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Monday 12 October 2009

Rihanna Pics For New Album

 
Rihanna was spotted recently in Germany shooting pictures for her new album. 

Photographed by celebrity photographer Ellen Von Unwerth, Rihanna wore a huge white fur coat white heeled shoes and what looks like a flesh skinned body/leotard for the shoot.


Rihanna on a photography shoot in Germany
 
I love her shoes - and the coat looks mighty snuggly and warm..something I could do with especially coming up to these freezing months in the UK! 

I do wonder though...is that real fur because if it is that has put me right OFF. Eurgh.

Amy Winehouse Performs on Strictly Come Dancing

Amy Winehouse with her God-daughter Dionne Bromfield
 
All of this news of Xfactor makes me wonder how things are looking over at Strictly Come Dancing.. Well none other than Miss Winehouse was performing as a backing singer for her 13- year old God-daughter Dionne Bromfield. 


Amy, Bruce and Dionne backstage at Strictly Come Dancing
 
The teenager performed "Mama Said" with her God-mother, Amy, supporting her with two male backing singers. Dionne's performance was great, she came across as really pure and sweet and wore a really cute red dress too. Unlike her God-mother...

Amy looked uncomfortable and out of sync as the other two male backing singers danced she awkwardly tried to follow them. Please watch the clip yourself to see what I mean. It's such as shame to see a talented young woman like Amy fall apart infront of our very eyes...  

Speaking of people with former drug addictions - Whitney Houston will be performing on Xfactor next week! How excited am I?!?! Sorry Strictly it looks like I will be tuning into  Xfactor ONCE AGAIN!      
    

 

Xfactor Performances

Robbie Williams singing new single "Bodies" 

Xfactor really did bring the house down with two live and exclusive performances by Robbie Williams and previous year's winner Alexandra Burke.

 
Alexandra Burke singing debut single "Bad Boys"

It was Robbie's first live performance in YEARS and of course Alexandra's first performance of he debut single Bad Boys with a cameo from Flo-Rida what a nice surprise (sarcasm you guessed it!) If you missed it shame on you but of course ive got the clips for you below but be quick before Youtube disable the vids because of copyright laws (dorks)...enjoy! 



Xfactor Results

Kandy Rain shed tears as they are booted off the first live show
 
Kandy Rain, the former strippers were voted out of Xfactor on Saturday night. Are we really that surprised?? 

Er...NO! 

I have to admit, the girls were not the best singers on the night - but surely they were not the worst. Did anyone witness the awful performance by the twins Johnathon and Edward?? They were out of tune, out of breath and out of their depth. How much longer will they survive the public vote? If the majority of voters (young girls and women) have anything to do with it, then it looks like they are in the running to win the competition. 

Which brings me to the reason why Kandy Rain were voted out first on the Xfactor. Girls vote, which means they will always support male groups and singers with the exception of very talented female singers (as proven by previous Xfactor winners Leona Lewis and Alexandra Burke). 

However, girls will not vote for overtly sexy dressed young women - not to mention former strippers! There is a big difference between sexy and sleazy and the girls were very much on the verge of the verge. I couldn't decide whether Cheryl and Danni did them more harm than good when they told the girls to stop dressing sexy if they wanted to prove a point of changing the public's perception of them. 

On one hand this advice is true: stop dressing provocatively if you want to gain the respect of audiences at home - especially the majority of voters in reality television shows - women. Cheryl mentioned the girls had spoken about wanting to move away from the "sexy stripper" persona they had been unfairly labelled with by the press. 

Yet on the other hand, Simon did make a good point - which is that Cheryl, Dannii and other female performers dress just as provocative as the girls have and that both judges were in no position to judge. 

Kandy Rain
 
Of course that would be the man's point of view - dress sexy because everyone else is doing it. What Simon failed to realise is that a) Cheryl, Dannii and other female artists ARE established and once they have gained their fans can take the risks of dressing more "provocatively" than a newer artist. And b) Cheryl, Dannii and other female artists have not had kiss and tell and other awful stories in the press sold about them regarding their stripper and playboy pasts. 

So a lesson to Kandy Rain - if you want to keep their ultra sexy image then they are on the right path! But if they want to be more than the girls who were booted off first in the competition they will have to compromise and try harder at winning female fans. 

If this means covering up, and taking more of a stand with their wardrobe then so be it. The girls can be sexy stunning minus the sleaze and tack and maybe, just maybe they it will be easier to shun the stripper tag they have been labelled with...

Monday 5 October 2009

Teen Vogue Cover Black Teen Models

Jourdan Dunn and Chanel Iman grace US Teen Vogue cover 
 
Leading fashion magazine Teen Vogue have featured American model Chanel Iman and British model Jourdan Dunn as front cover models for November's issue. 

Photographed by Patrick Demarchelier, this is the first double cover for the two models. Jourdan was discovered in Primark store in 2006 by a Storm agent and signed with the major modelling agency soon afterwards. British Vogue named her as a "new star" and iIn 2008, she was the first black model to walk a Prada runway in over a decade. She has modelled in shows for Marc Jacobs and Polo Ralph Lauren and modelled for Gap, Topshop, Benetton and H&M to name just a few. 
 
