Martinique's Melodie rules the (fashion) world!

On the catwalk for Bottega Veneta (all photos: style.com)

Martinique's Melodie Monrose has emerged as the breakout star of the fashion season thus far -but didn't we tell you so?
Islandistas, in the fortnight since we highlighted her as the one to watch this fashion season, Melodie pretty much decimated New York Fashion week.

Bagging 19 shows, she was far and away the top black model of NYFW and all of a sudden, it's a lot easier to find information on her, as the fashion press have rushed to highlight her.

Courtesy of Vogue.com, we now know that the 18 year old was discovered a mere two months ago through a school friend’s model scout.

Essence.com included her in a list of NYFW 'Catwalk Queens and it girl Shala Monroque (from neighboring St. Lucia) pronounced herself 'In Love with the Melodie' on her The Pop blog.

And all of a sudden, she has gone from lit student to fashion darling. She skipped the just-ended London Fashion Week to head to Milan and the Milanese have taken to her just as the New Yorkers did. We've counted her in six shows already including Gucci and Prada! Check out the rest of the pics below!






For Gianfranco Ferre





On the catwalk for Francesco Scognamiglio.






On the Gucci catwalk.








For Prada!





For Gabriele Colangelo

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New girls Melodie, Ornelia & Alyssah @ NYFW!

Islandistas, it's that kinda time again - Fashion Season!

New York Fashion Week kicked off yesterday at a brand new location - Lincoln Center.

And with the new location and new season, comes a host of new runway talent and as per usual, we are back to poring through the web pages of style.com to scout out the hot new islandista talent working the runways.

After the first day, one new model has pulled ahead of the pack of both old and new Caribbean models, snagging three shows on day one - Martiniquan model Melodie.

She got a shout-out last week from the New York Times' in a piece by fashion critic Cathryn Horyn looking at casting directors' (of course!) new favourites and has followed up on that, walking forVena Cava, Rachel Comey and Nicholas K.

Truth be told, lots of models of colour and of island walked for Rachel Comey - sent us scrambling to the Fashion Spot's Jamaican models thread to i.d. some of the new faces.

Another newbie is Jamaican Ornelia Edwards who walked for Rachel Comey, as did Trini-descended Canadian Alyssah Ali.

By the way, Alyssah wants you to know that she Trini and proud eh? In an interview earlier this year with the Trinidad Guardian, the Canada-born model explained that there is still some confusion about her heritage, with many presuming she is from India.

"It was because someone wrote an article about me being Indian. Ever since, I have been trying to prove to people that my background is Trinidad. Even then, some do not know where it is and assume it is somewhere in Asia. I am very proud of where my family is from. I would love to celebrate my Trinbagonian heritage if given the chance,"
she told the Guardian.

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Islandista on the rise: Haitian-American jewellery designer Monique Pean

Islandista-descended jewellery designer Monique Pean has been getting plenty of buzz in 2010.

From Michelle Obama wearing her designs to being featured in O Magazine as one of ten women on the rise to profiles in Essence, New York Magazine and Businessweek, Monique's star is on the rise.

A former Wall Street banker, Pean, whose Haitian father is a former UN diplomat , turned to jewellery making in 2005 after her little sister Vanessa, was killed in a car accident at just 16.

Out of the tragedy came the Vanessa Pean Foundation, which provides scholarships to students at the Centre D’Etudes Secondaires in Haiti and recently completed a spring-fed well in Cabestor which is now providing clean water for over 6800 people.

The tragedy also led directly to what is now Monique Pean Fine Jewellery as her creative form of therapy eventually became a business when a boutique store manager asked about a one-of-a-kind necklace she was wearing which was made from - get this - fossilised wooly mammoth tusk from the Artic Circle.

When Monique said she'd made it herself, the manager asked to see her line sheet.

"I had no idea what a line sheet was," Pean told Businessweek in a profile on her that is out this week.

However, the interest led her to approach more boutiques and within six months, she had left her position at Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs to start doing jewellery full-time.

