-  On Saturday, October 16, 2010, BLACK GIRLS ROCK!™ celebrated the brilliance, beauty, grace and influence of black women.

Hosted by Nia Long, BLACK GIRLS ROCK!™  honored the most exceptional women of color in the country from Missy Elliot to Raven Symone and featured performances and appearances by Malinda Williams, Shontelle, Lynn Whitfield, Keri Hilson, Ciara, VV Brown, Monica, Keyshia Cole, Estelle, Kym Whitley, and  more.

The network premiere will be televised exclusively on BET, Sunday, November 7th at 8 – 10 p.m.*

Founder, CEO and Executive Producer of BLACK GIRLS ROCK!™ Beverly Bond stated, “This historic partnership with BET marks the beginning of an empowerment movement for women of color across the globe because Black Girls Rock all over the world.” Bond continued, “Our girls are not being told how amazing they really are or how amazing they really can be. It is time that we start telling them. It is time that we start shouting out to the entire world that ‘We’ Black Girls Rock!”

Introduced by the beautiful Malinda Williams, the first award of the night was presented to the precocious Raven-Symoné, now the brains behind her own empire. When accepting her Young, Black & Gifted Award, Symone said, “It’s up to us as females to open doors for other females like the other legends sitting here tonight.”

Following that award, singer and songwriter Shontelle performed her touching ballad, “Impossible,”

reminding the audience of the outstanding achievements of each of the celebrants. Symone later introduced the Who Got Next Award to the inspirational ingénue, Keke Palmer.

The multifaceted entertainer and producer Missy Elliot was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award, which was presented by one of her best friends and fellow R&B powerhouse, Ciara.  Later, Monica graced the stage with her soulful hit, “Still Standing.”  UK artist VV Brown performed her fantastical chart-topper, “Shark in the Water,” and held it down in a lineup that featured additional performances heavyweights like Keyshia Cole and Keri Hilson.

Honoring some of the most extraordinary black women and girls around the country from entertainers to influencers, the show’s inspiring celebrants truly embodied the spirit of their category.  Rev. Dr. Iyanla Vanzant, recipient of the Motivator Award, said “Black girls rock, because we have no other choice. We have a responsibility to rock the world, rock the community and rock the planet so our grandmothers will know that they did not die in vain.” Vanzant got a standing ovation for her powerful acceptance speech.

Kelly Price, Marsha Ambrosius, Jill Scott and Ledisi performed a flawless rendition of Nina Simone’s “4 Women” that brought down the house as part of a tribute to the accomplishments and contributions of notable African American women.

Teresa Clarke, founder of Africa.com, received the Shot Caller Award for her efforts to change the way the world views Africa and Major General Marcelite J. Harris, who was the the highest ranking woman officer in the Air Force and the Nation’s highest ranking African American woman in the Department of Defense, was the recipient of the Trailblazer Award.

The iconic Ruby Dee was the recipient of the Living Legend Award and was introduced by the exquisite Lynn Whitfield. “Ruby Dee represents everything BLACK GIRLS ROCK!™ stands for,” Whitfield added.

Dee, in her moving acceptance speech, said “It’s times like these that I come to understand and appreciate profoundly the empowerment and promise, the responsibility in being deemed a legend.” Following her touching tribute, Fantasia, Kelly Price, Ledisi and Marsha Ambrosius rocked the stage in the finale medley of “A Brand New Day,” “I Am Woman,” and “I’m Every Woman.”  

The star studded affair also included memorable performances and tributes as well as entertaining and inspiring video messages from other black women that rock including actresses Anika Noni Rose and Tracee Ellis Ross; BET Networks CEO and Chairman Debra Lee; host and entertainer Sherri Shepherd; Roslyn M. Brock, Chairman of the NAACP; and Black Girls Rock! Inc. Foundation founder Beverly Bond.

