Folk You Should Know: Rita Ora, from Roc’s Nu Order

Thought I’d better get all over this before any of y’all miss the boat on this songstress’ beautiful voice.

If any of you have heard of Rita Ora recently, it’s probably not for a good reason. It might have something to do with a lot of urban blogs printing this pic of Rita.. Keep reading, though, there’s more where that came from, hehe (not in a bad way…)

Hmmm, yes, not sure about this. But most bloggers went hard in on this pic, thinking it was Beyonce lookin’ all kinds of drunk and hot messy… Then when it was realised that this was in fact, Rita, not Beyonce, bloggers went hard in on Jay for picking up a lookalike. It’s unfortunate for Rita to get stuffed in between a Roc (get it? Roc? ) and a hard place but when you look like the love child of Beyonce and Shakira, it’s difficult not to draw comparison.

Anyway, here’s the skinny on the new Minnie…

Rita Ora

Government Title: Rita Ora Sahatciu

Age Ain’t Nothin’ But A Number: 18

Hails From: Pristine, Kosovo

Journey From UK to US: Moved to London with fam as a baby. Grew up in Ladbroke Grove. Hasn’t left UK yet.

Co-signed By: Jay-Z, Craig David

Distribution/Label: WEA (Warner), Atlantic, Roc Nation

What’s Ahead: An album release in 2010

(Is it just me or does both Jay and Kanye’s heads look oversized? And Rita looks a lot older than she is in this pic… What curls and light pink lippy will do to ya when you’re young…)

Latest Offering: Where’s Your Love w/Craig David and Tinchy Stryder

Offerings To Check Out: Awkward- Craig David

Where You’ve Seen The Goodz B4: The Brief (TV Show), episode “Children”

My Thoughts: looks a helluva lot like Blu Cantrell, doesn’t she? I’m surprised Jay would walk around in front of Beyonce with a Blu lookalike, considering how much was said about Beyonce disliking her…

Sounds like Joss Stone. Where Joss’ voice finishes on a jazz or a pop note, Rita’s comes full circle-pop/jazz/soul/R&B. There hasn’t been a great deal of music leaked from Rita’s camp so I cannot give much more of my opinion.

Jay-Z’s Roc Nation seems to be pulling out all stops to accommodate more non-US artists to the label with acts like the successful pop groups Sugababes and Ting Tings plus up and coming artists such as Melanie Fiona (Canada) and J.Cole (Germany & US).

So the rumours are unsubstantiated even though Jay and Rita have been seen out many places, it is never alone.

Rita has currently been in the Dominican Republic, with Jay-Z ’s entourage as a guest at his birthday celebrations this week. And Beyonce was/is there too so ain’t no drama there.

Rita was even at Michelle Williams’ birthday earlier this year when she was in London, doing Chicago:

And both ladies were seen with Gwyneth Paltrow and Jay’s best friend, Ty Ty:

Plus, if you check out the vid below on Youtube:

, there are more than a few pics to go around of Rita…

At 0:24-27, 2 personal pics of Beyonce & Rita

At 1:43,a group pic with Brandy

At 2:05- 2:18, the group pics at Michelle Williams’ birthday, including Jasmine Dotiwala from MTV and Ayousha’s owner

Lots of pics with Tinchy Stryder and Ty Ty

One pic at the end of a young Rita, as a brunette with straight hair and glasses.

I guess only time will tell if Rita’s talent will be allowed to shine or if the label will downplay her to US audiences so she seems like another carbon copy of the cookie cutter R&B princess mould.

Folk You Should Know: Ke$ha, Kesha, Whatever, The Coolest Chick Right Now

Okey dokey, I hear y’all. Don’t think I haven’t seen all your searches, hehe.

