Rihanna (19 page)

L
ots of people have suggested that the next movie RiRi should be in is a remake of the Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner classic,
The Bodyguard.
The story is currently being brought up to date as Warner Bros have hired Jeremiah Friedman and Nick Palmer to write a new script. RiRi was reported to be shortlisted for the part, but in March 2011 she told
OK! Magazine
that there was no chance she would be appearing in the movie.

She said: ‘I hate it when singers do singing movies all the time, because you can never look at them as anybody else.

‘I want to play a character. My whole life is playing Rihanna, being a singer [in a movie] won’t be a stretch for me. I like challenges and being an actor is playing a role, being able to step into somebody else’s shoes, that’s the excitement.’

In saying she wouldn’t play the new Rachel Marron, Rihanna is proving that she wants to be a serious actress: she doesn’t want easy parts.

She has also been linked to a remake of
The Last Dragon
, which is due for release in 2012. The original movie came out in 1985. The producer RZA said as long ago as December 2008 that he wanted Rihanna to play the TV music video host Laura Charles, and at the start of 2011, reports in the media suggested that she had agreed and would be starring in the film.

T
he final day of the ‘Last Girl On Earth Tour’ took place in Perth, Australia on 12 March 2011. Rihanna had been touring for eleven months, but it must have been sad for her to perform her last concert. She knew she would be on the road again soon as her
Loud
tour was starting in June, but it wouldn’t be the same. Most of her crew and dancers would stay with her, but some had come to the end of their journey with Rihanna and would be moving on to different projects.

Finishing in Australia had been nice, because RiRi had loved being in that country. She did find it strange that
no-one
she met there was the same colour as her, telling chat show host Chelsea Handler that she hadn’t seen many black people in Australia and the few she had seen in her audiences had been very dark.

When the tour came to an end, some of RiRi’s dancers and members of her band decided to film a thank-you video for her. They used clips of RiRi performing as well as backstage clips, and recorded special messages to create a video that would no doubt be treasured. In all, they had done a total of 73 shows together worldwide.

Dancer Chase Benz was the first to thank Rihanna in the video. He said: ‘Robyn, what’s up? It’s Chase, I wanna say a few words, thank yous. I wanna say thank you for this year: it’s been amazing, all the stuff you’ve done for us, as a whole crew, for me – you let me propose to my wife, that was a dream come true for me. It’s also been a dream come true for me to dance behind such an amazing artist like yourself. And try not to get too teary-eyed with this one, but this year has been unbelievable, so hope you don’t forget me. Hope to see you again soon. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.’

Eric Smith, her bassist and musical director, was the next person to leave his own message for Rihanna. He said: ‘I just wanna say thanks: it’s been incredible, working with you since the beginning, basically. Like I told you in Prayer, to watch you grow from a little girl to a grown woman on and off the stage, it’s been incredible. You are amazing, A1, top of your game! I’m proud to say I’m your band leader, bass player and your big brother.’

Chris Johnson, RiRi’s drummer, apologised in his message, commenting: ‘I will say it was my mistake ever leaving you the first time. Coming back this time I’ve realised how much fun and how much of a great artist you
are to work with. If you ever need anything, on, off the stage, just let me know.’

The last person to leave a message was Bryan Tanaka, another of RiRi’s dancers. He spoke direct to RiRi through the camera, telling her: ‘It’s been amazing working with you for the past four years and to see you grow into a superstar in front of my eyes, just to see you turn into one of the most amazing singers and performers. The crowd love you; just being part of it, and working with you so closely for this long is definitely a blessing in my life, it’s a big blessing. So I want to thank you very much from the bottom of my heart and it’s been absolutely amazing to be like a bro to you, because I care about you: you’re absolutely amazing at what you do! I’m looking forward to the future.’

On her return to the US, Rihanna joined with other singers, actors and sports personalities to promote the UNICEF Tap project. The aim of the campaign was to educate people so that they realised that 900 million others around the world don’t have access to clean, safe water and to encourage them to do something about it.