In addition to the outstanding performances, the below women were honored at BLACK GIRLS ROCK!™

o    Young, Gifted & Black – Raven-Symoné
o    Visionary – Missy Elliott
o    Who Got Next? – Keke Palmer
o    Shot Caller – Teresa Clarke
o    Living Legend – Ruby Dee
o    Trailblazer – Major General Marcelite J. Harris
o    Motivator – Rev. Dr. Iyanla Vanzant

The following individuals were recognized as Black Girls Making a Difference:
o    Amiya Alexander
o    Hydeia Broadbent
o    Kari Fulton
o    Adele Taylor

The televised special, BLACK GIRLS ROCK!™ is a BET Networks and B.G.R. Enterprises Inc. production.  BLACK GIRLS ROCK!™ Inc. Founder, Beverly Bond executive produced the telecast along with Stephen Hill, President, Music Programming and Specials, BET Networks; Connie Orlando, Eugene Caldwell, Salli Frattini, BET Networks; and L. Londell McMillan, President of The Northstar Group.

dick clark productions (dcp) president, Orly Adelson, announced that the New Kids On The Block and Backstreet Boys will perform together at the 2010 “American Music Awards®.” The performance marks the first time both groups will perform on the same stage together for a national televised audience prior to their summer 2011 tour announced this week. They join previously announced acts including Rihanna, Diddy-Dirty Money, Ne-Yo, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Ke$ha, Christina Aguilera, Bon Jovi, P!nk and Usher.

Additional performers and presenters will be announced in the coming weeks. The show will broadcast live from the NOKIA Theatre L.A. LIVE on SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 21st (8:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT) on ABC. Tickets are now on sale (please visit www.razorgator.com/ama or call 1-800-542-4466).

“New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boys on one stage is something special. Moments like these are what the AMAs are all about,” stated AMA producer, Larry Klein.

dick clark productions will also air a live red carpet digital pre-show, “Coca-Cola Red Carpet Live! @ the 2010 AMAs,” on November 21st at 2:00 PM (PT) / 5:00 PM (ET). The pre-show, featuring hosts Danny Gokey, Jennette McCurdy, Lance Bass, Whitney Port and the returning Coca-Cola Correspondent David Lehre, will be available on ABC.com, and USTREAM.TV.

For the fourth year, winners will be determined by online voting at the official Coca-Cola voting location www.amavote.com as well as ama.abc.com. Artists will be honored in the categories of Pop/Rock, Country, Rap/Hip-Hop, Soul/R&B, Alternative, Adult Contemporary, Latin, Soundtracks and Contemporary Inspirational.  Fans can go to the official homepage of the 2010 “American Music Awards,” ama.abc.com, to find performer and presenter announcements, artist information, and more.

Fans can still vote via T-Mobile text-messaging and on abc.com for the T-Mobile Breakthrough Artist Award leading up to and during the live show! The final nominees are Justin Bieber, Lady Antebellum, Travie McCoy and Mike Posner. Go to ama.abc.com for more voting details. Message & data rates may apply to text a vote.

New York Magazine’s Jada Yuan reports: Last night, amid congratulations from Alec Baldwin and Angela Lansbury at Cipriani 42nd Street, Kate and Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte became the first fashion designers to be honored with a National Art Award from Americans for the Arts. Kate, who always gives their speeches, said she was reeling, given they only started making clothes after having graduated from UC Berkeley with degrees in art history and English, respectively, and moving home to live with their parents. “Laura and I moved, didn’t work, and watched horror films for a year and our parents didn’t say anything to us. I wonder if they had any thoughts of, ‘God, the kids I have are just going nowhere,’” said Kate. Now they’re not only winning awards and putting on some of the most highly anticipated shows at New York Fashion Week, but they also just designed costumes for loyal Rodarte customer Natalie Portman’s new ballet movie, Black Swan.

Portman had introduced the Rodarte sisters to Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky, and from there, Laura said, it was “a meeting of the minds.” Rodarte did all of the costumes for the performance of Swan Lake in the movie, as well as “different things throughout,” Laura told us. “It’s actually a very amazing, kind of big moment for us. I think our aesthetic naturally fits into the film and I think it was an interesting thing to have someone say, ‘Help us say this thing.’ It didn’t feel difficult at all. It was very natural. It was one of the most exciting things for us to do because the end project was breathtaking.”

