Mississippi girl Faith Hill along with her sponsor Tide who during the devastation of Hurricane Katrina inspired the launch of Tide Loads of Hope, a mobile laundry service that provides clean clothes to families affected by disaster. As the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina nears, Tide will host a live concert on Tuesday, August 24, 2010 in New Orleans featuring Faith Hill.  Tide Loads of Hope Presents: A Celebration of Hope with Faith Hill will serve to honor the resilient spirit of Gulf Coast residents and demonstrate Tide Loads of Hope’s ongoing commitment to New Orleans. The concert will be free for residents of New Orleans and the surrounding area to celebrate how far the community has come in its rebuilding efforts since Katrina. But you must get a ticket to enter the concert and you can win those soon on Magic 101.9.

New Orleans own Ellen DeGeneres is leaving the judges’ table on American Idol and  Jennifer Lopez wants the job. Ellen says she told Idol producers and Fox two months ago that the show wasn’t the right fit for her, and she wanted to leave. She says while she loves “discovering, supporting and nurturing young talent,” it was hard for her “to judge people and sometimes hurt their feelings.” As for Jennifer Lopez, a source says she’s close to signing on as the replacement. Lopez has appeared as a mentor on “American Idol.” As a judge, she would come to the show with first-hand knowledge of the music business. That’s something some had complained Ellen DeGeneres doesn’t have.

 Drew Brees rapped up his book tour yesterday at book store uptown after signing more than 20,000 copies of his new book, “Coming Back Stronger,” for fans in Louisiana and around the country since the book’s release July 6. Great book so far not finished reading it but now Drew said its time to focus on football and Saints training camp, begins Friday with two practices open to the public at 8:50 a.m. and 4:20 p.m.

But fans will have the opportunity to line up and await the release of another drew Brees item in August, as the Madden NFL 2011 video game with Drew Brees on the cover goes on sale at midnight Aug. 10. Drew said the release of the game will be a great event in New Orleans. “They’re doing this big thing called ‘Madden Gras’ downtown,” Yes I’m addicted to Madden.

Wednesday after work drive on over to the Melting Pot on St. Charles Ave where I’m hosting another Wine Down Wed after work Party. Come wind down, enjoy some wine, food and win stuff. I have concert tix to Norah Jones and Nickleback to giveaway plus gift certificates…sooo why not. It’s a cool place if you’ve never been, come check it out plus I’d love to meet you. Wed 6-8pm

The third stop on the search for the next American Idol stop here Monday. The home state of judges Randy Jackson and Ellen DeGeneres, New Orleans will once again a  location for American Idol auditions and this year you don’t have to woory about Simon saying “You’re Aweful” Actually I’ll miss that.  Here’s what you need to know.

Auditions: Wristbands will be distributed from 7:00 AM on Saturday, July 24 until 8:00 AM on Monday, July 26. Auditioners will not be permitted to camp out. Once auditioners obtain their wristbands, they will be asked to return to the New Orleans Arena by 5:00 AM on Monday, July 26.

Gate E , New Orleans Arena 1501 Girod Street

So first we got to go to his Sound check party before the show where about 12 of us go sit on

the front row of the empty arena and as the band is practicing he walks out and say’s “Sorry I just woke up” in ripped jeans and a t-shirt and starts asking us questions about what we do here at Magic and thanking us for playing his songs and jokes about a lot of stuff then he says, let’s do a couple of songs but I can’t look at you while I sing. He said he has no problem looking out into a huge crowd but had trouble looking at people when he sings to small groups so he starts singing his opening number “Cry Me A River” and some of us cover of face with our hands so he doesn’t have to look at us and he starts giggling and can’t sing a few lines. His next song was “Everything” he forgets the words in one part and starts making up stuff we were laughing so hard. Then it was done and he came down to meet us and take pictures which my wife Lisa can’t wait to show her friends as he sat on the end of the stage and grabbed her between his legs for the picture. She hasn’t spoken since but he was just the greatest guy. So then later that night back to the Arena and we get to our seats right before the opening act Naturally 7 starts and you know your thinking OK how long are they gonna play? But these guys were crazy good and different because if you closed your eyes you would think there is a band on stage but these 7 guys are an a cappella group and do all the instruments with their voices and it’s incredible. So they played till about 8:40 then the lights came up and you could see the Arena was a full house full of young kids, teenagers, young adults, middle aged and older people. Talk about an Artist who everyone loves wow ages 8-80, that’s a popular guy.  Right away he won the crowd over as he came out and said it was great to be in New Orleans home of the Superbowl Champs as the audience went crazy. And All night he showed the audience his quirky personality and warm heart and of course that voice belting out “Cry Me A River” and a great version of Billy Vera & The Beaters song, “At This Moment” and a few of his favorite songs like “Georgia On My Mind” and one he says for him he loves to sing, “The Best Of Me”. He picked up the pace late after some funny stuff about growing up wanting to be Michael Jackson then quickly launched into a Jackson impersonation singing “Billy Jean” while fiddling with a black hat that he throws into the audience. He knows how to pull the audience into his world. He turned the night into an impromptu party, a Soft Rock one at that, but with a steady stream of funny banter, self-deprecating jokes about him & the band he really had the crowd, especially the females, eating out of his hand.

