Are you planning on attending the Inauguration in Washington, DC? Look no further, I have provided a list of parties, concerts, official balls and unofficial balls.

There will be many (as in hundreds) of events including DC’s night life throughout the week but the hottest tickets in town, besides the official Inaugural Ball, will have special celebrity guest performances. The festivities kick off with Jay-z’s Inaugural Party at Love on Friday.  The biggest show will be on Sunday at the Lincoln Memorial, We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial. The party will take place on Friday.  

Ready to go, fire it up!

Here’s a message from President-elect Barack Obama: Inauguration Night: Your Neighborhood Ball

Obama Inauguration Celebrities: Who, What And Where by Jake Coyle

NEW YORK — If you thought the Golden Globes was a party, just wait until you see Barack Obama’s inauguration. Next week, Washington will look a lot like a colder version of Hollywood.

Here’s a roundup of who will be where, keeping in mind that in the mad rush to D.C., schedule changes may occur.

THE BIG SHOW

_ On Sunday, tradition will be upheld with a free star-studded concert on the National Mall, starting at 2:30 p.m. Among the many performers: Bruce Springsteen, U2, Beyonce, Usher, Garth Brooks, Stevie Wonder, John Mellencamp, Shakira, Mary J. Blige, Herbie Hancock, Josh Groban, John Legend and James Taylor. Denzel Washington, Jamie Foxx, Martin Luther King III and Queen Latifah will read. Obama will stop by and HBO will broadcast “We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial.”

WHERE’S OPRAH

_ Winfrey will host a live episode of “The Oprah Winfrey Show” from the Kennedy Center Opera House on Monday. She’ll also host a second episode on Wednesday. Winfrey has not announced her plans on Inauguration Day.

WHERE’S SPIKE

_ Spike Lee will appear at a daylong symposium at Howard University on Monday to discuss topics including the impact of Obama on Black America. Also there will be Rev. Al Sharpton, Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., Dr. Cornel West and Dr. Henry Louis Gates. Lee will also host an after-party Tuesday evening.

OTHER CONCERTS

_ BET will hold an awards ceremony, the BET Honors, Saturday at the Warner Theater to honor Mary J. Blige, filmmaker Tyler Perry, Ervin “Magic” Johnson and others. Gabrielle Union will host and performers include Queen Latifa, Ne-Yo, Anita Baker and Joss Stone.

_ The Hip-hop Caucus will host a concert Saturday at Ibiza with Common, Mary J. Blige and Nelly.

_ Jessica Alba will host a kickoff event by youth voter initiative Declare Yourself on Sunday dubbed “A New Birth of Citizenship.” Maroon 5 and DJ Samantha Ronson will perform.

_ “Kids’ Inaugural: We Are the Future” will be held Monday night at the Verizon Center and air on the Disney Channel. Performing will be Miley Cyrus, the Jonas Brothers and Bow Wow. Michelle Obama and Jill Biden will host with their families.

_ The “America Feels Kinda Cool Again Inaugural Gala” will feature the Beastie Boys, Sheryl Crow and Citizen Cope on Monday at the 9:30 club.

_ Jay-Z will perform a concert “In Concert on the Eve on Change” at the Warner Theater on Monday.

_ Aretha Franklin will play a free concert at the Kennedy Center with Nuttin’ But Stringz and the Let Freedom Ring Choir on Monday.

_ Manifest Hope will finish a three-day-long, Inauguration-themed art exhibit with a party featuring performances by Santogold, Moby and De La Soul.

THE OFFICIAL BALLS

_ The Neighborhood Ball: ABC will broadcast this ball for Washington residents at the Washington Convention Center. Performing will be Mariah Carey, Jay-Z, Beyonce, Alicia Keys, Faith Hill and Mary J. Blige.

_ The Youth Ball: This ball is for people aged 18 to 35 to celebrate “the role young Americans can play to serve their communities.” After announcing and then junking a similarly themed ball, MTV will broadcast it. Fall Out Boy is among the acts attending.

_ The other eight official balls are: the Home States Ball, the Commander in Chief Ball, the Biden Home State Ball, the Mid-Atlantic Ball, the Western and Southern Regional Ball, the Midwest Regional Ball, the New England Ball and the Southern Regional Ball.

THE UNOFFICIAL BALLS

_ The “Dreams of My Father” American Scholars Inaugural Ball will take place Sunday at the Four Seasons and feature Alicia Keys, Macy Gray and LL Cool J.

