Photo credit: University Communications

After the jump, listen to John Legend's (C'99, Counterparts) stellar cover of a contemporary hit out now.

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(l to r: Michael Sluchan, C'91, Michael Rauch, C'90)

There is no question that Penn alumni are working together all over the entertainment business (and there have been plenty of DT stories about this).

Here's another goodie sent to me by USA network executive Michael Sluchan (C'93). Not only did Michael Sluchan help develop and now oversees "Royal Pains", but he also works on the show with another Penn alum, executive producer Michael Rauch (C'90).

And on tonight's season finale, a third Penn alum you all know joins them.

After the jump, more about who, his featured song on the show ...and about executive producer Michael Rauch's writing path from Penn and beyond.

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Last week I covered a story about two Penn alum sister realtors starring on a new reality show.   While we're on the topic of New York real estate, I thought you'd all be interested to check out the real estate of Penn alum John Legend (C'99).

A decade ago John Legend shared an East Village apartment with 2 Penn friends. Now he's living the life there in a much, much nicer space.

Check out his sweet NY pad in NY Home Design magazine HERE

Are you really surprised? :)

My past John Legend posts on DT HERE



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Alumni Weekend May 13-16, 2011 Available hotels here

Graduation May 16, 2011 Available hotels here

Homecoming Nov. 5-6, 2011 Available hotels here

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Did you watch the "Hope for Haiti" fundraiser last night?

If you missed it, check out John Legend's (C'99, Counterparts) moving performance above!

And if you are able to, donate to Haiti at http://www.hopeforhaitinow.org



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Did you catch Penn alum John Legend (C'99, Counterparts) singing the national anthem during game 2 of the World Series last night? Check it out above! (my favorite moment is at 1:28)

Let's not forget about the other musical "World Series"-related Penn act I covered yesterday!

This performance is surely up there with some other great memorable John Legend ("Penn") performances we've covered HERE and HERE. 

All DT coverage on John Legend HERE

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Transitioning now out of our "Delicious Leftovers" series to bring you some exciting entertainment tidbits from our alumni and undergrads:

• Lots of celebrity dealing with our alumni this week
• She's casting For A new TV show
• She will be starring in a new thriller as a prisoner
• A Hot Los Angeles Penn event you'll want to go to on September 1!
• Free music!
  

Click HERE for the scoop!

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"Reality Hell", the faux-reality show that Lesley Wolff (C'93, Bloomers) casts for, recently debuted on E! (Sunday nights).

"Most reality shows have people looking for their 15 minutes of fame. Reality Hell will have people wanting to give their's back! The reality genre has all but taken over television programming, making stars out of regular people. Now E! is turning the tables on all those reality-star wannabes by staging a show where the whole cast is in on an act to set up one unknowing reality-show contestant. Staged scenarios include an over-the-top modeling competition with extreme challenges, wacky contestants and insane judges and a family swap that will have the mom trying to find a way to escape the crazy Hollywood clan she's been placed with. This summer on E!, Fake is the new Reality!"

I've watched this show and the part I look forward to is the end of the show at the moment when the actors tell the victim they're on "Reality Hell" and the person that is being pranked doesn't know what "Reality Hell" means until they realize all the actors are laughing at them.  It's briliant!

My past posts about stand-up and casting director Lesley Wolff HERE

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Jordana Horn's (C'95) interviews Quentin Tarantino (!) about his new film, Inglorious Basterds HERE

...Jordana also reviews the film for the Wall Street Journal. Read all about "Torah and Tarantino" HERE

...And speaking of Inglorious Basterds, read the early review HERE that Brian Tran (W'10) wrote last May for our Penn in Cannes '09 series

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Elizabeth Banks (C'96) to star with Russell Crow in Next Three Days

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Liz "will play the lead role of Laura, a woman who is imprisoned for a murder she claims she didn't commit, as her husband, the recently cast Russell Crowe, desperately tries to vindicate her."

I will tell you I recently saw Liz in the thriller The Uninvited. Liz definitely plays evil real good... in that she creeped me out real good.   She reminded me of Rebecca De Mornay in The Hand That Rocks the Cradle.

