Here's another fun installment of Urban-Hoopla's Best of 2008. This time around let's focus on celebrity weddings.



Weddings: 2008 was the year of weddings. From The Carters (Beyonce & Jay-Z) to The Cannons (Mariah & Nick) weddings occurred year around.

Malinda Williams and Derrick "DJ D Nice" Jones - Malinda documented her bridal showers and pre-wedding prepartions via a blog on Essence. When they finally got hitched in New Jersey, their celebrity friends Boris Kodjoe, Nicole Ari Parker, Vanessa Williams and Terri J. Vaughn all came through with support.

Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon - These two came across as an unlikely pair when they wed on April 30th. The Cannons event set tongues ablaze via their matching his/her tattoos. (Nick has Mariah's name across his back and she has "Mrs. Cannon" on her lower back.)

Tia Mowry and Cory Hardrict - "The Game" actress wed her long-time boyfriend Cory with her fraternal sister Tamara and brother Tahj in attendance.

Eddie Murphy & Tracey Edmonds - Just as soon as these two tied the knot, they quickly filed for divorce.

Honorable mentions: Here are handful of celebs who got hitched in 2008 as well as renew their vows.

Seal & Heidi Klum, Cherish vocalist Noeshe King, Jessica Alba & Cash Warren, Joy Bryant & David Pope, Melanie Brown & Stephen Belafonte, and Beyonce Knowles & Jay-Z. (What was your favorite celebrity wedding in 2008?)

Labels: Best of 2008, Cherish, Eddie Murphy, Jessica Alba, Joy Bryant, Malinda Williams, Mariah Carey, Melanie Brown, New Couple, Nick Cannon, Seal, Tia Mowry

Pharrell Williams and his N.E.R.D counterparts filmed the video treatment for their single, "Everyone Nose" (remix) with music video director Hype Williams. On set were Kanye West and who I think looks like Lupe Fiasco. Pharrell posted up a few behind-the-scenes on his official blog, BILLIONAIRE ICE CREAM.




Malinda Williams (no relations to Pharrell) updated her wedding blog with photos and a slideshow done by her husband-to-be Derrick "DJ D-Nice" Jones.



Something (re: my instincts) tells me that you and I would see a significant increase in when your favorite celebrity blogs in the upcoming year. Marcus Troy's definitely on to something...even if Kanye's upset.

Photo credits: WIREIMAGE. BBC BLOG. MALINDA'S BLOG

Labels: Celebrity Blog, Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, Malinda Williams, Pharrell Williams

Malinda Williams, best known for her role on the now defunt Showtime series, "Soul Food", joined the thriving celebrity blog community. Malinda team up with "Essence" magazine to talk about her upcoming wedding to Derrick ‘D-Nice’ Jones. Check out Malinda's wedding-inspired blog out over at
ESSENCE.TYPEPAD.COM/CELEBRITYWEDDINGS. In the blog post, Malinda said she wanted her wedding to be 'timeless, classic, and vintage-mod." The soon-to-be Mrs. Jones invited many of her family and close friends like Dawnn Lewis, Vanessa Williams, Tasha Smith, AJ Johnson, and Terri J. Vaughn to her bridal shower.

Solange recently updated her Hadley Street Journal to talk to her fans and critics about what she did between her recent Essence Music Festival experience. (Pictured with Solange is IB3.)

Last but not least...on the ride back to the superdome (I'm hosting
vh1 soul summer sounds, yay! ) we saw this ridiculous airbrushed
picture of Weezy and Plies.( Yeah, I didn't know people did these
anymore.) Well we just had to join the masses and do our proper hood
pose in front of Mr. Lollipop and Mr. Bust it Baby. [CONTINUE READING...]

Photos: ESSENCE/SOLANGE'S BLOG

Labels: Fashion Hoopla, Malinda Williams, Music Hoopla, Solange

"Black Enterprise" magazine and Saks Fifth Avenue recently hosted two pre-Oscar galas. Mary J Blige and her husband Kendu Isaacs were seen at Saks Fifth Avenue's Unforgettable Evening to benefit the Entertainment Industry Foundation's Women's Cancer Research Fund .



