Shaq heads to reality TV on ABC

Behind the Scenes

Toe To Toe: NBA star Shaquille O’Neal, who joins the Cleveland Cavaliers next season, will star in an ABC reality series that sets him up with top athletes from sports outside of his NBA comfort zone. Filming began recently in Pittsburgh for “Shaq Vs.,” when the Hoops star will on Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in football, reports USA Today. Future hourlong episodes will feature Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, retired boxer Oscar De La Hoya, St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols, tennis pro Serena Williams and beach volleyball Olympians Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh. O’Neal, 37, said he’s also hoping to book his friend Lance Armstrong for a cycling competition once the Tour de France ends. The series is set to premiere Aug. 18 and will air Tuesdays at 9 ET/PT. O’Neal said he came up with the idea as a fun way to help train for the NBA season and figured sports fans “would really want to see an athlete play another sport.” He knew most of the athletes and recruited some of them on Twitter. ABC was immediately interested. Each episode is to include preliminary challenges, banter from news conferences, interaction with needy kids, and O’Neal and his rival negotiating a handicap. The laughs come from “trash talking,” but “when it comes to competing, there is no joking,” O’Neal says.

Making His Band: Diddy formed the groups Day 26, Danity Kane and Da Band but, this summer the mogul will take on the task of making ‘His Band.’ “I think its new and its fresh… It’s something different for me,” said Diddy in a recently unveiled trailer for the MTV reality series. “It’s not called Making the Band. It’s called Making His Band.” Set to premiere July 27, Diddy, along with a few recognizable faces, will embark on the creation of what is being called his last album “Last Train To Paris” and the creation of a band that will perform live with the Bad Boy and Sean Jean mogul. “I think one of the keys to success with this album is being able to do it and perform it Live! so I’m putting together a band,” said Diddy. Diddy and his team will leave no stone unturned as they scour the country for musicians and back-up singers to bring his music to life. Those who make it through the early auditions will spend several weeks proving their worth and ultimately Diddy will choose the best of the best to be in his band. Among those joining Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs are noted choreographer Laurie Ann Gibson and former Danity Kane member Dawn Richard.

Moving On: A Louisiana judge has refused to postpone next month’s trial of rapper Corey “CMurder” Miller, who is accused of killing a teenager at a New Orleansarea nightclub. Prosecutors wanted a delay so they could investigate a claim by another man that he killed the teenager. Judge Hans Liljeberg ruled Monday that prosecutors have less than two weeks to investigate allegations raised by Miller’s attorney that Juan Flowers killed Steve Thomas on Jan. 12, 2002. Flowers is serving a life sentence in a Georgia prison for another killing. Jury selection is scheduled to begin Aug. 3 in Miller’s case. The 38-year-old Miller is charged with second-degree murder and faces a mandatory life sentence if convicted.

Briefly, Tyler Perry is paying for 65 children from a Philadelphia day camp to go to Walt Disney World after reading about allegations that a suburban swim club had shunned them because of racism.

Finally, The price of rapper 50 Cent’s Connecticut mansion has been cut yet again to $10.9 million, reports The AP. The 50,000-squarefoot mansion was initially selling for $18.5 million then dropped to $14.5 million late last year.

This is part of the July 29, 2009 online edition of Frost Illustrated.

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