Filed under: Uncategorized
I don’t think girl crush Heidi Klum could be any cooler. Like seriously, she can do no wrong! Found this wonderful episode on another blog. Enjoy.
Filed under: Red Carpet
Ok so MIA didn’t make it. But besides that, the Oscars sure packed a hot show this year! I wasn’t bored once and that’s saying something considering the three hour-long program. Although the musical numbers were a little eccentric for my taste, Hugh Jackman did an exceptional job as host.
To no one’s surprise, Slumdog Millionaire sweeped the awards and took home nearly every category it was nominated for including Best Director, Best Picture and Best original song for “Jai Ho” by A.R. Rahman. To add to the fairy tale Danny Boyle story, Boyle and the crew brought over real life slumdog stars, the cast of children from who actually live in the slums of Mumbai, to attend the Academy Awards and walk down the coveted red carpet. Critics aside, India celebrated right alongside Hollywood elite when news of the win spread over the country the morning after the award show aired. (NY Times)
Apart from the Slumdog hysteria, there were plenty of heart-warming moments during the show, including the charming acceptance speech given by my personal Oscar pick, Kate Winslet who won the award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for her emotional role in the Reader. Not to mention the exceptional acceptance speech by Sean Penn who won Best Performance by an Actor in a Lead Role for his adaptation of Harvey Milk. I was pleasantly surprised to watch Penelope Cruz’ bilingual acceptance speech when she was awarded for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for her role in Vicky Christina Barcelona. And of course, the emotional moment that brought the entire audience of industry royalty to tears when the late Heath Ledger was the Academy’s pick for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role as the Joker in the Dark Knight. His lovely and well groomed family accepted the award on his behalf.
First comes Oscars, then comes the Vanity Fair Oscar Party. Industry insiders breathed a sign of relief when hearing that the anticipated event bounced back from financial missteps to take over the iconic Sunset Towers Hotel after being forced to cancel last year’s soiree.
And to add to the crowd pleasing moments mentioned above, the academy fashion was a hit across the board. With the exception of a under-dressed-beanie-wearing-iconic actor, I can not recall one “Oh No” fashion moment all night. (Concerning the infamous skull cap worn by Philip Seymour Hoffman, New York Magazine has an interesting explanation to defiant cap. Apparently he hasn’t been seen in public without a cap since Jan 14 at the The National Board of Reviews award.)
Click here for the slide show for my favorite red carpet looks.
Filed under: Uncategorized
Forest from LICHTFAKTOR on Vimeo.
American songstress formally known as Santogold has changed her name to Santigold for reasons she’d rather not talk about. But no matter how hard she or her people try to withhold the information, we’ll get to it. In a statement released a press release, Santigold’s people refused to go into the details of the name change.
“She’s not telling you why, that’s just how it is. No unpronounceable symbol, no numbers where they shouldn’t be … just plain … Santigold.” (LA Times)
Some thought that the name change was to correlate to her real legal name, Santi White. But looks like more evidence is mounting to legal differences between the artist and an 80’s infomercial host, Santo Gold.
Santo Gold (the 80’s host) first went through legal procedures in June and since the win, he’s pretty proud of himself. He posted the following on his website:
“THERE CAN ONLY BE ONLY 1 ELVIS PRESLEY, 1 WALT DISNEY, 1 EINSTIEN, 1 HOUDINI, AND JUST 1 SANTO GOLD!”
Funny that by fighting to keep the originality to his name, he robbed the name Santogold from the most original artist in mainstream music right now.
If you have the time to waste, check out a video of the host. If not, don’t worry about it. You’re not missing out on any kind of original talent. Nothing close to Elvis quality.
Ok so there’s a lot to catch up on NY Fashion week which is taking place right now. And I will get on it, I promise. I know I’ve been a little MIA recently but it’s for good reason; classes have finally picked up. eckkhh.
Speaking of M.I.A., the ridiculously pregnant Grammy performer finally gave birth to a boy less than a week ago. Everyone is dying to find out what the eccentric superstar named the boy but as of right now, no one knows. A picture of the newborn was released courtesy of fellow collaborator Afrikan Boy courtesy of his Myspace.
Although she just gave birth, apparently the Academy Awards is already pounding on her door. M.I.A. is scheduled to perform the nominated song “O Sayo” from Slumdog Millionaire but considering her delivery, she might re-consider her appearance. The award show producers are so desperate to have her on that they’ve even offered her a bed to perform on. A last minute compromise could have her performing via hologram, similar to Will.I.Am’s appearance on CNN on election night.
