Mary J. Blige is a nine-time Grammy winner (nominated 28 times!) and has countless other awards under her belt from the American Music Awards, Soul Train Awards, BET Awards and the list goes on. Now, it’s quite possible Blige might snatch an Academy Award.

Expect Precious to rack up several Academy Award nominations such as lead actress, supporting actress, best director (John Singleton is the first and only African-American to receive an Oscar nod, which was in 1991 for Boyz N The Hood) and hopefully best film.  Mary J. Blige might receive a nod for best original song due to the deeply soulful track “I Can See Color”.  The song was written by Mary J. Blige, Raphael Saadiq and LaNeah Menzies.

Blige recently said that the director, Lee Daniels, wanted a dark, bluesy track.  The Yonkers icon explained, “I went into the studio and cried hard, reaching back.”

We all know Blige is tired of singing the blues, but in this song she clearly channeled her painful roots.  “I Can See In Color” aches with a coarse vocal and a simple but classic blues style that is impossible to not feel — Blige might just win that Oscar.  The only other African-Americans who have won Oscars for best original song are Isaac Hayes, Stevie Wonder, Irene Cara,  Lionel Richie, and, most recently, Three 6 Mafia for “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp” — no disrespect to Three 6 Mafia but if they can win an Oscar for that song Mary should be a shoe-in!

Take a listen to “I Can See In Color”!

Precious opens in more theaters today and while there has been some criticism from African-American scholars, it looks like Harlem gave it the thumbs up.  The Lee Daniels film is based in Harlem so New York’s online section trekked over to the city within a city and got some raw reactions. One person said, “It’s true to Harlem life.”

Check out the clip below!

I am sure you had to re-read the title, but it is true.  The author of the book version of Precious, Sapphire, was actually told that pop star Brandy would be great as the role of Precious — a 350 pound Black girl from Harlem.  Sapphire revealed to Entertainment Weekly, “This one producer told me he had found Precious – and it was going to be (singer/actress) Brandy. Excuse me? I literally almost hung up on him.”

While I like Brandy — it is absolutely inconceivable for her to play Precious.  I am shocked that someone had the audacity to pitch Brandy to Sapphire.  Thankfully, Sapphire had enough integrity in her work to pass on that one.

Sapphire also reveals that Madonna was interested in producing Precious – she passed on that one too.

Whew — two dodged bullets!  Lee Daniels eventually obtained the rights to the project and the wonderful Gabourey “Gabby” Sidibe landed the role.

Wow, just think of how many movies have been ruined by casting someone just because of their popularity and not if they fit the role.  I’m not naming any names…

Many were frustrated that one of the most anticipated films of the year, Precious, only had a limited release this weekend.  Don’t fret, there will be a nationwide release this Friday and the 20th.

However, for the theaters Precious was in — audiences spoke loud and clear.  There were reports of countless sold out shows with the movie only playing in 18 locations.  Precious raked in a whooping $1.8 million — this sets a record for a film in so little theaters.

According to IndieWire.com, “a stunning $1,800,000 from just 18 theaters over the weekend, averaging an essentially unheard of $100,000. That gives it the third best live action per-theater-average of all time, surpassed only by 2006’s ‘Dreamgirls’ and 2005’s ‘Brokeback Mountain.’ However, those two films had opened on 3 and 5 theaters respectively. ‘Precious’‘s wide-by-comparison 18 theaters make it all the more impressive.”

Also, just in opening weekend numbers, Precious is the fourth highest grossing Sundance Narrative Grand Jury Prize winner since 2000. There are predictions Precious will be the highest grossing Sundance Narrative Grand Jury Prize winner of the entire decade.

Congrats to the director, Lee Daniels. Read our interview with him here!

Source

Precious is in theaters today and I encourage everyone to buy their tickets in advance!  Click here to check out the BET.com interview with Lee Daniels and Gabourey Sidibe.  If you are still not convinced, read my review of the film.

Over at MTV.com, Paula Patton, who plays a teacher in Precious, and Sapphire, the author of the book talks Mariah Carey’s performance.

