Singer cast spell on photographer
There's a bizarre twist to a 1999 confrontation between a Las Vegas photographer and Grammy winner Seal, whose temper is in the news.
Photographer Rob Weidenfeld was on assignment at the Comdex convention when he approached Kodak's promotional booth and asked Seal whether he could take a couple photos. When Seal turned him down, Weidenfeld snapped some photos anyway, which allegedly sent the British singer into a rage.
According to Weidenfeld, Seal twice cast a curse on him.
"There will be an accident. You're going to die," Seal said, with several conventioneers looking on, according to Weidenfeld.
Before walking away with his bodyguards, Seal half-whispered, "You don't know what you're dealing with," the photographer wrote in the Henderson Home News shortly after the incident.
I called Weidenfeld on Tuesday to follow up on the November 1999 column item I ran on the altercation. The first question he asked was, "Are you calling to see if I'm still alive?"
He said it with a nervous laugh. As it turns out, Seal's voodoo spell, if that's what it was, came eerily close to coming true.
On July 4, 2009, Weidenfeld was driving in Henderson when a vehicle ran a red light and T-boned his van in an intersection. Weidenfeld required shoulder surgery and suffers from chronic back and neck pain.
"I'm hoping that was the intended accident and the curse is lifted," Weidenfeld said.
"I kind of avoid thinking of the issue. Kind of freaks me out, to be honest. It's just very strange," added Weidenfeld, who is the son-in-law of famed comedian Pat Cooper.
Seal's anger issues reportedly are part of Heidi Klum's decision to announce they are separating after seven years of marriage.
Seal won three Grammys in 1996 for "Kiss From a Rose."
BIRTHDAY BOY
Celine Dion's son, Rene-Charles Angelil, turns 11 today. He'll be celebrating as a proud member of the Boston Red Sox nation.
On his next trip to Fenway Park, he'll find a brick engraved with his name to commemorate the ballpark's 100th anniversary. He'll receive a replica brick today to keep at home.
His father, Rene Angelil, bought the brick after taking R.C., as he's known, to Fenway last May. His day in the park included standing near the players during batting practice and chasing down a ball hit during batting practice (which he gave away to children who begged him to throw it to them). After the game was over, R.C. told his father, "This was the best day of my life."
During a backstage visit 10 days ago, Celine told me she recently asked her son what he wanted for his birthday. He said he didn't need any gifts.
"After all," she shrugged, "what can you get a kid who has everything?"
He'll be playing youth baseball again in Henderson when they return in February for another engagement at Caesars Palace, she said.
Sports remains his main interest, with a budding interest in cosmetology, she said. "He's always asking if he can put on my makeup."
THE SCENE AND HEARD
John Avello, race and sports book director at Wynn Las Vegas, has announced his Academy Awards favorites: best movie, "The Artist"; best actor, George Clooney, "The Descendants"; best actress, Viola Davis, "The Help"; best supporting actor, Christopher Plummer, "Beginners"; best supporting actress, Octavia Spencer, "The Help"; best director, Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist." His odds are for entertainment purposes only .
THE PUNCH LINE
"Aren't you glad you're not Billy Cundiff right now as Ray Lewis approaches your locker?" -- ESPN's Rick Reilly, tweeting after Cundiff missed a 32-yard field goal in the final seconds of the Baltimore Ravens' 23-20 loss to the New England Patriots with a Super Bowl berth at stake.
Norm Clarke can be reached at 702-383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com. Find additional sightings and more online at www.normclarke.com. Follow Norm on Twitter @Norm_Clarke.
