Keep an eye out for these celebrities at the DNC

As Clint Eastwood might say, here come the hot-doggers.

Whereas Hollywood conservatives (save for Clint and Jon Voight) seemed to shy away from the spotlight during the Republican National Convention in Tampa this past week, Hollywood liberals are lining up to get into Charlotte for next week's DNC.

Top A-listers like George Clooney, Bruce Springsteen and Oprah Winfrey were rumored but are unlikely to show up. Yet the list of recognizable talent scheduled to make speeches or appearances or music here over the next several days is still long and distinguished. Some highlights:

SATURDAY
Recording artists Kathy Mattea, Anthony Hamilton and Biz Markie will be among the 20-plus acts serenading 15,000 journalists at the Charlotte host committee’s $2 million media party at the N.C. Music Factory.

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/08/30/3488352/cool-job-to-scoop-up-history.html#storylink=cpy

MONDAY

Grammy winner James Taylor and Academy Award nominee Jeff Bridges will both perform (yeah, The Dude is a musician, too) at CarolinaFest in uptown. Ty Pennington, former "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" host, will build half a house at the festival.

A party for the California delegation at Fountain Plaza at NC Music Factory will feature rock supergroup Campy Freddy (Dave Navarro is among the members) and guest appearances by rocker Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray and Oscar nominee Juliette Lewis.

R&B man John Legend and neo-soul hip-hoppers The Roots will perform at separate parties, at the NASCAR Hall of Fame and the Elder Gallery, respectively. Rumored guests at the Legend party are "America's Got Talent" host Nick Cannon and singer Edwin McCain.

TUESDAY

Actress Amber Riley (Mercedes on Fox's "Glee") will sing the national anthem at Time Warner Cable Arena.

"CSI: New York" star Hill Harper and Golden Globe winner Alfre Woodard will host a political summit for students at Johnson C. Smith University.

Actresses Rosario Dawson and America Ferrara will sit on a panel at Voto Latino's policy forum at Stage Door Theater.

Blogger Perez Hilton and hip-hop group Far East Movement will headline a Turn Up The Vote event at Mez at the EpiCentre.

A cocktail reception for the National Association of Broadcasters at Dressler's Restaurant has a guest list that includes several Hollywood stars: Tim Daly, Patricia Arquette, Alfre Woodard, John Leguizamo, Beau Bridges, Rose Byrne, Tony Shalhoub and Wayne Knight (Newman from "Seinfeld"!).

Rapper Common will perform and hip-hopper Jermaine Dupri will DJ at a Fillmore party.

Former New York Yankee Bernie Williams is scheduled to perform with his band (he’s now a musician) at McGlohon Theatre.

The PFAW Foundation will party with Hollywood stars including Jane Lynch ("Glee"), Seth MacFarlane (director of "Ted"), David Hyde Pierce and Kathleen Turner at Kazba at the EpiCentre.

Comics DL Hughley, Aries Spears and Tommy Davidson perform standup at Belk Theater.

WEDNESDAY

Jazz saxophonist Branford Marsalis does the national anthem at the arena.

Gabrielle Douglas, McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman and Jordyn Wieber of the gold-medal-winning U.S. women’s gymnastics team will headline an event at Foundation For the Carolinas.

Jeff Bridges will attend the non-partisan Impact Film Festival at Mez. He narrated “Hunger Hits Home,” a film about childhood hunger that’s part of the festival.

Actor Kal Penn ("House," the "Harold & Kumar" movies) will be on a panel at Discovery Place moderated by Chelsea Clinton.

Tim Daly, Patricia Arquette, Alfre Woodard, John Leguizamo, Beau Bridges, Rose Byrne, Tony Shalhoub and Wayne Knight will lunch on the Patron Tequila Express near the Amtrak Station. They'll also be at the Creative Coalition's benefit gala at Fountain Plaza at NC Music Factory, headlined by the B-52s.

Rock band Foo Fighters perform in support of Rock the Vote at the Fillmore.

