Word is Rihanna is really feeling 90210 actor Tristan Wilds. According to the NY DailyNews, this became evident this past weekend during a party at the singer’s L.A. home in which Tristan was a guest.

“No one knew why Tristan was there initially, because it was not an industry party — it was very intimate,” says a fellow guest. “But everyone quickly realized they weren’t meeting for the first time, because they were openly affectionate for everyone to see.”

And the snitch claims sparks flew from the moment they met.

“He’s a real gentleman,” says the snitch. “She likes him a lot, and it shows. From the moment he walked into her party, Rihanna lit up.”

Although Rihanna is in major promo mode prepping for the release of her album, the snitch reveals that the “couple” have come up with a plan to make their fling last.

“They’ll keep in touch while she’s away.They’re already planning to use iChat and Skype to stay in contact until Tristan finishes shooting ‘90210′ for the season and can fly out to meet her on the road.”

In related news, the Bajan beauty will perform her new single Russian Roulette from her new album Rated R on Britain’s “The X Factor” on Sunday, November 29^th. However, she’s not the only star on the bill for that night. Alicia Keys will also be performing “Doesn’t Mean Anything” from her new album, The Element of Freedom.

Last night’s episode of ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” sure didn’t disappoint! Not only is my girl Mya still in the running to being crowned champion of DWTS, but Grammy-Award winner Alicia Keys and Leona Lewis blessed the audience and TV viewers with their beautiful voices as well. Alicia sang her new single “Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart” off her new album The Element of Freedom, due in stores December 15th. Leona Lewis sang her latest song, “Happy” from her just-released album, Echo. Mya is up against Kelly Osbourne and Donny Osmond, as they’re the final three finalists vying for the coveted trophy.

In case you missed Mya’s stellar performance last night, we’ve got you covered!

I don’t think Mya has anything to worry about, she’s bringing that trophy home!

ANY THOUGHTS?!

Last week, Alicia Keys embarked on her college lecture series titled “The Element of Freedom” and her first stop was NYU’s Skirball’s Center for the Performing Arts where she spoke to an auditorium full of eager college students.

“I’m loving this tonight [that] we’re here at NYU. I’ve always, always, always wanted to come to colleges. … These are some very creative young people out there, and I want to reach out to them and share some of my story and hear some of their questions and really be able to start a dialogue.”

The Grammy Award-winning songstress also made it clear to students that to achieve success they must “put in the work”.

“No matter where you’re from, you gotta put in the work. I’ve really learned a balance between creativity and play and working and experiencing. Adding, “Before I used to kind of just totally lock myself in a room and create for like months on end thinking that was the best way to create music. But now I’ve really learned a balance between creativity and play and working and experiencing, and it’s really made the process of creating this record a lot more pleasurable.”

Peep the beautiful and talented Alicia Keys on the cover of Uptown magazine’s Holiday issue below.

Alicia’s really going in with the promo! Me likey…

]]> http://str8nyc.com/2009/11/11/alicia-keys-tells-nyu-students-to-put-in-work/feed/ 0 http://str8nyc.com/2009/11/10/album-cover-alicia-keys-the-element-of-freedom/ http://str8nyc.com/2009/11/10/album-cover-alicia-keys-the-element-of-freedom/#comments Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:52:31 +0000 LexAve http://str8nyc.com/?p=27900 ALBUM COVER: ALICIA KEYS- “THE ELEMENT OF FREEDOM” ***UPDATE***

Check out behind-the-scenes footage of Alicia Keys’ video for her new single “Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart” off her new album The Element of Freedom scheduled to drop December 15^th. I’m pretty sure Mashonda knows what it feels like to “try sleeping with a broken heart”, hell Alicia stole her man.

Last night was an important night for the hardest working entertainers in Latin Music.  It all went down at the 10th Annual Latin Grammy Awards held in Sin City at Mandalay Bay. Grammy-award winner Alicia Keys tore the house down with her performance of “Looking for Paradise” with Alejandro Sanz from his latest album Paraiso Express.

Word is one of the reasons Alicia Keys decided to push back her new album The Element of Freedom is because she wanted to spend more time working on “Empire State of Mind Part 2”. Yep, her duet with Jay-Z was so monumental that the songstress and the rapper have decided to return to the studio to record the sequel.  And fans aren’t the only ones in love with the New York Anthem, apparently Alicia “fell in love” with the track the moment she stepped in the booth. She recently told MTV,

“Obviously, I’m very grateful to him [Jay-Z] for reaching out to me and for that type of ability to represent my hometown, like, that was crazy. So we went to the studio. I went to the studio, and … I fell in love from the jump.”

“The Element of Freedom” in stores December 15th!

I hope that Part 2 just doesn’t fall short…