BEST DISAPPEARING ACT 2004 | Grand Prix of the Americas | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Miami | Miami New Times
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BEST DISAPPEARING ACT

Grand Prix of the Americas

The event's original presenters -- Miami architect Willy Bermello, attorney Peter Yanowitch, and racing celebrity Emerson Fittipaldi -- fled the scene like a torqued-up Porsche when they sold their interest in the three-day extravaganza to Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) for $1.2 million. Then, after wreaking havoc on the Biscayne Boulevard streetscape by removing architecturally significant pavers and relocating palm trees that had lined the boulevard since the Twenties, CART pulled the plug on the Miami race, citing losses of nearly ten million dollars. Left behind: a two-million-dollar oil slick of bills and debts owed to the City of Miami and other public agencies.

BEST DISAPPEARING ACT

Grand Prix of the Americas

The event's original presenters -- Miami architect Willy Bermello, attorney Peter Yanowitch, and racing celebrity Emerson Fittipaldi -- fled the scene like a torqued-up Porsche when they sold their interest in the three-day extravaganza to Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) for $1.2 million. Then, after wreaking havoc on the Biscayne Boulevard streetscape by removing architecturally significant pavers and relocating palm trees that had lined the boulevard since the Twenties, CART pulled the plug on the Miami race, citing losses of nearly ten million dollars. Left behind: a two-million-dollar oil slick of bills and debts owed to the City of Miami and other public agencies.

BEST LOCAL GIRL MADE GOOD

"Jacki-O" Kohn

Before Jacki-O's first album was even released, her hit single "Pussy (Real Good)" ("Nookie" in the clean version) was catching airplay and attention. The release of the album, Poe Little Rich Girl, by South Beach's Poe Boy Entertainment has been delayed, but the reviews are still hot: VH1 called her "the high priestess of the ghetto"; Rolling Stone said "she shows cocksure flow over sterling beats ...", and Vibe announced that "now the rest of the world has taken notice of the tune that's been whetting the South and Midwest for months." Even the New York Times indicated that Jacki-O doesn't appear to be a one-hit wonder, noting that while she had a "breakthrough single with 'Nookie,' ... her latest, 'Slow Down,' [is] even better." She's picked up the baton from fellow Liberty City rappers Trina and Trick Daddy (who appears on the album) to make sure Miami's presence continues to be felt in the hip-hop community.

BEST LOCAL GIRL MADE GOOD

"Jacki-O" Kohn

Before Jacki-O's first album was even released, her hit single "Pussy (Real Good)" ("Nookie" in the clean version) was catching airplay and attention. The release of the album, Poe Little Rich Girl, by South Beach's Poe Boy Entertainment has been delayed, but the reviews are still hot: VH1 called her "the high priestess of the ghetto"; Rolling Stone said "she shows cocksure flow over sterling beats ...", and Vibe announced that "now the rest of the world has taken notice of the tune that's been whetting the South and Midwest for months." Even the New York Times indicated that Jacki-O doesn't appear to be a one-hit wonder, noting that while she had a "breakthrough single with 'Nookie,' ... her latest, 'Slow Down,' [is] even better." She's picked up the baton from fellow Liberty City rappers Trina and Trick Daddy (who appears on the album) to make sure Miami's presence continues to be felt in the hip-hop community.

BEST MOVIE SHOT ON LOCATION

Stuck on You

When gross-out auteurs the Farrelly brothers were looking to jump-start their decade-old project, the Siamese twins comedy Stuck on You, where did they go? To Miami, of course, a prime shooting location for such "Hollywood" schlock as Bad Boys II and 2 Fast 2 Furious. Granted, this would-be plea for greater understanding of physically conjoined persons starred slumming A-listers Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear, and audiences gave it respectful reviews when it opened in December of 2003. But really, when is Hollywood gonna start taking us seriously enough to shoot some Academy Award-potential films down here? When Accounting starts asking questions about why movies that have nothing to do with Miami are being shot in Miami? "Because it has great weather, even better dope, and abundant nightlife" is not an acceptable answer unless you're, say, Oliver Stone. Or, apparently, those crazy Farrelly boys.