And from there, she has progressed by leaps and bounds. She received the CFDA/ VOGUE Fashion Fund prize in 2009, and is the recipient of the 2009 Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation Award for Accessories.

She has also expanded her production staff so they are up to producing 1000 pieces a year - doesn't sound like much unless you consider that their prices go as high as USD$203,840 for a recycled rose gold, 33.4 carat diamond bracelet.


Photo credit: Reuters/Eliana Aponte

Still, between Mrs. Obama's frequent appearances in Pean's designs - at a state dinner and on an April visit to Mexico, business is booming. Business has grown 136% in the past year and high-end retailer Barney's carries her line in eight of its national stores.

A good look indeed!

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Ivy Leaguer wins Miss Jamaica World ... and the chatter begins

Photo credit: Jamaica Gleaner

Awoah!

Jamaica, Jamaica ah tell yu! Only in JA would a beautiful Ivy League grad not be good enough for some folks as Miss World.

Let us explain.

The Miss Jamaica World contest went down last weekend in Jamaica. That has always been the 'big one' of the two pageants for Jamaicans, simply because three Jamaicans have copped the Miss World title - Carole Joan Crawford in 1963, Marley mistress Cindy Breakespeare in 1976 and Lisa Hanna in1993.

Harvard law grad Chantal Raymond won the competition and will go on to represent Jamaica in Sanya, China later on this year. Raymond seems like an impressive kind of chick.





Photo credit: Livestush.com

This was her second go-round in the competition, after having entered in 2008 and she was in it to win it this time because clearly she is one of those Type-A personalies that has to excel at everything.

But from the comments on the Observer's story on the coronation, not everyone thinks she fits the 'beauty queen' mould with folks debating her shape, looks and of course, complexion.


A selection:



I agree, the runners up fit the visual profile of a Miss World/Universe. Bad choice. Doesn't make sense. It boils down to visual beauty when the Judges choose a Miss World!!!


Another reader thought her Harvard credentials helped her get the crown, writing:



hmm..not sure how many of u were actually there. I think the winner is OK, but thats as far as it goes. She has no curves whatsoever, & mustv won cuz shes Harvard grad. I wouldv chosen any of the other 4 runners up, & if judges were confused they shouldv simply picked the runnerup voted 'most aware' ie Amanda McReath, who many thought shoudlv won! Organisers need to revamp judging, they keep voting based on scholastic merits..Lisa Hanna was only a HS grad when she won!! CIndy..same thing!! duhhh


One commenter dismissed other readers who put the criticisms down to colour since Chantal is darker than the two runners-up or than two of the three Miss Jamaicas who went on to win the title.



Stop the foolish talk... WE always bringing up this "Oh, I want 1 that look like me..." Then they don't count/place - nothing! Every jamaican represents me in some way... we are a mixed race/culture people. Plus to be fair we have had darker hued and/or shorter haired JA girls represent - Look at Cathy Levy, a woman name McDonald back in the 70s (very dark, with short nappy afro), etc.
This girl is a nice girl, but she's no Cathy Levy!!! Good luck all the same...


Now there may be arguments for both sides. No doubt Chantal is not the curviest as her swimsuit pics show. She's got a very trim, athletic frame and flaunted a mean six-pack in the contest.





Photo credit: Brian Rosen

Beauty wise? Well that is in the eye of the beholder and if the eye that's beholding you is Jamaican,you have to consider that country's history and question whether shade plays a role someone commenting about who fits 'the visual profile' for these contests. Did Mpule Kwelagobe (Miss Universe 1999) fit this visual profile perchance? I'll leave it up to you islandistas to decide. Does Chantal have a chance?

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Miss Haiti Universe's past reflects Haiti's troubles

Photo credit: http://www.missuniverse.com/

Miss Haiti Universe, Sarodj Bertin will be going for the title in Las Vegas on Monday along with 82 other contestants from around the world.

Sarodj is Haiti's first representative in the contest since 1989 and like her country, has a tragic and troubled past.

Her mother Mireille Durocher Bertin, a lawyer and opposition party leader was murdered in 1995 when Sarodj was nine years old, prompting the family to move to the Dominican Republic.