Ke$ha (or Kesha for your search engine to prevail successfully)…

(Disclaimer: So I posted back in my last dopi post about Tik Tok and how much I was feeling that song for the summer, along with some background info. Please forgive but I may repeat some info here for the uninformed to get the whole picture)

Government Title: Kesha Sebert

Age Ain’t Nothin’ But A Number: 22

Hails From: born in LA, raised in Nashville, Tennessee

Journey from Zeroine to Heroine: raised by cool country singer-songwriter, Pebe, who let the cameras of Nicole Richie and Paris Hilton’s hit show: The Simple Life: Interns, into their humble abode and let the socialites hook her up with a new dude. Kesha (as she was known back then) is seen to be very hippy cool but shy in the featured episode with straightened dyed reddish blonde hair, wearing two tops with bra straps still showing and ripped at knee jeans. It can be assumed that Ke$ha made fast friends with Paris and Nicole as there is a story told in a future track of Ke$ha’s that she had thrown up in Paris Hilton’s closet at a party (summarized in “Party At A Rich Dude’s House”).  Ke$ha also did the unthinkable in the company of Prince, breaking into his home so she could convince him to make her record.

Cosigned By: Dr Luke and Max Martin

Distribution/Label: Sony/RCA, Kemosabe Entertainment

What’s Ahead: Animal (album) for 5/1/10 (track listing found here)

Animal Cover Art

Toured With: Mickey Avalon, Calvin Harris, 3OH!3 (appearance only)

Latest Offering: Tik Tok, of course.

Offerings To Check Out:

• Girls- Pitbull
• Touch Me- Flo Rida
• Dirty Picture- Taio Cruz
• Slow Motion feat Three 6 Mafia (a femme version of Juvenile’s hit)

Where You’ve Seen The Goodz B4: The Simple Life: Interns- The Wedding Planner episode, Katy Perry’s “I Kissed A Girl” video clip

Where You’ve Sung Along to B4 (co-writing credits): This Love- Veronicas, Time Of Our Lives- Miley Cyrus

Where You’ve Heard The Vocalz B4:

• Overexposed Blonde- Degrassi: Next Generation
• Backstabber/Chain reaction- The Hills Season 3
• Lace & Leather- Britney Spears’ Circus

My thoughts: I think Ke$ha’s track, Tik Tok, is somewhat, this Summer’s (for southern hemisphere, anyway) anthem, just like Lady GaGa’s “Just Dance” was last summer. She has even prevented the Australian Idol winner from hitting number 1 here in OZ, which is a huge no-no but seeing as both artists are repped by Sony, I guess they could let it slide. What’s even funnier is that while the Idol winner, who is originally from New Zealand, can’t get to number 1 here, Ke$ha first number 1 in the world was in NZ!

Glad to see there is someone willing to do away with the cookie cutter pop star image and treat everyday like it was a party. Ke$ha seems to be unabashedly straight up and says what she wants and means. Looking forward to more of “The Real” from her in the future

Info via IMDB, Wikipedia, Keshasparty.com, Sony Music Australia, my own DVD collection

Check out Ke$ha’s personal Youtube for more of the cool craziness at GirlFriday1011

Shiny New Things: Show Stoppers To Make You Watch

“Don’t worry bout why I ain’t got mine on,
I want some new shit, I don’t want nothing that you can tell time on”

Ultimate Dreamboat Watch: The Manhattan- WANT!!!

So, it’s coming up to Xmas time and while I am feeling the squeeze to get out and do some shopping, I have barely any time to do so.

Thank goodness for the internets

Plus all my window shopping can be done from the comfort of our home office. You can check product reviews and compare prices all before manning/womaning up to the bank and relocating your hard earned cash to purchase what you came for and nothing less. Trouble is, even with a list, I feel overpowered by the shopping frenzy that Xmas has become.

Makes me think of royalty, pure elegance...

Anyway, here’s a photo listing of the watches I would love to add to my collection in the next couple years. Some of them I have no hope in ever purchasing (have to win lotto for that) but one can dream, right? So, I’ll shall do that…

The Intricate and fascinating Quenttin by Jacob & Co

I know it’s more manly but I think some gents watches are better looking on a woman’s wrist…

Would totally get all 3. Alain Sauser makes beauty for wrists…

Tambour Mysterieuse by Louis Vuitton

Yep, def all 3 with this lot too…

Pretty in Pink Chopard with floating diamonds

I love floating diamonds in watches and Chopard has a huge range of styles. I’d get one in every colour if that were ever possible

Bape with Jacob & Co to make a range of hip timepieces

The watch has come a long way since I was a little girl, wearing my boring old Lorus with its teeny brown leather strap and useless buckle. When my father would outgrow a watch and purchase an even better quality one, I would step up to take the hand-me-down watch and wear it until it broke for good. Even as a teen, I knew I would have two shopping obsessions in life- fragrance and beautiful timepieces. My fragrance obsession has hit its peak and tapers off at times but my watches, well, I don’t think I would ever throw them away even if the straps broke or I lost pins out of the watch face.

