Vanessa Williams, always a STAR

On Monday, Vanessa Williams received the 2,331st star on the legendary Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Vanessa's friends and cast members from the TV show "Ugly Betty," in which she plays a villainous magazine editor, showed up to support her at the ceremony held outside the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.

"We were so happy to get Vanessa," commented actress Salma Hayek, the show's executive producer. "She is brilliant because she is so nasty on the show, but in reality she is the sweetest person."

As some of remember, Vanessa Williams stepped down as the first black Miss America in 1984 after Penthouse mag published nude, sexually explicit photographs of her taken several years earlier. If that were to happen now, it would most likely propel her to dollar-filled Playboy and Maxim Magazine shoots, but at the time, the scandal was troubling to a prudish America.

In the years since, Vanessa has performed on Broadway, released Grammy-nominated albums and acted on screens both big and small, and of course she still is and always will be a HMW.

Alicia Keys & Angelique Kidjo

03/07/07 : Alicia Keys Sings on Upcoming Kidjo Album


Alicia Keys and UNICEF goodwill ambassador Angelique Kidjo's.... Kidjo's new album, titled "Djin Djin" will be in stores May 1st. Djin Djin finds the Benin-born Kidjo partnering with such luminaries as Alicia Keys and Ziggy Marley to create an album which is truly global in scope. Alicia sings a duet with Angelique on the album's title track, "Djin Djin". Other special guests on the album include Amadou and Mariam and Branford Marsalis. The CD will be available simultaneously at Starbucks in the U.S. and Canada as well as retail stores.

Inspired by the traditions and culture of Kidjo's native Benin in West Africa, the title of the album refers to the sound of the bell that greets the beginning of a new day for Africa. On Djin Djin, Angelique returns to her Beninese roots, building an album around the most traditional rhythms from her country. With the help of accomplished West African musicians, she recorded Djin Djin at Jimi Hendrix's Electric Lady Studio in New York City.

Alicia Keys quote: "I Love Angelique's Music! She is one of the most dynamic artists I've ever heard. I'm excited to be a part of a truly unique album. Check for it!"