Josh Turner to join Grand Ole Opry

Nashville, Tenn. – Hank Williams. Patsy Cline. Alan Jackson. Martina McBride. And now, Josh Turner.

They’re all members of the Grand Ole Opry, the nation’s longest continuously running radio show. Turner was invited to join Saturday, and had no trouble accepting.

During “Opry Live,” Turner presented Roy Clark with a plaque commemorating his 20 years as an Opry member. Clark then pulled an envelope attached to the back of the plaque and said: “Well, actually this is for you, Josh. It reads: How would you like to formally become a member of the Grand Ole Opry?”

Said Turner: “I made my Opry debut back in 2001. I never knew this could happen so early.”

He will be formally inducted Oct. 27 by Vince Gill.

When Turner made his first showing at the Opry, he hadn’t yet had a song released on country radio. Even so, he earned a standing ovation for “Long Black Train,” which became his breakthrough hit, and a second standing ovation after an encore.

Chan says he isn’t a fan of ‘Rush Hour’ series

Hong Kong – “Rush Hour” put Jackie Chan in Hollywood’s major leagues, but the Hong Kong star isn’t a fan of his successful action comedy franchise.

Chan said when he made the first installment of the “Rush Hour” series in 1998 he only wanted to test the U.S. market and didn’t have high hopes.

“When we finished filming, I felt very disappointed because it was a movie I didn’t appreciate and I did not like the action scenes involved. I felt the style of action was too Americanized and I didn’t understand the American humor,” Chan said in a blog entry on his Web site seen Sunday.

The actor said he made the sequel because he was offered an “irresistible” amount of money to do it and made the recently released third installment to satisfy fans of the series.

Chan said “Rush Hour 3” was no different from the first two installments for him.

“Nothing particularly exciting stood out that made this movie special for me … I spent four months making this film and I still don’t fully understand the humor,” he said, adding the comedic scenes may be lost on Asian audiences.

Holyfield seeks to be champion of grills

Atlanta – Evander Holyfield once defeated George Foreman in a battle for the world heavyweight boxing title. Now he is seeking to oust his former foe from another arena: the grilling world.

Holyfield, of Atlanta, is preparing to unveil the “Evander Holyfield Real Deal Grill,” a direct competitor to Foreman’s famous “Lean Mean Fat Reducing Grilling Machine,” which has reportedly earned $100 million in sales since 1995.

“I’ve got a George Foreman grill. It’s a good grill,” Holyfield, 44, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “But don’t you think the latest grill is supposed to be the best grill?”

Manufacturer CirTran Corp., based in Utah, approached Holyfield about promoting the $99 grill after he appeared on the TV show “Dancing With the Stars” in 2005. Holyfield dons an apron in a 30-minute commercial that began airing last week.

Clinton joins celebrities for youth activism talk

New York – After getting hundreds of pledges to tackle the world’s problems at his philanthropic summit this past week, former President Bill Clinton did what any good host would: He threw a party.

Music, celebrity and politics mixed Saturday night at Harlem’s Apollo Theatre, where Clinton was joined by Bono, Chris Rock, Shakira and Alicia Keyes for a roundtable discussion on youth activism.

Clinton called on each young member of the audience to “be a citizen servant, a giver, because we have to have a vital society,” before announcing the Clinton Global Initiative’s first youth summit, called CGI U, planned for next year at Tulane University in New Orleans.

Like the three-day Clinton Global Initiative philanthropic summit this week, the college version aims to bring together attendees to tackle global issues like sustainable development and poverty.

“What we are trying to do is make activism cool again for kids,” Rock said.

The former president and the other superstar panelists took questions from the audience before giving up the stage to performances by hip-hop artist Wyclef Jean and soulful singer Keyes.