R&B star Ne-Yo’s newest song, “Never Knew I Needed,” will be the lead single for Disney’s first-ever animated film featuring a Black princess.

The movie is called “The Princess and the Frog” and it debuts Dec. 11. The movie features the voices of Oprah Winfrey, Terrence Howard and Anika Noni Rose, who plays Tiana, the princess.

Jennifer Hudson Could Sing at Inauguration
President-elect Barack Obama’s Inauguration team is trying to woo Jennifer Hudson to sing the National Anthem at the swearing-in ceremony on Jan. 20, The New York Post reports. The performance would be her first appearance since the October murders of her mother, brother and nephew. “Organizers want Jennifer to sing ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ at the Inauguration on Jan. 20,” a source told Page Six. “They are talking to Jennifer about it. It would be the first time she performed since the murders. She is from Chicago and a huge Obama supporter.” It wouldn’t be her first high-profile performance of the National Anthem. The Grammy winner and former “American Idol” contestant also sang the song at the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August.

Will Smith is Indeed a Money Man
Will Smith made more money for movie theaters in 2008 than any other actor, according to the annual survey by Quigley Publishing Co. The star of such films as “Hancock” and “Seven Pounds” is only the second Black actor to be chosen in the poll, which over the past three-quarters of a century has asked movie theaters to vote on the 10 stars who generated the most business. Sidney Poitier garnered the honor in 1968. Smith’s superhero summer blockbuster, “Hancock,” grossed $228 million. “Seven Pounds,” currently in theaters, has pulled in a lackluster $39 million in two weeks. Following Smith, in order, were Robert Downey Jr. (”Iron Man,” “Tropic Thunder”), Christian Bale (”The Dark Knight”), Shia LaBeouf (”Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”) and LaBeouf’s “Indiana Jones” co-star Harrison Ford.