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John Legend (C'99, Counterparts) will be performing at the Greek Theatre on Tuesday, September 1 at 7:30PM.  Join PennClubLA for this fantastic event.  Tickets can be purchased on the PennClubLA website HERE  Come hear great music and network with new people.

+ For more information about his tour, click HERE

+ More of my posts about John Legend and his appearances at Penn HERE

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Speaking of John Legend, Malik Smith (C'10), a similar sounding (undergraduate!) artist I covered HERE is giving all of us his 1st single "Crazy" for free HERE

+ More of my DT Music posts HERE

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What do you think a guy who DJed in his senior year (under the name Metafizik) and hosted weekly parties at 4010 Spruce (a house known as "Browntown") went on to do?

While he's not a DJ anymore, Nihal Mehta (C'99, Pi Lam fraternity, see picture to left) is still tapped into everything "nightlife" and is sharing it you with his web based and mobile free service called buzzd.

buzzd is the premier location-sensitive city guide and social network for your mobile phone.  buzzd answers “what’s going on around me right now?™” by delivering up-to-the-minute info on bars, restaurants, concerts and events in a specific set location. buzzd features listings from Flavorpill, Time Out, Citysearch, ZAGAT, Upcoming as well as real-time posts (“buzzes”) from members of the buzzd community. Create a profile, add/invite friends and – if you post a “buzz” – it is sent as a text-message to your nearby friends in the network.

Recently, Nihal released a new BlackBerry application in that has been among the most downloaded apps since its release, and was covered in such outlets like the New York Times. (Mehta received funding from Blackberry Partners Fund, who are interested in funding entertainment ventures that are on the mobile phone. )

On a related note, Nihal had another "nightlife" company before buzzd.  In 1999, Nihal started his entrepreneurial career by co-founding (and later selling) Philly2nite an online nightlife and entertainment portal with fellow Penn alum Vijay Chattha (C'00, see picture to right) while they both lived on the bottom floor of 4010 Spruce (side note: I actually lived exactly there my senior year too!).  Browntown, as the house was known was famous for its many evening gatherings featuring open mic sessions with many future media alums like John Stephens, now John Legend (C'99), Aaron Jones (W'99)  of Hip-Hop Act Dujeous, Ted Chung (W'99), who is running Snoop's Label, DJ Bunnylove,  Paras Shah (C'99), Nimo Patel (W'01) and Swapnil Shah (C'99) of Rap Group Karmacy,  Sumit Bothra (W'99), now President of Embargo Management and Max Blumenthal (C'99), MC and current writer for TheDailyBeast and Huffington Post.

Years later Nihal started the first mobile marketing firm which was bought by Omnicom Group in 2005.  From there, Nihal got the idea for buzzd, which he founded in 2006 which was essentially his first idea: Philly2nite on a phone.

Nihal is yet another example of Penn friends working together as he continues to work with Vijay who is an investor and advisor in the company.



Get Buzzd!: www.buzzd.com

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Tune into Good Morning America on Friday morning as John Legend (C'99, Counterparts) performs for GMA's Summer Concert Series live from New York's Central Park.  (If you miss it, check back here for video.)

UPDATE:
Check out videos from his performance below! (they talk about and show clips from the speech John gave at Penn's commencement a few weeks ago)

On a related note, the Penn Club of Los Angeles will be kicking off their Fall '09 events with a John Legend Concert on September 1 at the Greek Theater!

PennClubLA, WhartonSoCal, and SCRAB have secured a large block of seats for their clubs and are in the process of organizing a club reception. Please save the date if you would like to join.  Club tickets will go on sale next week HERE.

Please note that this is not a private concert and there unfortunately won't be a meet and greet with John. ...But perhaps if you hold up Penn signs you'll probably get a shout out from him!

Watch John Legend inspire everyone at this year's (2009) Penn Commencement HERE

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Yesterday I shared with you video from the 2009 graduation from Penn President Amy Gutmann and Google's CEO Eric Schmidt.

Now, thanks to some of my twitter and facebook friends, check out Penn graduation speaker John Legend's (C'99) very inspirational speech. Below is an excerpt from his speech which is especially moving:

"I believe that you, as graduates of this prestigious institution, the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania, have soul power. No matter what careers or hobbies you pursue after leaving here, do them with SOUL.

