BEYONCE ANNOUNCES TITLE OF NEW ALBUM, 'I AM...SASHA FIERCE.' + PHOTOSHOOTS & CANDID PICS WITH HUBBY.

Beyonce has revealed that the name of her new full-length double album, due Nov. 18, is I Am…Sasha Fierce. "The new record is a double album and has two covers, like a magazine would have two covers," Beyonce said of the Music World Music/Columbia Records release. "One of the covers is named I Am... and the second cover is named Sasha Fierce. That is my alter ego and now she has a last name." In past interviews, Beyonce has mentioned "Sasha" as the part of her personality that comes forth when she is performing on stage.

"I have someone else that takes over when it's time for me to work and when I'm on stage, this alter ego that I've created that kind of protects me and who I really am," the singer said. "That's why half the record, I Am...is about who I am underneath all the makeup, underneath the lights, and underneath all the exciting star drama. And Sasha Fierce is the fun, more sensual, more aggressive, more outspoken side and more glamorous side that comes out when I'm working and when I'm on the stage. The double album allows me to take more risks and really step out of myself, or shall I say, step more into myself, and reveal a side of me that people only know me see. I have recorded over 70 songs and I have worked on this album for close to one year. I have poured my heart and soul into it. It is my baby. It is the most time I have spent on any project since my first records as a member of Destiny's Child."

Songs on the I Am... side include If I Were A Boy, Halo, Disappear, Broken Hearted Girl, Ave Maria, and Satellites. The Sasha Fierce half includes Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It), Radio, Diva, Sweet Dreams, and Video Phone.

Below are candid pics of Mr. & Mrs. Carter leaving a cocktail party celebrating Diddy's appearance on the 'Black on Black' cover of LUomo Vogue's October 2008 issue in New York City last Thursday night.

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Check out Bey's photosperad in the November 2008 issue of InStyle magazine.

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Promo pictures from I Am...Sasha Fierce.

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Wanna hear Beyonce finally acknowledge her marriage to Jay-Z? Peep the video below.

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PICS: CIARA NAMED 'WOMAN OF THE YEAR' BY BILLBOARD; REVEALS PLANS TO LAUNCH NEW CLOTHING LINE.

Ciara has been named Billboard's Woman of the Year. Last Friday, October 24th, Billboard's 3rd Annual Women in Music committee recognized Ciara's success as a recording artist and leadership in embracing the changing music business. The actual award was presented to the star during a breakfast program to be held at New York's St. Regis Hotel. An editorial issue of Women In Music will be published by Billboard on Oct. 24. This incident reminds me of when the upper-ups over there at the Soul Train bestowed upon Ashanti the 'Aretha Franklin Entertainer of the Year Award' back in 2002. Just stepping onto the scene, some people felt that she wasn't worthy of the award. What has Ciara done over the past year that would deem her worthy enough for a Woman of the Year title? If you know, let me know because I really want to know.

In related news, Ciara has also revealed plans to launch her own clothing line with budget department store Steve & Barry's, following in the footsteps of actress Sarah Jessica Parker's Bitten range. "I have a couple of cool things that I'm working on. The coolest thing about Steve & Barry's is they cater to everyday people. I won't say that my line will be like theirs, I want to stay true to who I am, but most importantly it has to be affordable." If her album Fantasy Ride continues to get pushed back, she's going to have more time than she thinks to get this clothing line launched. Speaking on the delay of her album, Ciara says, "As of now December 9th and if it gets pushed back it's only because its so many great things I want to make sure I give you guys before you get the actual package in your hands."

Ummmm-hmmm. Peep the pics from Ciara's Woman of the Year breakfast below.

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CELEB PERFORMANCE PICS: SOLANGE & HER SON IN PARIS; MARY J. BLIGE IN CALI; ALICIA KEYS IN

Mary J. Blige performs part of The Love Soul Tour at the Sleep Train Pavilion on October 18, 2008 in Concord, California.

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Alicia Keys performs live during a concert at the O2 World on October 18, 2008 in Berlin, Germany.

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Keyshia Cole performs during the 2008 Spirit Of Life Award Dinner on October 15, 2008 in Santa Monica, California.

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Solange Knowles performs live on stage during a private concert at the 'Showcase' club in Paris, France on October 24, 2008.

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MO'NIQUE TO RELEASE HER 1st NOVEL IN A SERIES, 'BEACON HILLS HIGH.'

Mo'Nique has always been one to put it all out there -- from discussing her "open" marriage in a magazine article, to the recent revelation that she was molested by her own brother growing up. Considering that, readers should expect nothing less than truth and real-life stories in her latest venture, a series of novels that kicked off last month with Beacon Hills High. Beacon Hills is the story of a thirteen-year-old F.A.T. (fabulous and thick) high school girl named Eboni who struggles not only with her weight, but also with fitting in when her family moves from the suburbs of Baltimore to Los Angeles, where everyone appears to be perfect. It is a book targeting the teen demographic because as Mo'Nique points out "they need some real stories that speak to them."

