For all the pomp and excess of Madonna’s Super Bowl halftime extravaganza a single extended middle finger by guest singer M.I.A. is likely to be the most remembered piece of the show.

The gesture, accompanied by a barely disguised expletive, came during a performance of Madonna’s new single, “Give Me All Your Luvin.”‘ At the end of her lines, M.I.A. appeared to sing “I don’t give a (expletive),” although it was hard to hear clearly.

“The NFL hired the talent and produced the halftime show,” NBC spokesman Christopher McCloskey said. “Our system was late to obscure the inappropriate gesture and we apologize to our viewers.”

The NFL blamed a failure in NBC’s delay system for allowing the gesture to be seen. Spokesman Brian McCarthy said M.I.A. did not do anything similar during rehearsals and the league had no reason to believe she would pull something like that during the actual show.

“The obscene gesture in the performance was completely inappropriate, very disappointing, and we apologize to our fans,” McCarthy said.

Madonna had admittedly been nervous about her performance, hoping to position herself as the queen of a new generation of pop stars with an opulent show and a sharp performance that mixed her new release with more familiar songs. She seemed like Roman royalty when muscle-bound men carried her extravagant throne across the football field to the stage for her opening song, “Vogue.”

Guests Cee Lo, Nicki Minaj and dance rockers LMFAO also appeared with Madonna. The singing and dancing on “Vogue” was smartly choreographed, as Madonna moved more deliberately – she is 53 – but still adroitly. She briefly appeared to stumble at one point while trying to make a step on the stage set, but recovered in time.

She let a tightrope walker make the more acrobatic moves during a performance of “Music.”

Madonna carried gold pompons for a performance of her new single. Twitter was alight with questions about the vocals being lip synched or augmented by tapes, particularly during this song.
What do you think?

Via | Chicago Tribune

Photographers: Hunter & Gatti @ hunterandgatti.com

Model: Barbara Palvin

Styling by Sara Fernandez

Hair Stylist: Paco Garrigues

Make up artist: Frank Garret

Photo Assistant: Carlos Babbler

Digital Assitant: Sergi Hernandez

Blugirl spring / summer 2012 Ad Campaign

Model: Jessica Miller

Photography by Michelangelo di Battista

Miao Bin Si by Kathrin Mueller-Heffter for Fashion Gone Rogue

Photographer: Kathrin Mueller-Heffter
Styling: Fay Leshner
Hair & Make-up: Andreas Schoenagel using Du Maroc by 1976 Haircare
Model: Miao Bin Si @ Wilhelmina

Peeking out from behind the kind of deep side parts that are mysterious enough, and stand-out enough, to be called a hair trend for 2012, models Kelly Mittendorf and Patricia van der Vliet look like they’re getting up to some kind of mischief. In fact, they seem to be creeping around the wealthy residence of this shoot like cat-burglers: ropes – as well as a disguise of glamorous cat eye sunglasses – at the ready.

Karen Kaiser’s styling is all about the hot pants. High-waisted hot pants paired with open jackets and sparkling jewels. Everything in Kaiser’s styling as well as Steven Pan’s photography has a beautiful, cinematic quality that makes the shoot visually stunning to look at. [via fashionising]

Gucci Glamour – Abbey Lee Kershaw has a second take for Gucci’s “Flora” fragrance campaign, shot by Sølve Sundsbø. This time, the Australian beauty is the face of the new Garden Collection which features five fragrances that begin with the letter “G”. The fragrances named, Gorgeous Gardenia, Gracious Tuberose, Glamorous Magnolia, Generous Violet and Glorious Mandarin will hit stores this March. (WWD)

["Between Project Runway, NBC’s upcoming Fashion Star, and 24 Hour Catwalk, you’d think we’d have enough fashion reality TV show competitions to go around. But, no, Rihanna thinks there should be one more. The popstar is set to launch her own version of a Project Runway-style show in the UK on the Sky Living network, which will search for the “the next generation of raw, undiscovered designer talent,” according to Sky Living.

But there’s a twist: Instead of focusing on regular ready-to-wear the aspiring designers will be producing stage outfits for a string of celebrities and musicians over a ten week period and the grand prize winner will get the chance to design a unique stage look for Rihanna herself to wear during her Wireless performance in Hyde Park in July 2012. In other words we have a ton of star-powered appearances (cross your fingers for Florence Welch) and outlandish, stage-appropriate garments to look forward to.

While RiRi will executive produce the new show, and will be involved in casting, editing, post-production and make appearances as a judge, she’s tapped another fashion-y music star to actually host the series: Girls Aloud star Nicola Roberts. “I was so flattered when Rihanna asked me to work with her on this show,” Nicola said in a release. “I’m so excited for us to get started on finding a new up and coming British designer who just needs a chance, a little bit of help in getting their skills noticed.”

“I have been very fortunate to work with some truly amazing designers and stylists throughout my career, and they have been instrumental in making sure my creative vision reaches the stage,” Rihanna added. “I am excited to follow the journey of our aspiring contestants and see how their individuality influences their efforts during the course of the show.”

There’s no word yet on what the series will be called but it will air sometime in the summer of 2012 and considering both Rihanna and Nicola have awesome personal style, we’re excited enough just to see what they’ll be wearing on the show–let alone what the undiscovered designers will produce under their tutelage!

Will you tune in?"] -fashionista

Check out Rihanna’s sensual new photos from her Emporio Armani Underwear and Armani Jeans Ad campaign. She looks classy and tasteful, I’m loving these photos! Well done.