But of course, as is often the case with Haiti, it's by no means straightforward and there are deeper layers of tragedy and intrigue and figuring out the bad guys and good guys in this depends on which side you're looking from.

Even now, the assassination of her mother remains unsolved and with her daughter in the spotlight now, controversial as ever and debate is raging in the Haitian diaspora about both mother and daughter.

Mireille Durocher Bertin was shot to death in broad daylight while being driven through the streets of Port-au-Prince in March 1995 - months before the scheduled June general elections.


She was the passenger in a car being driven by reputed drug dealer Eugene "Junior" Baillergeau when it was blocked off.

According to the New York Times report on it:




" Gunmen came out of a red Mitsubishi jeep shot up the front tire on the driver's side, got out and raked the windshield with automatic weapons, firing from both sides of the car. Then they disappeared."


The assassination was seen at the time as a huge embarassment for then president of Haiti Jean Bertrand Aristide and his sponsor, the US government because Durocher Bertin was an outspoken critic of Aristide and Lavalas.

But and here's a big but... Durocher Bertin was no sweetbread. In fact, according to the LA Times she was:

"Closely linked to former Lt. Gen. Raoul Cedras, the Haitian army commander who led the September, 1991, coup that overthrew Aristide. She also served as chief of staff for Emile Jonassaint, the puppet civilian president installed by Cedras in 1994."

The New York Times noted she " became familiar to American television audiences last fall [1994] defending the former military Government.

Blogger Chantel Laurent over at OpEd News has basically argued that Durocher Bertin reaped the whirlwind because of her affiliation with the hugely violent regime that crushed Haiti's democratic movement in the early 1990s.

Of course, none of this is Sarodj's fault. Though she has lived outside of Haiti for most of her life and some Haitians decry her as being 'too Dominican', her pride and joy at representing her country is evident. She told AP:




The Miss Universe pageant has always been a dream for me, since I was a kid. I used to watch the contest and think, "Why is my country not participating? I want to see Haiti participating." ... When I finished college, I gave up on the idea. I thought it would never happen. I thought someday ... I could celebrate the contest and send a girl myself. So when they told me that they were going to do it this year ... I trembled, I cried, I screamed.

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Islandistas Rihanna and Nicki Minaj making history!

Chart toppers!

Big t'ings a gwan for our islandistas!
Barbados stand up!
Trinidad, stand up!

bupbupbupbup! raaaeeeeee!

... And all that ... because we are all kinds of proud of our islandistas Rihanna and Nicki Minaj these days who have been scaling the Billboard charts and making history in their own ways.


Rihanna's collaboration with Eminem - the gritty and painfully close-to-home Love The Way You Lie hit number one on the Billboard pop chart (i.e. the big one this week). While that is great, the real accomplishment is that this is her sixth number one - meaning that she is tied with Mariah Carey, Beyonce and Lady Gaga for most number ones in the Soundscan era.

Now just to explain that since by now you might be saying "but wait, isn't it the Beatles that have the most number ones ever?" - music chart ranking is basically divided into the pre and post-Soundscan era.


The post Soundscan era is the time since Billboard starting counting sales at retail point-of-sale using Nielsen SoundScan in 1991.

Previous to that date, music album and single sales were tracked by phone, with Billboard staffers calling individual stores across the U.S. for data, a far less accurate collection method.

And in that time, Mariah, Beyonce and more recently Lady Gaga have dominated (Gaga in a staggeringly short time - less than two years). And now our own islandista Rihanna has joined that illustrious company. People can hate all they want on her voice but they can't stop Ri-ri boy - she has that certain je ne sais quoi.

Nicki Minaj is also holding on to that number one spot - her Annie Lennox sampled hit Your Love has been at number one on the BillBoard rap charts for 12 weeks now - and she is the first female rapper to hit number one in eight years - since Missy Elliot with 'Work It' in 2002.

Crazy. Crazy that it has been so long for female rappers but fantastic that Nicki is the one flying the flag right now for femcees.