Actress Eva Longoria will host a party at Amos' Southend for Got Your Six and Lifetime TV; rapper Flo Rida will perform.

Rosario Dawson re-teams with America Ferrera; they'll join Taboo of the Black Eyed Peas and hip-hop pioneer Russell Simmons at Voto Latino's Purple Carpet Bash at All American Pub.

THURSDAY

Actress Fran Drescher ("The Nanny") will make the keynote address at a business program at the Hearst Tower.

Actress Jessica Alba will co-host the week’s most important fundraising event, “Super-O-Rama,” at the Fillmore. Rapper Pitbull and pop-rockers the Scissor Sisters will perform.

ALL WEEK

Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington will pop in and out of Flex and Fit Gym, where her "Oasis" (a "rejuvenating retreat" will be set up Monday-Thursday.

"The Daily Show" and host Jon Stewart will be at ImaginOn Tuesday-Friday for tapings.

ALSO

Ashley Judd: The actress is coming to Charlotte as a delegate (from Tennessee).

Actress Thora Birch ("American Beauty") will be here as a California delegate.

Elizabeth Banks: She tweeted earlier this month that she'll be here for the DNC; no other details.

Follow Théoden Janes on Twitter for updates about celebrities in town for the DNC: @theodenjanes; https://twitter.com/theodenjanes. IF YOU SEE A CELEBRITY, e-mail tjanes@charlotteobserver.com.

Gabby Douglas headlining DNC-related event

Olympic champion Gabby Douglas will be joined by three other members of the gold-medal-winning U.S. women's gymnastics team at a public (but fairly exclusive) event in uptown Charlotte next Wednesday.

The "Kids' Health Goes Gold" event, part of a new national initiative promoting children's health and wellness, will also feature McKayla Maroney, Aly Raisman and Jordyn Wieber; U.S. Olympic swimmers Rebecca Soni and Dana Vollmer (both gold medalists); and Lauren Cheney and Abby Wambach, who helped lead the U.S. women's soccer team to its third straight Olympic gold medal.

Medical experts from Levine Children's Hospital, part of Carolinas HealthCare System, also will participate.

The session is scheduled for 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Wednesday at Foundation For The Carolinas, 220 N. Tryon St. Following a presentation, guests can dine with the Olympic champions, and there will be autograph and photo sessions; each guest also will receive a souvenir T-shirt.

Tickets are $150 a pop at http://kidshealthgoesgold.eventbrite.com.

Oh, and if you miss Douglas, Maroney, Raisman and Wieber next week, they'll be back in October for the Kellogg's Tour of Gymnastics Champions at Time Warner Cable Arena.

Follow Théoden Janes on Twitter for updates about celebrities in town for the DNC: @theodenjanes; https://twitter.com/theodenjanes.

Bill Clinton, will.i.am team up for DNC bash

We already knew Bill Clinton was going to be in town for the Democratic National Convention, since he's set to deliver the official nominating address on Sept. 6 at Bank of America Stadium.

But there's now another slot filled on his calendar for next week: According to Politico, the former president will team up with will.i.am of Black Eyed Peas to headline a Democratic Party of Arkansas fundraising event on Sept. 4 at the Westin Charlotte in uptown.

The event, titled "A Party Two Decades in the Making," will celebrate the 20-year anniversary of Clinton's nomination as the Democratic Party's presidential nominee.

Tickets are $150 and available here.

Ty Pennington confirmed for DNC visit

While he may not be screaming “Move that bus!” this time around, former "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" host Ty Pennington is once again working with a team of volunteers to build a home for a deserving military veteran.

The DIY expert and TV personality has teamed up with Sears' Craftsman brand of tools to lead state delegates and elected officials for a “House United,” a project that will see one half of a home built in Tampa during the Republican National Convention, and the other half built in Charlotte during the Democratic National Convention.

Pennington will be on hand to swing hammers, nail two-by-fours and paint walls during the events.