According to “O Sayo” collaborator, AR Rahman, M.I.A. is still eager to appear at the show.
“She wants to. In fact, she said she’ll do it with a hologram. She has all these ideas,” said Rahman. He added: “I don’t know how it’s going to be possible, though. Having a baby is such an important thing in your life – more important than winning an Oscar.”- (Guardian)
“The hottest pregnant lady ever,” according to my friend Ian, shocked viewers across the country when she appeared on the Grammy stage last night alongside hip hop royalty Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, T.I. and Kanye West. The five-some performed the Grammy nominated hit “Swagger like Us,” where M.I.A. sampled her other Grammy nominated song, “Paper Planes.” Sadly, neither song took home an award but her appearance gave everyone a lot to talk about.
At nine months pregnant, M.I.A.looked ready to burst as she made her way down the red carpet in a bright blue, non-maternity dress by Indian designer Manish Arora. Some were even predicting that the Sri Lankin songstress could possibly give birth and win a Grammy on the same night. Thankfully, she kept things together and rocked the house in the most creative and colorful outfits of the night.
But it was the polka-dot mesh mini dress from the House of Holland spring 09 collection that really got people talking. The London based designer, Henry Holland, admitted that he was a little apprehensive when he first heard M.I.A. would be wearing the outfit. But the fellow neon enthusist, Holland’s fears quickly subsided.
“I was a bit worried about what the patch was going to cover with the belly involved, but she wore a little skirt with it,” said Holland. (NY mag’s The Cut)
Filed under: Obama
“The writer is the President of the United States,” said the tag line for the Washington Post’s opinion piece titled “The Action America Needs,” that appeared in today’s paper.
It’s been a considerably busy week for the president, what pushing the stimulus package, bi-partisan mixers, surprise visits to elementary schools and televised sit down interviews with every major network in the country. But I’m getting a sense that the President actually wants us watching his every move. By reaching out to one of the most respected newspapers in the country, certainly in Washington D.C., he is literally writing to American readers. So Mr. Obama was not only the first presidential candidate to utilize the internet to spread his campaign message but what has this to say about a president utilizing journalism?
It’s no secret when it comes to Washington D.C. you’re either a Times or a Post reader. Either way, you read the Onion. And either way, no one can argue that the two publications offer readers quality reporting.
So this morning, the Washington Post published the president’s opinion piece, urging American’s to consider the stimulus package.
“So we have a choice to make. We can once again let Washington’s bad habits stand in the way of progress. Or we can pull together and say that in America, our destiny isn’t written for us but by us. We can place good ideas ahead of old ideological battles, and a sense of purpose above the same narrow partisanship. We can act boldly to turn crisis into opportunity and, together, write the next great chapter in our history and meet the test of our time.”
The rest of the article is a lofty (and can I say a tad desperate) plea for public support of the stimulus bill. But it’s kind of cool (and creepy) how I can literally hear Mr. Obama’s voice reading out the article in my head. I guess that’s what months of televised speeches will do to you.
Supporters like Vanity Fair blog contributor, Bill Bradley, praised the piece.
“So, we finally have an intellectual in office. A writer! A formulator of opinions all his own,” (vf.com)
During election season, this would be called a campaign move but what do they call this outreach if the politician in question has nothing to lose but popular support?
Filed under: Obama
The wonderful and surprisingly funny people at Newsweek took a cue from MTV and made their own reality knock off of the popular Hills spin off, “The City.”
The Newsweek series follows none other than Mr. President himself as he adjusts to his new life in “The District.” Everything is the same including the theme song and background commentary by a voice actor who is supposed to be Obama.
It’s really hilarious! I wonder what kind of fan base “The City” has in the Newsweek office to have gotten all of the show’s key transitions down. Trust me, you would be missing out by not clicking here.
Filed under: Uncategorized
This actually has nothing to do with the Superbowl.
The geniuses behind T mobile UK’s new campaign must have had a lot of fun with this idea. Apparently the crew cast around 400 dancers of all shapes and sizes to learn the choreography for this dance and perform it in one of the busiest train stations during rush hour. The casting seems to have taken place before the holidays and they sent everyone home with a dvd so they could learn the dance in the comfort of their own home. Finally the big day came along and they got quite a response.
Check it out.
Itching to see the full commercial? Do so here.
Hey I Like your Afro 