Congrats to them both!

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Renee Ratcliffe takes the big one!

Photo credit: Nationnews.com



A huge, huge congratulations to a truly inspiring islandista Renee Ratcliffe on taking the biggest prizes for mas in this year's Crop-Over festival.

After years of knocking at the door, Renee bested the veterans queens of the mas - Gwyneth Squires and Betty West, coming out on top to win the prestigious Festival Designer of the Year and Large Band of the Year for her Jump Promotions' presentation Spirit of the Gap.

Truly, Renee deserved to win and as a still young designer, her victory augurs well for the future of the festival. I got a look at Jump before they moved off from Warrens and the presentation had just that right balance of artistry and sexy we have debated times before here on Islandista.

Not to mention that Renee is someone with a fantastic spirit. As a cub reporter I interviewed her some years back after she had suffered two debilitating heart attacks and a stroke when she was just 28 years old and contrary to the expression "serious as a heart attack" she was bussing big jokes about it all!

Congrats again - it's your time Renee!

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Islandista Top Chef's dream: opening Asian fusion restaurant in Bim

The dream is over for Barbadian Top Chef contestant Tamesha Warren.

At least her first dream of winning the $100 000 grand prize in Bravo's Top Chef.

Last night viewers saw her voted off by the judges and fellow chef-testants as her scallops with pickled rhubarb, cilantro, basil and long pepper in rhubarb jus was just too spicy for the diners - sounds like something Caribbean people would love though - seafood and plenty pepper!

However, Tamesha, who at 24, was the youngest contestant on this season's edition of the top-rated reality show, has another dream - opening her own restaurant in her native island.

Now that the show is over, the real action begins for the Deighton Griffith Secondary alumna as she is now free to make the media rounds and talk freely about the show, which is pre-taped and in one such interview with NBC New York, she revealed what she would have done with the big prize.

"If I had won the money, I would have put it aside to open up my own place in Barbados. I first wanted to travel to Asia because I'm in love with Asian food, but I'd like to do a Barbados fusion restaurant with Asian influences. I grew up there until I was 16. I try to go back every year since my grandmother who raised me still lives there. It would be formal dining. There’s a Japanese restaurant called Zen in one of our finest hotels [the Crane] and I was just surprised how many locals were there actually eating.
They're being exposed to cuisines from all over the world. That’s why I think my idea with fusion and Asian influence would be succesful. I don’t know if I want it to stand alone or be in a resort, either or would work.

Here's hoping that an angel investor takes notice of this islandista star and brings her back home to shine!

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Shelly-Ann Fraser not running from tough past

AFP did a very moving article earlier this week about one of our favourite islandistas, Shelly-Ann Fraser.

The feature is all about Shelly's determination to be a role model, particularly in light of growing up in the gritty ghetto of Waterhouse, Kingston.

The piece deals very directly with the stark poverty Shelly was raised in:





Fraser has come a long way from the the drug-infested, crime-ridden Kingston slum of Waterhouse that she grew up in. At first Fraser's mother couldn't afford to even send her to school. The family had no money so they would often go to bed hungry.

One of her best friends died in childbirth at age 12 and she witnessed first hand the violence that plagued the Waterhouse district.

Raised by a single parent, Fraser's family lived off the trinkets and second hand goods that her street-vendor mother sold.


"She would come in sometimes from work and say she didn't make any money today so we couldn't buy anything," said Fraser.


The Wolmer's grad also shared her vision for Jamaica, and spoke of how women, like her own mother, are often hindered when teenaged pregnancy disrupts their education.



When the young girls in my country become pregnant and they don't have education they are stuck in the same situation as their parents. It is a cycle.
"It is bad, but a lot more can be done to try and teach people. It is hard when you can't afford to feed your children.
"You have to have a plan. You have to sit down and say this is what I want for myself and this is what I need to do to get there."
"Education needs to be the number one focus in our country.

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Yendi to the (Miss) universe ... but some folks vex!

The succint headline in the Jamaica Observer said volumes: 'Yendi again'.

