After talks of Halle Berry as the leading actress for the highly anticipated bio-pic and swirling whispers of Fantasia or possibly Jennifer Hudson, multiple GRAMMY^® Award-winner Aretha Franklin sees Audra McDonald as a strong contender to play the Queen of Soul in an upcoming film. During a recent visit to New York City, Franklin attended Broadway’s Porgy and Bess. It was Franklin’s first time seeing McDonald’s on the Great White Way. She was very impressed with her performance and expressed an interest in her for the role.

Audra McDonald is an award-winning television and stage actor who has won four Tony^® awards and two Emmy awards. McDonald has starred in ABC’s Private Practice, and in Broadway musicals such as A Raisin in the Sun, Ragtime, Carousel and Master Class.  A classical trained singer, she has performed in concerts with the New York Philharmonic and many others.

Franklin is continuing discussions with Hollywood executives and hopes to wrap up negotiations on the film in the coming months.  She is not currently in negotiations with McDonald for the starring role in a bio-pic about Franklin.  Last month, Franklin celebrated her 70^th birthday at a dinner party in New York. She recently received TV Land’s Music Icon Award.

Do you remember the first time you heard a brand new artist, and the music was so good that it just gave you pause? Daley is giving me that vibe. I excitedly await his future releases. You can download Daleys mixtape for free at his official website, and you can follow Daley on Twitter.

Check out the new video “At The Same Time”, by Eric Roberson, a song about a lost love. Read what Eric has to say about the song: “I’m elated about transitioning to this part of the album. I feel everyone who hears this, will be able to identify with it. We’ve all experienced being in and being loved but sometimes not at the same time.”

“At The Same Time” is lifted from Roberson’s latest album Mister Nice Guy, released via Purpose Music Group and Entertainment One (eOne Music) and available for download on iTunes.

Check out the trailer for the upcoming movie Sparkle starring Jordin Sparks, Derek Luke, Cee Lo Green and Whitney Houston. Written by Mara Brock Akil and directed by Salim Akil.

Per press release:

(New York, NY – March 27, 2012) — Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, celebrated her 70^th birthday in royal style on Saturday, March 24, in New York City. About 80 friends and colleagues gathered at The Helmsley Park Lane Hotel in Manhattan for the celebration, which included a four course meal and outstanding entertainment.

The guest list spanned the worlds of entertainment, publishing, media, business, and academia, and included: music mogul Clive Davis, Diane  Sawyer, Rev. Al Sharpton, opera mega star Kathleen Battle, author and professor of sociology Michael Eric Dyson, BET President and CEO Debra Lee, ESSENCE Communications President Michelle Ebanks, entertainment attorney L. Londell McMillan, Tony Award-winning choreographer George Faison, Harlem musical theater great Vy Higginsen, music great Nona Hendryx, and numerous others.

The guests dined on selections from a menu that  included: smoked salmon and caviar, chilled snow crab claws, lobster bisque, French onion soup, lobster ravioli, jumbo lump crab cakes, crabmeat stuffed fillet of sole, sautéed Dover sole, filet mignon, grilled vegetable napoleon, pear almond cake, lemon cake, triple chocolate mousse, and New York cheese cake.

The evening’s entertainment included a phenomenal jazz performance by the Kris Bowers Trio, featuring Jose James. The group is led by 22-year-old Kris Bowers, the winner of the 2011 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition. Then there were two superb dance numbers directed by George Faison, which were performed to songs that embodied the theme of the celebration – “The Summer of 42” and “Somewhere Lost in Time.”

After an evening of celebrating, Franklin spent her actual birthday, March 25, relaxing. The ageless music icon has a busy year ahead of her, including a special performance at the ESSENCE Music Festival on July 8^th in New Orleans.

Giving psychedelic soul to the fullest, “Red Hot Mama” originally appeared on Parliament’s Osmium album in 1970, but was re-recorded for Funkadelic’s 1974 LP Standing on the Verge of Getting It On.

“Lady” is the third single from D’Angelo’s classic debut album Brown Sugar. “Lady” went to #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart and #2 on the R&B chart. Check out the remix video below too!