American Ninja Warrior is coming back this summer and the competition will be fierce. Modeled after the Japanese television hit show Ninja Warrior, you get to witness top tier athletes take on the toughest obstacles. There will be auditions held from coast to coast so if your an amazing athlete, and you feel like you can handle the competition, then go for it.

NBC and Esquire Network have teamed once again to bring summertime audiences the heart-racing competition series “American Ninja Warrior.” The series is returning for its fifth season on Esquire Network and its second full season on NBC. Matt Iseman returns to the show as host with former NFL player Akbar Gbaja Biamila (NFL Network). Jenn Brown (ESPN) will serve as co-host.

The action-packed one-hour series follows competitors as they tackle the world’s most difficult obstacle courses in qualifying and finals rounds across the country. Those that successfully complete a course in each city move on to the national finals round in Las Vegas, where they face a stunning four-stage course modeled after the famed Mt. Midoriyama in Japan.

This season the series will travel to four cities in search of the ultimate athlete — Los Angeles, Baltimore, Denver and Miami — before heading to Las Vegas. Men and women from all walks of life will vie for the title of “American Ninja Warrior,” including school teachers and firemen, current and former members of the military, amateur sports enthusiasts and even a few Olympic gold medalists.

This year, the competition features a newly revised format for each city’s qualifying and finals courses. In order to guarantee a spot in the national finals, competitors must successfully complete the finals course in their respective city. From there, competitors will travel to Las Vegas and earn the chance to win the title of “American Ninja Warrior,” along with the $500,000 grand prize.

The series will premiere this summer and air weekly on Esquire Network and then NBC on consecutive days — with original episodes on each network. Based on the global hit “Sasuke,” from the Tokyo Broadcast System, the original series is in production for its 28th season and only three contestants have completed the course.

“American Ninja Warrior” is executive-produced by A. Smith & Co. Productions’ founders Arthur Smith and Kent Weed (“Hell’s Kitchen,” “I Survived a Japanese Game Show,” “Pros vs. Joes”) along with Lake Paradise Entertainment’s Holly Wofford and Viki Cacciatore.

According to reports, Universal Studios has chosen James Wan, director of ‘Saw” and “Insidious” to direct the upcoming installment of “The Fast and the Furious” franchise.  (That’s right — they’re on number 7 already).

Wan followed up the 2004 low budget “Saw” with two films that performed poorly, but he generated buzz in 2010 when he directed “Insidious.”  With just a $1.5 million budget, the film went on to earn $97 million at the box office.

Justin Lin, who recently completed work on “Fast & Furious 6” reportedly told Deadline at Sundance that he wouldn’t direct the next installment in the series.  Lin directed the last four Fast & Furious films and his debut with the franchise was “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.”

Vin Diesel recently mentioned on his Facebook page that filming for 7 might begin as early as this summer.  And not to worry, fans of The Rock — Dwayne Johnson confirmed last month that his character will return for “Fast & Furious 7.”  Expected release date is 2015.

Of course, before getting too excited about the seventh installment, viewers should probably check out “Fast & Furious 6.”  It hits theaters on May 24th.

Photo courtesy of IMDB.com

Review by Sela Foukimoana @selaviie

Tongan athlete and science student, Bruno Banani, is making his mark on luge racing. The 26-year-old has been traveling throughout Europe and North America, training on different tracks in order to prepare himself for the upcoming Olympics. He has trained with the likes of Isabel Barschinsk and the German National Team, who have dominated luge racing for many years.

In December 2011, Banani qualified for the World Cup  for the first time. Aside from taking an excellent 27th place, the luger also won the first winter sports medal for the Island Kingdom of Tonga by placing  third place at the American-Pacific Championships. From 2011 until 2012, Bruno comepeted in the Nations Cup every week, where the best 17 out of 25 to 55 starters will be nominated to participate in the following World Cup. From the Nations Cup, he moved onto World Cup events held in Switzerland and Latvia, where he finished the season with an outstanding 36th place!

Bruno Banani shows improvement with every competition he participates in. The Tongan luger was ranked number 32 in the world out of 61 lugers with a rising trend.  If he manages to stabilize his remarkable performance, he certainly will be the first Olympian from the South Pacific islands participating in the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi 2014.

Keep an eye out for this rising star and show your support for the movement that he represents!

XOXO

-Madison

The next Team Voice has officially kicked off Season 4. New judges Usher and Shakira create a new dynamic on the show. Shakira, The Latin Beauty, and Usher, having mentored Justin Bieber, bring an “A” game proving to veteran coaches Adam Levine and Blake Shelton they are not going to hold anything back.

This season is to be one of the fiercest seasons. Advancing contestant Duncan Kamakana, a native from Honolulu, Hawaii, marked his debut on The Voice’s Blind Auditions singing Michael Buble’s hit single, “I Wanna Go Home.” Kamakana joins Team Adam.

TWID: What is your background?

Duncan Kamakana: I grew up on the Island of Oahu out in Hawaii. I was actually, mostly, into sports when I was younger, but my dad was a professional musician… By the time I had come around, my dad had gone back to school and was becoming a professor. It wasn’t really until high school that I really started getting into the whole music thing.

