‘American Boy’ is one of my this year’s favorites. The massively successful hit has brought Estelle’s album Shine for the Mercury Prize nomination. Unfortunately Londoner songstress lost to Elbow, and their The Seldom Seen Kid.

But Estelle won’t give up as she is set to get over her Mercury Prize disappointment with big wins at the Mobos after being nominated for five awards.

Estelle has more nominations than Leona Lewis, who recently became the first British woman to reach #1 in the US singles charts for more than 20 years.

Estelle’s Nominations include:

Best UK Female

Album

Song

R&B/Soul

Video

The ceremony will be in October hosted by former Spice Girl Mel B.

In the Best Female category, Estelle and Leona Lewis will be competing with Adele, Duffy, and MIA.
International Mobo nominees include Kanye West, Mariah Carey, Chris Brown, Rihanna, Jay-Z, Mary J Blige, Ne-Yo, Usher, Akon and Alicia Keys.

The 13th annual Mobo Awards will take place at the Wembley Arena in London on October 15th, and winners are chosen by public votes.

Watch the ‘American Boy’ video Estelle featuring Kanye West and oh, other cute American boys!!! Love the boys.

As Adele and Duffy will both go head-to-head with Estelle for the best UK female award, they do remember the headlines she made on Duffy’s and Adele’s music. That was so damn bitchy! Here it is:

It’s hilarious. I’m not mad at ‘em - but I’m just wondering, how the hell is there not a single black person in the press singing soul? Adele ain’t soul. She sounds like she heard some Aretha records once and she’s got a deeper voice - that don’t mean she’s soul.

As a songwriter, I get what they do. As a black person, I’m like: you’re telling ME this is MY music? F*** that! They keep trying to tell me in the media what soul music is and I’m like, we KNOW what soul music is, stop f****** around with us! You’re taking the piss out of every black person in the country!”

I have to disagree… There are also black people singing white music and they get awards for that. Anyways, who fuckin’ cares if its black or white singer as long as it sounds fantastic like Duffy’ ‘Mercy’?

Music Of Black Origin Awards – at the root, it is strange to me. Why to divide music and call the awards ceremony that way, it could be called Soul Music Awards.

What do you think?

The Conde Nast Media Group’s 5th Annual Fashion Rocks event hit NY Radio City Music Hall last night bringing along a real star tsunami. It was like a Grammy Awards ceremony or something.

The show was hosted by Dennis Leary with lots of A-listers performing and presenting during the night. Other night’s hosts included Sheryl Crow, Melissa Etheridge, Jessica Alba, Charles Barkley and Halle Berry. Among the guests one could see Oscar winners Charlize Theron and Hilary Swank, Hayden Panettiere and Marg Helgenberger, Tyra Banks and Nick Cannon, Chace Crawford and Molly Sims.

The show was all glam and fashion. The stars dazzled the red carpet with their gorgeous evening gowns and stylish outfits. Some of the stars visiting the show were donning Stand Up To Cancer t-shirts to support the campaign, among them were Mandy Moore, Salma Hayek and pregnant with her second baby Jennifer Garner.

One of the most exciting moments of the Fashion Rocks pre-party was a very hot performance of Pussycat Dolls. These girls definitely know how to rock!

The show was marked by a fantastic performance of Beyoncé Knowles, during which she managed to change several outfits, and this gold satin dress was one of them. Isn’t it gorgeous?

Rihanna turned heads at the red carpet and had a blow-minding performance on stage. Her image on stage was so different from the red carpet one, this girl knows how to leave us breathless with her style and talent.

Hannah Montana star Miley Cyrus was probably the youngest among the performers and she definitely used her chance to shine on the red carpet and on stage surrounded by really famous singers performing ‘Just Stand Up!’, the worldwide charity single benefiting Stand Up To Cancer.

She joined Beyonce, Mary J Blige, Rihanna, Carrie Underwood, Keyshia Cole, Leona Lewis, Fergie, Ciara, Mariah Carey, Ashanti, Natasha Bedingfield and Nicole Scherzinger to sing the song created and produced by LA Reid and Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds.