Neither Kate nor Laura has ever danced ballet. And only Laura had ever seen a ballet costume up close. “I did go to one ballet at the Kennedy Center, the Bolshoi Ballet. My friends and I took the train out,” said Laura. “The hardest part about doing a project like that is really conceptualizing it,” Kate added. “Laura and I really wanted to work within a vernacular that was really rooted within a classic aesthetic of what people think Swan Lake is, and at the same time do something that was specific and unique to the world of that film, something that seemed like it was the Swan Lake of Black Swan.”

If Kate thought the most difficult thing about the project was the concept, Laura said it was the mere act of building a tutu, something the Rodarte girls and most designers have never done. “Building a tutu is one of the lost couture arts,” said Laura. “Everyone will know it’s like getting your hand on the prize, like a coveted piece of couture that no one ever gets to see. It’s very interesting, the dance world. You can’t go rent a tutu. You have to own it. And every ballet theater has an archive and everything is stored and kept perfect. They’re worn over time and they’re ruined and they have slits and eyes in different spots, so they’re never actually perfect, but from afar, when you’re in the audience, it looks like one of the most beautiful things in the world. So our job then was to create tutus that were beautiful, but then they had to function completely.” How they did that, she couldn’t say. “That’s a trade secret!” said Laura. “A tutu is thirteen layers of tulle sticking straight out and then it’s over the body, so you can imagine. It’s crazy!”

And they’re not done designing ballet outfits: The sisters just designed costumes for a world premiere of a new work by Black Swan choreographer (and Portman’s boyfriend) Benjamin Millepied at the Dutch National Ballet. Then they’ve got the Black Swan premiere, the holidays, and their next collection, which Laura said they’re not thinking about yet, but “It’s getting to the point where it’s in the back of mind that I have to.” Are they thinking about a potential Oscar for costume design? Will they be eligible? “I have no idea,” said Laura, smiling at the thought. “That would be pretty cool.”

New York Magazine’s Charlotte Cowles reports : Roger Vivier artistic director Bruno Frisoni has decided to nix the label’s couture collection. “When I showed couture in January, I was thinking it was something that wasn’t me anymore,” he said at an event at the Roger Vivier boutique last night, looking a bit sad. “I thought the time had passed.” Because who wears couture these days, anyway? A couturier for 30 years, the French designer could think of only “one or two” women who might wear the label’s couture designs. “But in what occasion, really? For the big couture houses, the purpose isn’t really about dressing people anymore.”

But there’s no need to mourn the death of another couture label: Instead, Frisoni has decided to launch a less expensive limited edition line, titled Rendez-Vous, which features sixteen handmade bags and shoes that will tour his boutiques nationwide (it’s currently on view at Saks). By “limited,” we’re talking batches of ten copies for each piece, including all the different shoe sizes (which has been very complicated, one of the label’s employees told us in a hushed tone). The designs include a shoe embroidered with wood flowers, a wooden clutch with a jeweled ladybug clasp, and a pump with a rose made of feathers sewed to the toe. And while they still cost a ridiculous amount of money (the cheapest piece, a pair of leather sandals, is still $995), the highest priced item is equivalent with the least expensive couture item that Frisoni has ever made ($10,300).

And in case you can’t afford any of the above — which is quite likely — Frisoni is also launching what he calls an “entry-priced” line for spring, called Miss X. “It’s for the summer, or for the grocery store. When you go buy les carottes – how do you call carottes? Carrots. Or the soups,” he said excitedly. Of course, fleshing out the different price ranges has to do with the recession, but also because it’s just more modern, he says:

It’s not just about people having less money. People have changed the way they go for luxury, because they realize at a certain point there’s other things to do with your money than buy things like couture that you may not really need. So I am trying to find a new way to excite them and make them buy in another way. Not a reasonable way, because reasonable is always boring. But finding a new way to attract them.