Hey I can say it, the guy has charisma and yes he’s good-looking and possessing of a winning personality and sorry girls as he mentioned at the show he’s engaged to an Argentina Supermodel. But he comes across sometimes as the goofy kid from high school or the sweet guy at the karaoke bar who’s had a few too many beers. He showed a humble side in talking about going out with his dad, who worked as a fisherman in British Columbia, and told the packed Arena “I’ll come back as long as you still want me to” which had the audience screaming.

At one point the seven-member a cappella group Naturally 7 who opened for Buble joined him when he walked into the audience and sang from a platform in the middle of the arena then sang “Home” dedicating the song to the city of New Orleans that’s been through so much. At the end of the song the video boards showed a Saints Superbowl Champions Flag blowing in the wind on a French Quarter balcony.  As he got ready to rap the show everybody was waiting for”Haven’t Met You Yet.” When adults and the teenagers all got up and danced in the seats. Buble’s encore songs included “Me and Mrs. Jones” and Leon Russell’s “Song for You” that closes all of the concerts. Throughout the evening Buble thanked his fans constantly. It went a long way to cementing his reputation as a talented singer but even more a winning, approachable entertainer. Great Show.

I wasn’t totally sure I knew exactly where the term ‘Dog Days” of summer came from so between songs I had some time to research the term. It usually refers to the hottest, most sultry days of summer. For us that’s mid July through mid September also the height of Hurricane season because the water get so warm. The actual dates vary greatly from region to region, depending on latitude and climate. Dog days can also define a time period or event that is very hot or stagnant, or marked by dull lack of progress. The name comes from the ancient belief that Sirius also called the Dog Star was somehow responsible for the hot weather. The Romans sacrificed a brown dog at the beginning of the Dog Days to appease the rage of Sirius, believing that the star was the cause of the hot, sultry weather. In recent years, the phrase “Dog Days” or “Dog Days of Summer” have also found new meanings. The term has frequently been used in reference to the Stock market since typically, summer is a very slow time for the stock market, and additionally, poorly performing stocks with little future potential are frequently known as “dogs. A recent survey found that many people believe the phrase is in reference to the conspicuous laziness of domesticated dogs during the hottest days of the summer. When speaking of “Dog Days” there seems to be a connotation of lying or “dogging” around, or being “dog tired” on these hot and humid days. Although these meanings have nothing to do with the original source of the phrase, they may have been attached to the phrase in recent years due to common usage or misuse of the phrase. So now you now.

We’ve heard this before but as I write this I’m watching the Oil Spill cam and right now those undersea robots a mile beneath the Gulf are lowering a tighter-fitting cap near BP’s busted wellhead that’s gushing the millions of gallons of crude oil into our Gulf. So this new cap weighs 150,000 pounds and is reported able to stop the Oil completly. I know, I know we’ve heard that before and it will take a few days to work everything out and if the cap is successfully put in place, BP says a series of pipes from the cap will feed all (not most ) of the spewing oil to collection ships a mile above on the ocean surface but that’s a big IF.

Keep praying

Come meet me, NOW!

Bring the kids to meet a real celebrity, Dora the Explorer at Clearview Mall Saturday from 1-3. Plus you can register to win 4 tix to the Nickelodoen storytime show at the Mahalia Jackson Fri July 23- Sun July 26.

Look for inside the cool mall by the Food court at Clearview Mall Sat from 1-3.