(l-r) Jourdan and Chanel 
 
Both Chanel and Jourdan have taken the model industry by storm. Not only because they are so young (both 19) but because they are both Black models. Chanel took part and won third place in Ford Model's Supermodel of the World in 2006 and signed up with the agency. She has modelled in shows for DKNY, Dolce and Gabbana, Diane von Fustenberg, Vera Wang, Stella McCartney and many more. At Milan Fashion Week Spring 2010 (held in September 2009) Chanel was booked for 9 major shows including big names such as Gucci and Versace with fashion critics calling it a resurgance of black models featured in Italian shows.
 

(l-r) Chanel and Jourdan


Here are some extracts from their interview...
 
Jourdan on Chanel "It's competition. There aren't a lot of us, but instead of sticking together, we're pitted against each other. People will say things in Chanel's ear like, 'Jourdan is taking your spot,' and then they'll say to me, 'Don't trust Chanel.'" 

Chanel, on Jourdan :
"I could sit here and tell you, 'I love Jourdan! We've always been the best of friends! But we haven't. Until recently, we barely even spoke. We went from being superclose in the beginning to dead silence if we saw each other backstage at a show. If we did say hi, it was hi, and that's it." 

Jourdan , on the harsh realities of the industry:
"I remember last season I was about to go into a casting, and my agent phoned and said, 'Turn back. They decided they don't want any black models.' I was like, 'They're actually telling you that's the reason? Are you serious?!'" 

Jourdan, on her unplanned pregnancy: "It was really hard. "All I could think about was what my mom was going to say, my agency, my boyfriend. When I told my mom, she started crying and blaming herself. She got pregnant with me at the same age, and she said, 'I don't want you to have to go through what I did.'" 

Chanel, ON MOTHERHOOD: "No babies for me until I'm in my 30s! I'm focused on my career right now. I can't even take care of my dog." 

Chanel, on the future:"I don't want to be known as the black model. I want to be recognized as Chanel Iman, a personality. Five years from now I see myself still working hard to get where I want to be, because I think big. I think the best. Maybe I think too large."




X-Factor Final 12!

The X-factor results are in!

Simon Cowell - Over-25s

(l-r) Danyl, Jamie, Olly and Simon 

Jamie Archer, 34, barman from Putney, SW London.
Danyl Johnson, 27, primary school teacher from Reading.
Olly Murs, 25, energy adviser from Witham, Essex.


Louis Walsh - Groups

(l-r) Miss Frank, Louis Walsh, John & Edward Grimes and Kandy Rain

 Kandy Rain: Quartet of former strippers from London. Azi Jegbefume, 25; Khatereh Dovani, 24; Chemmane Applewhaite, 27, and Victoria 'Coco' Lloyd, 22

Sunday 4 October 2009

Kanye West Styles Amber Rose

Amber Rose photo-shoot in Elle Magazine

 Amber Rose recently did a fashion shoot for US Elle magazine styled by none other than her beau Kanye West! And guess what? I've got *exclusive* video clips from behind the scenes at the photoshoot :-)  

If you didn't know already, I wasn't too keen on Amber Rose, but it's only recently the bald headed chick is growing on me... I love her embellished top and denim cut-offs outfit - what's your favourite outfit styled by Mr West and the Elle fashion team?

 

Friday 2 October 2009

Mobo Awards 2009

MOBO 2009
 
The 2009 Mobo Awards took place in Scotland on Wednesday night hosted by BBC presenter Reggie Yates and RnB singer/songwriter Keri Hilson. Compared to last years Mobos', this years was fab-tastic! I can not stress how glad I was that founder Kanya King decided to bring back the British theme of the Mobos. Previous years have always been dominated by US artist that never even turned up to accept their awards! (See my first blog back in Oct 08!) (Beyonce one of only a few artists who didn't turn up to accept their award on the night) 

   

However this year was different - not only did a ton of British artists perform but they also handed out awards. And I don't mean old has beens, I won't mention any names but a clue, someone even your parents wouldn't know who were apparently "popular" in the black community (like when?!?) 

The MOBOS had fresh young faces in the Black community presenting awards: just what I like to see! They also had a new segment when showing the nominees interviews with radio artists, black celebrities and other people commenting on the nominated artists. 

Even though it took the MOBOS over a DECADE to get it right..they got there in the end! So without further ado here were the winners of MOBO 2009


Best UK Act - NDubz (deserved) Best Newcomer - JLS (deserved) Best Song - JLS (should have been awarded to Tinchy Stryder)  
Best Albums - N-Dubz (deserved)  

Best DJ - Trevor Nelson (deserved - thank goodness it went to someone other than Big "Dawg Tim Westwood!)  
Best HipHop - Chipmunk (deserved)  
Best RnB - Keri Hilson (deserved)  
Best International - Beyonce (deserved)  
Best Video - Beyonce (deserved)  
Best Reggae - Sean Paul (should have been awarded to Mavado)  
Best Jazz - Yolanda Brown Best Gospel - Victizzle  
Best African Act - Nneka Life  
Time Achievement - Michael Jackson  (FULLY deserved)

*Backstage Presenter - Peter Andre (puh-lease!)

  N-Dubz

  JLS

 
Mobo Founder Kanya King

  Reggie Yates

  Keri Hilson

  Alexandra Burke

  (l-r) David Guetta & Kelly Rowland 

 Peter Andre

  Yolanda Brown

  VV Brown

  Master Shortie
 
What did you think of this years MOBOs and the winners?
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