On yesterday’s episode of The Tyra Banks Show — titled “How Freaky Are We?” — some crazy guy asked a slew of audience members to stand on him. This went on for a good five minutes before Tyra moved on to other important subjects, such as a woman who wears diapers, pees in them and then has her boyfriend change her.

CONTINUED »“>CONTINUED »

Tricky pronouns might have done John Edwards in on MSNBC this morning. After Edwards told the hosts at Morning Joe that whoever got his vote would get his endorsement, they were trying desperately to get Edwards to tell them who he voted for in North Carolina’s primary. He attempted to play coy, until he accidentally spilled the beans by saying, “I just voted for him Tuesday.” Considering the fact that it would be pretty pointless for him to endorse Hillary Clinton at this point, I think we can all make an educated guess about an upcoming Barack Obama endorsement.

GOOD NEWS A report from the National Science Foundation shows that black and Hispanic students are closing the achievement gap with white students in the fields of math and science. White students still outperform black and Hispanic students in testing, but minority children are improving at a faster rate. From 2004 to 2006, the proficiency level for black and Hispanic kids improved by about 18 points. [EUR]

The Martin Luther King, Jr., memorial statue that is set to take a place of prominence on the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C., has been plagued with controversy from its inception. Many people didn’t like that a Chinese sculptor was commissioned to do create the memorial. Others argued that that way of thinking was sort of contradictory to Martin Luther King’s dream.

Now, a federal arts commission that has final approval over the memorial says that the statue is too “confrontational and that “the colossal scale and Social Realist style of the proposed statue recalls a genre of political sculpture that has recently been pulled down in other countries.” Are they thinking of that statue of Saddam Hussein that was toppled over by U.S. troops a few years back? No one could mistake MLK for a ruler of a totalitarian state.

The executive architect of the memorial said that they were aiming for something that was a powerful yet reflective representation of MLK. He says its hard for him to understand where the criticism is coming from. [WP]

JUST SUPER Barack Obama told a group of undeclared superdelegates from Florida yesterday that he was committed to seating the state’s delegates at the national convention, although they have been stripped of their relevance by the DNC after the state violated the party’s rules. It’s the first time Obama has made a clear promise to do this. In a letter to Obama yesterday, Hillary Clinton wrote, “It is not enough to simply seat their representatives at the convention in Denver. The people of these great states, like the people who have voted and are to vote in other states, must have a voice in selecting our party’s nominee.”

Unlike some blogs, like our sister site, Mollygood, we don’t do much to recognize our special commenting community at Stereohyped. My bad. But that’s why it’s especially nice to see one of your comments featured on AOL BlackVoices’ weekly Blog for Blog feature, which highlights some stand-out comments from the best blogs in the black blogosphere. Keep up the good work, guys.

With every nugget of proof that Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon are actually joined in holy matrimony, I become more and more incredulous. The pictures, however, speak for themselves. The two did not avoid the camera last night at Time’s 100 Most Influential People in the World party, where Mariah Carey was honored and performed. John McCain, who, along with Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, was also an honoree, showed up with a big, yellow-ish smile on his face. He was the only candidate who actually had time.

[WI]

In keeping with the Mother’s Day theme, here’s a clip from Good Times featuring the long-suffering, hard-working Florida Evans, along with a whole lot of overacting.

In celebration of all of our mothers, whose big day is coming up on Sunday, here is a selection of black celebrity moms — and their cute kids!

Wherein you, the readers, talk amongst yourselves.

Despite his request to delay the proceedings, it looks like R. Kelly’s child pornography trial will, indeed, begin tomorrow. After all of these years, I can’t imagine what the outcome will be. What do you think will be the verdict in this long, long, long-awaited trial? Guilty or not guilty?

Ever heard of Romona Moore? I hadn’t either. She was a 21-year-old Hunter College student who lived in the Canarsie neighborhood of Brooklyn with her parents, who are immigrants from Guyana. When she left the house to go to Burger King one night five years ago and didn’t return by the next morning, her mother, Elle Carmichael, called the police. The police told her she shouldn’t even be calling for a 21-year-old missing woman. They didn’t help and closed the complaint that an officer had drafted out of pity. In the four days that followed, as the police refused to help Carmichael by opening an investigation, Romona Moore was being raped and tortured by two men in a house a few blocks from her home. They beat her death on the day that police reluctantly launched an investigation. Carmichael had to help the police find her daughter’s body by conducting her own amateur investigation.

CONTINUED »

FOXY BROWN PLEDGES TO KEEP HER BLACKBERRY IN HER PURSE Foxy Brown won’t be going back to Rikers Island anytime soon, unless she throws something at another neighbor. Today, she pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge associated with a fight with her neighbor last year that culminated in a thrown Blackberry and a black eye. The plea allowed her to avoid felony charges — and a trip back to jail. “There was no penalty and we consider it a victorious day today, and we’re moving forward so she can focus on her career, family and fans,” her attorney said. “She feels great. She’s really happy and excited to move forward. We’re very pleased with this outcome.” [MTV]

It was a big week for Mariah Carey — she lost her single status and her No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200. In her defense, there was really no competing with Madonna’s Hard Candy.

Also debuting new albums last week were Lyfe Jennings, whose Lyfe Change debuted at No. 4, and the Roots. Their album, Rising Down, debuted at the No. 6 spot. I haven’t listened to it yet, but from what I hear, it’s definitely better than it’s spot on the charts suggests. But that’s just the way it works in the music industry.

CONTINUED »

IN MYANMAR… Cyclone survivors don’t have sufficient fuel to burn corpses, which litter fields and ditches. An estimated 100,000 people are dead. The military junta has been painfully slow in granting visas to relief workers and giving clearance for planes carrying much-needed supplies to land. ” The U.S. has also been pushing for access, pledging $3.25 million and offering to send U.S. Navy ships to the region to help relief efforts. The U.S. military had already flown six helicopters on to a Thai airbase, as Washington awaits permission to go into the south Asian country, two senior military officials told CNN’s Barbara Starr.”

Perhaps Rihanna and her best friend/brother Chris Brown thought that they were safe to kiss without worrying about paparazzi at a Miami KFC. They were wrong. I feel like such a tween right now, but here goes: “OMG, they are the cutest couple. Chris + Rihanna 4eeeevvveerrrrrrr. [TMZ]