Ciara's 'Ride' video: Banned by BET?

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T.O. and Halle Berry? Hmmmm

Like a Reese's Pieces buttercup, NFL baller Terrell Owens and newly single mother Halle Berry would be a crazy concoction if they hooked up.
T.O. has fired the first volley, proclaiming that “I hear Halle Berry’s single! I heard she’s on the market…” according to TMZ.
Now we all know T.O. is a sucker for face-time with a camera, and he delivered more shocking revelations: When asked what he'd say to get her, T.O. replied: “Trust me, with a body like this, and a body like hers… I don’t need to spit no game. That’s just real talk!”
Can you imagine these two together? I mean, you thought Jamie Foxx and Halle was crazy? This has reality TV show written all over it.




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Stacey Dash: My husband beat me

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Rihanna hates commercialism in her videos

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Beyonce is Cheetarah

If you remember the Thundercats then you know that Cheetarah was one of the hottest cartoon characters in the game back in the day. Beyonce is "the hottest chick in the game" today, right? It's only right.
Check out some "Thundercats, Thundercats, Thundercats, HO! here.




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Venus' alter ego: Ebony Star

Athletic progeny and tennis veteran Venus Williams may have lost the Sony Ericsson Open, 6-1, 6-2, to up-and-comer Kim Clijsters, but don't think she will lose any sleep.
Williams, who is ranked No. 4 in the world, has moved beyond tennis, in a way that clearly indicates that the game needs her -- and her sister Serena -- and not the other way around.
In fact, Venus may as well go by here middle name "Ebony Star," because that's what she is. She has yet to devote the time and energy to her fashion house that it requires to succeed. And acting is still a far off dream.
Critics have long said the sisters -- besides their outfits -- are too preoccupied with other projects to focus on tennis.
What makes the situation more precarious -- or trifling, depending on how you look at it -- is that sister Serena is ranked No. 1 in the world.
Should the top sisters in women's tennis walk away from the game for fear of disrespecting it?



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Janet Jackson holds it together

Janet Jackson, music royalty and one of the youngest 42-year-olds in the world, is back on the big screen in Tyler Perry's "Why Did I Get Married, Too," and it seems that she and both Jill Scott were going through absolute hell while filming, even though part of the set was done in Barbados.
We all know Janet's ordeal with her brother Michael Jackson's death (and the ongoing NippleGate saga), but few knew that Jill Scott was going through a torturous divorce around the same time.
It says something when two music stars, not necessarily known for their acting (at least in the case of Scott) can pull off some fine, theatrical acting under stress.
Jackson said Perry is a stern director but he was patient with her after her brother died.
Perry was "constantly calling me, making sure I was OK, making sure that there wasn't anything that I needed or my family needed," she said.
Perry said he expects to do more movies about marriage and relationships in the future.
Jackson and her family are about to relive the horror all over again as a nasty trial over her brother's death is sure to open newly mended wounds.


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Where is Jill Marie Jones?

Never has a supporting character been as missed as Toni Childs was on the hit sitcom "Girlfriends" when she abruptly left the show over contractual reasons. In a lot of ways actress Jill Marie Jones did a famous disappearing act in real life, too.
The Texas native's projects have been few and far between since leaving the show (same with other cast members such as Golden Brooks, etc.) at the height of its popularity in 2006. Jones, understandably, felt she had bigger fish to fry, larger walls to climb. The only problem is, it hasn't happened yet. Even Tracee Ellis Ross has resurfaced albeit haltingly, but Jones has been especially incognito.
As to why she left "Girlfriends," she reportedly said: "I left because I wanted to do movies. My contract was up after my sixth season and people forget that just like the network can choose whether or not to renew your contract, I can also choose and evaluate whether or not I want to come back."
She went on to star in "Major Movie Star" with Jessica Simpson, but hasn't score a major project since then.
She did have a lead in 2007's "Redrum" (below), but as far when she'll return to the big screen or small screen, we -- like all of you -- are hoping for the best.




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Celebrity style: Thandie Newton

How many actresses do you know have studied archaeology and anthropology in college?
How many of them can claim to be of royalty?
How many can say they named their daughter after the lead character in an alien film?
Thandie (/TAN-dee/) can.
Born to a Zimbabwean mother and English father, actress Thandie Newton grew up straddling two worlds. She claims her mother is from the reknown Shona tribe in Africa, and that she is a princess.
That makes Thandie royalty.
She has two daughters, Ripley and Nico, born of her marriage of 12 years to English producer Ol Parker.
One of her more interesting quotes from a while back was when she disclosed that she was gay as a teenager.
"We're all potentially bisexual," she told the Advocate. "It all depends on your circle, your upbringing and all kinds of things. Or maybe I'm just talking about myself. I could've easily fallen in love with a woman over a man."
That husband of hers just doesn't know how dramatically different his life almost was.


