May 17, 2017: Jimmy Kimmel to Return as Oscars Host in 2018, Small Plane Carrying New York Event-Space Designer and Her Children Vanishes Near Bahamas, What to Expect at Pippa Middleton's Upcoming Wedding

1. JIMMY KIMMEL TO RETURN AS OSCARS HOST IN 2018: ABC and the Academy have announced that Jimmy Kimmel will return to host the 90th Academy Awards, taking place March 4, 2018. Michael De Luca and Jennifer Todd also will return as producers. The Hollywood Reporter: "The trio teamed up for the first time for the most recent Oscar show Feb. 26, and while all three generally got good reviews, their contributions were overshadowed by the last-minute envelope gaffe that resulted in La La Land, and not the actual winner Moonlight, being announced as the best picture victor. As part of the official announcement, Kimmel joked, 'If you think we screwed up the ending this year, wait until you see what we have planned for the 90th anniversary show.' As for ratings, their maiden effort resulted in a 4 percent drop in viewership from the prior year as the show attracted 32.9 million viewers. … The early announcement represents something of a break with Academy tradition, which in the past has first seen the Academy president select the show's producers and the producers then pick a host—a process that has sometimes resulted in a protracted search. Boone Isaacs, having completed four successive, one-year terms as president, will be stepping down in July, as the Academy's board of governors elects a new president. But rather than wait for a new president to take over, the Academy is moving forward with plans for next year's show. The early announcement is not unprecedented, though. In both 2013 and 2014, the Academy announced in mid-April that producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, who first produced the 2013 show, would be returning to produce both the 2014 and 2015 shows. Both the Academy and ABC prefer to have producers who've already cut their teeth on one broadcast returning to handle the next year's show, because it eliminates the learning curve facing new producers and provides for continuity of staffing." http://bit.ly/2qoLkyR

2. SMALL PLANE CARRYING NEW YORK EVENT-SPACE DESIGNER AND HER CHILDREN VANISHES NEAR BAHAMAS: Search crews have been hunting for a small plane that vanished in the Bahamas carrying New York event-space designer Jennifer Blumin, her partner, and her two young sons. So far, the search has found a debris field. New York Daily News: "Jennifer Blumin, 40, and her two young sons were heading to Florida from Puerto Rico when the aircraft disappeared from radar about 2:10 p.m. on Monday, officials said. The twin-engine turboprop plane lost radio contact with the control tower some 37 miles east of Eleuthera, officials said. The MU-2B plane was bound for Titusville, Fla., after departing Borinquen, P.R., about 11 a.m., officials said. The plane was being piloted by Blumin’s boyfriend, Nathan Ulrich, 52, an engineer who was married to actress Rae Dawn Chong from 2011 to 2014. ... The air-and-sea search was relaunched early Tuesday with help from U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Royal Bahamas Defense Force, officials said. Blumin has been the subject of numerous news stories profiling her unique design firm Skylight Studios. She’s known for finding derelict locations in New York City and transforming them into dazzling event spaces. Blumin—who has two sons Phineas, 4, and Theodore, 3, and until recently was living in Tribeca—launched Skylight Studios in 2004. The New Hampshire-based Ulrich is the founder and co-owner of Xootr, a company that manufactures kick scooters and folding bicycles. He’s also the technical director of Radon Sport LLC, a racecar design and manufacturing firm." http://nydn.us/2rqoZj6

3. WHAT TO EXPECT AT PIPPA MIDDLETON'S UPCOMING WEDDING: Pippa Middleton's marriage to James Matthews on Saturday won't be quite as extravagant as her sister's royal wedding. But the event, which will take place in Berkshire, England, is still slated to be a dazzling affair. The New York Times: "It will be held at St. Mark’s, a 12th-century church on the private estate in Englefield, Berkshire, just six miles from the quaint village of Bucklebury, where the bride grew up with her older sister, Catherine, now the Duchess of Cambridge, and younger brother, James. A full revamp of the sprawling estate on which the church sits has been underway for the past week, with stone walls being repaired and gates being painted in a regal gold leaf hue. After the service, the newlyweds and their expected 150 guests will then travel to Ms. Middleton’s parents’ Bucklebury home for a marquee reception. Carole and Michael Middleton bought the Georgian Grade II-listed manor house, which has an 18-acre garden, in 2012. Details around the event remain strictly under wraps, although the wedding planning app Bridebook has broken down the estimated cost of the event, considering a range of items such as a wet weatherproof marquee, drinks and floristry, catering, security, portaloos and entertainment: an eye-popping £246,000 (or roughly $318,000), which is said to be about 15 times the average cost of a British wedding. Given that guests have been instructed to bring a second outfit for the evening reception, expect the events after dark to dazzle. And given that the Middleton family made its multimillion-pound fortune with Party Pieces, an online retailer for party ware, one imagines they also know how to drive a hard bargain when it comes to putting on a show." http://nyti.ms/2pREzD6

* LOCAL NEWS *

ATLANTA:  AC Hotel Atlanta Downtown has appointed Clint Militzer general manager. 

CHICAGO:  Mayfestiversary, celebrating one year of Dovetail Brewery and two years of Begyle Brewing's taproom, will take place May 27-28 outside of Dovetail Brewery. 

LAS VEGAS:  Marvel fan experience Marvel Universe Live! Age of Heroes will take place June 27-30 at the Thomas & Mack Center. The show will depict a story with Marvel super heroes and villains using immersive video projection and special effects. 

LOS ANGELES:  The inaugural Los Angeles Times Food Bowl, a month of culinary programming at venues across the city, will end on May 30 with the Sustainable Seafood Dinner and panel led by Times restaurant critic Jonathan Gold. 

For information on upcoming events in Los Angeles, visit Masterplanner: http://www.masterplanneronline.com/losangeles

MIAMI/SOUTH FLORIDA:  Top Chef winner Paul Qui, executive chef of Pao by Paul Qui, will host two Omakases—intimate communal dinners inspired by the Japanese tradition of letting the chef choose your order—on May 24 and June 20. On July 25, Qui will welcome chef Daniel Burns to Faena Miami Beach for the next installment of that restaurant’s Chef Collective series, where chefs from around the world join together to create an innovative menu of unpredictable flavors.

NEW YORK:  The 47th edition of Lincoln Center's Out of Doors festival will take place July 26-August 13. The festival will offer a variety of free outdoor music, dance, and spoken-word performances. 

For information on upcoming events in New York, visit Masterplanner: http://www.masterplanneronline.com/newyork

ORLANDO/CENTRAL FLORIDA:  The Orange County Convention Center is the first facility to offer MapSpacer, a new virtual space-selection and design application from Colorado-based Concept 3D. The tool allows planners to explore the seven-million-square-foot venue through virtual-reality-enabled photospheres, images, and 3-D models, and to design those spaces by pulling from the convention center's inventory of tables, chairs, equipment, etc. Those plans can then be submitted to convention-center staff for cost proposals. 

TORONTO:  Electric Island Festival has relocated to Woodbine Park after flooding at the original location, Hanlan's Point. BlogTO: http://bit.ly/2qsRWuC

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With contributions from Claire Hoffman in Los Angeles, Mitra Sorrells in Orlando, and Beth Kormanik, Michele Laufik, Jill Menze, Rayna Katz, and Ian Zelaya in New York.

BizBash Daily is the must-read digest of event industry news from BizBash.com.

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