustle up $100, I got to get my car fixed. I remember I went to Pepboys and be like βyo let me getβ and then Iβd put it in or say ‘give me the one that somebody usedβ so then I just remember I smelled like gas my whole life. Β So it was those types of people but what we found out when we ended up doing it as that no one played for themselves. A lady said βIβm playing because my mom lost her house in a fireβ then one guy said βListen I need medical benefits, and my friend doesnβt have medical insurance so Iβm playing for that.β And then what was a reoccurring thing was student loans, probably 10 of the people in the game needed to pay off student loans, which is letting me know we have a definite problem with that.β
βSo what happened was, sheβs on the show. The guy and the kid are playing for a quarter of a million dollars and they win. The kid says I can pay off my student loans the father starts crying and says I can now put my three little girls through college and we didnβt anticipate that and I started tearing up. So that happened and another lady was playing for $346,0000 she said βI never seen this kind of money before I can pay for my momβs stuff if I get it.β And sheβs from New York. So she goes for it and she wins and, and her husband whoβs a tough guy starts crying, runs out, picks her up and said I can not believe you just changed our life. And then the last story is when someone won the million dollars and that was a little different because it was a young couple and she had been saying βyo I really want him to marry meβ, Iβm playing because I want a ring. And Iβm like βyou donβt want to marry herββ and he was like βNah Jay come onβ so even at commercial I was like ββbe cool because if you want to you can ask her because you never know what will happen if you win the big money plus sheβs answering all the questions, I suggest you put that ring on her finger before she becomes a millionaire. She goes for the million and Iβm like βdo you realize in 5 seconds you could be in another tax bracketβ She goes for the money and wins, we go crazy, heβs crying and immediately the money changed them because I was like βyou still want to get married?β and she was like βI mean weβll get there,’ it was an earth shattering moment that you didnβt anticipate.
The entertaining contestants:
βItβs so much fun I learned not to judge a book by itβs cover. I seen a brother and the hip hop category came up and I was like βget that money dog!β he didnβt get any of it. I was like βNelly! you know who that is? He didnβt know, he only knew all country western. I said how do you know country western he said βman when I was a kid in the 5th grade our bus driver used to listen to country music I said damn all right cool. Then there was an elderly white lady in South Carolina and she started dabbing. 63 years old dabbing! She won the hip hop and R& B category. So Iβm learning not to judge anybody because everyone how they got music is amazing.β
On Special Guests:
I do a thing on the piano in the show. I get on the piano in the show and sometimes I sing a song and I tell the audience βthis is a magic pianoβ, because sometimes when I sing an artist might come out. So one time when I was singing βbeautiful, I just want you to know youβre my favorite girl.’ Iβm singing that but then they surprised me because thatβs actually a Snoop song all of a sudden itβs smoke bellowing behind me and Snoop comes out and the place goes up in flames. But Snoop came out and everyone went crazy but they tricked me because instead of pop, hip-hop they had Snoopβs playlist so now the contestants have to guess and identify Snoop’s playlist but Snoop threw a boomerang to them because his first song was “Devil Goes Down to Georgia” and everyone was thinking it was going to be hip-hop. So that was fun, and then Terrance Howard came out and his playlist was like “Frozen” or something and he actually sung it, so it was crazy to see Lucius doing that. But the most spectacular moment was that I called Mariah Carey personally and I said βMariah this show really needs your touch because when we talk about Iconic music you are the oneβ She said βJamie do you want me to singβ I said listen I donβt want you do to anything because she was really burned by social media, and you know I donβt dig that part of social media where everyoneβs βna na naβ because you know this is a lady who puts so much work in all these years sheβs given us iconic songs I said βguarantee Iβm going to protect you I donβt want you to sing one note. But there are some fans here he would literally be over the moon if you walked out.β And I talked to Fox and set it up. So I was joking during that show and said βgive it up for Justin Timberlakeβ so people thought I was joking during the show when I said βladies and gentlemen Mariah Careyβ and she walks out an the place went nuts and the two contestants who love Mariah Carey started crying, and she hug them and sat on the piano. But that really put the show somewhere special.
His Favorite Game Show Growing up:
Hollywood Squares was amazing and 20,000 Dollar Pyramid. Β But all of those Game Shows, there were some of the greatest comedians and people on those game shows.
His Grandmother Getting Him Involved in Classical Piano:
It was crazy because I was adopted, my Grandmother adopted me at 7 months and my adopted Brother played the piano and Iβm like 5 and heβs like 15. And girls would just go crazy so Iβm like βhey Iβm doing thatβ and my Grandma was like you need to learn classic piano though and I asked her why and she said itβs because it would take me across the tracks. And when she said that I thought it meant because in our town the railroad tracks separated the black side from the white side. So I said βyou mean Iβm going to be able to go across the white side of the tracksβ she said βno itβs a metaphor you going to need them to take your music all around the world. So Iβm going to get someone to teach you classical piano.’
Last Night Florida based luxury eye wear retailer Designer Eyes celebrated the launch of their first New York location.
On Sept. 27, 2015, The Knockturnal was invited to the Explorers Club on East 70th St. in Manhattan for a panel discussion put together by Johnnie Walker, inspired by the ethos of the new Johnnie Walker global campaign.