_ The Voto Latino Inaugural Party will on Sunday include Marc Antony, Rosario Dawson, Tony Plana and Wilmer Valderrama.

_ The Hip-Hop Inaugural Ball will take place Monday at the Harman Center and be hosted by Russell Simmons, LL Cool J, T.I. and Young Jeezy

_ The Huffington Post Preinaugural Ball will be held Monday night at the Newseum and feature performances by Sting and will.i.am. Attendees will include Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, Denzel Washington, Shakira, Jon Bon Jovi, Halle Berry and Ashton Kutcher.

_ The Green Inaugural Ball will be held Monday at the Portrait Gallery and be hosted by Al Gore.

_ Muhammad Ali will attend the Kentucky Inaugural Ball on Monday at the Marriott Wardman Hotel.

_ The nonprofit arts and entertainment advocacy group Creative Coalition will hold a gala to be headlined by Elvis Costello and Sting at the Harman Center for the Arts on Tuesday. Also attending will be Anne Hathaway, Spike Lee, Tim Robbins, Maggie Gyllenhaal and others.

_ The Purple Ball, Tuesday at the Fairmont Hotel, will be hosted by Lou Gossett Jr. and Il Divo will perform. Expected to attend are: Ashley Judd, Patricia Arquette, John Cusack, Tim Robbins, Ed Harris, Ashley Judd, Josh Lucas, Amy Brenneman, Brendan Fraser, Susan Sarandon and Lisa Marie Presley.

_ There will be two American Music Balls: The Legends Ball, hosted by Dionne Warwick and featuring Chaka Khan and George Clinton; and the Urban Ball _ hosted by Ludacris and featuring Cedric the Entertainer and Monica. Both will be held Tuesday at the Marriot Wardman Park Hotel.

_ BET will host an inaugural ball at the Mandarin Oriental hotel Tuesday. The network will broadcast an hour special to coincide with the ball, which will include a performance by Wyclef Jean.

_ The Equality Ball, hosted by the Human Rights Campaign, will be held Tuesday at the Mayflower Hotel with appearances by Cyndi Lauper, Melissa Etheridge and Rufus Wainwright.

_ The Inaugural Peace Ball, Tuesday at the Smithsonian Postal Museum, will be hosted by Harry Belafonte and include Joan Baez, Graham Nash and Jackson Brown.

_ Rihanna will perform at the Recording Industry Association of America Inaugural Ball to benefit Feeding America on Tuesday.

_ Nas, Josh Groban, Slash and Robert Randolph are among those performing at the Heroes Red, White & Blue Inaugural Ball (benefiting military families and veterans) on Tuesday at the Warner Theater

Source: Inauguration Night: Your Neighborhood Ball

So you want to get an audience with Clinton Sparks. Yeah? Well, get in line.

See, getting an audience with Clinton Sparks can take time, something the guy doesn’t have in abundance. To find him, you’ve got to thief moments when he’s not hosting radio. Or producing mixtapes. Or breaking down new music on TV. Or writing tunes for the likes of Ludacris and Beyonce. You know…find his downtime. But what you and I consider downtime really isn’t downtime in Clinton Spark’s world. He always has something on the go.

“I have so much passion for everything music related whether it’s the business or putting shows together, writing, producing, DJing parties, dancing, performing,” Sparks said in an interview. “I always have much bigger plans than it may appear and am strategically setting things up with other plans in mind. It’s very calculated.”

This goes a long way in explaining how the self-proclaimed “Martha Stewart of hip hop” went from Boston radio stunt guy to one of the hottest names in the industry. There’s his skill on the wheels – both Rolling Stone and USA Today named him one of the world’s top 10 DJs. Production credits include Billboard-charted tracks for The Game and Akon. His nationally syndicated show is one of the biggest stars on Sirius Radio. Oh, he’s gotten into television as well, hosting The Daily 10 as their resident music expert.

If Sparks was a decathlete, he’d be the guy pushing to do an 11th event. This never-stop mentality has skyrocketed Sparks into the mainstream – his ability to mesh a love of hip-hop with pop culture has won him favor with heads and celebs alike. Nowhere is that more evident than with Smashtime Radio.

With Smashtime, Sparks brings this I’m-gonna-do-everything-and-anything mentality to the airwaves, playing a plethora of music while rotating guests through his on-air party.