“For the first time we can envision the possibility of stopping cancer in its tracks,” the mission statement read, according to Gossip Girls. “But just when science is on the verge of giving us the breakthroughs that can end cancer, the will and the funding to do so are disappearing from the national agenda and from our collective consciousness.”

Love of my life Justin Timberlake was also there at the show as one of the headline performers. He was hot as always.

Fashion Rocks opened New York Fashion Week 2008.

Can there be anything better than being hot and being elegant? These cover girls and the boy know, what I’m talking about. These are most elegant celeb cover stars of this month. And don’t even try to tell me you don’t find them glam and gorgeous.

Fantastic Kill Bill star Uma Thurman is gracing this month’s Vogue issue. If all women looked that fabulous approaching 40… A great and really elegant outfit consisting of a silk blouse, jeweled belt, organza and silk net skirt, accompanied by the matching necklace makes her look gorgeous at this cover.

Gwyneth Paltrow looks positively flawless in Versace on the July 2008 cover of Harper’s Bazaar. “You know, I don’t want to look like a mother who doesn’t care. For myself, for my work and for my relationship, I want to look good,” the star said. And she does look good in that great bright pink dress.

The Devil Wears Prada star Anne Hathaway is looking smart gracing InSyle’s July cover. As the magazine revealed, Agent 99’s alter ego is a master decoder of personal style. So sexy and smiley, Anne Hathaway seems like the greatest attraction for buyers. Just confess you couldn’t help but get yourself the mag because she was smiling so irresistibly!

British singing star Leona Lewis is featured on the July 2008 cover of Blender magazine. “I don’t wear little miniskirts and low-cut tops. If you want to show your bits off, it’s up to you.” Leona tells the music mag. This pop’s next megastar is wearing all black but anyway manages to look positive and hot. Sassy and hussy, Lewis looks great here. Mariah Carey look out!

“Mary-Kate is fragile yet strong,” said Diane von Furstenberg about this month’s Elle cover girl Mary-Kate Olsen. It’s not really often that we see the Olsen twins apart. Mary-Kate is famous for her incredible sense of style (which I personally do not always understand, but anyway). This cover explains why her fashion line is so popular worldwide. She’s really elegant and glam here.

When talking about elegance and style there’s no way I can miss Angelina Jolie, the sexiest assassin on screen and a doting and caring mom in real life. Jolie’s gracing two elegant covers this month.
Famous old Hollywood glamour is felt in the air when you’re looking at her Vanity Fair cover, while Entertainment Weekly cover looks more like down-to-earth but naturally beautiful. That’s Angie, a woman in full.

What I like about Arena magazine this month is Shia Labeouf’s cover. He’s so cute! Bet you all’d love to have a romantic date with the Indy star by the pool? A man in an elegant black suit is always attractive.

Amy Winehouse was back on stage in London Friday when she performed two of her hits ‘Rehab’ and ‘Valerie’ at a special concert as part of Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday tribute.

Everyone welcomed her with loud cheers and was impressed by her strong vocals and her really healthy looks, according to the reports.

Amy was wearing her famous huge beehive with a bright heart-shaped pin inscribed with “Blake”, her husband’s name. Generally Amy looked much better than expected, especially taking into account her recent hospitalization and health issues.

Besides singing two of her songs, Winehouse took lead vocals in a version of ‘Free Nelson Mandela,’ alongside Jerry Dammers, the writer of the anthem, and most of the concert’s performers and then joined everyone to sing ‘Happy birthday’ to Nelson Mandela.

Here’s Amy singing her famous ‘Rehab’. Honestly, I expected something grander from her. but the dancers rock.

Organizers of Friday’s gig feared Winehouse would miss the concert after she failed to attend a scheduled photocall on Thursday, the source reported.