Summary: A horrifying urban drama about an obese girl and single mother named Precious.  The Harlem teen is suffering a monstrosity of abuse in her home, neighborhood and school. Attempting to beat the odds, she is inspired by the unexpected, striving for education and fighting not to repeat the same cycle of circumstances.

Review: Believe the hype, Lee Daniels‘ Precious: Based on the Novel By Sapphire is everything you expect it to be, and more. Read the rest of this entry »

It has been a big year for Mariah Carey.  She was in the movie Tennessee and received rave reviews for her performance.  Her new album Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel is in stores now and she plays a Harlem social worker in the highly anticipated Precious.  Always had a question for the pop princess?  Submit your questions for the pop diva and actress in the comments!

Also, the legendary Katie Couric interviewed Sapphire, who wrote the novel Push, which has been made into the movie Precious.  The Lee Daniels movie is in theaters a week from today, November 6th.  In the clip below, Sapphire talks how the book became a movie.

Watch CBS News Videos Online

On Saturday, October 3, the New York Film Festival presented the Centerpiece Premiere of Lee Daniels’ Precious at Alice Tully Hall in New York City. Mariah Carey, Nick Cannon, Paula Patton and several others were in attendance for the film that is already being coined the Slumdog Millionaire of 2009.  Precious is in theaters Friday, November 6th.

In the meantime, check out BET.com’s exclusive images below!

Amina Robinson, Stephanie Andujar, Paula Patton and Gabourey Sidibe, the star of Precious.

Lisa Cortes, an Executive Producer of Precious.

Nick Cannon and the legendary Mariah Carey.

Gabourey Sidibe and BET’s own Stephen Hill.

Go to http://www.weareallprecious.com/ for more information on the film.

Precious is one of the most anticipated films of the year and some are coining the Lee Daniels production this generation’s The Color Purple. The film stars Mo’Nique, Lenny Kravitz, Sherri Shepherd and of course a less than glamorous Mariah Carey.

Talking to Oprah, Mariah casually ranted about her look for the movie. “‘This is so ugly, I don’t know what to do.’  He put dark stuff under my eyes, he … put fluorescent lighting, the most hideous lighting. Some people had the most beautiful, angelic lighting, and I looked at Lee like, ‘You motherf***er, why did you do this to me?’”

Well, Questlove of the legendary hip-hop band, The Roots, didn’t find Mariah’s comments too amusing.

On Monday 28th September 2009, @questlove said:

@MariahCarey slow the breaks on the Precious press saying how “ugly” you were made to look. 1) your character was not ugly 2) what about your fans that aren’t “cosmopolitan covershoot ready” that look like that character. i *know* you meant no harm but that’s a risky thin line you walkin.

I admit when any beautiful woman glams down for movies or television (think Tyra’s “experiments”) you might give them the side eye for rambling about how unattractive they might look.  However, to be fair, this is no different than Charlize Theron in Monster; she constantly said she gained weight and used makeup to blotch her skin in order to play one of the first female serial killers (won an Oscar for it!).  Or, Nicole Kidman in The Hours, who wore a prosthetic nose and little makeup.  No one can forget how many times Halle Berry mentioned she didn’t wear makeup or touch her hair for her Oscar-winning role in Monster’s Ball.

I think because Mariah isn’t looked at as a “serious actress,” people might raise an eyebrow to her.  There is so much to celebrate with the film Precious — come on Questlove, let Mariah live!

Do you think Mariah could be offending her fans when she says she was “ugly” in the role?

Precious is in theaters November 6th and Lionsgate provided BET.com with exclusive images of the award-winning flick.  Precious is based on the 1996 novel Push by Sapphire.  BET.com has been on this film for months and earlier this week we reported the Lee Daniels‘ film won big at the Toronto Film Festival.

Push includes an all-star cast: Mo’Nique, Lenny Kravitz, Mariah Carey, Paula Patton, Sherri Shepherd and introducing Gabourey Sidibe.

Check out the exclusive BET.com stills!

Precious (Gabourey Sidibe, left) and Mary (Mo’Nique, right) in PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL ‘PUSH’ BY SAPPHIRE. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate.

Gabourey Sidibe stars as 'Claireece "Precious" Jones' in PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL 'PUSH' BY SAPPHIRE. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate.

Go to www.weareallprecious.com for more information on Precious!