Fashions News

Miss Venezuela Dayana Mendoza, an interior designer, was named Miss Universe 2008 on Monday, after outperforming and outsmarting 14 other young women in the final round of the 57th pageant held in Vietnam's central Nha Trang city.

Miss Venezuela, 22-year-old Dayana Mendoza, seen here, won the Miss Universe pageant held in Vietnam on Monday, July 14, beating runners-up from three other Latin American countries and Russia
Mendoza, 22, said she likes design, photography, advertising and wave surfing. The Venezuelan girl with the height of 1.78 meters can speak Spanish, Italian and English.

Miss Universe 2007 Riyo Mori handed over the crown worth 120,000 U.S. dollars to Mendoza, who will continue Mori's work of traveling around the world to promote education and HIV/AIDS research.

The first runner-up is Miss Columbia Taliana Vargas (20 years old, 1.78 meters in height), the second Miss Dominica Marianne Cruz (23 years old, 1.81 meters), the third Miss Russian Vera Krasova (20 years old, 1.77 meters), and the fourth Miss Mexico Elisa Najera (21 years old, 1.83 meters). Miss Universe Vietnam, singer Nguyen Thuy Lam, was among Top 15.

The 15 contestants, selected from 80 candidates worldwide, competed for the Miss Universe in a grand show, which was live televised to 170 countries and regions, with exciting performances of the beautiful women in swimsuits and evening gowns, and their quick responses to the judges' questions.

Before appearing on the stage, the candidates, including the 15 finalists actively participated in social activities, especially charity works, in some Vietnamese localities.


Miss Universe Dayana Mendoza of Venezuela takes part in the swimwear show in Nha Trang in Nha Trang July 2, 2008

Dayana Mendoza, Miss Venezuela reacts as she is crowned Miss Universe 2008 at the final of the 57th Miss Universe contest held July 14 at the central coastal resort city of Nha Trang

Angelina Jolie (right) and Brad Pitt are seen here as they leave the Festival Palace during the 61st Cannes International Film Festival, on May 20, in southern France. Jolie has given birth to healthy twins, a girl and a boy, in the French Riviera maternity clinic she has checked into, the Nice-Matin newspaper reported Sunday quoting her gynaecologist

US actress Angelina Jolie is seen here at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2008. Jolie has given birth to healthy twins, a boy and a girl, at a maternity clinic on the French Riviera, the hospital said

France's first lady Carla Bruni poses before an interview on the set of French TV channel TF1 in Paris July 11, 2008. Bruni comes under the spotlight Friday as her much-hyped new album hits record stores across Europe, set for a tough welcome from critics of her husband President Nicolas Sarkozy

French first lady Carla Bruni's new album can be heard for free online from Wednesday morning.

The 14 tracks of "Comme si de rien n'¨¦tait" (which means "As if nothing happened" but will be sold internationally as "Simply") will be put on Bruni's website from Wednesday to July 21, her label Naive said in a press release Tuesday


France's first lady Carla Bruni poses before an interview on the set of French TV channel TF1 in Paris July 11, 2008

Miss Universe contestant Laura Dundovic of Australia takes part in a rehearsal in Nha Trang on July 11, 2008. The 57th annual Miss Universe pageant will be held in Vietman's central Nha Trang resort city on July 14, 2008

Miss Universe contestants Hiroko Mima of Japan (L) and Briton Lisa Lazarus joke during a rehearsal in Nha Trang July 11, 2008

Miss Universe contestants Hiroko Mima of Japan (L) and Anya Ayoung-chee of Trinidad & Tobago stand among other participants during a rehearsal in Nha Trang July 11, 2008

Miss Universe contestant Hiroko Mima of Japan (C) stands among other participants during a rehearsal in Nha Trang July 11, 2008

Miss Universe contestant Maria Silvana Belli of Argentina (L) and Ingrid Rivera of Puerto Rico take part in a rehearsal in Nha Trang July 11, 2008

Miss Universe contestant Lam Thuy Nguyen of Vietnam takes part in a rehearsal in Nha Trang July 11, 2008.

Miss Universe contestant Shenise Wong of Singapore takes part in a rehearsal in Nha Trang July 11, 2008

Leighton Meester takes on the New York City heat in a belted, ruffly dress on Saturday afternoon.

How does she keep cool and hydrated in the Big Apple? SoBe Life Water!

The day before, the 22-year-old Gossip Girl star was seen picking up her pet pooch’s poo.

Check out Leighton on the latest cover of Lucky magazine!

Season 2 of Gossip Girl returns with all new episodes on Monday, September 1st!