Will he ever return to something super luxurious? “Maybe I will do a car,” he said. “I would like to do my own car as I desire it. That would be a big project. A playful car.”

Click here  to see Roger Vivier’s new limited-edition collection.

New York Magazine’s Lauren Murrow reports on Christene Eddleson’s Knit Jewelry : Though she designed and sold her own jewelry to a few boutiques in her native Chicago during high school, Christine Ettelson thought she had ended her short-lived fashion stint when she left to study comparative literature at Brown. After graduating and moving to New York in 2008, she happened to work in the same building as designer Julie Haus, who noticed her striking, handmade accessories. Haus asked her to collaborate on her resort 2010 collection, which Ettelson styled with her knit wool and leather jewelry and belts. Her eponymous new line is now stocked at Julie Haus’s Soho store, and she’s planning a pop-up shop at Inven.tory early next month.

Each hand-knit piece takes up to five hours to complete, incorporating far-flung methods like Kumihimo, a Japanese braiding technique; Lucet braiding, a form of Renaissance cording; and locker hooking, a type of weaving. After originally learning to knit as a child, Ettelson is intent on pushing the form, experimenting with materials like leather cord, thick threads, felt, and metallic trim. She mixes various yarns and threads to create swirled, customized hues — the fall collection’s reds and whites were inspired by her collection of Art Nouveau glass and bronze lamps, while the holiday line’s sparkle-flecked “sundowner” pieces were modeled after sunset photos from a safari trip she took over the summer. Click ahead to see more of her designs.

Expert author William G. Craig’s gives his tips on how to improve your acting skills: You could probably fill a library with all the books on how to improve your acting! So to save you a little time I have put together a list of 10 tips, that I hope, will help you the most.

• Know your script. Read, re-read and then read again, and not just your own lines. From this foundation you can go on to identify the reason for your lines, this will help you react with the right lines and make remembering easier.
• Listen actively, you should give the impression that what your character is hearing is purely of that moment. Resist the temptation to be quick with your lines, just to prove you know them, it is a conversation after all.
• Be brave, the quickest way to improve your acting is to realize that your first choice will usually be the easiest for you to do – not the best one for the part. Look beyond your initial choice.
• Learn to breath, practice 20 minutes a day. Inhale as deeply as possible and exhale for twice the amount of time you spent inhaling (i.e. inhale 15 seconds exhale 30 seconds). This will help pre-audition stress and stage fright.
• Be professional, turning up on time, or early, will give you all the warm up time and, more importantly, the space you need.
• This one might not be so obvious, avoid bad mouthing your fellow actors. This is not only good advice because eventually they will find out what you’ve been saying, but also the actors who are quick to insult other actors are the ones who blame others for their own shortcomings. If you always blame others, you will miss out on the opportunity to accurately evaluate your own performances.
• If everyone around you is loosing their heads – keep yours. If you find yourself in a situation where every piece of furniture is being chewed by your fellow cast members, hold your nerve and avoid the melodrama. Your performance will stand out like the calm at the eye of the storm.
• Act! The more you act the better you should get. Practice makes perfect after all. The more acting you do, the greater the number of actors and directors you will work with. This will help improve your acting by enabling you to find the truest way for you to develop.
• Improve your acting by making your colleagues look as good as possible. It might sound odd but getting the best from colleagues will reflect on your own performance and help you develop. It will also improve your professional reputation which, in turn, should mean you get more work.
• Finally, be thick skinned. You have to have the courage to stick to your guns when you think your right, even if you consider the criticism harsh, or are getting lots of rejections. Be honest with your self and be brave, most actors get rejected for most jobs most of the time!

According to MTV News & Music Mix, Nicki Minaj doesn’t even have an album out yet, but she was one of the biggest winners at the 2010 BET Hip-Hop Awards, which were taped on Saturday for an upcoming broadcast. The Young Money rapper took home Rookie of the Year, People’s Champ, and Made You Look (style) awards, MTV News reports.