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Despite sales, Ciara's music is built to last

You might not be able to tell from record sales, but Ciara's catalog of music, spaced out over her three albums so far, will likely have more staying power than, say, Rihanna's and maybe even Beyonce's.
While Beyonce and artists like Monica and Keri Hilson have capitalized on the sound of Now, Ciara's sound is futuristic, robotic even. Her music is sonically closer to Aaliyah's than any other artist. CiCi isn't the only female artist out there with lackluster sales though.
While music will continue to get more computerized, and less organic, her sound prove more durable over the long haul. Now, that won't do her any good in the short term, as newcomers continue to eat up ever-shrinking market share around her, but people will one day appreciate her for what she was. In other words, those Goodies may last forever.


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Keri Hilson acoustic version of "Knock You Down"

Miss Keri "Babay" knocks it down with this acoustic version of "Knock You Down," from Billboard.





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Nona Gaye: Enigma

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Meagan Good to produce 'Video Girl'

Hollywood actress Meagan Good will take a turn behind the cameras, producing "Video Girl," a film about, well, video girls. The film will star such highly esteemed video stars (I'm using the words loosely here) as Esther Baxter, who's claim to fame is Petey Pablo's "Freak-A-Leek" and Hollywood socialite Claudia Jordan, the black Kardashian. The film sounds like a vanity project, but who knows? Could Meagan bring home an Oscar? Meyer? Weiner?


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Lil Kim's Fans Mad as Hell, Shut Down Site

It seems that Lil Kim's fans are fed up and are not going to take it anymore. Wanna rumble with the Queen Bees fans? Apparently, Kim's personal assistant and handler, Bryant McKinnie, does. McKinnie, an NFL player and socialite in his own right, and Kim's "new team" as her fans at LilKimZone.net call them, have destroyed Kim's career and appearance, they say. The fans, many of whom, claim to have been down with Kim for 15 years, say that the defensive stance taken by Kim's handlers over questions about how she looks and alleged drug use, played out in an irate Twitter conversation, was the last straw. They're taking the site down.
Some people feel that the meteoric rise of rapper Nicki Minaj, who started off on some Kim stuff, may have played a role in fans' disappointment with the former Bad Boy emcee.
No word on how lil Kim herself feels about the drama, but we all know Kim has been going under the knife more than a Thanksgiving turkey, but that's beside the point, right? I mean, Michael Jackson did ungodly things to his face, but if you put "Thriller" on you'll see people dropping whatever they're doing and start moonwalking. It's about the music, people. Well, isn't it?


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Alicia Keys: Tough streets made me wise up

Alicia Keys says she was scared straight by "drugs, sex, alcohol and death" as a youngster, according to media reports.
The "Element of Freedom" artist says she has taken pains not to fall victim to the vices of the world because of how she was brought up.
"I always make sure I stay connected to the real world." Alicia told You.
Keys, who recently moved into a New York City loft with longtime collaborator Swizz Beats, said seeing the underbelly of NYC streetlife made her want to stay away from it.
"I think that when you see that in your life, you know what it does to you and have no desire to do it."
Keys, whose hit song "Empire State of Mind," sings of the hardscrabble streets of NYC, was born Alicia Augello Cook in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan. It's a good thing she's learned how to scrap too, because when Mashonda (Swizz's ex-wife) ever catches her in the same time zone ... I think that piano will be out of key for a bit. #justsaying:)


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Is Everybody a Model Now?

Just a few short years ago you had to actually be working for a talent agency to be considered a model. I mean, you had to actually have face shots, and in most cases, a real, live, walking, talking agent.
But along came Myspace, Facebook, Bebo, Black Planet, and Xango, or whatever.
"Models" exploded out of the woodwork. Their credits were simply club shots that somebody took of them with a group of people on the dance floor. Some simply bought a new bikini, a lace front and slapped it on the Internet -- POW -- a model, just like that.
I mean, what would Tyra Banks say?
Now, don't get me wrong a person can choose to make a living or be as entrepreneurial as their work ethic allows, but com'on. All of a sudden the Internet is filled with fiddyleven models?
And the only pose they know? The booty pose, that's it.
Is it me, or can anybody be a model nowadays?


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Regina King: Hardest working woman in showbiz?