Salma Hayek takes her beautiful baby daughter Valentina, 10 months, out to lunch at Taverna Tony’s Restaurant in Malibu, Calif., on Sunday afternoon.

Noticeably missing a lot has been Valentina’s daddy–Francois Henri! When was the last time we saw that guy?

Salma, 41, recently enthused about Valentina, saying, “She sticks her tongue out, she claps at everything. From day one, she’s been smiling and laughing. She’s a very happy baby. Everything she does melts my heart.”

Check out Christina Aguilera’s new “Rock The Vote” PSA! (Rock the Vote works to engages youth in the political process by incorporating the entertainment community and youth culture into its activities.)

The 27-year-old powerhouse singer cradles her now 6-month-old son Max Liron, swaddled in the American flag, as she sings “America The Beautiful” a capella.

It’s time to make history, it’s time to rock the vote.

Join Christina and rock the vote at RockTheVote.com.

Hey, Wildcats! Check out the new, official teaser trailer for High School Musical 3: Senior Year, which touts 10 new original songs.

The winner of ABC’s summer reality show High School Musical: Get in the Picture will appear in a music video that is shown over the end credits of the theatrical release of the film.

The motion picture soundtrack will be released on October 21. HSM3 is being scheduled for a theatrical release on October 24.

The movie is looking just as good as the first two made-for-TV films. Maybe even better!

WHAT DO YOU THINK of HSM3 so far?????

Mila Kunis sparkles in silver as she arrives at the 3rd Annual VH1 Rock Honors at UCLA’s Pauley Pavillion on Los Angeles on Saturday.

The 24-year-old actress (That 70’s Show/Family Guy) stars with Mark Wahlberg and Chris O’Donnell in the movie drama, Max Payne. Mila plays the character Mona Sax. John Moore directs the film and MP is slated for an October 17th release.

Synopsis according to IMDB: Coming together to solve a series of murders in New York City are a DEA agent (Wahlberg) whose family was slain as part of a conspiracy and an assassin (Kunis) out to avenge her sister’s death. The duo will be hunted by the police, the mob, and a ruthless corporation.

The trailer has been released and looks promising. Check it.

Angelina Jolie’s actor father, Jon Voight, has been busy shooting the upcoming season of the hit FOX drama, 24.

But The Insider caught up with the 69-year-old actor on his film break to ask about his two new grandchildren, Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline.

Voight said, “I am deeply happy. I’m over the moon. It’s magnificent. In this world, all we can hope for is that mommy and the kids are healthy. I’m very excited and thanks for letting me send my love to them. If I were called today, I’d be there.”

Miley Cyrus and actress pal Ashley Tisdale (accompanied by Ashley’s momager Lisa) hit up Beverly Hills for a summer Sunday afternoon of shopping.

The Disney stars were all smiles as they strolled the sidewalk together. Both Miley, 15, and Ashley, 23, were happy to pose for photos with fans (and paparazzi!).

Don’t miss the Tizz’s new made-for-TV movie Picture This, airing tonight @ 8PM ET/PT on ABC Family.

Jake Gyllenhaal and girlfriend Reese Witherspoon enjoy a weekend getaway with her kids Ava, 8, and Deacon, 4, in Paris, France on Saturday.

The foursome are just in town for a few days, while Jake is on film break. (They took the Eurorail into town together on Friday.) The 27-year-old actor has been busy in London filming Prince of Persia: Sands of Time.

The mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, center, holds the birth certificates of one of Angelina Jolie’s twins, Knox Leon Jolie-Pitt, as he and Dr. Michel Sussmann, Angie’s obstetrician, left, pose for the media, at the Lenval Hospital in Nice, southern France on Sunday. Knox was born at 6:27 pm and Vivienne Marcheline came within a minute of that time.

Outside the hospital, Sussmann shared how smoothly the delivery of Knox and Vivienne went:

On Brad and Angie during the labor and delivery: “[They] were talking, they were together. It was an epidural, so [Angelina] was awake and speaking and laughing. They were happy.”

On Brad never leaving Angie’s side: “He was my assistant! [He even cut the babies’ umbilical cords!] He was … perfectly calm, totally determined, very pleased to be at the birth of his children, very moved and very emotional.”

On when Angie and the babies will leave the hospital: “I don’t know. She will stay for a few days. You know, in Europe it isn’t like in the United States, where the patients go home after three days. They will stay a bit longer until everything is okay.”

On the delivery in general: “Absolutely no problems. The babies are fine. The babies are with the mother and father and they are fine.”