Jay-Z tied Minaj’s award total, taking home trophies in the categories of Perfect Combo (Alicia Keys duet “Empire State of Mind”), CD of the Year, and Best Live Performer. Other awards went to Rick Ross (Club Banger of the Year and Track of the Year, both for “B.M.F.”), Salt-N-Pepa (I Am Hip-Hop), Diddy (Hustler), Swizz Beatz (Producer of the Year), and DJ Khaled (Best DJ).

This year’s Hip-Hop Awards will air Oct. 12 at 8 P.M. on BET. Will you be tuning in? Which award categories are you most looking forward to seeing televised?

According to Jennifer Hong of Newsoxy: Willow Smith Snatched Up by Roc Nation. Smith, the daughter of Will Smith, has been signed by Jay-Z under his Roc Nation label. Roc Nation is owned by rapper Jay-Z.

“We at Roc Nation are excited to work with Willow,” Jay-Z stated. “She has an energy and enthusiasm about her music that is truly infectious. It’s rare to find an artist with such innate talent and creativity at such a young age. Willow is about to embark on an incredible journey and we look forward to joining her as she grows in all aspects of her career.”

The 9-year-old has already created a buzz after “Whip My Hair” was leaked on Sept. 7th. Willow has already begun her career in acting. She has had roles in “I Am Legend” and “Kit Kittredge: An American Girl”. In addition, she did voice-over work for “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa”.

“After meeting with several record companies, it was clear that Jay-Z, Ty Ty, Jay Brown and the Roc Nation staff was the unquestionable choice,” Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith stated. “Their passion for Willow combined with their boundless vision and artistic integrity made Roc Nation the perfect home for our little girl.”

CBS’s Joyce Lee reports, “After posing as an angel for the past 13 years, supermodel Heidi Klum is leaving her post as Victoria’s Secret.spokesperson.

“All good things have to come to an end. I will always love VictoriaWorld’s Top-Paid Models and never tell her secret,” the German-born mother-of-four said in a statement, obtained by the Associated Press, Friday.

Klum, 37, is among the most famous supermodels in the world, strutting her stuff in international catwalks and appearing in print and TV ads for fashion labels and brands like McDonalds and Volkswagen.

She landed in the number 2 spot of Forbes’ list of the world’s top-paid models, reportedly earning $6 million last year.

 Although no specific reason was given for her departure, Klum said she will focus on her other ventures, including her hosting gig on “Project Runway,” which is in its 8th season, and her new clothing line with New Balance, to be sold exclusively on Amazon.”

PICTURES: 2009 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show
PICTURES: World’s Top-Paid Models

The New Yorker’s Amy Larocca sits and talks to super actress and super mom Katie Holmes about her upcoming fashion line: Check it out!

You put your collection together with your stylist, Jeanne Yang. How did you get into designing?
I started making clothes for Suri when she was born, designing dresses, and then having seamstresses sew them, because I don’t sew very well. As a child, I was always drawing clothes, and I’ve always loved fabrics, and when Suri was born, I wanted to have certain things be from me and created just by me for her. And so that kind of got me into it, and then one day, Jeanne and I were getting ready for something and we thought, men have such beautiful tailored shirts, they have such a uniform, and we thought it would be nice to make things that are simple that you can have forever.

 Were you always into fashion?
I always loved clothes growing up. My mother had a drapery business. And now, part of being in this business is that you’re around really nice clothes. You do these photo shoots, you get exposed to Hermès and Chloé and Armani, and you start to feel the difference.

 Is Suri into clothes, too?
I grew up the youngest of five, so there were a lot of hand-me-downs that I would sort of change up. And Suri and I do that now with her clothes. Or rather, she does it. She says, “I want this sleeve cut,” and it’s like, “Okay, we’ll cut it.” She picks out all of her own clothes and has since she was 1½. Tom and I went to the Met ball a couple of years ago, and I had this beautiful red gown and these royal-blue shoes that I wasn’t planning on wearing, but Suri made me put them on and so I was like, “Okay, I trust you.”