The idea was that restaurant owners would back the Tap project, and start charging a dollar whenever a customer wants a glass of tap water; the money raised would be used to help give those in need access to clean water, and so reduce the number of people dying from waterborne diseases. On one of the adverts Rihanna poses with a bottle of water, which states: ‘Rihanna Tap Water. Not your typical tap water, unless of course you live next door to Rihanna’.
She also filmed a video, which sees her drinking some tap water in a ‘sexy’ way.

As well as appearing in adverts, Rihanna also bottled some tap water from her own house, which people who donated to the cause could win. Her bottle was one of six to be included in the ‘Celebrity Tap Pack’ prize box, along with bottles from Selena Gomez, Taylor Swift, Robin Williams, Adrian Granier and Dwight Howard. For every $5 that fans donated at www.celebritytap.org, they could have one entry into the draw to win the celebrity water.

After the terrible earthquake and tsunami hit Japan on 11 March 2011, Rihanna wanted to do something to help: she always believes that she should use her celebrity status for good and supports many charities. Universal Music contacted her, and said they wanted to release an album of tracks to raise money for the Japanese people affected by the disaster. RiRi knew she had to get involved. She joined with U2, Bon Jovi, Nicki Minaj and 32 other recording artists to support the
Songs for Japan
album. Rihanna sang ‘Only Girl (In the World)’ and waived her royalties, as did the other artists taking part.

On the 28 April 2011 RiRi headed to New York for the DKMS 5th Annual Linked Against Leukaemia gala. She was presented an award by Katharina Harf, one of the
co-founders
of DKMS, for the work she has done to get more people to register to become bone marrow donors and the help she has given to people with leukaemia. Rihanna really is one in million.

Since splitting with Matt Kemp, Rihanna has been linked
with many people. She just needs to be at the same event as someone, and the media starts saying they were seen flirting and kissing! When she appeared on the Graham Norton chat show, she shared his sofa with
Phone Booth
actor Colin Farrell, comedian Rhod Gilbert and English actor Daniel Radcliffe.

Websites and blogs started to suggest that Rihanna and Farrell had been exchanging sexy text messages, and when they were both spotted enjoying a meal at the Los Angeles restaurant Giorgio Baldi in March 2011, people started to suggest they had been on a date. They had actually been sitting nowhere near each other and Farrell had been there for business, not to meet Rihanna.

Gossip sites also linked Rihanna to
Cruel Intentions
actor Ryan Phillippe only a month earlier, because he went to a few of the same events as her and attended her birthday party. The press tried to say they were keeping their relationship a secret, but Rihanna is supposed to have denied anything is going on between them to a member of the paparazzi. According to ITN, when she was asked whether she was dating Ryan, she said: ‘No, no, no! I hate to burst your bubble, but no. I am dating girls – I am just kidding!’

W
hen the news first broke that Simon Cowell planned to launch a US version of
The X Factor
, people everywhere started to wonder who he might pick to be the judges. Rihanna was one of the most popular choices but it wasn’t to be. In fact, RiRi ruled herself out of the running because she wouldn’t be able to spare the time to do the show; she would be too busy with her
Loud
tour from June 2011 onwards. She loves the UK show, and if it were at all possible, she would have jumped at the chance to be involved with mentoring the contestants in the US version.

One member of her ‘family’ did sign up to be a judge, though: L.A. Reid. He was willing to give up his job as chairman of Island Def Jam to be the other male judge on the show. His farewell letter to his staff was posted on the website Billboard.biz and read:

‘Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate and doubt, to offer a solution everybody can understand.’

Colin Powell

L.A. Reid might have left Island Def Jam but he will continue to play a big part in RiRi’s life, as he has been part of the ‘family’ she established on moving to the US. It is clear that she means a lot to him by the fact that he listed her first out of the 13 artists he mentions in his farewell
letter: he has seen her develop from the shy girl who walked into his office into the world-class performer she is today.

Back in 2009, he told MTV: ‘[Rihanna is a] beautiful person. Internally, she has the right spirit. She makes great records, and I’m proud of her. Really proud of her.’

