9 short films, all made in Charlotte

Movies aren't often made in Charlotte, but nine short films were shot here recently using local talent, and they're now available to view online.

Each is less than 10 minutes in length, and each will be vying for 11 awards -- including Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director and Best Picture -- at an event set for 7 p.m. Monday at the Whisky River nightclub in uptown.

At least 75 percent of each film had to be shot within 60 miles of Charlotte, and all had to incorporate a queen of spades playing card in a key way. Eight judges voted on the "Made in Charlotte" awards, including Matt Harris and Ramona Holloway of 107.9 The Link.

Admission to the "Made in Charlotte" event is $10 in the door, and light hors d'oeuvres will be served. The EpiCentre (where Whisky River is located) is at 210 E. Trade St., near Time Warner Cable Arena.

The event -- presented by the non-profit Charlotte Film Community -- was originally scheduled for this past Monday, but was postponed due to the winter storm.

For details on the "Made in Charlotte" project and to check out the films, click here.

Hey, ladies: Wanna play some roller derby?

Race City Roller Derby (RCRD), a Charlotte-based women’s flat track roller derby organization founded last summer, has launched a player-recruiting drive.

To be eligible to participate, interested women must be at least 19, have health insurance, and be in "reasonable" physical condition. Skating experience is "helpful," but not necessary.

The organization currently fields the Charlotte Speed Demons, which will be competing on the national level; it will launch a second team late this year that will compete regionally. The Speed Demons kick off its 2011 season on Feb. 26, when it takes on the Columbia, S.C.-based Bad Co. at First Ward Recreation Center (610 E. 7th St.). Tickets are $10 in advance here, or $14 at the door.

To express your interest in participating, e-mail your name and phone number to info@racecityrollerderby.com. Details: Click here.

More than 40,000 women currently are competing in roller derby in the U.S., according to RCRD.

Can you sing like Justin Bieber?

Yo, Justin Bieber fans: Stop singing the pop star's hits while staring at yourself in the mirror -- or posting videos of yourself singing them on YouTube -- and make plans to be at Northlake Mall this Saturday afternoon.

That's when a competition takes place among teens ages 13-17, who'll sing versions of "Baby," "U Smile" or "Never Say Never" for a chance to fly to Los Angeles to attend the premiere of Bieber's new movie. ("Justin Bieber: Never Say Never" opens in theaters Feb. 21.)

Registration begins at 1 p.m. in the Grand Court on Northlake's lower level; the contest starts at 2. Contestants may pre-register by e-mailing their legal name and age to BieberCharlotte@gmail.com.

One of the contestants will wind up going to L.A. -- this isn't some regional qualifier where the winner moves on to another round. No, the Charlotte winner gets a trip for FOUR to the premiere on Feb. 9, including airfare and a two-night hotel stay. One national grand-prize winner also will win a brief meet-and-greet with Bieber at the premiere.

For contest details, click here.

The wait for Lauryn Hill is over. Or is it?

Lauryn Hill, who made one of the greatest albums of the ’90s, is scheduled to take the stage at Amos’ Southend on Saturday night.

Doors open at 9. The hip-hop diva actually will go on at … 9:30? 10? 11? Midnight?

If it’s 1 a.m. by the time she breaks into her first song, don’t be surprised. At a recent comeback concert in New York, she kept fans (including soul superstar Prince) waiting for almost four hours. When she finally took the stage, she responded to some boos by saying, “Don’t do that. That’s disrespectful. I spent my entire 20s sacrificing my life to give you love. … I personally know I’m worth the wait.”

The 35-year-old Hill has long been an enigma.

A member of the acclaimed rap group the Fugees from 1992-97, the New Jersey native released a debut solo album in 1998 titled “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” that yielded the No. 1 smash “Doo Wop (That Thing)” and garnered 10 Grammy nominations. It went on to win Album of the Year, beating Madonna’s “Ray of Light.”

And then … she went off the grid, so to speak.

She dabbled in several other art forms, got pregnant, fired her management team, absorbed herself in Bible study, took on a spiritual advisor, and stopped listening to music. She resurfaced briefly for a 2001 MTV Unplugged concert, and then again in the mid-2000s as the Fugees got together for a short-lived reunion.