At the benefit, MJB performed "No More Drama", "One" and "Family Affair". The R&B singer was starstruck by her seating arrangement: "I'm sitting at a table with Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and Morgan Freeman. Will Smith is the only one that's missing right now, that would complete the dream!"

Soulbounce has a clip of MJB performing "Just Fine" on the ABC soap opera, "One Life to Live".



Over at "Black Enterprise" all-star Oscar celebration were best friends Kyla Pratt and Jennifer Freeman. The event also bought out new couple Eva Pigford and Lance Gross. Other guests at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel-hosted gala were Malinda Williams, DJ D-Nice, Shaun Robinson, Taraji Henson, Tangi Miller, Tia Mowry, Tichina Arnold, Farrah Franklin and model Kenya Moore.

"Black Enterprise" held a special salute to Oscar-nominee Ruby Dee with a performance by Will.i.am.



Photos: wireimage/concreteloop

Labels: black star power, Eva Pigford, Kyla Pratt, LisaRaye, Malinda Williams, MJB, New Couple, Out and About, Tia Mowry, Tichina Arnold

"First Sunday" premiere bought out Kelis, Malinda Williams, DJ D-Nice, Terri J. Vaughn, Derrick Carloina, Regina Hall, Dania Ramirez, Elise Neal, Marlon Wayans, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Keith Robinson, and Chamillionaire.

"First Sunday" stars Ice Cube, Malinda Williams, Regina Hall, Katt Williams, and Tracy Morgan.
Good friends Kelis and Dania of "Heroes" fame took a moment to pose as did newly engaged couple DJ D-Nice and Malinda.

Dania, who was also in "She Hate Me", currently has two film under production- Ball Don't Lie and Brooklyn to Manhattan.

Terri, best known for her role on the TV show, "The Steve Harvey Show", came with her husband, Derrick Carloina.

Speaking of roles, Terri can be seen next in Three Can Play That Game.




Photos: wireimage

[urban-hoopla]

Labels: Box Office Thursday, Elise Neal, Kelis, Malinda Williams, Marlon Wayans

"Essence" magazine threw a party in celebration of their December Collector's issue cover which has Sanaa Lathan, Nia Long, and Gabrielle Union as its glamorous covergirls. Visibly absent from the event was Union but other guests includes Tia Mowry, Shaun Robinson of "Access Hollywood", Malinda Williams, and Holly Robinson Peete.


Tony-nominated actress Sanaa Lathan stars in the upcoming TV adaptation of "A Raisin In The Sun" while Nia returns to TV with her drama series, "Big Shots". Visit here to see additional pictures from the event.

[urban-hoopla]

Labels: Holly Robinson Peete, Malinda Williams, Nia Long, Out and About, Sanaa Lathan, Tia Mowry

While surfing online for news, I stumbled across this tidbit about one of my favorite TV shows-"Soul Food". The 4 DVD set comes out February 5th, 2008. If you're a fan of the show like am, the DVD includes all 20 episodes. "Soul Food" the series made Nicole Ari Parker, Malinda Williams, Boris Kodjoe, Vanessa Williams, Darrin Hewitt Henson and Rockmond Dunbar household names. To support the longest running African-American cast drama series, be sure to visit here for additional info.

[urban-hoopla]

Labels: Boris Kodjoe, Malinda Williams, Nicole Ari Parker

Braving the rainy weather in a gray wool coat, Rihanna was spotted leaving her hotel in the Big Apple on her way to rehearse for her "Good Girl Gone Bad" tour.



One of the industry's underrated actresses Zoe Saldana and socialite Kim Kardashian attended a Fall Boy and Pharrell Williams performance at Hennessy Artistry.



Kelis was also at the event with best friend Dania Ramirez of "Heroes".

Pharrell in black Billionaire Boys Club tee-shirt belted out his hits for the crowd...

Speaking of BBC, Pharrell is the latest celebrity to blog. Kanye West created an interactive blog in support of his current album, "Graduation." Out of curiousity, which celeb would you like to read a blog from? As for me, I'll say Oprah, Beyonce, Kelis, AND Lenny Kravitz.

[urban-hoopla]

Labels: Kim Kardashian, Malinda Williams, New Couple, Out and About, Pharrell Williams, Rihanna, Usher, Zoe Saldana