Rihanna semi-collapsed onstage during an Australian tour stop with Chris Brown today. Right in the middle of "Umbrella," Rihanna started to clutch her stomach and then stumbled offstage. Brown finished the song (consummate professional or bad boyfriend?) and then rushed to check on her. She was taken to a local hospital, but her rep said she was just overheated. "It was very hot at the venue, so after Rihanna's set was over, she went off stage and needed to sit down, catch her breath and have some water," the rep said. "She is perfectly healthy and will be at her show tomorrow." In other words, Rihanna isn't pulling a Janet Jackson.

From the department of implausible-sounding rumors that would be oh-so-juicy if they were true, here's what allegedly went down backstage at an October 3rd T.I. concert, according to the ever-reliable Star Magazine:

Rihanna and Kanye hung out together after they performed their songs," says an insider. "Rihanna was sitting on Kanye's lap, singing along to the music. Before long, the two were full-on kissing each other."

Adds the source, "People were shocked. After a while, Rihanna must have realized people were watching, because she had her security escort her back to the dressing room."

People as famous as Kanye and Rihanna know that people are always watching. File this under "false" until someone produces a paparazzi photo of them secretly vacationing together in Cabo.

The Spirit of Life Awards sounds sort of like it could be an awards banquet for the Christian right, but it's actually a City of Hope ceremony honoring philanthropic achievements. Rihanna was there looking fabulous as usual, as were Toni Braxton, Robin Thicke, and Jonathan Mortimer Smith (that's Lil Jon, to you), who looked like he tried and failed to clean up for the occasion.

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Say what you will about her music and vocal skills, Rihanna has great style and/or a great stylist. So it was inevitable that she would launch her own clothing line. “I’m not one to rush into anything. I want to take my time,” she told WWD. “I can’t say when it will be released, but it’s definitely going to happen.” Here's the thing: as great as Rihanna looks in her clothes, I can imagine an Average Jane possibly looking a bit like a prostitute/superhero from the year 2025 in the same outfits. Of course, things will be significantly toned-down for the mainstream. We'll see.

The pundits and conservative television hosts may think Michelle Obama is angry, but the fashion world loves her. She's the only non-entertainer on People's top 10 best dressed list. She shares the honor with Rihanna, Fergie, Kate Hudson, Anne Hathaway, Gwyneth Paltrow, Charlize Theron, Eva Mendes, and Sarah Jessica Parker. Kerry Washington was robbed! [Reuters]

Rihanna performed a cover of Madonna's "Vogue" at Fashion Rocks, which aired last night. Yay or nay? I'm aware that Rihanna's success mystifies some of you…

After the jump, Beyonce and Justin Timberlake cover "Ain't Nothin' Like The Real Thing," and Beyonce salutes Etta James.

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The Video Music Awards aired on MTV last night for the 25th year in a row. I have come to two possible conclusions about the show. They are not necessarily mutually exclusive.
1) The VMAs are not good anymore.

2) I am too old to fully enjoy them.

For those of you who actually busied themselves doing something productive last night, here's a rundown of what you would have seen if you had more time on your hands: Lil Wayne hopping about the stage with T-Pain in an outfit that would have gotten him arrested in Rivera Beach and then hitting the stage again with Kid Rock, Kanye singing his new song "Love Lockdown" (people will be critical, and he will throw a tantrum), famous-in-the-UK host Russell Brand making a lot of political/chastity jokes and inspiring promise-ring-wearing Jordin Sparks to imply that those of us without promise rings are sluts, Rihanna performing twice, much to the delight of Chris Brown, MTV inexplicably scheduling good artists like Lupe Fiasco during commercial breaks, Christina Aguilera remixing Genie in a Bottle and then lip-syncing her new song, Jamie Foxx acting like an idiot, and a lithe Britney Spears woodenly accepting three pity awards. The end. Photos after the jump.

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Rihanna and Chris Brown, the Beyonce and Jay-Z for those born after 1990, are all grown up. At least, they are making grown up moves by deciding to cohabitate and are supposedly looking at condos in LA. One requirement: lots of sound-proofing, because they play their music loud. Does that mean that they play their music loud or they just play any music loud? That detail would probably make all the difference in the world to their future neighbors. By the third round of "Umbrella" or "Forever," I'd be drafting a strongly-worded letter to the condo board while trying to resist the curious urge to chew some Doublemint gum. [DListed]

• Rihanna, Chris Brown, her brother, and her boots went shopping in LA yesterday. [CL]

• 50 Cent is cooperating with fire officials in their investigation of his burned-down house. [XXL]

• This is one thing I'm sure of — I will always know how many homes I own. Current count = zero. [US]

• The stars came out in full force for the Black and White Gala, a VIP Obama fundraiser. [SP]

• Maybe divorce doesn't agree with Star Jones. [C&D]

• Maybe the Game needs some help? [Jossip]

• Rihanna wears jewelry. On her fingers. [Sun]

• Kwame Kilpatrick's lying, philandering ways may have helped ruined mama's political career. [JJP]

• A new lawsuit highlights a rift between blacks and gays in the DNC. [N&V]

• Who doesn't have a reality show these days? [CL]

• First comes popping each others pimples, then comes marriage… [C&D]

• Will.i.am just hasn't been able to make it happen with this last CD. At least he made a hit song for Barack Obama. [SB]

• Nikki Blonsky, the star of Hairspray and Bianca Golden from the last season of America's Next Top Model got in a huge, random fight at the airport that ended with the arrest of Golden, Blonksy, and Blonsky's dad. Golden's mom was hospitalized. I'm so confused. [People]

• Rumor are has it Barbara Walters wants Sherri Shepherd off of The View. If it's true, it was only a matter of time. If it's not… it's only a matter of time. [Bossip]

• Rihanna unleashes the video for "Disturbia," in which she wears different wigs and contact lenses and acts creepy. [CL]

• And here's a new video from Robin Thicke for good measure. [C&D]

• For every journalist who wants to denigrate Michelle Obama, there's one who has her back. Hard. [JJP]

• Will Detroit go from Hip Hop Mayor to NBA Mayor? [BV]

• If you're in the market for a new Jag that was driven by a deceased hip hop legend, eBay's got it. [EUR]

• Kanye West does not have a ghost blogger. If you need proof, here is photographical evidence of him blogging. [CL]

• Rihanna wins best celebrity hair. When your last two hairdos have been copied as much as hers have, you deserve such a title. [SR]

• 50 Cent passed a drug test and can now take his son on vacation. The kid's mom failed hers, though. Oops. [RWS]

• Lip gloss isn't the only thing Lil Mama's got poppin'. [NB]

Some our most successful recording artists were in Lagos, Nigeria, over the weekend to perform at the ThisDay Africa Rising Festival. Rihanna and Jay were there, along with Mary J. Blige, Chris Brown, and Usher. On the fashion front, designer Ozwald Boateng and models Oluchi, Naomi Campbell, and Tyson Beckford were there. The latter two can also be seen below visiting the Lagos Island Maternity Hospital. Naomi is nice around babies.

So she sleepwalks through live performances, especially when she's singing a slow song (no more slow songs, please!). She's still looks fabulous, is wildly popular, and provides proof that rereleasing old CDs is great for business. Her album, Good Girl Gone Bad, jumped from No. 124 on the Billboard 200 to No. 7 after being rereleased with three new tracks.

Also, Coldplay, along with Lil Wayne, set a record this week for having the first two albums since 2000, when Britney Spears' Oops, I Did It Again came out the week before Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP, to debut back-to-back with more than 700,000 units sold. And that was back when people actually bought albums.

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