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We usually applaud celebrities for their beauty, their skill on screen or on the stage, or their penchant for getting into mischief. But this time around we’re actually singling out some very special celebrities for their accomplishments on another front: Intellect. These 14 famous folks have not only soared to the tops’ of their respective crafts but have never felt the need to dumb themselves down.

They may be the shortest person in any given room but don’t get it twisted, these 15 celebrity women prove that big things come in small packages.

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Misty Copeland

Ballet dancer Misty Copeland is considered by many to be the first Black female soloist in the American Ballet Theatre. Even though she didn’t start dancing until the age of 13, in just two years Copeland, considered a prodigy, was fielding numerous professional offers. Standing at a petite 5 feet and 2 inches, Copeland was appointed a soloist in 2007. A standout among her peers, she impressed the legendary musician Prince during a two-day video shoot for in 2009 so much, the purple one became her mentor and friend.

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Is it just me, or can these reality competition shows not keep a steady set of judges to save their lives?

Despite major success, especially in the ratings, since coming on as new judges for The Voice, both Usher and Shakira say that they will step down from their comfy red spinning chairs due to other commitments. According to Us Weekly, Usher is said to be working on a new movie around the time the new season would be filming, so he had to pass, and as for Shakira, she just gave birth to son Milan four months ago, and would like to take a break so that she could just be home with her new family instead of flying back and forth.

“Shakira wants to take a season off to take care of the baby,” the source explained. “She has an option to come back too. And Usher is doing a movie, so he couldn’t do season 5 if they wanted him to.”

Source: WENN

While I’m always for people lending a helping hand to folks, and Lauryn Hill could definitely use some help paying off her tax debt (and with a few other things), the idea that Wyclef Jean would offer out of all the people in the world just seems…odd. But that’s what he has done.

In an interview with DJ Green Lantern and Boss Lady on the Sirius radio show Invasion Radio, ‘Clef acted as if he wasn’t aware of her tax troubles or that she was even facing sentencing (which was postponed this week until early May), but he wanted to make it clear that despite their past squabbles, he wouldn’t want to see her end up in jail, or to see anything bad happen to her at all.

“That’s deep. What I could say to that is that at the end of the day, my heart goes out to her. I’m realizing…I have not been following that news at all…But I definitely wish her the best. That’s definitely a serious issue. Once again, if she’s listening, at the end of the day, my door is always open. I never closed my door to her in a sense of, if she ever needed anything, I was never the one to block–but she had mad people around her. But at the end of the day it’s one thing I learned about life. We could beef as much as we want, but if something was to really happen to her, I would feel bad. My arms is open…This is the first that I’m hearing about this news…but if she’s listening, I’m open.”

Hmmm. And on top of that, ‘Clef discussed the attempts in the past to get the Fugees back together and why each time was futile. A lot of if had to do with a lack of trust between members he claims, and he talks about how it led to him creating the very epic “Hips Don’t Lie” with Shakira–one of the best selling singles of all-time:

“Dave Chappelle got the Fugees together. He came and met us individually, and he didn’t have a deep story. He was just like, ‘I love the band. I think you guys should come rock with me.’ He’s funny, he’s pure, and he’s honest, and I felt other people were trying to get the band back together so that they could make billions. It’s hard with the Fugees because money never came first for us, integrity always come first. We ended up doing that, I thought it was great. When we went to the studio, keep in mind, when we did The Score, or when I met L and Pras when I was little…it was clear what everybody did in the group. What I am to the Fugees is like what will.i.am is to the Black Eyed Peas, it’s clear. I felt like once we came back, I felt like that trust was lost. I didn’t have that title no more…So then I went on and I worked with Shakira and I gave her the biggest song of all time. Written by Wyclef Jean, get it straight. I felt sad about the Fugees thing though.”

“There has to be a level of trust on what is it that every individual is doing. Like me, I’m a producer. What I’m best at doing is, I know how to create artists. I know how to blow up artists. I do it over, and over and over again…The time that  I worked with Lauryn and the amount of stuff I put together with her, I haven’t come across a female remotely close. When she’s focused the talent is the most ridiculous. It sounds like four aliens in one. For me, I respected her in that sense and she respected me as a producer. But I think what hapened was, so much time had passed and so much new groups were coming out so it was like, “Does this dude still got it?” And then I went on and tapped that thing for Shakira, but I was more wanting to do it for the Fugees, but if I went to the Fugees I wouldn’t have had “Hips Don’t Lie.”

Seems ‘Clef and Lauryn have just been at odds for too long. But I wouldn’t encourage her to take this man’s offer, seeing as how he’s been dogging her in public for the last few years. Especially after that whole issue he brought up for his memoir claiming she told him that her son, Zion, was actually his. Just seems like another thing for him to throw back in her face in the future. Run Lauryn, RUN!

What do you think about his comments?