It was announcing that familiar face Yendi Phillips, the former Miss Jamaica World for 2007 (and Asafa Powell's girlfriend) had won Miss Jamaica Universe.



Hardly any surprise since everyone knew Yendi was on a level above the other chicks in the competition.

Of course, it was hardly any surprise either that some folks are not pleased.

There is a virtual cyber-storm of comments on Socia Lingua's congratulatory post on Facebook - 170 and counting, at time of this post.

Basically the jist of people's criticism is that Yendi, having already won Miss Jamaica World, should 'let other girls get a chance' at Miss Jamaica Universe and that it's not fair for her to have gone after both titles.

Now to this we say... would people have made all of this fuss if she didn't win either contest? In the pageant world, particularly in the Caribbean, you tend to get the same crop of chicks competing in several of the different competitions.

So a chick might be Miss (name Caribbean city here) one year and then the next year step up and compete in Miss Carnival/Festival/Carival. And then the next year compete in Miss World if she's doing better or Miss Caribbean Beach Beauty Tropical International if she's not (I made that one up).

Point is, competing in multiple pageants over the years is far from unusual. It just so happens that Yendi won the ones she entered. Moreover, if she had won two minor beauty contests (like Miss Caribbean Beach Beauty Tropical International), I doubt anyone would business. But she's good enough to have won the two big ones.

It is just it go. If she is the best, she just is and since there is no rule preventing her from entering the two contests, we don't quite see why people are so vex about it.

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Islandistas galore in July Russian Vogue!

Ohmigosh, it's a veritable flood of islandistas in Russian Vogue this month (do we see influential islandista Naomi's hand in this?) with four islandistas featured in a hot spread by Terry Tsiolis!

.And ... we ... LOVE IT!





Not just because it features four of the hottest islandistas in the game, including Jamaican superteens Shena and Sedene but the vibrancy and pure 'aaaattitude gal!' spirit of the spread just jumps out at you.






In the lead pic with Reina, Jeneil and Sedene in orange, I all but expect to hear Sedene hollering out 'raaaeeee! A wha do dem gyal deh!'








 




(Photo credits: Terry Tsiolis for Russian Vogue)

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Islandistas in June Vogue & July Elle!

It's all islandista, all the time in fashion's biggest magazines this summer! The fashion folk can't get enough of island girls from all spheres, be they designers, models or singers.

In the June edition of Vogue is Jamaican designer Carly Cushnie of Cushnie et Ochs - along with her design partner, they are highlighted in a feature on New York fashion's New Guard. To paraphrase Daddy Screws, big t'ings a gwan fi yu Carly!Also in the same June edition is Puerto Rican/Virgin Islander (St. Thomas to be exact) Joan Smalls, who truly ripped the runway in the FW10/11 fashion season just gone- walking 40 catwalks.




Vogue Editor at large Andre Leon Talley profiles the refreshingly down to earth Smalls as June's It Girl - and we love it. We'd been wondering how a boricua ended up with a surname like Smalls - now we got it!

And of course, the It Girl of all islandista It Girls, Barbados' own Rihanna, is the cover girl for the upcoming July edition of Elle magazine. They also blurbed her interview.

Our favourite quote from the interview bits thus far is undoubtedly this one:


On turning her dream of popstardom into reality: “If I were in Barbados still, I would be dreaming about this. I asked for it, and I love it, so why am I complaining? My first day on tour, I remember saying ‘I’m so tired—this is so much.’ Then I thought, What the fuck? You asked for this—you prayed to God to tour like Madonna.”

Love. Her!

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BREAKING NEWS: Kamla Persad-Bissessar first female PM of Trinidad & Tobago

[picapp align="center" wrap="false" link="term=Trinidad+elections&iid=8901433" src="3/6/d/5/Opposition_leader_PersadBissessar_7be6.jpg?adImageId=12976890&imageId=8901433" width="380" height="268" /]

As Denyse Plummer said it then, it has become now - Woman is boss in Trinidad & Tobago.