Movie star Regina King is among a small cadre of African-American actresses we've literally seen grow up before our eyes (Janet Jackson and Cookie being among the others) on television.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, it would be easy for King to be "Hollywood," in all senses, but the 39-year-old actress is as cool as a fan.
Any movie of note within the last 15 years, it's a good chance that King has been in it, from "Friday" to "Boyz In the Hood" to "Mighty Joe Young," to "Jerry Maguire", okay, breathe, 3 ..2..1, then "How Stella Got her Groove Back" to "Enemy of the State" to "This Christmas" to "Ray", and the exhaustive list goes on.

King has been married and divorced, mostly recently being linked to actor Brian White. But the latest news is that she is now dating former "Cosby kid" Malcolm Jamal Warner.
Somehow, Theo seems right for her, doesn't he?
And that doesn't even taken into account her extensive career on TV, starting from "227" up to last year's "Southland."
Say what you want about the quality of roles and screentime but one thing is apparent: Sistergirl is most definitely one of the hardest working girls in show business.


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Diahann Carroll: Lioness of film, music, stage

Few people intimately know the historical treasure that is Diahann Carroll, singer, actress, activist, pioneer. Carroll, born in New York City, was the first African American to get their own show on national television. And she didn't play a maid, or subservient character either.
From 1968 to 1970, "Julia" was a groundbreaking comedy in its own right, although the social atmosphere of the time left it exposed to ridicule by the black community because of its lack of a father-figure (Carroll's heroin in the sitcom was widowed), and the show being too lighthearted during a time of social and civic change in America.
In 1974, she was the first African American actress to win a Tony for her part in "No Strings."
Her best role though -- again as a single mother (opposite James Earl Jones) -- was as "Claudine" a film which garnered her an Academy Award nomination for best actress. "Claudine" -- a powerful tale that resisted the blaxploitaton content of the era -- has the distinction of having had one of the baddest soundtracks in the history of black films, with soulful Curtis Mayfield writing the film's score and soundtrack with vocals from the venerable Gladys Knight.
In recent years Carroll has been lured back to the small screen for roles on "Grey's Anatomy" and other small parts.
She is what the entertainment cubs of today -- Rihanna, Kerry Washington, Janet Jackson, Beyonce -- should strive to be, a legend.

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Amazing Grace

When you think of the word androgynous, perhaps your mind harks back to Amber Rose, or even Omahyra Mota, but Grace Jones was the originator.
A musical pioneer in the New Wave/disco genre, Grace Jones was a force to be reckoned with in the 1970s, creating three albums -- Portfolio (1977), Fame (1978), and Muse (1979) --- that singularly defined gay culture in the era of bell bottom pants, huge collars and leather pants.
Grace's style? A splash of glow-in-the-dark colors with a boy haircut sharper than a razor's edge. She created the high-top fade before hip-hop had even cut its embellical cord.
Grace Mendoza was born in Jamaica, the daughter of an Apostolic preacher. She moved to New York and hooked up with avant-garde visual artist wizard Andy Warhol. The crew rolled deep, with coke-snorting celebrities, aristocrats, bohemians and all sorts of pretty hangers-on.
Grace fit in. But then she didn't.
There was no one, nor is there anyone who had style like Grace Jones. Her stylistic and musical kindreds are yet to exist.
So, where is she today? Actually, she's working on new music. Not only does she have two full albums that have yet to see the light of day, despite being recorded in the mid- and late 1990s, but she's still touring in Europe.
You may get to hear digitally remastered mixes of her most famous album's "Portfolio", "Muse", and "Fame" as the trio is set to be released this year.

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The Family Deelishis

Admit it, you thought Deelishish, aka, London Charles was just going to be another reality TV skank with a Gucci charm bracelet for a moral compass.
VH1 viewers can't be wrong, can they?
Well, it seems Dee has tasted the real flavor of love, and his name is not William Drayton and he is not wear oversized clocks.
Her new husband, Orlando Gordon, is obviously good for her, and their new baby will be good for everyone. In addition to his child, a 10-year-old, and hers, they will have a little pride of Deelishises running around. And you know what? It's a good look.
But don't think Deelishis is content on being just a homemaker. She still wants to act, she still is working on an album. It's just that baby comes first.
Deelishis has done more with her reality TV fame than most women, that's for sure. In addition to a burgeoning modeling career, she's got a loyal following on radio, co-hosting on Detroit's 102.7, which has included some memorable barbs with other rappers. I say "other rappers," because, yes, Dee is trying to do the mic thing as well.
Who would have thought a Flavor of Love girl would become a renaissance woman?