TWID: Who do you compare your sound to and what’s your inspiration behind the music?

Duncan Kamakana: It’s hard to say who I would compare myself to. I listen to literally everything. I grew up listening to James Taylor and Bonnie Raitt… I really loved singer songwriters. I listened to a lot of people most people haven’t heard of. I would say sound wise – I would possibly compare myself closest to like Gavin DeGraw, as far as, what I’m going for and what I natural sound like. But even that, it’s kind of a vague comparison.

TWID: What made you decide to join The Voice competition?

Duncan Kamakana: Opportunity presented itself and I decided why not. Actually, one of the reasons why I even know about this show is Tony Lucca. I’ve been listening to him for years and really one of my favorite singer songwriters. I was watching the Super Bowl and Season 2 popped up right after and I heard this song come on, it was “Trouble” and I looked up and I was like wow, I really like this. I look up and it was Tony Lucca and from that moment. I mean, I think that kind of planted the seed. When I got the opportunity, I just kind of rolled with it.

This upcoming week will be the last of the blind auditions. Then we move into the battle rounds.

All the best to all the contestants. The What It Do will keep you up to date each week!

Article Written By: Lavoni Na’a

“Lenox Avenue”

Dramatic Web Series

Al Thompson, creative mind behind “Lenox Avenue” (Photo credit: ValDean Entertainment)

The sexy dramatic series by actor/director Al Thompson (“The Royal Tenenbaums”/“Love Don’t Cost A Thing”) not only delivers on entertainment, it breaks the traditional mold of romantic dramas while showcasing a truly modern Harlem.

Centered around three male friends, who live, work, and love in New York City, “Lenox Avenue” portrays an increasingly gentrified Uptown neighborhood.  There is less focus on Harlem’s hustled streets and more on the platinum card-induced fun at upscale, neighborhood nightclubs.  Storylines of workplace trysts, one-night stands, and friends with benefits take the viewer through a Harlem rarely seen on television, set against the backdrop of a racially-diverse, trendy neighborhood.

Perfectly cast, buddies Owen (Al Thompson), Sellars (Dorian Missick, TNT’s “Southland”), and Vaughn (Ryan Vigilant, “Gossip Girl”) lean on each other as flings, friends, and fiancées get the best of them.

This isn’t Thompson’s first foray into digital series, too.  The acclaimed actor/director with multiple credits under his belt also created the award-winning online show “Johnny B. Homeless,” which MTV Networks’ Atom.com picked up in 2010 and aired on Comedy Central’s Atom TV.

Easily addictive, “Lenox Avenue” not only delivers on sexy storylines that keep you wanting more, it portrays a fresh view of the neighborhood too often cast as the place for crime scenes or car thefts.

In “Lenox Avenue” Harlem is more than a setting — it’s another character in the series.

You can watch “Lenox Avenue” at www.lenoxaveseries.com and check out additional content by actor/director Al Thompson at www.youtube.com/AlThompsonInc

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Deon Taylor

“Supremacy”

Preview Screening

Based on a true story that took place in the sleepy town of Santa Rosa, California, “Supremacy” follows the redeeming tale of a ruthless Aryan Brotherhood member, Garrett Tully.  After spending 14 years in solitary confinement, Tully is released from Pelican Bay State Prison and is picked up by Doreen Lesser, a white supremacist groupie.  What happens over the next couple hours changes the course of Tully’s life: He murders a sheriff’s deputy in a routine traffic stop, flees with Lesser to the hills of Sonoma County, then storms the first farmhouse he comes across, and takes a family hostage.  This family, it turns out, is the only black family in the neighborhood and its patriarch — like Tully — is an ex-convict himself.

Screening the film’s chilling yet compelling trailer during the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, director Deon Taylor said, “after I heard about it, I thought, ‘I have to tell this story.’”  The film stars Danny Glover (“Lethal Weapon”), Joe Anderson (“Breaking Dawn Part 2″), Lela Rochon (“Any Given Sunday”), and Derek Luke (“Sparkle”).  Expected release this summer.

Review By: Sela Foukimoana
Twitter: @selaviie

20-year-old pop star, Miley Cyrus, and 41-year-old gangster rapper-turned-reggae artist, Snoop Lion, have teamed up to record the new song “Ashtrays and Heartbreaks”.  The song will be featured on Snoop Lion’s upcoming record, “Reincarnated.” The song was released this morning on SoundCloud.

Before teaming up with Snoop Lion, Cyrus was featured in Borgore’s dubstep song “Decisions”. It is obvious that the star is trying out different styles of music and perhaps trying to break away from her “pop star” mold. We’re excited to see what else the star has in store as well as what Snoop Lion will be bringing to the table in his new record. Both artists are set to release new albums in the next few months! So keep an eye out for that.

Check out “Ashtrays and Heartbreaks” and comment below telling us what you think!

XOXO

-Madison

Host IsaGirl visits the Pacific Savagez biker club during the Mana Conference for high school students. They give her a tour around their bike collection and she gets her first motorcycle lesson.

Please check out our media segment below!