"I travel all over the country and going into the school system and hearing our babies have conversations, there wasn't anything that dealt with them and their issues," said Mo'Nique, who is committed producing three more teen novels with Sherri McGee McCovey, who was a writer on The Parkers. "My book is entertaining and real. A lot of (books geared toward teens) things were fantasy out there. Eboni, that's me growing up. And all of her friends are real people that I grew up with." There's Juan, who is gay and makes no apologies for it. Deb comes from a bi-racial family; she is both black and Jewish. Robin is white and has no desires at all to be or "act black."

"We had to hit every ethnic group, because that's the world we live in," said Mo'Nique. "More and more you see young people from different backgrounds interacting and being friends. And this book deals with their issues."

Does the book deal with more gritty issues, like the molestation that Mo'Nique recently revealed in her own life? "You have to read it to find out," she chuckled. "But talking about my molestation was something I had to do. It happens, unfortunately, to so many little girls and little boys every single day. People keep asking me how could I come out and talk about what my brother did. Well my question is, 'How could I not?' I was basically walking around in prison for years keeping that secret. And I decided that I wasn't going to my grave in prison. It's because we don't talk about those things is why so many of us so damaged."

Mo'Nique plans to use her novels as a platform to get young people and all people thinking about their lives and making a difference. "Not only is this book for young adults, it's for us too," she said. "We're nothing but kids with grown up faces. My book questions your character and your judgment. Even though Eboni is thirteen, somebody who is forty-three can pick up and learn from it, because I did."

Source: Karu Daniels, BlackVoices.com

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JANET & HER KEEBLER ELF SHOOT DOWN BREAK-UP RUMORS.

Janet Jackson put rumors of a breakup with longtime boyfriend Jermaine Dupri to rest this week. "Baby, they say you broke up with me because I threw up on you," Dupri says on a recent video released to fans to which Janet responds laughing off the rumors about the producer throwing up on her at his birthday bash. "How lame is that. Because you threw up on me... well, there's no real love there, is it?" says Janet. Feeling better after several postponed Rock Witchu tour stops, Jackson thanks fans for their love and support via a Youtube video. "I want to thank you for all your messages and all your love and support when I wasn't feeling very well. I'm a lot better now."

Jackson continues the North American leg of her Rock Witchu tour through the end of the year with a second leg to be announced at a later date.

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VENUS & SERENA WILLIAMS IN HARPER'S BAZAAR MAGAZINE.

World renown tennis players/sisters Venus and Serena Williams glammed-up and slammed-down in their new photoshoot for Harper's Bazaar magazine.

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TONI BRAXTON ON HER OUST FROM 'DANCING WITH THE STARS' & COPING WITH HER SON'S AUTISM.

I know I'm not the only one who was sad to see Toni Braxton eliminated from this season's Dancing with the Stars...especially when we have to be subjected to the geriatric-foolery that is Cloris Leachman! Anywho, Toni recently said that her departure from DWTS was bittersweet and that she truly considers her run a complete success because she overcame her heart condition to master the demanding ballroom routines each week. "My goal was reached," Braxton, who has coronary microvascular angina, told The Associated Press after being voted off Tuesday night. "I wanted to do better. I wanted to breathe better. And I was definitely breathing better. I've come a long way from Week One to Week Now." Braxton and her professional partner, Alec Mazo, received a score of 22 out of 30 from the show's judges during Monday's performance after a respectable West Coast swing routine. The Unbreak My Heart crooner was booted after that score was combined with viewer votes.

In related news, the singer says she has finally 'come to terms' with her youngest son, 5-year-old Diezel's autism after years of feeling nothing but confusion and guilt following his diagnosis. "You tend to blame yourself," the singer admits in the Oct. 27 issue of People, adding that she tortured herself with the question: "Is there something I did wrong?" Braxton says it took some time and a lot of patience to accept her son's condition. "A lot of times, parents are in denial because they want to think their child is perfect." With the help of an applied behavioral analysis (ABA) specialist who works with Diezel both at home and at school, Toni's family appears to have brighter days ahead. "A friend of mine told me, 'Toni, all these autistic kids in the world now, they are God's new angels, and they are here to show us life differently.' I've been embracing that. He's a wonderful kid."

Toni attends the 2008 Spirit of Life Award dinner honoring Doug Morris in Santa Monica, California.

Toni and Kim Kan't-Dance-shian at the Grand Opening of XIV Restaurant in West Hollywood, California.

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