The news is just in that Kamla Persad-Bissessar will now be the first female Prime Minister of Trinidad & Tobago, after her People's Partnership coalition won the snap elections in Trinidad and Tobago today with 28 out of 41 seats.


Kamla declared victory from as early as 8:30 p.m. (Eastern Caribbean time) as it became clear the PP was headed to victory and extended the olive branch to PNM supporters saying:

"All are welcome. The door is open."

[picapp align="center" wrap="false" link="term=Trinidad+elections&iid=8901434" src="2/4/5/c/Opposition_leader_Kamla_05ed.jpg?adImageId=12976895&imageId=8901434" width="380" height="253" /]

(About to be former) Prime Minister Patrick Manning only conceded a short while ago, saying "we accept the results and I accept full responsibility."

Things looking sticky for Manning now - this is the second time he called a snap election and lost - the first time being 1995. Yuh can't mek  that kinda mistake twice, especially when you are not that popular.

And just for a final touch ... Denyse Plummer's Dimance Gras 88 performance of ... Woman is Boss.

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Jeneil, Jaunel and Sasha-Gaye in Brit mags

[caption id="attachment_2350" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Photo credit: Danielle Jackson/I-d magazine"][/caption]

Jamaican supermodels continue to run tings in the fashion world.




This month brings a wave of top yaad talent to two British magazines - the quirky, fashion-favourite, I-d and British Grazia.




Jeneil, along with several others, is featured on the cover and on the inside of I-D in their Summer for Love editorial, which plays up her strong, lithe body with several leaping and nsfw topless shots.




Jaunel and Gaye are in the more mainstream Grazia in their editorial 'The Clash' which highlights the 'tribal' trend in fashion. Take a look at the pics from both shoots under the cut.

[caption id="attachment_2351" align="aligncenter" width="299" caption="Photo credit: David Roemer/Grazia"][/caption]

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Rally round the West Indies ... women!

[picapp align="center" wrap="false" link="term=World+Twenty20+cricket+women&iid=8730734" src="2/a/c/8/England_v_West_68b2.jpg?adImageId=12837178&imageId=8730734" width="380" height="253" /]

Soooo... once again, the West Indies men's cricket team has disappointed us with their lack of heart, effort or discipline in the World Twenty20.

It's not so much that they lost to Australia - the Aussies have been like frigging Terminators in this series - machines covered in human skin and focused on one mission only. But it is how they lost that is hurtful. There was a limpness, a visible lack of interest or effort, that just compounded the defeat for Windies supporters.


Gayle apologised to fans, saying:

"There are no excuses and I apologise to the fans for our display in this World Cup but we have to hold our heads high."

Really? You have to hold your heads high? Why again?


Big. Dutty. Suck. Teet.

Let's focus on a team that can and should really hold its head high. The ones who fight on the field to win games, with amazing feats to outshine even those of the men and who defeated the defending champions England.

Let's talk about Deandra Dottin, Stafanie Taylor and the rest of the West Indies women's team, led by Merissa Aguilleira.

Unlike the men, they play with just about zero glory and attention - though Deandra Dottin's staggering 38-ball century in the opening match against South Africa turned heads. In fact, it more than turned heads - she just about gave folks whiplash in scoring the fastest international T20 century. Ever. Man or woman.

Unlike the men, they don't throw tantrums before every tour to demand more money for mediocre performances. Their pay is minimal and they play for the glory and for the chance to bring more attention to the women's game.

They are in the semi-finals of the Women's World Twenty20 which has been playing alongside and in the shadows of the men's games.

Stafanie Taylor asked today for the fans to support them in their game against New Zealand on Friday, saying:

"We would love the people of the West Indies and, in particular, St Lucia, to come out and support us on Friday. We need the support and I can promise that we will give everything we have in an effort to get to the final. We want persons to come along in big, big numbers and bring their cheers just as they would for the guys. We will be spurred on by persons shouting and cheering us along the way. It will make a big difference and would mean a lot to all of us."

“I think people will be surprised by how good women’s cricket is these days. We train hard, we play hard and there is a lot of talent in the West Indies."

