(ORLANDO) Universal Orlando is hiring hundreds of energetic street performers both full and part-time for their Superstar Parade.Universal is seeking dancers, animated character performers, drummers, roller skaters, stilt walkers, and "little people" no taller than 4' 11".

The parade centers on new floats designed around four movies and TV shows. Each position comes with an array of Universal Orlando benefits such as free theme-park admission and assorted discounts.

Auditions for roles in the Universal Studios parade will debut sometime in the Spring. Some limitations apply. Stilt walkers can weigh no more than 180 pounds and that will be verified at the auditions.

Universal also wants marching-band style drummers and those candidates should have a one-minute drum solo ready (some will be...

[ Continued ]

(SAN DIEGO) Believe it or not, California's only busker festival will celebrate it's 14th year at Seaport Village in San Diego. This year features 24 eye-catching acts including knife throwing, sword swallowing, pogo stick tricks and juggling on unicycles."Happening Saturday, March 7th and Sunday, March 8th, the Busker Festival at Seaport Village celebrates the fascinating and unique talents of street performers who come from across the world to entertain us here in San Diego."

As an added attraction, this year introduces Busker University. Learn tips and tricks of busking from the professionals.

If you happen to be in southern California, be sure to check it out. This may be your only chance to experience these bloody buskers. As usual, it's free and open to the public. Be sure to bring lots of...

[ Continued ]

Move over Penélope and Scarlett - a struggling musician-turned-diva is the real feelgood story behind Woody Allen's new movie.

When British cinemagoers flock to Woody Allen's latest film Vicky Cristina Barcelona this week, they are likely to have been drawn by the triple attraction of Penélope Cruz, Scarlett Johansson and Javier Bardem, who star in the tale of a love triangle conducted in one of Europe's most charismatic cities. But in Catalonia the true hero of the film is an Italian busker who has never been anywhere near the studios of Hollywood.

The film has already garnered a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination, but last week a less publicised award - a Catalan film festival award for best original music - went to Giulia Tellarini, whose "Barcelona" forms the opening soundtrack to the film and has already been adopted by the city's tourist board.

Tellarini and her band a...

[ Continued ]

Tom Jones’s first attempt at busking began ominously as a crowd gathered around a set of speakers and a lone microphone set up on the South Bank of the Thames near the Royal Festival Hall. “It’s Tom Jones, isn’t it?” one woman asked. “I’ve never liked him since he had his nose done. He had a sensible Welsh nose in the old days.”

Skateboarders and BMX bikers gathered nonplussed at a nearby underpass. Sir Tom would be using the graffiti-covered skating area if it rained, they were told. “That would be a bit awkward,” one BMX rider said. “We’d have to ride around him.”

But any doubt that the 68-year-old singer could still thrill a crowd was dispelled the moment he stepped up to the microphone. “Can you hear me all right?” he asked. The crowd, which had swelled to about 400, cheered and raised their arms, not in celebration, but to capture the moment on their mobile telephones.
...

[ Continued ]

Briefly put, the Naked Cowboy and candy giant Mars reached a down-to-earth settlement in Federal Court Friday over a Times Square billboard.

No one's talking, least of all the normally voluble Robert Burck, who parades around the Crossroads of the World in his skivvies, strumming a guitar and urging passersby to think of him as God.

Burck sued Mars for millions last winter, alleging two Times Square billboards and a mural that depicted a guitar-wielding M&M candy in tight white shorts gave the impression that he's endorsing their product.

Last June, Federal Judge Denny Chin ruled the Cowboy's suit accusing Mars of "false endorsement" could continue.

The suit was resolved Friday with a closed-door settlement.

By Owen Moritz
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Cooper/AP