BEST FILM FESTIVAL

Rewind/Fast Forward Film & Video Festival

South Florida does have a history, and it's damn rich, especially considering the city's relative youth. It begins about the same time Edison invented the movie camera. That's good news for the Florida Moving Image Archive, which collects and restores film and video to add to its visual storehouse -- actually a large, crammed-with-stuff bunker beneath the main library -- of local history. The annual Rewind/Fast Forward fest celebrates the archived celluloid with a show featuring a broad spectrum of works that all use old footage. There was the mind-bending independent feature The Subversion Agency, the Oscar-nominated documentary The Weather Underground, the locally produced 3-D classic Creature from the Black Lagoon, and a slew of entertaining shorts involving creative use of archival film. Never a dull moment when the past meets the present in this forward-thinking but reflective festival.

BEST LOCAL GIRL GONE BAD

Denise Calvo

She was the wife of wealthy Coconut Grove businessman and philanthropist José Calvo, until his September 2003 murder by a gunman during what appeared to be a straightforward robbery. By all rights Denise Calvo should then have worn the mantle of grieving widow. Instead police and the media began asking questions, and her life didn't do well under the scrutiny. For instance, it was revealed that her father, Michael Angelo Caligiuri, was an alleged mob figure who went to prison for racketeering and cocaine possession. Police had arrested Denise herself in 2002 for cocaine possession -- while she was pregnant! (The charges were dropped.) And when police finally apprehended a suspect in her husband's murder, Anthony Craig Lee, it turns out she had allegedly bought crack cocaine from his mother and had called Lee's cell phone several times. The case is still under investigation.

BEST LOCAL GIRL GONE BAD

Denise Calvo

She was the wife of wealthy Coconut Grove businessman and philanthropist José Calvo, until his September 2003 murder by a gunman during what appeared to be a straightforward robbery. By all rights Denise Calvo should then have worn the mantle of grieving widow. Instead police and the media began asking questions, and her life didn't do well under the scrutiny. For instance, it was revealed that her father, Michael Angelo Caligiuri, was an alleged mob figure who went to prison for racketeering and cocaine possession. Police had arrested Denise herself in 2002 for cocaine possession -- while she was pregnant! (The charges were dropped.) And when police finally apprehended a suspect in her husband's murder, Anthony Craig Lee, it turns out she had allegedly bought crack cocaine from his mother and had called Lee's cell phone several times. The case is still under investigation.

BEST LOCAL GIRL MADE HEAVEN

Ellen Moraskie

She didn't grow up planning on a career in the music industry, but fate found Ellen Moraskie anyway. As senior vice president for Latin music at the Warner/Chappell publishing company in Miami Beach, the caring mother of two nurtured such songwriting talents as Elsten Torres (Fulano), Jorge Villamizar (Bacilos), and Fernando Osorio (author of the last hits of Celia Cruz). Eager to open the circle even more, Moraskie joined Desmond Child and other like-minded souls to create the monthly showcase Songwriters in the Round that ran from 1996 through 2002 and gave local talents a place to test their mettle. Moraskie passed away on December 13, 2003, but her passion lives on in the beautifully crafted songs of the many writers she inspired.

BEST LOCAL GIRL MADE HEAVEN

Ellen Moraskie

She didn't grow up planning on a career in the music industry, but fate found Ellen Moraskie anyway. As senior vice president for Latin music at the Warner/Chappell publishing company in Miami Beach, the caring mother of two nurtured such songwriting talents as Elsten Torres (Fulano), Jorge Villamizar (Bacilos), and Fernando Osorio (author of the last hits of Celia Cruz). Eager to open the circle even more, Moraskie joined Desmond Child and other like-minded souls to create the monthly showcase Songwriters in the Round that ran from 1996 through 2002 and gave local talents a place to test their mettle. Moraskie passed away on December 13, 2003, but her passion lives on in the beautifully crafted songs of the many writers she inspired.

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