(Photo by Arthur Mola/Invision/AP)

Even if you’re not, it’s coming to television and should be interesting.

If you’ll recall, last year, Rihanna invited 150 journalists and bloggers as well as 50 fans with her on a “quick” tour to support her album Unapologetic. It was called “777″ because she did seven shows in seven countries in seven days. Madness, right?

Right.

After only a couple of days, many of the people on the planes praised and slammed all the debauchery on the plane. Rihanna is well known for her heavy touring schedule so while it may not have been much for her, it proved a bit much for those who came along for the ride.

In the trailer for the documentary that airs on Monday, May 6th on Fox, you see some people doing “confessionals” in which they admit that it could be considered fun but it is a lot on the body.

You can hear Rihanna in a voiceover saying, “Why did I think this was a good idea?” That was probably the question on everyone’s mind, including the  air staff, because rumors swirled that tempers clashed quite often on the week-long trip.

Check out the documentary clip below. Will you be checking out “777?” Would you have joined in on that tour experience?

Aren’t you glad it’s too warm — and Blue Ivy’s too big — for papa Jay and mama Bey to hide her under blankets anymore? Sounds creepy, we know, but we just love seeing the chubby cheeked heir to the Carter throne so much we can’t hide it. And neither can the paparazzi — even though they have different motives. Regardless, we’re glad they caught this footage of the adorable 16-month-old playing around in a Paris restaurant with Beyonce and Jay-Z last week.

Looking like she grew a full foot since we last saw her, the little one seemed oblivious to all the cameras outside the Septime restaurant watching her every move. When all was said and done, she pretty much only had eyes for daddy. Check out the video above. Isn’t she growing so fast??

I don’t know about you, but there have been a few folks in our offices who have been trying to piece together Beyoncé’s “Grown Woman” track ever since her Pepsi ad dropped at the beginning of the month. Produced by Timbaland, who is just out here resurrecting careers left and right (Hey, Justin Timberlake), the song, with its insane instrumental (which includes some mean beat boxing) is slated to be the new anthem for the ladies. If Beyoncé would just drop that joint already. However, while you can’t get the song in full mp3 form as of yet, aside from the weird Frankenstein-ish concoctions fiends on YouTube have made, she finally gave the stans what they’ve been waiting for by performing the whole track in Paris.

Decked out in a bright Kenzo fit, big hair just a-moving, she pulled out the song for her French fans with some choreography definitely inspired both by Latin and African backgrounds (I see some moves at the end reminiscent of Fela’s Queens and an Azonto-inspired moment or two). She basically slays. Check out the full performance and song below, and please excuse the folks singing over the track at times (and the fact that it’s concert footage, so the sound isn’t 100 percent). Enjoy!

Source: WENN

Naomi Campbell is usually the one who’s laying hands on someone, but if Page Six’s latest report is correct, the super model unfortunately just got an awful taste of her own medicine when she was attacked and robbed in Paris while trying to hail a cab.

One source told the NY Post column that Naomi suffered a torn ligament in her leg during the attack which left her pretty distraught.

“Her leg was injured as she was violently pushed to the ground,” the source said. “She was understandably very upset and shaken up. It is not known what the thugs stole from her, but it’s believed they were targeting expensive jewelry she may have been wearing.

Naomi appears to have been by herself, or at least without her billionaire boyfriend, Vladimir Doronin. He reportedly flew her by private jet to Vail, CO, to be treated by orthopedic surgeon to the star athletes, J. Richard Steadman, as soon as he heard the ne ws. Since the incident, which is said to have happened about a month ago, Naomi has been using a wheelchair and crutches to get around. And aside from notifying French police, the 42-year-old has kept the attack on the hush hush, not publicly speaking about it, or disclosing to many friends. A source added that Naomi is still a bit spooked about the whole thing:

“It was terrifying,” they said. “Naomi believes the assailant had been watching her, casing her out, and waited for a moment to strike when she was alone. She was attacked in the street as she hailed a cab, and robbed.”

Naomi’s rep has declined to comment on the situation and when the post contacted her, all she told them was:

“I am sorry, I do not talk to press, but I am fine.”

