UNCF–the United Negro College Fund– today announced an all-star line-up of presenters and performers scheduled to appear on its 30th anniversary annual television special, An Evening of Stars® Tribute to Patti LaBelle. Super Station WGN’s Merri Dee, Vivica A. Fox, Entertainment Tonight correspondent Kevin Frazier, Tom Joyner, BET Chairman and CEO Debra Lee, LisaRaye McCoy, Duane Martin, Mo’Nique, Shemar Moore, Holly Robinson Peete, Access Hollywood’s Shaun Robinson, VH1’s Celebrity Fit Club’s Dr. Ian Smith, Raven Symoné and Essence Cares founder Susan Taylor are among those slated to appear when the annual UNCF celebration of educational excellence is taped on September 13th at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.
UNCF also announced that Mario and Big Daddy Kane will join fellow performers Yolanda Adams, Anita Baker, Wayne Brady, Fantasia, Jennifer Hudson, Brian McKnight and Dionne Warwick for its salute to Patti LaBelle. Beyoncé, Wyclef Jean and Mariah Carey will make special taped appearances.
Patti LaBelle will receive the UNCF’s Award of Excellence for her longtime support of the organization. UNCF supports 60,000 students at 39 institutions and 900 colleges and universities around the country. She joins previous Award of Excellence honorees Smokey Robinson, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones, and Lou Rawls.
“The stars who will be at the Kodak Theatre to honor Patti LaBelle are doing more than paying tribute to a great artist and author,” said Michael L. Lomax, Ph.D., president and CEO of UNCF. “They are making certain that the millions of Americans who tune in to AEOS understand how important it is to help UNCF ensure that our future scientists, teachers, doctors, lawyers and leaders get the college education they need and deserve.”
Tickets for the two-hour taping before a live audience are available for sale to the public and can be purchased at the Kodak Theatre box office, the Ticketmaster web site and at all Los Angeles area Ticketmaster locations. Ticket prices start at $28. An Evening of Stars® Tribute to Patti LaBelle will air in January 2009 across the country.
An Evening of Stars Tribute to Patti LaBelle is made possible by Target, the Presenting Sponsor of AEOS®, and by national corporate sponsors McDonald’s, Toyota, and AT&T. American Airlines is the official airline of An Evening of Stars® and Wachovia is the VIP Hospitality sponsor.
Returning for his twelfth year as executive producer and director of An Evening of Stars® is five-time Emmy® winner Louis J. Horvitz. Horvitz and his team received the prestigious NAACP Image Award for An Evening of Stars® Tribute to Stevie Wonder benefiting UNCF in 2007.
For more information on AEOS, visit www.aneveningofstars.org. For more information on UNCF, visit www.uncf.org.
About An Evening of Stars®
An Evening of Stars® (AEOS), formerly the Lou Rawls Parade of Stars®, first aired in 1979, and since that time has become one of the longest running and most successful televised events in U.S. history. Lou Rawls, a spokesperson
for UNCF and champion for AEOS for more than 25 years, is credited with helping raise more than $200 million to
help UNCF scholarship recipients and member institutions and their students pay the cost of higher education. In recent years, AEOS has featured a Who’s Who of recognizable talent, including Stevie Wonder, John Legend, Chaka Khan, Ne-Yo, Nancy Wilson, Beyoncé, Anita Baker, Jill Scott, Whoopi Goldberg, Fantasia, Joss Stone, Jennifer
Hudson, Michael Bolton, Natalie Cole, Herbie Hancock, Al Jarreau, Hall and Oates, Ziggy Marley, Maroon 5, and scores of others. An Evening of Stars® received an Image Award for its 2006 tribute to Stevie Wonder.
About UNCF
UNCF—the United Negro College Fund—is the nation’s oldest and most successful minority education assistance organization. Its mission is to increase minority degree attainment by providing financial support to its 39 member institutions, reducing financial barriers to college and serving as a national advocate for minority education. UNCF institutions and other historically black colleges and universities are highly effective, awarding 18 percent of African American baccalaureate degrees. UNCF administers more than 400 programs, including scholarship, internship and fellowship, mentoring, summer enrichment, and curriculum and faculty development programs. Today, UNCF supports more than 60,000 students at over 900 colleges and universities across the country. UNCF’s recently redesigned logo and brand identity feature UNCF’s torch of leadership in education and its widely recognized motto, “A mind is a terrible thing to waste.”® Learn more at www.UNCF.org.
About Louis J. Horvitz
In a career that has spanned more than three decades, Louis J. Horvitz has led and produced many high-profile programs. Later this month, he will direct the “60th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards” for the fourteenth time. Last February, he directed “The 80th Annual Academy Awards,” his 12th year at the helm of the Oscars. This year also marked his sixteenth year as director of “The Kennedy Center Honors” and “The American Film Institute Life Achievement Award.”