You are empowered to be great leaders. You are equipped--in your jobs, your hobbies, your relationships. You are equipped with the ability to think critically, to listen attentively, to navigate the gray areas, to read between the lines, to bear witness, and to lead in the pursuit of truth.

You have knowledge.

Knowledge is power.

And, as my late grandfather would say, or as the freedom fighters of the civil rights movement would SING, if you know the truth, the truth will set you free. The truth will set you free someday.

Class of 2009, your someday begins today."

My other John Legend posts (including performances at Penn this past year) HERE

Check out videos from this year and previous Penn graduations HERE



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In light of his new recently released Evolver album, John Legend (C'99, Counterparts) was interviewed by 2 different Penn alumni for 2 different mediums.

Last week, Penn alum and WPIX Entertainment Reporter Emily Frances interviewed John (see video above).  Emily filled me in on some John Legend tidbits that I didn't know:

• Legend is a musical prodigy. 
• He started playing the piano at the age of 4 and he started attending the University of Pennsylvania when he was only 16-years-old. 
• To fit in with the college crowd, he joined an acapella group (Counterparts). 
• Legend was the first in his family to attend college and after he graduated, he worked at Boston Consulting Group for 3 years in NY while he was trying to make it.
• He was an English major and lived in Butcher his freshman year. 

Then Jillian Ivey (C'06, Kelly Writer's House) sat down with John Legend earlier this month for the  Phillyist blog to talk with him about his new album.  In the interview, John talks about his new album and also talks about whether he'll be returning to Penn for the Counterparts 10th reunion this spring and why he loves Philly so much.  Check out her article here

Listen to Evolver tracks here

John Legend - Evolver - If You're Out There (remember when he performed this on campus HERE for the Obama Rally?)


John Legend - Evolver (album)


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Did you see John Legend (C'99, Counterparts) perform his hit song  "Yes We Can" with will.i.am at last night's Democratic National Convention?   Check it out in the moving video above! 

On that note, as you may recall, John debuted this song at Penn when he rallied on campus for Obama back in April. Watch this great video here!

It's clear that John is getting some serious national exposure these days with his involvement in this campaign.  If you didn't see, John also did an interview yesterday with Paul Williams on MSNBC at the Democratic National Convention. Watch the video below and find out how many millions of people saw his "Yes We Can" video when he posted it on youtube!

Check out all the Penn activity surrounding the Presidential Campaign 2008!

More of my John Legend posts here!

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John Legend (C'99, Counterparts) was on campus at an Obama rally performing his new song "If You're Out There". Apparently, this is a new song he wrote last week for the Obama campaign because he was inspired by the young people out there getting involved with the election. A pretty appropriate rally song if you ask me.

Check out some of the other songs he performed:



"Take It Slow"





"Get Lifted"





"Ordinary People"





"Good Morning"



It's always fun when celebrities come to campus to endorse candidates. ...Like when these celebrities came to Penn back in 1993 to support Bill Clinton.



Speaking of John Legend, catch an appearance John made on the Ellen Show a couple months ago!



More of my John Legend posts here!
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University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine just came out with a short, interesting, bordering on "cute" PSA video.

Watch it here!

My question is.. Where do I get one of these animal treadmills (above) so I can exercise my two new wildly energetic puppy Vizlas!?

Other Penn PSAs here from musician John Legend (C'99), newscaster Andrea Mitchell (c'67), and John Heisman (not actually him)!

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So I started watching the Oscar red carpet show on E! in real time ...so there's no padding on my TiVo to fast forward through the commercials. (which is fine because it allows me to watch and blog at the same time)

As I sit here watching, I just spotted a John Legend (C'99) commercial which I think may be new. The above image is from John's Baileys (alcohol) commercial encouraging viewers to act responsible before they drink.

Speaking of the Oscars and Penn alumni, just in case you never saw this post, click here to check out Gabriel Mann's (C'95) very cool appearance on last year's Oscars!

Check out my other John Legend posts

Check out other Penn alumni musicians!

Did you like this article? You can get the latest articles at DuelingTampons.com in your email inbox each afternoon by entering your email address below. Your address will only be used for mailing you the articles, and each one will include a link so you can unsubscribe at any time.

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