Very much the Emeli Sande of tonight’s Paralympics 2012 Closing Ceremony, Rihanna performed not once, not twice, but three times during this evening’s festivities. And while her ‘Princess of China’ performance showed promise, the model could not keep up the momentum with subsequent turns in the spotlight.

Peep her performances of ‘We Found Love’ and ‘Run This Town’ (which featured Coldplay and Jay-Z) below to see what we mean after the jump…

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‘Talk About Our Love’ singer Brandy was definitely the talk of the night Friday when she and her closest compadres gathered to celebrate the recent success of her Chris Brown-assisted single ‘Put It Down’.

Toasting to the splash the single has made on charts just weeks after its release, the song’s producer Sean Garrett joined Niecy Nash, Ray J, and more to help Bran ring in the occasion.  See more snaps below:

‘Down’, the first single lifted from the singer’s forthcoming album ‘Two Eleven’ (October 16th), is set to crack Billboard’s R&B/Hip Hop Top 10 upon its refreshing next week.  Here’s hoping for its continued success!

Your thoughts?

Janet Jackson was certainly unexpected eye candy for frenzied paparrazzi this weekend when she made her way to the opening of Dylan’s Candy Bar in LA.

The collection of sweets, created by Dylan Lauren (daughter of designer Ralph Lauren), has long been favored by the slim-and-trim superstar as explained in her brief chat with E! News.

While some of us can’t wait to get a taste of what the youngest of the Jackson clan is cooking up in the studio, she and her billionaire beau had their sights on a few other delectables.  See what we mean below:

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Fresh from her performance at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards Rihanna took her ‘talents’ to the 2012 Paralympic Games, working the spectacle’s closing ceremony.

Get into it below…

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While fans raved over R&B staples Fantasia and Joe‘s tribute performances to recent BMI honoree Mariah Carey, they were certainly not the only two bringing the house down in homage to the pop icon.

Indeed, Karen Clark Sheard, one/fourth of legendary gospel group The Clark Sisters, was on hand to deliver a fiery tribute to Carey.  And, as fans know, both singers have been quite vocal of their influence on each other – namely Mariah who has long cited Sheard as an influence.

Now, in recently lifted footage, see Karen tackle Mariah’s 1993 hit ‘Anytime You Need A Friend’ from the weekend’s showing.  Taking it to church like only she can:

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The latest series of the X-Factor UK continued tonight. Unsurprisingly, with this being the audition phase, the talented and talent-challenged came out in equal measure for a crack at progressing to the next stage. Judging the hopefuls are new additions Gary Barlow, Tulisa Contostavlos, original panelist Louis Walsh, and newcomer Nicole Scherzinger.

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From The Vault this week journeys back to the very end of the Urban friendly 90’s, precisely 1999 when R&B veteran Faith Evans released the bombastic single ‘All Night Long’.

Serving as the second single from Evans’ sophomore set ‘Keep The Faith’, the track proved to be another smash for the songstress, reaching the Top 10 of the Hot 100 and Hot R&B Hip-Hop tallies following the worldwide monster that was ‘Love Like This’. Similar to its predecessor, ‘Night’ was produced by Faith alongside Mr Sean Combs aka Diddy (or Puff Daddy as he was referred to back then). Of course, true-to-form Combs also had a guest spot on the song.

Directed by the great Paul Hunter, the single’s edgy japanese themed video remains a regular on the few music channels that actually still play…music. And with good reason too; indeed it’s a visual throwback to an era when R&B videos -on mass-had dollars and gloss pumped into them.

On a random note, the clip also serves up the LOL’s in that it’s also a nod to an era which saw Puffy hog up the screen of any song he produced or featured on. And in the case that is was both, it may as well have been his own video. For our younger readers, the mogul’s uncanny talent of putting himself first didn’t just apply to his Making The Band alumni.

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With Faith and her fellow ‘R&B Divas’ riding high on the show’s success, we can’t stress enough how much we are salivating for a new Ms. Evans project. As witnessed by the show, she is still an artist who has much to say and of course that voice is just undeniable.

Let’s Keep The Faith and pray for that album to come out sooner rather than later.

Your thoughts?

Nine days remain until Pink unleashes her sixth studio album ‘The Truth About Love’ on the masses.

And so as to tide fans over the set’s hotly anticipated September 18th arrival, teaser previews of the entire LP have been released.

What are you waiting for? Take a listen below…

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If we’re keeping it all the way real, Ne-Yo has never been a stranger to scoring #1 singles.

However, despite sitting atop many a global chart over the years, we’re pretty sure he won’t be taking his latest feat lightly. For today, he has scored his fifth UK #1 single with the smash hit single ‘Let Me Love You‘.

Good news below…

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She may have developed a habit of ignoring her fans call for new music, but it seems Lil Kim hears loud and clear when the world of fashion calls.

For, three nights after watching rival Nicki Minaj pick up the award for ‘Best Female Video‘ at the VMAs, the chart evader took to New York Fashion- rubbing shoulders with the likes of Angela Simmons at Nina Skarra‘s showing.

More from Azealia Banks‘ favorite punch line below…

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After arriving to a heartwarming welcome days ago, Rita Ora gave the people of Kosovo a lot more to love for her when she shot the video for her new single in the country.

Yes, in keeping to her word, the starlet took to her homeland to shoot the video for her forthcoming single ‘Shine Ya Light‘. A video, you can catch a glimpse of in footage below…

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Following a week long trip to the South Of France, The Carters ended their European get away yesterday- returning to the mainland via the boat above.

Upon arriving, the family were then escorted to Nice airport where they are believed to have a caught a flight back to their NYC home, two weeks after celebrating the success of their close friend Rita Ora.

Ora, whose debut LP rocketed to top of the UK album’s chart, shortly before she begins the US campaign of the same LP.

More below…

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