I won’t say this is karma, but Naomi may know how it feels now to have someone unnecessarily put their paws on you. But here’s hoping to a speedy recovery and safe travels in the future!

Source: NY Times

Halle Berry doesn’t talk much about Halle, the biracial girl from Cleveland, OH, whose been labeled “crazy” for failings in love. We usually hear about the next movie she’s working on, how she stays forever young at 46, and maybe a thing or two about her being a parent. But in an interview with the NY Times, Ms. Berry is being very open about where she came from and who she’s become over the years, and even a bit about her custody battle with her ex-boyfriend Gabriel Aubry. Check out some of the highlights of the article as well as the gorgeous photos.

Why she’s made bad choices with men

“My picker’s broken. God just wanted to mix up my life. Maybe he was thinking, ‘This girl can’t get everything! I’m going to give her a broken picker.’ ”

 On Self-esteem not having anything to do with your looks

“Just because they see my face doesn’t mean they see me. A person’s self-esteem has nothing to do with how she looks.

“If it’s true that I’m beautiful, I’m proof of that. Self-esteem comes from who you have in your life. How you were raised. What you struggled with as a child.

“I always had to prove myself through my actions. Be a cheerleader. Be class president. Be the editor of the newspaper. It gave me a way to show who I was without being angry or violent. By the time I left school, I had a lot of tenacity. I’d turned things around.”

 The role her mother played in her development

“My mother helped me identify myself the way the world would identify me. Bloodlines didn’t matter as much as how I would be perceived

“My mother tried hard. But there was no substitute for having a black woman I could identify with, who could teach me about being black.”

 Being biracial

“Being biracial is sort of like being in a secret society. Most people I know of that mix have a real ability to be in a room with anyone, black or white.”

“I come from humble beginnings. I always felt like the underdog. Behind the eight ball. I learned not to be too high on the hog. Even that night I won the Oscar, I had a fundamental knowing, it was just a moment in time. Driving home that night, back to my house, I felt like Cinderella. I said, ‘When this night is over, I’m going back to who I was.’ And I did.”

Why she wants to leave America

“I can’t grow my daughter in L.A. You take a little child who is just trying to learn about the world and have all these people with cameras chasing after her, calling things out to her about her mother. It’s starting to make her feel special and different. I want her to feel special and different, but not for the reason of being my child.”

Source: NY Times

Source: NY Times

What do you think?

This past Mother’s Day weekend, the Smith family (well, let’s just say Jada, her mom Adrienne and Willow) were seen moving in funky and interesting fashions around Paris. If you didn’t know by now, Willow is a fan of the glam punk meets teenage angst look, but this ensemble definitely had people talking. Last time I saw shoes this tall, Mel B was still a Spice Girl calling herself “Scary Spice,” and they were starring in Spice World. She wore a white checkered bowl hat (covering pink hair) with printed tights, a black top, denim shorts, and a white jacket. Though she was in Paris, she represented for the States with her feet in those spiked platform sneakers. Check her funky fresh dressed attire out below:

Source: Twitter - @BosNaud

Source: Twitter - @BosNaud

And in other Smith kid news, Willow’s older brother Jaden decided to drop a video for a track he has called “Give It To ‘Em.” I knew he was trying to do a little rapping here and there, even popping up on some tracks with Justin Bieber, but somebody’s obviously taking this hobby pretty seriously now. But then again, a child of Will Smith can’t do JUST one thing, right? Check him out in the black and white visuals with his basic white graphic T-shirt and Ray-Ban swag and tell us if Diggy has some competition (smiles).

Well, what do you think?

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Source: French24.com

In America we’re used to events, competitions, and celebrations that openly recognize black beauty but in France that type of movement isn’t nearly as widespread or as accepted. As the country’s capital city of Paris prepares to host its first ever ‘Miss Black France’ pageant tomorrow, questions over the necessity and the effect this event could have on race relations are brewing.

Despite having the full approval of the French Representative Council of Black Associations (CRAN), the organization’s founder and president Patrick Lozès said the pageant is hardly “progressive.”

“This logic is detrimental to the values of French society,” he said. “If I think that there are not enough Black people in the most prestigious schools and companies, am I going to go create establishments exclusively reserved for Blacks?”

