May 7, 2014: Chefs Plan Protest Picnic, iHeartRadio Music Awards to Return, See Amazing Hairstyling Competition Creations

1. CHEFS PLAN PROTEST PICNIC: On the eve of an annual Central Park picnic to celebrate Mississippi culture, a group of chefs will host a dinner called the “Big Gay Mississippi Welcome Table” to protest a Mississippi religious freedom law that critics say allows for discrimination against gay people. The New York Times: “It’s particularly awkward because [John] Currence, perhaps the best-known chef in Mississippi, had long been scheduled to cook another meal in New York for Governor Bryant and the Mississippi Development Authority at Butter restaurant. That event was timed to coincide with the Mississippi picnic. Then the governor signed the bill. … But because he has already committed to the state and to Butter’s executive chef, Alexandra Guarnaschelli, he decided to go ahead with the governor’s event but to also create a protest dinner the next day.” http://nyti.ms/RqSXjH

2. IHEARTRADIO MUSIC AWARDS TO RETURN: After a successful debut, the iHeartRadio Awards will return to NBC in 2015, the network and Clear Channel Media announced. Hollywood Reporter: “Live programming—like awards shows and NBC's Sound of Music special—have become increasingly valuable to both broadcast and cable networks in the DVR era.” http://bit.ly/RqV4UA

3. SEE AMAZING HAIRSTYLING COMPETITION CREATIONS: At the 2014 OMC Hairworld World Cup in Frankfurt, Germany, hair pros created daring styles—think of new takes on a bumble bee, a clown, and the cast of Zoolander. They worked on the head-to-toe look in a stadium-style setup where styling stations were set up in the middle of the venue. Mashable: http://on.mash.to/1opF54j

* LOCAL NEWS *

BOSTON:  Boston’s Women in Comedy Festival runs Thursday-Sunday at seven venues in Boston and Cambridge. The event will feature more than 200 performers.

CHICAGO:  AIDS Foundation of Chicago will host “Ignite: Light Our Fight. Ignite Our Future” at Ignite Glass Studios on May 16. The fund-raiser will offer glass-blowing demos, cocktails, international fare, and dancing to DJ Moose.

LAS VEGAS:  Dick Clark Productions announced the "Samsung Red Carpet Live at the 2014 Billboard Music Awards" red carpet preshow will stream live online on Yahoo, this year's official digital distributor. The live stream will precede the Billboard Music Awards, which will be broadcast live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 18.

LOS ANGELES:  Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board president and C.E.O. Ernest Wooden Jr. and board chairman Carl Schuster announced Tuesday that Los Angeles’s tourism industry supported 436,700 jobs in 2013, up 5.2 percent over 2012, and added 21,400 new jobs. In addition, the city's record 42.2 million visitors last year spent $18.4 billion at local businesses. The announcement was made to kick off this week’s National Travel & Tourism Week.

Local event listings from Masterplanner: http://www.masterplanneronline.com/losangeles

MIAMI/SOUTH FLORIDA:  Aqua Girl will host its first AquaSounds fund-raising concert to benefit Aqua Foundation’s L.G.B.T.Q. Youth Homelessness Initiative May 17 at Grand Central.

NEW YORK:  In a new marketing campaign, the auction house Christies let skateboarder Chris Martin take a ride through its archives, rolling past masterpieces, to capture the stunt for a YouTube video. Huffington Post: http://huff.to/1jd8COx

Local event listings from Masterplanner: http://www.masterplanneronline.com/newyork

ORLANDO:  Starbucks has selected the Orange County Convention Center as the site for its Leadership Experience conference in 2015. The event is expected to draw more than 10,000 Starbucks managers and global business leaders.

TORONTO:  Yonge-Dundas Square will launch its Lunchtime Live series May 26-June 16 and September 8-29. The series will feature singer-songwriter artists performing every Monday during lunch.

WASHINGTON, D.C.:  The Protocol School of Washington will host its Global Education Summit July 31-August 3 at the Ritz-Carlton, Pentagon City.

The Washington Tennis & Education Foundation will honor tennis star James Blake and Representative Ed Whitfield at its annual Tennis Ball Friday at the Ritz-Carlton, Washington, D.C.

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With contributions from Jenny Berg in Chicago, Alesandra Dubin in Los Angeles, Mitra Sorrells in Orlando, and Beth Kormanik, Michele Laufik, Jill Menze, and Anna Sekula in New York.

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