Watches are a great investment, not only in fashion but in managing your time.

Images via Google at kicksaholic.com, watcheshead.com, watches-brand.com

Lyric Quote: Jadakiss- Go Head, off the Ryde or Die Vol 2 album.

Unknown Opinions: Beyonce Gives Thanks

As much as I loved all the Destiny’s Child albums and Beyonce’s first two albums, I could not bring myself to embrace I Am Sasha Fierce. That being said, there is no denying that she is one of the world’s finest performers. I saw Beyonce in concert for The Beyonce Experience tour after the BDay album dropped. Loved that CD so much I bought both versions. It was a defining time in my life. The concert was off the chain. The energy levels never got lax.

Over in the US, ABC has screened Beyonce’s Thanksgiving Special, which encompasses some of the Las Vegas Wynn performance for the recently released “I Am Yours” DVD and some old school footage of Bey as a child and Destiny’s Child plus some backstage and rehearsal moments.

Click the link to take you to: Beyonce Thanksgiving Special

What’s On My Dopi ATM: Rated R for Reckless Running Rampant

Rated R is Rihanna’s 4th studio album and is showing a hugely darker vision we have of her since the last album and the personal dramas she has faced earlier this year. As a cohesive album, from the outset, it does not look that way. But let me help you delve into the shallows and the depths of Rated R through my mini review.

What’s On My Idiot Box ATM: Giving Into Gossip Girl

So, I have no idea what has come over me. I am one of those people who ignore they hype over something huge (unless I am one of the first to jump aboard). I stay away from trends unless my interest is hugely peaked and it takes a lot for that to happen.

Gossip Girl is one I would like to say peaked my interest a couple years ago, in book form. I was on holiday with MOH and had just finished Lauren Weisberger’s most boring effort to date, Chasing Harry Winston. I needed to read something new, something a bit more than the same 3 or 4 women running around trying to keep their men, jobs and lives running smoothly all the while wearing the very latest Christian Louboutin Alta Perla slingbacks.

What’s On My Idiot Box ATM: NCIS, NCIS and did I mention, NCIS?

Holy moly, people! I am excited!!!

My fave show, possibly of all time is back, with a vengeance and I am hella-lovin’ it!

Firstly, i would like to thank CBS and the whole cast and crew for keeping their silence during the hard times after Season 6 finished and I had no hope left. Y’all sure know how to keep a lid on things over there to make and keep it interesting. I’d also like to thank all the false promo and predictions that Cote De Pablo was not signing on again for the 7th season. And finally, myself for not going nuts and looking up every bit of information I could find so I would spoil it for myself.

What’s On My Dopi ATM: Clashin’ Eclectically

So right now my dopi is full of weird stuff, songs that clash just like the different aspects of my personality…

Here comes the fun times:

1. STRIPPER- Sohodolls: heard this on the episode “Victor Victrola” on Gossip Girl. Really like hearing a female voice on the male perspective and the sound of the track is just off the chain!
2. TIK TOK- KeSha: heard for the first time on Video Hits back in early October and then it was played a few times during an awards night. Randomly, a great wakeup song Yeah, she’s an odd bird… I predict this is the new year’s “Just Dance”… UPDATES ON KE$HA: For those of you who don’t know Ke$ha, if you were a fan of The Simple Life, you may have seen her in the Wedding Planner episode of Simple Life 3: Interns. Paris and Nicole stayed with Ke$ha, her mom, Pebe and a sibling. Ke$ha would have been around 17 then. While not as crazy on television back then as she seems today, one of Ke$ha’s forthcoming tracks of the album ANIMAL is called “Party At A Rich Dude’s House” which lets us know about the time she threw up in a closet at a Paris Hilton party. Ke$ha is credited with working on MTV shows- Cribs and Super Sweet 16, had unreleased music used on Degrassi and The Hills plus writing tracks for The Veronicas and Miley Cyrus, singing a duet with 3OH!3backup for Britney Spears and also putting her touches on recent releases by rappers Pitbull & Flo Rida and British singer Taio Cruz. Also appeared in the clip for Katy Perry’s I Kissed A Girl.

