People in the News

PHILADELPHIA -- The Fresh Prince has given up on plans to develop a hotel in his hometown.

Philadelphia-born actor and rapper Will Smith had won preliminary city approval several years ago to build a hotel and retail complex on a derelict property in the city's centuries-old Society Hill section.

The luxury hotel would have had views of the Delaware River and been within walking distance of tourist attractions like South Street and Independence Hall. The city had pledged $9 million in tax incentives to help the development take place.

But the project stalled in recent years as the hotel market softened, and Smith and his brother have now sold the vacant lot where the complex was to have been built. The sale price was $10.5 million, about three times what the family paid for the parcel five years ago.

The new owners, Sant Properties, have a plan to build condominiums.

Before its demolition in 2002, the site was formerly home to a complex of shops and restaurants known as the NewMarket. The site had fallen into disrepair before it was bought by the Smiths.

Smith's real-estate company, Treyball Development, has invested millions of dollars in buildings around the city. They have included a former furniture company, a small office building and a funeral home.

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NEW YORK -- At a downtown club, Tommy Ramone listened carefully to a band unlike any other. On drums: The U.S. ambassador to Russia. On lead guitar: The Hungarian ambassador to the United States.

"They're great!" declared Ramone, a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The C.J.T.F. Band – an insiders' reference to NATO Combined Joint Task Force – also includes Assistant Secretary of State Lincoln Bloomfield Jr. on bass guitar and guitarist Dan Poneman, an old Washington hand and an authority on North Korea. At stage center was a defense and intelligence technology consultant, Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, for years the guitarist of the Doobie Brothers.

The proceeds of the show at the Knitting Factory on Saturday are going to the victims of Asia's tsunami.

The core band started about a dozen years ago in Brussels, when the 52-year-old American ambassador to Moscow, Alexander "Sandy" Vershbow, was the U.S. representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and the ambassador to Washington, Andras Simonyi, was Hungary's emissary to NATO.

They now play at least one public concert a year. Last year's was in Washington, and they're planning to take the band on an East European gig soon.

Simonyi said he remembers listening to his favorite song, Steve Winwood's "Dear Mr. Fantasy," coming from the radio late at night when he was a young man. "Winwood fit my dream about living in a free world," said Simonyi, with sweat dripping from his brow as he launched into the song.

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HONG KONG -- Pop star Andy Lau dominated the annual Hong Kong's Jade Solid Gold music awards, bagging five trophies, including the prize for most popular Hong Kong male singer in Asia.

In one of his acceptance speeches Saturday, Lau offered best wishes for people whose relatives are missing in the recent tsunami disaster, expressing hopes that their loved ones will be found, newspapers reported.

Lau also was named most popular male singer in Hong Kong, while three of his songs won individual honors. "Masseuse" was named one of the year's top 10 songs," while "After All I Have Love," clinched the most popular Chinese song prize.

Lau, one of the Hong Kong pop scene's "Four Heavenly Kings," has kept up his popularity with a steady stream of music and film releases.

In other awards presented Saturday night, Joey Yung was named Hong Kong's most popular female singer. Kelly Chen won the award for most popular Hong Kong female singer in Asia.

Miriam Yeung's "Big Event in Little Town" was the year's top Hong Kong song.

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LOS ANGELES -- Producer-director James L. Brooks will add an Eddie to his shelf of Oscars and Emmys.

Brooks will receive the ACE Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year award on Feb. 20 in Beverly Hills.

The award is one of several handed out by American Cinema Editors.

Brooks is being honored for "his consistent excellence and craftsmanship and his unique ability to capture the human spirit on screens big and small," the group's board of directors said in a statement Friday.Brooks has produced such movies as "Terms of Endearment," "Jerry Maguire" and the current "Spanglish." He has been executive producer on such hit shows as "Taxi" and "The Simpsons."