FYI: Inside is a close-up of the Knox’s birth certificate…

Jennifer Garner goes bottoms up as she makes a quick stop at the grocery store in Brentwood, Calif., on Saturday.

The 36-year-old actress is barely out of the store and she’s already downing her (root) beer! Looks like she enjoys her Virgil’s!

Check out Garner going green… she has a reusable bag with violet stripes and her daughter Violet’s name on it!

Jessica Alba gets cozy with husband Cash Warren at Urth Cafe in Los Angeles on Saturday.

Jess, 27, also was seen shopping with a friend in Beverly Hills on Saturday.

The proud mom gave birth to Honor Marie Warren last month and she supposedly looks like Jess, according to brother Josh.

Looking forward to the pics of the cutie - which have been sold for $1.5 million to OK! Can’t wait!

Miley Cyrus, her momager Tish and other family members stop in for frozen yogurt after a long hot day on Saturday.

Looks like Miley is a fan of chocolate yogurt!

The Hannah Montana star has taken the spotlight yet again with more leaked pictures of her soaking wet as well as a picture of her wearing a “Nick J(onas?)” necklace. Publicity stunt? You decide.

Barbadian bombshell Rihanna, breaks out her hoop earrings on her tour with a performance during Casablanca Concert in Casablanca, Morocco on Saturday.

Jay-Z joined her at the 3rd Annual THISDAY Fashion and Musical Festival in Abuja, Nigeria the night before.

Supermodel Naomi Campbell chimed in on the purpose of the festival saying, “The theme of the Thisday Festival is Africa Rising which would tell the world that Africa is a continent of plenty. The notion is always that it is a continent of poverty, admittedly there are some places like that but it is a rich continent.”

Shia LaBeouf takes his cafe-racer style ‘Triumph Thruxton 900′ motorcycle for a spin around Los Angeles on Saturday afternoon.

Earlier this month, Alex Kurtzman and Bob Orci, the writers of Eagle Eye and Transformers talked to ComingSoon.net about the 22-year-old actor’s role in Eagle Eye. Here’s one question answered by Kurtzman:

This is your second movie writing for Shia, so were you able to tailor the dialogue more to what he could do as a character or did you want him to do something different than he has in other movies? Yeah, certainly we had a great experience with him on Transformers and his voice is very very specific. It actually helped us quite a bit in conceiving his character in Eagle Eye and that in turn helped us in the conceiving of his character in Transformers 2 so we’re now on Movie #3 with Shia, so I think more than any other actor out there, we have his voice in our heads…. The other thing that’s exciting about it, too, is that this is really Shia’s first adult role. Transformers and Disturbia were both playing seventeen to let’s say nineteen years old, and this is first truly adult role. With that comes a whole new set of requirements, and I think people are going to be really happily, I wouldn’t say surprised, but it’s funny, especially with D.J. He created a breakthrough role for Shia when he did Disturbia but I think this is the next evolution of that. It just shows how much range Shia has.

Former Grey’s Anatomy actress Kate Walsh gets to sniffin’ some type of plant on a walk through her neighborhood with a friend in Los Angeles on Saturday.

The 40-year-old actress recently was involved in a celebrity footwear auction with the charity “Clothes Off Our Back”. Kate designed a pair of RODO shoes and the olive pumps were auctioned off to benefit children’s charities. Kate’s auction just ended at $480. Shoes designed by Kate Winslet went for the highest price of $9,500! Check it.

ANYONE HAVE ANY IDEA what’s Kate is sniffing?

Here are some more details about Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s fraternal twins.

Angie, 33, gave birth to a boy, Knox Leon, and a girl, Vivienne Marcheline, by Cesarean section on Saturday night at the Santa Maria clinic of the Lenval Foundation in Nice, France. Knox weighed 5.03 lbs, and Vivienne 5 lbs.

Angie’s obstetrician Dr. Michael Sussmann told People, “The babies are doing well. The operation went just perfectly. Angelina is in very good spirits. Brad Pitt was at her side. He was there and all was well. The mother and father are very, very happy.”

Here’s a recap of all the Jolie-Pitt kids’ first and middle names, along with their ages:

Maddox Chivan, 6
Pax Thien, 4
Zahara Marley, 3
Shiloh Nouvel, 2
Vivenne Marcheline, 1 day
Knox Leon, 1 day

What a beautiful set of names for Brad and Angie’s three boys and three girls! As reported earlier, Brad and Angie’s attorneys already scooped up domain names for the twins.

And last we heard, the bidding for the Knox and Vivienne baby pics was at $15+ million.