In honor of the vice presidential debate last night, I thought I would fan the political flame of interest a little further by drawing your attention to the newest voter awareness public service announcement.

A galaxy of stars turned out for a PSA that urges young people not to vote because, after all, who cares about Darfur, gay rights, terrorism, global warming? Ah, I can sense that a lot of hands are going up out there, and for that you are true patriots and our country thanks you. (Those who didn’t put their hands up can see me after class.)

So what kinds of stars are in this PSA? Probably just a few you may have heard of. You know, like: Halle Berry, Laura Linney, Jennifer Aniston, Eva Longoria, Ellen DeGeneres, Natalie Portman and Demi Moore. (Not to mention some of our favorite actors, like Leonardo DiCaprio, Forest Whitaker and Jamie Foxx.)

If you dare even to think about not voting in this upcoming election, think again. This star-studded cast clearly all have degrees in mind trickery because they are about to dazzle you with some serious reverse psychology. … continue reading

The 2008 Black Entertainment Television Awards were last night and, as expected, it was quite a spectacle. In what BET promised to be the “hottest ticket on television,” musicians, actors, athletes and others gathered to celebrate the achievements of the most accomplished black celebrities of the past year.

They arrived in droves, and they arrived in style. (Well, all except for Lil Mama, but I won’t even get into that.) Behold, some of the most fashionable ladies to attend the awards:

Gabrielle Union, Keri Hilson, Rihanna

Once inside, the festivities began, though not quite as smoothly as some would have liked. If you happened to tune in late (or not at all) don’t worry about missing Usher’s opening performance; it appears as though he slipped and fell during his dance sequence. Oh well, karma’s a bi-yatch, isn’t she?

Other than the homophobe du jour, there were performers who actually deserved some recognition. Alicia Keys brought the women of SWV, En Vogue, and TLC on stage with her, and they managed to completely bring down the house with TLC’s hit “Waterfalls,” and I was simultaneously reminded of why I miss '90s music so much. (Seriously, you want to watch that video. It was totally badass.)

T-Pain led all nominees with five, but females were actually fairly well represented; several were nominated for at least two awards and all gender-neutral categories contained at least one female nominee. That is more than can be said for the Grammy Awards, the CMT Awards, or the ACM Awards. But, out of the eight categories shared by men and women, only one woman prevailed: Erykah Badu (with Mr. Roboto) for Best Video Director.

A full list of nominees and winners can be found here, but I’ll (happily) round out the list of victorious women for you. … continue reading