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ANIKA NONI ROSE - DISNEY'S FIRST BLACK PRINCESS WILL MEAN DIFFERENT THINGS TO EACH GENERATION
BURBANK, Calif. (AP) -- Anika Noni (ah'-NEE'-kuh NOH'-nee) Rose "couldn't even breathe" when she was cast as the voice of Tiana, Disney's first black princess in "The Princess and the Frog." She started to cry. Rose knows how historic this is, but she also understands it'll mean the most to older generations. She says for her young nephew, "it will be the norm." For her mom, "it'll be something she's been waiting for." And for her grandmother, "it'll be something that she never thought would have happened." The Princess and the Frog opened today.
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<<CUT …001 (12/11/09)>> 00:32 "''
Michael Weinfeld
Anika Noni Rose is about to make animated history. AP Entertainment Editor Michael Weinfeld has the story.
<<CUT …002 (12/11/09)>> 00:07 "such a wuss"
Anika Noni (ah-NEE'-kuh NOH'-nee) Rose
Anika Noni Rose says she was overwhelmed when she first saw herself as Princess Tiana.
<<CUT …003 (12/11/09)>> 00:10 "you had imagined"
Anika Noni (ah-NEE'-kuh NOH'-nee) Rose
Anika Noni Rose says when she dreamed of being in a Disney animated feature, she didn't dream of being a princess. ((longer version of cut in wrap))
<<CUT …004 (12/11/09)>> 00:12 "would have happened"
Anika Noni (ah-NEE'-kuh NOH'-nee) Rose
Anika Noni Rose says Disney's first black animated princess will mean something different to each generation. ((longer version of cut in wrap))
<<CUT …005 (12/11/09)>> 00:11 "in your world"
Anika Noni (ah-NEE'-kuh NOH'-nee) Rose
Anika Noni Rose says she wondered if Disney would ever have a black princess.
MORGAN FREEMAN LEARNS TO PLAY NELSON MANDELA BY HOLDING HIS HAND
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Forgive Morgan Freeman if the Beatles song "I Want to Hold Your Hand" was stuck in his head while preparing to play Nelson Mandela in "Invictus." Freeman told Mandela that the best way to learn how to play him was to hold his hand as much as possible. Freeman says he could feel Mandela's "energy" through his hand. That gave him a sense of how Mandela felt. Invictus opened today.
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<<CUT …006 (12/11/09)>> 00:30 "''
Michael Weinfeld
Morgan Freeman prepared to play Nelson Mandela in "Invictus" by holding his hand. AP Entertainment Editor Michael Weinfeld explains why.
<<CUT …007 (12/11/09)>> 00:11 "said Morgan Freeman"
Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman says he has known he was going to play Nelson Mandela ever since Mandela himself suggested the idea when he was promoting his autobiography in the 90s.
<<CUT …008 (12/11/09)>> 00:09 "is foreign language"
Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman says he may be starring in a movie about rugby, but that doesn't mean he knows anything about it.
<<CUT …009 (12/11/09)>> 00:10 "hold your hand"
Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman told Nelson Mandela he needed total access to him in order to prepare to play him. ((cut used in wrap))
<<CUT …010 (12/11/09)>> 00:09 "how you feel"
Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman says it was important for him to hold Nelson Mandela's hand as much as possible when he was with him. ((cut used in wrap))
<<CUT …011 (12/11/09)>> 00:38 "more of myself"
Morgan Freeman
This is Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela in a scene from "Invictus."
TOP MUSIC OF THE DECADE AND THE YEAR
NEW YORK (AP) -- 'N Sync has the top album of the decade. Billboard says "No Strings Attached" sold more than 10 million copies, more than any other album in the past 10 years. The most popular song of the decade was Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together." Eminem was named top artist, while Nickelback was named top group. Taylor Swift had the best-selling album of 2009 with "Fearless." ''Boom Boom Pow" by the Black Eyed Peas was the best-selling song.
DIANE SAWYER ENDS HER RUN ON GMA
NEW YORK (AP) -- The temporary job that lasted nearly 11 years ended in tears and laughter for Diane Sawyer. She spent her last day hosting Good Morning America by revisiting some of her most emotional stories and laughing through comic tributes from David Letterman and Jimmy Kimmell who joked that he couldn't understand why she was fired. Sawyer told viewers that her "heart is smiling" from the "privilege" of sharing her mornings with them. Sawyer starts her new job anchoring "World News Tonight" on Dec. 21. She'll be replaced at GMA by George Stephanopoulos (stef-uhn-AH'-puh-luhs) on Monday.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS ALL BUSINESS ON DIANE SAWYER'S LAST DAY
NEW YORK (AP) -- If George Stephanopoulos (stef-uhn-AH'-puh-luhs) is going to lighten up as his bosses hope he will when he takes over for Diane Sawyer on "Good Morning America" Monday, he showed no sign of it on her last day. Stephanopoulos reported on five Americans with alleged links to terrorists. He did give Sawyer the "full suck-up," as he put it, and told her he's "scared to death" to be following her in the job. Sawyer promised to take out her brushes, hand sanitizer and other things from the drawer that he'll now be using.
