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January 20. 2010
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Ready, Set,
‘Fertile Ground’ showcases new works
Fertile G round, P ortland’s city
w ide creative festival, will fea­
ture o ver 50 w orld prem iere
w orks in dance, theater, m usic
and art projects, Friday, Jan. 22
through Feb. 2 at various loca­
tion in the city.
N ow in its second year, the
f e s tiv a l e n c o m p a s s in g n ew
sneak peek into the new est w ork
being created by Portland artists
and perform ers.
T he participants will feature
Portland artists from age 8 to 80
(literally) w orking w ith organi- T ree, O regon B allet T heatre, and
zations as diverse as W hitebird
D ance A rtists R epertory T he-
SexyNurd, a workshop production
one man show created by AuGi
Garred, is one o f 50 world premier
projects by Portland artists coming
to the Fertile Ground Festival, Jan.
22 through Feb. 1.
F e stiv a l P a ss e s a re a v a il-
a rtists ta k in g p lac e at C u rio u s
the W orking A rtists N etw ork. ab le fo r $ 5 0 th ro u g h the F e rtile C o m e d y .
T here w ill be ballet d an cers G r o u n d
w e b s ite ,
Fertile G round w as launched
atre, the A ttic G allery W ork- collaborating with poets, karaoke
gen res (dance, com edy, poetry, shop. M iracle T heatre, Polaris m em oirists,playw rightsinspired
m usic, visual art) and o v er 50 D ance, Portland C en ter Stage, by novels and d an cers inspired
separate w orld prem iere projects
im p le M a c h in e s , O r e g o n by schoolhouse indie rock bands
to create a rich and inspiring C hildren s T heatre, Shaking the and th eirco m in g out experience,
fe rtile g ro u n d p d x .o rg . T he p ass
w ill g ra n t a d m issio n to all 5 0
p lu s p a r t i c i p a t i n g f e s t i v a l
p ro je c ts, p lu s a d m iss io n to the
a fte r h o u rs p a rtie s w ith the
by the P ortland A rea T heatre
A lliance to provide a platform
fo r P o rtlan d th eater artists to
show case th eir co m m itm en t to
new w ork.
‘Idol’ Performance Steals Show
Pants. On. The. Ground.
With those four words, "Gen­
eral" Larry Platt has gone from
"American Idol" reject to Internet
sensation.
The 63-year-oId civil rights vet-
American Idol judge Randy Jackson joined "Pants on the Ground"
singer Larry Platt.
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eran perform ed his original hit at
an audition for the show's ninth
seaso n , w in n in g o v e r ju d g e s
R an d y J a c k s o n an d K ara
DioGuardi — and earning a ner­
vous endorsem ent from incurable
skeptic Simon Cowell.
"I have a horrible feeling that
song could be a hit," Cowell reluc­
tantly predicted.
Platt's fan base exploded after the
Jan. 13 show as his audition hit
YouTube and Twitter. Withinhours,
he had been clicked and tweeted
into one of the Internet's most popu­
lar topics.
On Thursday at his home in East
Atlanta, the e-celebrity seemed
dazed by the attention.
His show-stealing performance
came at the end of the popular show
that featured auditions from Atlanta
taped on Aug. 17.
The spotlight on him. Contestant
103519 began singing — rapping?
— the now infamous verse: "Pants
on the ground! Pants on the ground!
Looking like a fool with your pants
on the ground!" .
Within moments of chanting the
chorus, singer and guest judge Mary
J. Blige sank into her chair and
howled with laughter, tears filling
her eyes. Jackson bobbed his head
and smiled. And just as a scowl­
faced Cowell tried to wrap up the
performance, Platt dropped to the
ground in a split.
For Platt, the song was just an­
other one of his causes. He said
Thursday that he and his civil rights
colleagues sacrificed too much for
today's youth to walk around with
sagging pants.