“Smashtime stemmed from the last hour of my show on Hot 97.7 in Boston where I would just go in heavy because it was the hour when everyone was leaving the club. Now, its syndicated in over 25 markets worldwide,” Sparks explains. “I have also turned Smashtime into the hottest party in Las Vegas. I play everything from Hip-Hop to Rock, Dance, pop, old school, 80’s. We also have surprise guests every week from Ne-Yo to Akon, Carmen Electra to the cast from the Hills.”

Off the airwaves, Sparks has been holding it down as one of the most sought-after producers in the game. Most recently, he produced the title track for Bun B’s “II Trill” that debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 200 chart. And while he’s already worked with some incredibly tight artists, Sparks wants to keep pushing the envelope into different genres.

“A lot of people will be very surprised with what I plan to do next year with music, but I will never abandon Hip Hop,” he explained when asked what artists he’d like to work with. “Jay-Z would be one. Weezer and Teddy Riley are some people too. But there are so many I’d like to work with in all different genres of music. But after I complete my Clinton Sparks [the artist] album, people will really get to know what I’m about.”

For the most part, Sparks is all about the hustle. While his forays into pop and rock music have expanded his audience globally, his desire to be the hardest working man in hip-hop maintains his cred with heads (check the rhyme!) Plus, he knows his roots. While Sparks realizes he’s quickly becoming the voice of hip hop radio for the 2K generation, he also knows none of it would’ve been possible without pioneers like Stretch & Bobbito, Lady B, Red Alert and Funkmaster Flex.

“I love that after all my work into creating and identifying Smashtime that people are recognizing it more and downloading and podcasting it,” Sparks said. “As far as the DJs mentioned, I view them as trendsetters and am very grateful for all of them for helping to open doors for the radio DJ.”

With these doors now kicked wide open, we gotta ask – what does the future of Clinton Sparks hold? The guy is seemingly capable of anything, so where could it lead? To gain some insight, I played corporate pitchman and tossed a few show ideas his way. Here’s what Sparks had to say:

Mike Halford: I might be biting here, but what about a VH1 show called “Be My sPArks?” It’s a 10-person competition to become the personal assistant to the busiest man in the industry.

Clinton Sparks: Well Diddy is already doing that and I strive to be original. So I’d say “Guys do you know that show already exists? Who’s in charge here?”

MH: A little more indie and for the web…how about the YouTube: Smashtime Mixtape Wars. You host webisodes, judging the best user-submitted music/video mashups from the wide world of sports.

CS: Well if it’s all videos people submit then will I be see on screen as the host or just narrate? That would be the first question. Then, how much would I get paid and how well will they promote it. All of that would play into my decision.

MH: How about a Food Network show called “In Tha Kitchen with Clinton?” You collaborate with your favorite artists to make your favorite dishes and lay down tracks.

CS: That’s a decent idea if the kitchen was a metaphor for studio and we actually cooked up beats live in front of the audience, then had an 800-number to auction off the beats that were just created live in front of your eyes…have like big producers from hip hop, country, rock, etc. As you can see, when someone puts in idea in front of me I have 10 more to add.

That last line basically sums up Sparks in a nutshell. Always thinking, always pushing the boundaries. So if (or when) the Martha Stewart of hip-hop and Martha Stewart end up collaborating on some mac n’ cheese, remember, the idea started here first. Big things that start from the littlest ideas – now there’s something to get familiar with.

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This interview was done by guest writer Mike Halford. Mike Halford is the co-owner of the Orland Kurtenblog or as they sometimes call it “KB”, which is pretty fuckin’ confusing when Mike and I have a conversation because I sometimes refer to Killahbeez as the “KB” as well. The “Orland Kurtenblog, aka the KB, is a Vancouver Canucks blog written by Jason Brough and Mike Halford. It’s mostly about the NHL but includes other sports too. It can be found on the interweb.”

I know both these dudes and definitely can say the shit they write is hilarious and interesting. So check them out over at: www.kurtenblog.com.

A grip of new music for you folks to check out. Two new joints from Busta Rhymes off of the upcoming album Blessed. New tracks as well from Obie Trice, Jadakiss, Bishop Lamont and a track from Canadian artist Kardinal Offishall.

Busta Rhymes ft. Lil’ Wayne & Ludacris “Throw It Up” (Produced by Cool N Dre)

Busta Rhymes “I Got Bass” (Produced by Bangladesh)

Obie Trice “So Much Drama”

Bishop Lamont “Grow Up” (Produced by Dr. Dre)

Kardinal Offishall ft. Clipse “Set It Off”

Jadakiss “Don’t Start Nothin’”