F
or the first performance of ‘California King Bed’, Rihanna decided to go for a totally new look. She asked her personal hairstylist Ursula Stephen to give her a pixie crop, and debuted her latest style at the Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas on April 3. Ursula explained what had made RiRi want to go much shorter to
InStyle
magazine. She said: ‘We haven’t done a bob in a while, but the idea to go short was Rihanna’s.

‘She texted me a couple days prior to the ACM Awards and said she wanted to do something short. She missed her face, and I did too!’

Ursula set about cutting and styling RiRi’s hair just the way she wanted it, and observed: ‘We’re not committed to anything but having fun!’

‘California King Bed’ was to be the sixth single released
from ‘Loud’ in the USA, and was the fourth single elsewhere. RiRi shot the video in March on a stage in West Hollywood, Los Angeles. She only had a day to shoot it because she was so busy. The video has a romantic feel and setting. The majority of the video sees RiRi in an outside bedroom by the beach. She is seen lying on some ornamental grass, on the bed, caressing her love interest, sitting on a chair, playing with the drapes around the room and standing against a stone wall.

The video was directed by Anthony Mandler and it is similar in style to the ‘Only Girl (In the World)’ video. Anthony told MTV: ‘I think it’s something that is so unique about Rihanna whatever she’s doing, whatever character she’s playing, whatever side of herself she’s showing, she’s in it 1,000 per cent… And I think the song and the theme of this song, she wanted to obviously show a softer side, a lighter side, one that’s caught in maybe a tumultuous relationship… There’s so much variety with her and it’s been such a journey with her.”

He also directed the video for ‘Man Down’, and confessed: ‘We’ve done sixteen videos together… and what we’re coming with next is certainly gonna flip peoples’ minds with ‘Man Down’. We shot the video last month in Jamaica and it’s my favourite song she’s ever recorded, so I was really excited to get involved.

‘And it’s just one of those songs that demands a strong narrative and visual, and let’s just say she let me go all the way. So I think you can expect something that’s dramatic and shocking and intense and emotional and uplifting and
enlightening… Without saying too much, if you’re looking for a narrative you’re not going to be disappointed, just know that it’s going to be exciting.’

RiRi wanted to shoot both videos close together because many fans love ‘Man Down’ and ‘California King Bed’ equally. She tweeted: ‘JAMAICA was the BEST!!!!! #RihannaNavy its a big month for u guys! TWO #MAJAH videos droppin’ #whosLOUD. They’re both very different! One is #GAWJUS and the other is a MOVIE. RIHquest Man Down and California King Bed on your favourite radio station.’

On 12 April, the finalists for the 2011 Billboard Awards were announced, with Rihanna leading the pack with 18 nominations. RiRi was up for Top Artist, Top Social Artist, Top Hot 100 Artist, Top Digital Songs Artist, Top Radio Songs Artist, Top Streaming Artist, Top Digital Media Artist, Top Female Artist, Top R&B Artist, Top Dance Artist, Top R&B Song (for ‘What’s my Name?’ featuring Drake) and Top R&B Album (for Loud). For ‘Love The Way You Lie’ with Eminem she was up for six awards: Top Hot 100 Song, Top Digital Song, Top Radio Song, Top Streaming Song (audio), Top Streaming Song (video) and Top Rap Song.

She was also going to be opening the show on 22 May, and told Ryan Seacrest she was to sing ‘S & M’. She was also planning a big surprise for her fans – a duet with Britney Spears!

On the night itself, RiRi decided to wear a white men’s Max Azria suit with the front of the shirt completely undone on the red carpet. She didn’t stop smiling all night
as she picked up the awards for Top Female Artist, Top Radio Songs Artist and Top Rap Song for ‘I Love The Way You Lie’. Her performance of ‘S & M’ had the audience captivated, and she wore a white bodysuit with a chain running from her wrists. Her dancers stayed underneath the platform for the majority of the performance with their hands and arms reaching upwards to try and touch her. Britney appeared, wearing a black body suit complete with bunny mask, and they each danced with a pole before having a pillow fight with a few of RiRi’s dancers.