Miguel to Perform at “Juneteenth: A Global Celebration for Freedom” Concert

Miguel is celebrating Freedom Day in a special way…

The 37-year-old half-Mexican American R&B singer/songwriter is set to perform at this year’s Juneteenth: A Global Celebration for Freedom, set to take place at Los Angeles’ Greek Theatre.

MiguelIn addition to Miguel, the event – produced by Live Nation Urban and Jesse Collins Entertainment – will feature Kirk FranklinSWV, DavidoCoi Leray and Jodeci.

Other performers and presenters will be announced in the near future.

The show will air live worldwide across all CNN platforms & nationally on the OWN network in a dual simulcast on Monday, June 19 at 8:00 pm EST.

“We are proud to once again partner with Live Nation Urban to broadcast this powerful Juneteenth event on our platforms,” says Chris Licht, chairman and CEO of CNN Worldwide. “We want to be a destination for people to both understand and celebrate a holiday of this magnitude.”

The shows musical directors will include Grammy and Emmywinner Adam Blackstone and The Roots co-founder Questlove, who both also contributed to the Grammys’ Hip-Hop 50 dedication.

“OWN is honored to simulcast this year’s concert. Juneteenth continues to be deeply important to our audience and it’s this deep significance that makes this simulcast really feel like an opportunity to be of service,” said Tina Perry, president, OWN TV Network & OWN OTT Streaming. “We are taking this day to celebrate alongside American families and reflect on this historic turning point for our nation.”

Throughout the concert, CNN and OWN will air programming to “uplift and educate viewers about Juneteenth on its 158th anniversary.”

Last year’s celebration included an array of artists across genres, like Yolanda Adams, Billy Porter, Earth, Wind & Fire, Jhené Aiko, Lucky Daye, Robert Glasper, and The Roots.

Jhené Aiko to Perform at CNN’s “Juneteenth: A Global Celebration for Freedom” Concert

Jhené Aiko is helping celebrate Juneteenth

The 34-year-old part-Spanish and Dominican American Grammy-nominated singer and songwriter will perform as part of CNN’s first-ever Juneteenth: A Global Celebration for Freedom programming, featuring a Hollywood Bowl concert with a lineup of artists.

Jhene AikoThe goal of the program: to inform and educate viewers on the meaning of the new federal holiday.

CNN obtained the rights to the event, from Live Nation Urban and Jesse Collins Entertainment, and the lineup includes Chaka Khan, Khalid, Yolanda Adams, Anthony Hamilton, Billy Porter, Debbie Allen Dance Academy, Earth, Wind & Fire, Killer Mike, Lucky Daye, Mary Mary, Aiko, Ne-Yo, Michelle Williams, Mickey Guyton, Robert Glasper and The Roots, among others.

Former First Lady Michelle Obama will deliver taped remarks.

Johnita P. Due, senior vice president and chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer for CNN Worldwide, said in an interview this week that event  “is really one of the most meaningful things that I have been involved in” at the network.

“The thing that makes it special, of course, is that it was only a year ago that the federal government made Juneteenth a national holiday,” she said. “So how many times in history will we have that opportunity to really shape for the country, and for the world, how a holiday is celebrated, and the meaning of a holiday and the importance of a holiday.”

This is the 157th anniversary of Juneteenth, which commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. June 19, 1865 was the date that federal troops arrived in Galveston, TX and informed citizens that slavery had been abolished in the state. The anniversary was commemorated the following year with prayers and singing, and it endured as an annual tradition.

“We really feel that with this event, we are able to not only commemorate the holiday, but we’re able to educate people around the meaning behind it, and also to uplift and inspire people to continue to make a difference and continue in the pursuit if freedom for all,” Due said.

The event also will include The Re-Collective Orchestra, a 68-piece all Black symphony orchestra that will be the first time that an all-Black symphony has performed at the bowl. Adam Blackstone and Questlove will serve as the evening’s musical directors.

Earlier in the evening, Don Lemon will anchor a pre-show highlighting African American advocates and creators.

On Thursday, CNN Business hosted a streamed conversation on advancing Black leadership, with correspondent Stephanie Elam sitting down with Walgreens Boots Alliance CEO Rosalind Brewer. Also appearing were Operations Hope Founder and CEO John Hope Bryant and Collab Capital co-founder Barry Givens.

Due said that CNN staff had been brainstorming ideas for coverage of Juneteenth, and went on a tour with curators at the National Museum of African American History and Culture before they connected with Live Nation Urban. She said that artists will give music and spoken word performances that share their experiences of Black America. Interstitial packages will be woven in with the live performances.

The goal also was to have a diversity of music genres, including rap, R&B, country, soul, hip hop and gospel. Viewers also will be directed to ways they can get engaged in organizations and volunteer activities.

Due said that they “want people to be uplifted and we want people to be motivated.”

“We want people to walk away with a renewed commitment to make a difference in society as it relates to racial and social justice and equity,” she said.

Eva Longoria’s New Docuseries “Eva Longoria: Searching for Mexico” Moved to CNN’s Linear Network

Eva Longoria’s search is switching locations…

CNN has moved the 47-year-old Mexican American actress, director and producer’s Eva Longoria: Searching for Mexico from its fallen streaming service CNN+ to its linear network.

Eva LongoriaThe news was revealed by Chris Licht, chairman and chief executive officer of CNN Worldwide, at the Warner Bros. Discovery Upfront in New York.

Eva Longoria: Searching for Mexico, which was unveiled as one of CNN+’s first series, will be moved to the linear network after the axe of the streaming service.

The series, which is produced by Raw TV, follows the Desperate Housewives star as she explores cuisine in Mexico. From harvesting blue agave for tequila as the Aztecs once did, to slow cooking traditional mole sauce in Oaxaca, Longoria will journey across the country.

It now sits alongside projects like Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy, See It Loud: The History of Black Television (w/t), The 2010s from exec producer Tom Hanks, and CNN Films titles like Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down and Little Richard: I Am Everything (w/t).

Diaz to Serve as Anchor/Correspendent of HLN’s “The Daily Share”

Rocsi Diaz is ready to share the wealth (of entertainment information).

The 31-year-old Honduran/Chilean television personality has joined HLN as an L.A. based anchor/correspondent for its The Daily Share.

Rocsi Diaz

Diaz will primarily cover entertainment, lifestyle, fashion and sports. She’ll also do red carpet coverage of events for HLN.

The Daily Share (airing weekdays, noon-5 p.m. ET) is hosted by Ali Nejad and Yasmin Vossoughian and aggregates social media news and lifestyle content of the day, giving viewers a digest of what people are watching, searching, playing, sharing, shopping and creating.

HLN, the CNN Worldwide network reaching more than 100 million U.S. households, rebranded itself in 2014 as the first all-screens home for social news and lifestyle content. HLN rips its headlines from social media and interacts with consumers.

Diaz departed Entertainment Tonight this month after a two-year stint as weekend co-host and daily correspondent.

“As both Rocsi and ET have grown and evolved over the years, she has elected to pursue hosting opportunities that are available to her at the start of next year,” a rep for the program said last September in a statement to Deadline. According to sources, the evolution involved more emphasis on news content at ET.

Diaz segued to ET after seven years with BET, where she co-anchored its flagship television show, 106 & Park and hosted the syndicated radio show 106 & Park Weekend Countdown along with her Rocsi On The Radio, heard in over 20 major national markets.