Conan ran to Cheap Trick song from NY to LA on Monday show debut

Add comment June 2nd, 2009

Check out this video of Conan O’Brien’s “run” from New York to Los Angeles on the Monday premiere of his hosting “The Tonight Show. “The run features the soundtrack of the entire “Surrender” song, a hit of Rockford-based Cheap Trick.

O’Brien took over as host of Jay Leno’s 10:35 p.m. weekday NBC show, which is based in LA. Conan’s “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” was based in New York.

Australian TV show films Emily Bear in Rockford

Add comment June 2nd, 2009

“The Ellen DeGeneres Show” gave young piano ace and composer Emily Bear a national audience on her five appearances on the talk show the past two years. Now, the 7-year-old from Rockford is getting exposure in Australia.

A television crew from “Sunday Night,” the Australian TV news magazine equivalent of “20/20″ in the U.S., filmed Emily this week in Rockford for a segment about three international child prodigies that will air in a few weeks.

This afternoon, the crew filmed her playing keyboard with the Jodi Beach Trio at Franchesco’s Ristorante.

(Photo by Eddy Montville, Rockford Register Star. More photos will be posted at rrstar.com/multimedia tonight.)

Yesterday, they were at the Coronado Performing Arts Center. The crew also captured Emily and her family on film at home.

Monique Wright, a “Sunday Night” reporter, said the program discovered Emily through research for a story about prodigies. And when they saw Emily on video, “she was just so captivating,” Wright said.

The other youngsters who’ll be featured on the program: a 2-year-old in London, the youngest person admitted to Mensa International, a group for people with high IQs; and a 6-year-old tennis wiz from Australia who has trained in Florida with the coach of Venus and Serena Williams.

Band third in Summerfest stage quest, voting ends Sunday

Add comment June 2nd, 2009

Shuvlhed, the rock band from the Kirkland area in DeKalb County, has been ranking third the past few days in its quest to get the most votes to play on a Summerfest stage June 28.

Voting ends at 11:59 p.m. Sunday. You can cast 10 votes per day, even one after the other, here.