Tyler Perry is in Dog House with Contractors A half-dozen contractors have filed liens against the home and new movie studio of actor-director Tyler Perry, alleging that he stiffed them for nearly $200,000 in unpaid bills. The construction firms say that Perry arbitrarily declined to pay them for their work, that he ordered work done on impulse. For example, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports, he might decide “he wouldn’t like the stones purchased for an outdoor fountain … or deem newly planted trees too short. Said Brooks Hilton, a landscaping contractor who contends that Perry owes him $17,635, “He wanted to do it his way.” “He wouldn’t take any advice. I guess in Hollywood it works that way, but not in real life.” But Perry says that he refused to pay up because the workers did lousy work. “I pride myself on taking care of my business. I pride myself on being able to pay the bills, [but] I’m not sympathetic to anybody who’s trying to rip me off. Just because I’m a Christian, just because I’m a nice guy, it doesn’t mean I’m a wimp.”

Black Choir Signed to Record Deal The Black youth choir that performed at President Barack Obama’s inauguration last week has been signed by Universal Music. As they returned to Nairobi from D.C., officials of the label met the members of the Boys Choir of Kenya at London’s Heathrow Airport. Read the rest here.

Aretha Franklin helps choir reach D.C. A choir whose performance impressed President-elect Barack Obama during his campaign has begun the journey to his inauguration. Students at Southfield High School will send their voices soaring at the nation’s capital after soul legend Aretha Franklin and the Detroit restaurant Seldom Blues chipped in so the youth could board a D.C.-bound bus. Obama heard the Southfield High choir and invited them to perform for him, but the students initially had trouble raising cash to cover the trip. After receiving the Queen of Soul’s support, the youth boarded the bus and left Michigan early Friday morning.