Craftsman brand is encouraging people to get involved by visiting the House United tab at www.Facebook.com/Craftsman to sign a petition and encourage their state delegates to participate and stop by each event to lend a hand.In Charlotte, the project will be built during CarolinaFest, at 510 S. College St. (across from the convention center, between Tryon and College Streets), from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday, Sept. 3.

After the two halves of the home are built during the conventions, they will be "united" in Charlotte's Belmont neighborhood in October.

Another plot twist in 'Bachelorette' cheating story

OK, what in the world is going on here?

First, a report started circulating Wednesday that Charlotte single mom Emily Maynard had been caught cheating and was kicked to the curb by fiance/Utah entrepreneur Jef Holm (see story here). A few hours later, People.com broke a completely contradictory story after interviewing Maynard and Holm, who denied the breakup rumors. "It's one hundred percent not true," Maynard said.

Sounded pretty good to us. After all, why would the couple have any reason at all to lie about this? And yet, US Weekly seems pretty determined to not let this go.

The magazine is reporting today that Holm's brother, Mike Holm, witnessed the whole fight between Maynard and Jef Holm, which allegedly involved explicit text messages Maynard received from another man. According to reports, this happened during a family vacation at a beach house in Pawleys Island, S.C.; many members of Holm's extended family were present, as was Maynard's 7-year-old daughter, Ricki.

Mike Holm told US Weekly: "I can tell you that it's all 100 percent true. I was there and I heard the fight and watched the whole thing go down, Emily leaving and everything. I love my brother very much and, like the rest of our family, I just want him to be happy."

Obviously, someone's not being 100 percent truthful. But who is it?

Emily, Jef: Reports of cheating totally false

The tabloids -- gasp! -- were wrong.

FoxNews.com today published a story (citing US Weekly, which cited "a source") that Utah entrepreneur Jef Holm had dumped Emily Maynard because he caught her trading naughty texts. A few hours later, People.com rebutted the story, citing much more reliable sources: Maynard and Holm themselves.

Maynard, the 26-year-old single mom and recent star of ABC's "The Bachelorette," told People that reports of an epic fight during a family vacation in Myrtle Beach last weekend are "one hundred percent not true."

"It's funny to me," Holm is quoted in the People story as saying. "We were in a gated community in a private home with just my brothers and sisters. It's just bogus a 'source' would [say] we were fighting. None of that is true."

People reports that the couple dropped off Maynard's 7-year-old daughter Ricki at school together on Wednesday.

"I have never been more in love or felt more confident about our relationship," Maynard told People.com Wednesday. "We're so excited about the future and to be back in Charlotte and things are actually happening – looking at places to live and going to school. I'm happier than I've ever been."

Tabloid report: Emily Maynard caught cheating

Are "Bachelorette" star Emily Maynard and Jef Holm splitsville?

Just weeks after the couple went public with their engagement following the summer edition of ABC's hit reality-dating series, US Weekly is reporting that Holm caught Charlotte's most famous single mom cheating on him (this according to a FoxNews.com story).

According to the report, Holm discovered naughty texts and pictures from another guy on Maynard's mobile phone. US Weekly's source claims: "Jef and Emily went into a bedroom and were yelling" during a vacation with Holm's family. "He said, 'You've been (expletive) cheating on me for months!'" He then allegedly told Maynard to "Pack your (expletive) and get the (expletive) out."

Now, remember: This comes from US Weekly. Take it with a shaker of salt. Especially considering the fact that Emily's Twitter feed is overflowing with tweets that suggest everything is just hunky-dory. Just Monday, she tweeted, "The happiest I've ever been in my life with my two favorite people in the world. I love you to the moon" -- along with a photo of herself with Jef and daughter Ricki, 7.

Six hours ago, she posted a photo of Jef with a cat and added "Love him even more now."

In 2001, Maynard got engaged to Brad Womack on "The Bachelor," but the couple didn't last long. Ricki's father is the late NASCAR driver Ricky Hendrick.