Is It Just Me Or…?

I feel like I have a trillion things to say but I just cannot be bothered, in my old age. I remember when I used to get fired up over trivial things when I was younger. I had that young energy back then.

I could work two jobs on the same calendar day- one day and one night, and still go clubbing til 6 in the morning, I could spend all night listening to music and never get tired. I could write in my lyrics book for days at a time and feel a release. When I was younger.

I guess it all changes when you make differences to your life. I don’t look any older, just feel older. Maybe a lot wiser than before.

Anyway, without further ado- Is It Just Me Or…?

• Is the world becoming heaps more politically correct when it comes to words but more lax towards actions? I mean, you can’t joke anymore, even a little bit, just in case you offend someone but if a cop catches you doing two things wrong, they can give you the choice of what you would rather be charged for and they will look the other way for the other!
• Why don’t young people in retail care about customer service? Don’t they realise customers are the reason they have stock to out out, it’s not a bloody school social! If you are not a customer driven salesperson in a customer driven business, then you shouldn’t be in retail or claim customer service and people skills as a skill you possess.
• Why don’t you get a jelly cup or a baby ice cream as your dessert on a flight (economy class, of course. I’m no high flyer, hehe)? The lil chocolate is good but a nice dessert goes a long way, you know..
• Is Glee going to be the next Mamma Mia when it comes to top selling soundtrack for the 2009-2010 year?
• Were the first two singles from Rihanna’s new CD super-lack lustre? I can hardly believe Universal let her release them, let alone record crap like that. And then to do a video for the second single first? The only thing that sounds mildly pleasing is “Hard” feat Young Jeezy but there’s gotta be some more work put into that wack ass chorus…
• You tell me? Chris Brown and Rihanna’s team must be working together to work up all this promo on these two albums coming. Only difference is while Rihanna looks good, Chris’ latest track is good straight off the bat.
• Are those bloody ads with Julie from Masterchef super friggin’ annoying? Julie never wore that much caked up makeup on the show and I’m sure if she even wore half, it would have melted off in that hot kitchen right into her “Passionfruit Mess”…
• Does the world feel less violated and disrespected without Kanye West all up in our blog faces? I feel blessed to click on a blog and not see Kanye doing his BIG LETTER THANG or getting his makeout on with his A.Rose…
• have boy bands become real bands in modern times? You rarely see/hear just a singing pop boy band anymore and many more groups like The Script, Arctic Monkeys, Powderfinger, The Fray, The Killers and Franz Ferdinand are starting to fill the gap. Which is awesome ‘cos if I ever see that Bye Bye Bye video from N*Synce ever again, I will commit a felony…
• have you heard an angel singing when Susan Boyle opens her gob? OMG, I thought the CD had been incorrectly recorded when I heard the first single… Surprising packages, hey?
• Is MUSE the best band in the world? Heck yeah!!! Good on them for embracing the Twilight houseband moniker!

Anyway, must be off so I can get writing more regularly…

Something Silly: More Random Cuteness

So, MOH and I love cats, mostly any kind but especially the cutie variations.

I know how much peops on the internets love their cats so I thought I would fill another post with some pics of some kitties you may have no idea actually exist!

Manul Kittens

These cats are wild, not suitable for domestication but just gorgeous.  They have eyes different to most cats as their eyes dilate similar to humans. Don’t they remind you of a kitty racoon?

A granddaddy Manul, hehe...

He could be the Fat Controller’s cat, hehe…

Reminds me of Bert & Ernie's Egyptian vacation...

A Eurasian Lynx. He seems very majestic and royal. A very proud kitty

Baby Fishing Cats! Yes, this is a real species!!

We wonder why our regular domestic kitties dislike water and wish they would be playful enough to go for it… well, these kitties do1 They don’t mind the water one tiny bit and when you watch them catching the fish, it is hilarious ‘cos it is cute but great in that there is a species of cat that are self sufficient (as long as they are near water and fish, of course).

An Adult Male Fishing Cat

He’s cute too, yes?

Internet Sensation, Maru as a kitten

And now, as very active and energetic adult:

He's A Growing Boy & We Love Him More Everyday

Anyway, til next time… It’s a bit of a cute overload, isn’t it?

Images via: Google, Maru’s website and The Cat House