TOBY KEITH DEFENDING PERFORMING AT NOBEL PEACE PRIZE CONCERT
OSLO (AP) -- Toby Keith doesn't see anything wrong with performing at the Nobel Peace Prize concert even though one of his biggest songs supports the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Keith says "if someone wants to say that one song out of 30 million albums sold and 27 No.1's are inappropriate, then you can jump up and down about the one song." He wrote "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue" after 9/11. Natasha Bedingfield is also performing at the concert. Will and Jada Pinkett Smith are hosting.
GARTH BROOKS COMES OUT OF RETIREMENT TONIGHT
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Garth Brooks is returning to performing in a big way. He ends his retirement by performing at Wynn Las Vegas tonight. His contract calls for 15 weekend shows a year for the next five years. As a perk, Steve Wynn bought Brooks a private jet to make sure he can be home on Mondays to spend time with his three teenage daughters.
SNOOP TO RETURN TO "ONE LIFE TO LIVE"
NEW YORK (AP) -- Snoop Dogg is returning to "One Life to Live." He'll sing his new song "I Wanna Rock" on the episode airing Feb. 24. He says he's a big fan of the soap because his mother always watched it. His remix of the show's theme song will be played just as it was the first time he appeared on the soap a year ago last May.
STAR OF "18 KIDS AND COUNTING" HAS HER 19TH KID
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- TLC will have to change the title of the reality show "18 Kids and Counting." Michelle Dugger has had her 19th kid. The baby girl came three months early and had to be delivered by an emergency C-section. Josie Brooklyn weighs one pound, six ounces. She's the ninth daughter for Michelle and her husband Jim Bob.
COUNTRY SINGER CONTINUES TO PERFORM WITH A BROKEN FOOT
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Country singer Eric Church's doctors can't be pleased with how he's dealing with his broken foot. Church broke a bone while stomping and marching around on stage during a concert. He didn't realize he'd hurt himself and played two more shows before seeing a doctor. Church is still doing as many as six shows a week, wearing a medical boot and sometimes sitting on a stool. The boot didn't stop him from reinjuring his foot while performing.
NOT GUILTY PLEAS FROM ANNA NICOLE'S DOCTORS AND BOYFRIEND
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Anna Nicole Smith's two doctors and her boyfriend have pleaded not guilty to charges that they conspired to illegally give her prescription drugs before she died. They are not charged with causing her death. The judge has refused the attorney general's request to suspend the medical licenses of the doctors. Smith died of an accidental overdose in 2007.
STAR OF "BURKE'S LAW," ''BAT MASTERSON" DIES
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Gene Barry hated playing "Bat Masterson" at first. He told AP Radio in 1999 that fans would come up to him and say "Hi Bat!" and "suddenly Gene Barry was gone." Things changed when he starred in his next series "Burke's Law," where he wore fancy clothes and drove a Rolls Royce. He said "it became Mr. Barry." He went on to star in another series "The Name of the Game" and originated the role of the gay night club owner in "La Cage aux Folles (lah kahj oh fahl)," which earned him a Tony nomination. Barry has now died. He was 90 years old.
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<<CUT …029 (12/11/09)>> 00:16 "over your head (laughs)"
Gene Barry, actor
In this 1995 interview, Gene Barry said he found it hard to live down the fame that 'Bat Masterson' brought him on T-V.
<<CUT …030 (12/11/09)>> 00:20 "not as ordinary"
Gene Barry, actor
In this 1995 interview, Gene Barry said moving from 'Bat Masterson' to 'Burke's Law' improved his public identity -- in his own mind. ((note length of cut))
<<CUT …031 (12/11/09)>> 00:19 "I'm very sloppy"
Gene Barry, actor
In this 1995 interview, Gene Barry said he owed his elegant image to an uncle he borrowed clothes from when he was a starving young actor. ((note length of cut))
<<CUT …032 (12/11/09)>> 00:20 "suffered with it"
Gene Barry, actor
In this 1999 interview, Gene Barry said his greatest fear came true when people started confusing him with his 'Bat Masterson' character.
<<CUT …033 (12/11/09)>> 00:29 "''
Excerpt of theme to "Bat Masterson"
This is archive audio of the theme to "Bat Masterson," which starred Gene Barry, who has died at age 90.
<<CUT …034 (12/11/09)>> 00:29 "''
"Look Over There," from the Broadway musical "La Cage Aux Folles"
This is archive audio of "Look Over There," from "La Cage Aux Folles," sung by Gene Barry, who created the Broadway role of Georges, the gay nightclub owner.
by Michael Weinfeld