Historian Pascal Blanchard, a specialist in immigration at France’s National Centre for Scientific Research, agrees and went so far as to call the initiative “stupid” and “dangerous.”

“I know that in the US, there are ethnic beauty contests. The fact that they’re tolerated doesn’t change my mind,” he said. “Anytime that anyone, no matter where in the world, talks to me about a contest reserved for a specific racial category, I hit the roof!”

Lozès went a little off center when he talked about concerns that the pageant could make people more defensive considering the country is on the brink of receiving results from the first round of it’s presidential election, saying:

“I’m afraid that all of that will make French people even more defensive at a time when the National Front is more popular than ever. It’s a contest that stipulates that white women are not welcome, which is very disturbing. This initiative could be perceived as a hostile event that will further erode national unity.

“Everything possible must be done so that these people recognize themselves as French, and not as Black people living in France,” he added. “We can’t start having ethnically exclusive contests if our ultimate goal is to have all-inclusive national contests. It’s a serious strategic error.”

I hardly think the contest expresses the sentiment that white women are not welcome but the point of presenting a united French nationalist front in the midst of recognizing black women is an interesting one. That’s all promoter Frederic Royer wants in the first place:

“The purpose of this beauty contest is to shine a light on the many Black women in this country who are rarely given any media attention,” he said. “The Miss France competition is not nearly representative enough of modern France.”

That’s a point non-black women would simply never understand.

Do you think naysayers have a point about the downsides of the pageant?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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No matter if you plan to visit tourist attractions such as the Eiffel Tower, the Musee d’Orsay, the Luxembourg Gardens, and the Notre Dame Cathedral or if you plan to spend your time in Paris on a cruise down the Seine River or at a Moulin Rouge Dinner and Show, by the end of the day once the fun winds down, you’ll need somewhere to stay. Paris is full of all sorts of hotels both big and small, and while they all have their perks, some are much better than others.

renkliweb.com

Hotels should accommodate of your wants and needs to ensure that your time spent abroad is well worth it, even when you’re getting shut eye. If you’re looking to make the most out of your time spent in Paris, consider staying in these hotels to truly experience life as a tourist in La Ville-Lumière:

From TheGrio.com

Rapper turned business mogul Sean “P. Diddy” Combs has never been shy about his affinity for opulence. He’s been bragging about his bank roll for years (in songs like Notorious B.I.G.’s “Mo Money Mo Problems”), and he even named his latest attempt at the next best thing in music Dirty Money. So it’s no surprise that the trend continues with his latest creative project, Paris Is Burning, a short documentary film about extravagance.

Diddy released the first trailer yesterday, shot by French director Julien Bachelet. The 1 minute clip follows the Ciroc owner through a maze of screaming paparazzi as he hops in and out of his limo to attend a fashion show, shop for Rolex watches, and simply enjoy the life his wealth affords him.

As he shops, he muses to the camera, “I’m fresh out the store, you see how we do it… collecting Rollies…. I’m a have over 100 Rollies within the next month.”

For the complete story plus a trailer video, visit TheGrio.com.

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A Kanye West collection gets the people going! Last year, fashion insiders tore Kanye West’s first collection apart and had many wondering, “How could you be so heartless?”  From the looks of it, the controversial rapper-turned-designer kept that criticism in mind as he created a sophomore collection that is notably better and more concise than his first.

For autumn/winter 2012, West sticks with a neutral color palette  - including LOADS of black – and impresses us with tailored leather separates, trendy velvet embellishments, and reintroduced those adorable furry backpacks. Think: sleek dominatrix…meets Roman details…meets Hot Yeti. His actual point of view remains a mystery as he refuses to verbally define it. According to Eric Wilson, a writer for the New York Times, Mr. West proclaimed, “If they don’t understand it, they don’t understand it.” Rather than fault West for this approach, onlookers should appreciate that, like art, West leaves his designs open to interpretation.

Thanks to twitter, us mere mortals were able to take a virtual seat and join the likes of Diddy, Azealia Banks, and the infamous Anna Wintour as West’s vision unfolded on the runway. Missed the show via photos and 140-character quips? No problem. Click through our slideshow to view memorable looks and develop your own interpretations of the collection.