MAMA TINA'S BIG SCARE The alarm rang, and the ambulance rushed to the set of Beyonce's film, Cadillac Records, last night to tend to Tina Knowles, who was having trouble breathing. According to family overlord, Mathew Knowles, everything's fine and the EMT's didn't feel the need to transport his wife to a hospital. This means we can all go on with our lives. The House of Dereon has not fallen. [TMZ]

The first glimpse of Beyonce as Etta James on the set of the new movie Cadillac Records is here, and she looks pretty much like Bey in an Etta James wig. Last month, Etta showed a lack of confidence that the prettiest pop star in all the land could play someone as gritty as herself, and this first look might be sort of proving her point. But, of course, it's all in the performance…

In other Bey movie news, she starts filming a thriller called Obsessed with Idris Elba — as her husband — and Ali Larter this summer. If you're wondering how this new role came about, I should add that Beyonce and Mathew Knowles are executive producing. And while Jay-Z's probably too cocky to be worried, he might want to watch out for those upcoming intimate scenes between his woman and Mr. Elba. Just sayin'.

Mathew Knowles is not entertaining Aretha Franklin's criticism of his daughter's choice of words at the Grammys. In fact, he's not even "taking it" to Beyonce. But if she hasn't heard about it by now, she lives under a rock.

"As a manager I am not taking something this ridiculous to Beyonce. Beyonce referred to Tina Turner as a 'queen,'" he told CelebTV.com. "Not queen of gospel, queen of soul, queen of blues, Queen of England. I consider my wife a queen and sometimes call her that. Does Aretha have a problem with that?"

Aretha probably does have a problem with that. No one named Tina is allowed to be called a queen! Why don't people understand that? [DB]

• Blacks in North Carolina bring about $46 billion a year to the states economy. That's all? They need to start helping out their state a little more. [WSJ]

• Lots of people are pretty skeptical about this poll. [BAW]

• Mathew Knowles is trying to squeeze all he can out of the Beyonce Experience. [PE]

• Someone really, really liked Jay-Z's American Gangster show at the Apollo. [MTV]

• Can we get some good black syndicated news shows on the radio? [BAR]

Fresh off of the high of not only forming a new band, but also signing a white male solo artist he will pay attention to for approximately 20 seconds, Diddy jetted off to Las Vegas for Magic, the huge bi-annual fashion trade show. While there, he ran into Bey and her, who are most likely shilling Miss Tina's new "creole-inspired" HSN collection and House of Dereon. I imagine Magic becomes more and more like a hip hop convention every year, since every artist and their mother (ahem, Tina) feels the need to develop a clothing line. More pics after the jump.

CONTINUED »