UNCF Announces Airing of an Evening of Stars(R) Tribute to Aretha Franklin

UNCF Announces Airing of an Evening of Stars(R) Tribute to Aretha Franklin

Scheduled to Air Nationally Including Top Ten Media Markets

FAIRFAX, Va., Jan. 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- This year's United Negro College Fund's (UNCF) An Evening of Stars(R) Tribute to Aretha Franklin (AEOS) kicks off Black History Month with national broadcasts, including the top ten media markets across the country, such as KNBC in Los Angeles and Chicago SuperStation WGN on Jan. 27, WWOR MY9 in New York and BET on Jan. 28. A complete station lineup, background information and media contacts can be found online at http://www.uncf.org/AEOS.

This year's program, produced by acclaimed five-time Emmy-award winning director Louis J. Horvitz, marks the first time in 28 years a woman has been honored for her longstanding and generous support of UNCF's mission to provide deserving students with access to higher education and scholarship support. Additionally, Franklin is also respected for her well-known activism and philanthropy on behalf of numerous other causes.

The program features stellar performances by some of Hollywood's biggest stars including recent Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominee Jennifer Hudson, winning rave reviews for her performance in Dream Girls. Other performers include recent Kennedy Center honoree Smokey Robinson, American Idol winners Ruben Studdard and Fantasia, former AEOS honoree Stevie Wonder, Natalie Cole, Michael Bolton and Joss Stone, to name a few. Ahmet Ertegun, music industry titan, founder of Atlantic Records and a Franklin mentor, makes his last national television appearance on the program honoring the Queen of Soul. Ertegun died in December of 2006.

"This year's program promises to be one of the best we've ever produced," said Michael L. Lomax, Ph.D., president and CEO of UNCF. "We expect our largest AEOS audience ever this year," he continues. "UNCF has made unprecedented gains in media outreach to promote the show and the response from the national and local markets has been overwhelming."

About An Evening of Stars(R)

An Evening of Stars(R) (AEOS), formerly the Lou Rawls Parade of Stars, first aired in 1979, and since that time has become one of the longest running and most successful televised events in U.S. history. AEOS 2007 will be the first without its founder Lou Rawls, who died in January 2006. Rawls, a spokesperson for UNCF and champion for AEOS for more than 25 years, is credited with helping raise more than $200 million for the UNCF to supplement the cost of higher education for scholarship recipients and member institutions. This year's show, now in its 28th season, is sponsored by American Airlines, McDonalds, Prudential, Target, Toyota and Wachovia. AEOS has featured a who's who of recognizable talent, including Frank Sinatra, Bill Cosby, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Sammy Davis, Jr., Dick Clark, Reba McIntyre, Richard Pryor, Beyonce Knowles, Jill Scott, Luther Vandross, Whoopi Goldberg, Patti LaBelle, Ed McMahon, Michael Bolton, Hall and Oates, Ziggy Marley and scores of others.

About UNCF

As the nation's oldest and most successful minority higher education assistance organization, the United Negro College Fund's mission is to provide financial support to its 39 member institutions and increase minority degree attainment by reducing financial barriers to college. UNCF institutions and other historically black colleges and universities are highly effective, awarding 25 percent of African American baccalaureate degrees. UNCF administers more than 300 programs, including scholarship, internship and fellowship programs, mentoring, summer enrichment, and curriculum and faculty development programs. Today, UNCF supports more than 65,000 students at over 900 colleges and universities across the country.

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Source: United Negro College Fund

CONTACT: Rey Cheatham Banks, Press Secretary of the United Negro College
Fund, +1-703-205-3480, or media@uncf.org

Web site: http://www.uncf.org/

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