Just last week The Voice premiered, and like many reality show singing competitions out there, they had new faces on the judging panel with Usher taking over for Cee-Lo and Shakira taking the chair from Christina Aguilera for the time being. So far, Usher seems to be off to a good start on the show. He fits in with the banter the judges always engage in and many of the contestants find themselves under his spell and on his team with his bribes of the chance to meet Justin Bieber and straightforward pleas about their talents as opposed to why it would be so cool for them to be on his team. Shakira also holds her own well and doesn’t seem thirsty to turn her chair for every decent voice she hears. All in all, it seems they fit in nicely, and fans agree. The premiere of The Voice was a big winner ratings wise, increasing in viewership by 12 percent compared to last year’s season premiere, bringing in more than 13 million viewers.

This is happening while over on Fox, American Idol ratings continue to decrease to an all-time low, as the show did last Thursday when it only eeked out 11 million viewers. So why are the new faces on The Voice working well for ratings but the same can’t be said for Idol?

Honestly, The Voice ratings could dip just like Idol‘s have as the show continues. However, checking out reactions from different sites like E! and more, it seems that people actually seem to find Usher and Shakira very entertaining, maybe even more so than Cee-Lo and Aguilera, who are allegedly supposed to return to the series next season. But I think a fresh face is needed from time to time just to make people tune in. Yet at the same time, people will tune out if the new face isn’t necessarily a positive change. Many commented on The Voice premiere saying that Shakira and Usher seemed to have their egos in check, while we know from these last few months of American Idol that Nicki and Mariah were caught up in an ego-driven cat fight for a while there. The show has basically been based around the new judges over the contestants and the drama they may or may not have going on. It’s tired.

I tune into both shows and I can say that I like the Usher I see (his character has been in question since all that custody battle drama, but when he’s focused on music, he’s gets a boost), Nicki isn’t bad at judging, and Mariah is actually coming off a little stale in the judge’s seat for me. Keep it positive and about the talent of the contestants, and people seem to want to come back. All in all, reality show talent competitions are a dime a dozen these days, so for both of these juggernauts to keep their ratings on the up and up, I have a feeling they will need more than just new judges.

What do you think of the new season of The Voice so far? What about the new season of Idol?

Instead of taking it to the streets, these celebrities are taking it to the courtroom — or being taken there. You’d be surprised at what you can learn about a celebrity from the bills they don’t pay, the people they wrong and the dirt they get up to. Allegedly, of course. That’s why we have public records to see whose done people so wrong they’re getting sued for it. Check this list of offenders.

Photo Credit: PNP/ WENN.com

RZA

RZA is being sued by Thea Van Seijen: the chick who sang hooks on a lot of his songs. She says that she’s never gotten any royalties but was afraid to demand them and ruin her career. RZA says he found the woman on the street, gave her food, a place to stay and 15 minutes so they’re even. See you in court I guess.

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Most celebs are some good-looking folks. And while we enjoy their brand of attractive for as long as they’re in the spotlight, who is going to carry on that beautiful tradition in the years to come? Babies, babies and more babies. With news of some of Hollywood’s most attractive people hopping on the baby train in 2013, we decided to take a look at 15 wildly pretty couples who we can’t wait to bring a little one into the world. And no we’re not trying to perpetuate the whole baby mama/baby daddy phenomenon that’s going on, we’re just saying these folks will have some cute babes worth talking about whether they decide to put marriage before the carriage or not.

Source: WENN

While “American Idol” is going the cooky route to attract viewers, “The Voice” is opting for something much simpler, eye candy. NBC just announced that Shakira and Usher will be  joining their hit reality singing competition show, taking the spots currently held by Christina Aguilera and Cee-Lo.

The move isn’t necessarily permanent, but more so a measure to allow Chrissy and Cee to focus on other projects, like new music for both artists and even a sitcom Cee-Lo is developing for the network. NBC Entertainment Chairman Robert Greenblatt said in a statement that NBC is more than happy to have two amazing performers step in for them.

“We are thrilled to welcome Usher and Shakira to ‘The Voice.’ Doing two back-to-back cycles of this show requires a tremendous amount of time, and we are happy to accommodate the commitments made by Christina and CeeLo. The participants on our show benefit from our coaches’ expertise and their continued success in the music business allows for significant new contributions to the contestants when they return.”

Adam Levine and Blake Shelton will still retain their spots on “The Voice” judging panel so it will be interesting to see how this group measures up against Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj, Keith Urban, and Randy Jackson, who’s apparently back in the game, on “American Idol,” and Britney Spears, Demi Lovato, L.A. Reid and Simon Cowell on “X Factor.”

What do you think?

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Whether they are followed around during a shopping trip or while enjoying a lunch at a trendy LA restaurant, celebrities barely have any time to themselves and thanks to social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, we now have an inside look at their “real lives.”  Twitter allows celebrities to reach millions of fans with just 140 characters.  Fans “follow” their favorite talent and are then able to “tweet” back to their favorite celeb.  So what celebrity is followed the most?  Check out 2011’s top followed celebrities, did any make your list?

World renowned musician Shakira says her performance in the World Cup closing ceremony will be a tribute to African women.

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