These girls deserve our support. And unlike the men, they have heeded the tournament call and they did indeed 'bring it'. So let's back them.

Islandista is rallying round the West Indies Women!

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Shena Moulton in Teen Vogue

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="434" caption="Photo credit: Jason Kibbler/Teen Vogue"][/caption]

Saint's sweet sixteen supermodel (say that ten times fast!) Shena Moulton is continuing her winning form with a spread in this month's Teen Vogue magazine, entitled Sugar Rush.

The spread, shot by Jason Kibbler is featuring the bright and sweet colours that will run spring and summer 2010.

[caption id="attachment_2266" align="aligncenter" width="282" caption="Photo credit: Jason Kibbler"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="282" caption="Photo credit: Jason Kibbler/Teen Vogue"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="282" caption="Photo credit: Jason Kibbler/Teen Vogue"][/caption]

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Shena Moulton in Teen Vogue

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New Melanie Fiona video - Ay Yo

One of our favourite islandistas on the musical scene, the talented Melanie Fiona, has a new video out for her single Ay Yo - and we are loving it.

It's an inspirational, get up and do what you have to do kind of track and the video has a cool concept and an actual storyline. And they threw in a lil sassy West Indian flavour in the scene right at the beginning too ... lol!

Check it.

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New Melanie Fiona video - Ay Yo

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Islandista on the rise: Natalie Storm hits MTV UK

Jamaican dancehall/R&B artist Natalie Storm is moving up inna life.

Her video for the single 'Look Pon Me' has made it into the rotation of both MTV UK and MTV Base.

Check it out below.



The video was already making moves regionally, airing on Jamaican music channels Hype and ReTV and on regional music network Tempo.

But it's  her British inroads that has Natalie excited:


"People been linking me from all over the UK via Facebook and Twitter saying that they've seen the video and how much they love it. I am very excited cause this is big for me, for dancehall music and a good look for Jamaica as well."

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Islandista on the rise: Natalie Storm hits MTV UK

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New vid - Shontelle's 'Impossible'

To paraphrase Timbaland...

It's been a long time... we shouldn'ta left you...

But now we're back islandistas! And with something new - Shontelle's video for her single Impossible. Check it below and then our take on it after the cut.





Really liking it. It helps that it's a nice ballad and her male lead Steph Jones (aka Jordin Sparks' boyfriend) is nice on the eyes too!

The overall theme isn't anything super-original - girl getting ready to leave guy because of relationship woes but the twist of him being too focused on his music career to focus on her or support her own musical dreams, is cute.

And she looks really lovely- I don't know if she's put back on a bit of weight to round out her face a bit or if it's just the make-up but she looks much softer than she has in quite a few years. Good look all around Shon!

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New vid - Shontelle's 'Impossible'

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Kamla Persad-Bissessar takes over as Opposition Leader

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She finally did it - Kamla Persad-Bissessar will take her seat today in the Red House in Port-of-Spain as Trinidad & Tobago's first female Oppostion Leader.

On Wednesday, after weeks of public bad john talk from Basdeo Panday and quiet negotiation behind the scenes by Kamla, she finally got enough support from the parliamentary group to become the Opposition Leader. Notable exceptions were Subhas Panday and Mickela Panday, Basdeo's brother and daughter.

Bas in response, picked his battle with the UNC's new chief whip, his frenemy-turned-enemy-again Jack Warner, saying that while he supported Kamla, he would retire to the UNC's back bench as he would not serve under him.

From the Trinidad Guardian:

“Notwithstanding my reservations on the integrity of the recent internal elections of the UNC, I am, in the interest of unity within the party and my desire to see the UNC grow from strength to strength, willing to work with Mrs Kamla Persad-Bissessar, the new Leader of the Opposition. I am, however, not prepared to serve under Jack Warner as chief whip in the Parliament until such time as he renders an account for the millions of dollars received by him on behalf of the party.”

Never a dull moment with Bas, eh?

 

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Kamla Persad-Bissessar takes over as Opposition Leader

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