Which brings us to Saturday night’s concert.

Tickets are $67.76 each including fees, which makes it the most expensive Amos’ show in recent memory. (Average price to see the other upcoming acts on the venue’s schedule: $16.22.)

Will Hill be worth it? Depends, I guess, on just how long we have to wait.

New Kids, Backstreet Boys plan NC show

New Kids on the Block and the Backstreet Boys -- which collaborated on a show-stealing performance for "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest" last weekend -- won't make a visit to Charlotte in 2011.

But the two iconic groups will perform just up I-85 at Greensboro Coliseum on Saturday, July 23, one of 16 new dates added to their "NKOTBSB Tour."

Tickets go on sale Saturday, Jan. 15 at LiveNation.com, the Greensboro Coliseum box office, Ticketmaster or charge-by-phone at 800-745-3000.

AOL: The best of Charlotte winners are...

We all love “best-of” lists, and this week, AOL has unveiled a new list of bars, restaurants and hotspots that it is touting as the “best” in Charlotte.

Charlotte is among 25 U.S. cities that are a part of AOL’s “City’s Best” program, which used editors and writers to select their favorite food, entertainment and lifestyle venues; users of the site were then asked to vote for their favorites, from the editors’ and writers’ lists.

The voting was held at www.citysbest.com between Oct. 13 and Nov. 30, and an AOL spokesperson said “thousands” of people participated in the selection process. Here are the winners:

Best After-Work Bar: Rí Rá Irish Pub, 208 N. Tryon St.

Best Burgers: Penguin Drive-In, 1921 Commonwealth Ave.

Best Cheap Eats: Amélie’s French Bakery & Café, 2424 N. Davidson St.

Best Chinese Food: P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, multiple locations.

Best Desserts: Tasty Yo, multiple locations.

Best Dive Bar: Thomas Street Tavern, 1218 Thomas Ave.

Best Family-Friendly Restaurant: Skyland Family Restaurant, 4544 South Blvd.

Best Fashion Boutique: J.T. Posh, 2400 Park Road.

Best Hotel: Ballantyne Hotel and Lodge, 10000 Ballantyne Commons.

Best Live Music: Visulite Theatre, 1615 Elizabeth Ave.

Best Movie Theater: Ayrsley Grand Cinema 14, 9110 Kings Parade Blvd.

Best Pizza: Luisa’s Brick Oven Pizzeria, 1730 Abbey Place.

Best Places to Break Up: Freedom Park, 1900 East Blvd.

Best Romantic Restaurants: The Fig Tree Restaurant, 1601 E. 7th St., and The Melting Pot, multiple locations.

Best Salon: Lockstar Salon, 2132 McClintock Road.

Best Seafood: Bonefish Grill, multiple locations.

Best Sports Bar: Hickory Tavern, multiple locations.

Ringling Bros. on-sale bash set for Saturday

Ladies and gentlemen children of all ages: Tickets for "Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Presents Barnum's FUNundrum!" go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday.

To mark the occasion, fans are invited to celebrate P.T. Barnum's 200 birthday at a special on-sale bash at the Time Warner Cable Arena box office, from 10 to noon. There'll be clowns, birthday cake, and giveaways, plus the first 200 paying adults get one free ticket.

The show -- which features 130 performers from six continents, along with pachyderms, cowboys, pirates and mermaids -- will be at the uptown arena in Charlotte on the following dates:

Wed., Jan. 26 7 p.m.
Thu., Jan. 27 7 p.m.
Fri., Jan. 28 10:30 a.m. & 7 p.m.
Sat., Jan, 29 11 a.m., 3 p.m., 7 p.m.
Sun., Jan. 30 11 a.m., 3 p.m.

Tickets are $15 and up, with a limited number of $100 Circus Celebrity seats also available. All seats are reserved and available at through timewarnercablearena.com, ticketmaster.com, the Time Warner Cable Arena box office, all Ticketmaster outlets, or charge by phone 800-745-3000.

For more information, visit www.Ringling.com