Generally the concert was aimed at raising money for Mandela’s 46664 AIDS charity – named after his prison number. The concert followed the fundraising dinner on Wednesday night, which was attended by Bill Clinton, Gordon Brown, Oprah Winfrey, Robert De Niro, Will Smith, Uma Thurman and others.

According to the reports, the event has raised about $10m. The concert was led by Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith and was attended by Geri Halliwell, Leona Lewis, Annie Lennox, trio Sugababes, Lewis Hamilton and Nicole Scherzinger, Prince William’s girlfriend Kate Middleton, and others.

Once again, happy birthday Nelson! You’re a great man!

Nelson Mandela along with the world’s most loved celebs have broken silence on Mugabe’s regime at Mandela’s party.

The fundraising dinned welcomed his close friends: world famous socialites as well as human rights activists. Among the guests there were big names like Oprah Winfrey, Nicole Scherzinger, Uma Thurman and many others.

But on a short address, Zimbabwe merited only a brief mention in a list of the world’s ills.

For the speech Nelson Mandela said:

The world remains beset by so much human suffering, poverty and deprivation. It is in your hands to make our world a better one for all, especially the poor, vulnerable and marginalized.

We look back at much human progress, but we sadly note so much failing as well.

In our time we spoke out on the situation in Palestine and Israel, and that conflict continues unabated. We warned against the invasion of Iraq, and observe the terrible suffering in that country.

We watch with sadness the continuing tragedy in Darfur. Nearer to home we had seen the outbreak of violence against fellow Africans in our own country and the tragic failure of leadership in our neighboring Zimbabwe.

It is within this context that we should also see the plight of those affected by HIV and Aids. It is now in the hands of your generations to help rid the world of such suffering.”

Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith were just two boldfaced names to fete the prebirthday dinner party held in Hyde Park. Also on the list: Forest Whitaker, Kim Cattrall, Leona Lewis and Denzel Washington.

Amy Winehouse was supposed to attend as well; unfortunately she’s been hospitalized and is still advised to stay in bed. For the concert though, she will perform at her first post-hospitalized performance.

Another troubled girl Naomi Campbell attended the event. She looked oh-so-preety, and most important, she smiled.

Amy Winehouse will perform at the 46664 Concert at Hyde Park in celebration of Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday. The show will take its place in London on June, 27th and will have stars like Annie Lennox, Oprah Winfrey, Will Smith, Forest Whitaker, Robert De Niro and Leona Lewis.

Tim Massey, the International Director of 46664, said in a statement:

We are delighted that Amy will be appearing at Hyde Park to celebrate Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday. Amy joins an illustrious list of names showing their support for 46664 and the fight against AIDS.”

46664 is international organization fighting HIV and AIDS.

For decades, it has been an unattainable goal for many British pop stars to get number one in The Billboard Hit 100 chart. And here we go! Yesterday X Factor winner Leona Lewis became the first British female in over two decades to top the American charts, with her debut single Bleeding Love, according to Daily Mail.

Lewis, 22, confessed it was her dream to crack the US market, which is extremely lucrative but notoriously hard to crack. “I really don’t know what to say. I’m so overwhelmed right now. I’m getting to share my music with people around the world and it’s beyond my wildest dreams. From the bottom of my heart, thank you all so much. It’s because of you that I am able to do this,” the singer said on Oprah Winfrey show.

Her mentor Simon Cowell added: “I am incredibly proud of Leona, what she has achieved in the past year is simply amazing.” Cowell helped Leona win ITV1’s X Factor in 2006 after winning over the public with her extraordinary singing voice and sweet personality.

“All I want to do is my music and just hearing my single on the radio the other day brought a tear to my eye; I was so happy.” Leona confessed.

Just two British female solo artists before Leona have gone to number one with their debut single in America. Petula Clark was the first in 1965 with Downtown, and Sheena Easton’s Morning Train followed in 1981. I must confess I don’t remember these ladies. Time will show if Leona Lewis manages to hit big time in the States, you know, competition is really huge here. Good luck to you Leona! I just wonder what Heidi Montag thinks about all that.