Actor Tristan Wilds was invited to a party at the home of Rihanna in Los Angeles a few days ago. A friend says:

"No one knew why Tristan was there initially, because it was not an industry party, it was very intimate. But everyone quickly realized they weren’t meeting for the first time, because they were openly affectionate for everyone to see. He’s a real gentleman. She likes him a lot, and it shows. From the moment he walked into her party, Rihanna lit up."

Openly affectionate means Rihanna found a new pony to ride. The party was sort of a going away party, since Rihanna is heading to London to do some work. If Tristan jets off to London then these two have a relationship.

Anyone else think Wilds looks a lot like Chris Brown?

Chuck Harmony, who produced Russian Roulette from the new Rihanna Album called Rated R, is doing his best to explain how great the song and album are after a poor rating by fans. Harmony says the album will prove Rihanna is the Madonna of her generation.

"I sat through mix sessions and I heard some of the songs on the record. It fits in well," he said of "Russian Roulette."

Just saying it doesn’t make it true. In fact making such comparisons raises expectations, and makes a failure seem that much more like a career killer. There really is no comparison between Rihanna and Madonna, since Madonna created much of her own material, whereas someone else created Rihanna’s material. There is also nothing original about Rihanna. It’s all been done before.

Harmony then tried to explain how the darkness in Russian Roulette doesn’t reflect the entire album, because there are better songs than this one:

"I think Rihanna has captured what her old fans are used to, as well as the growth of an artist. Russian Roulette, to me, is a shining example of her growth and her artistic expression. Russian Roulette is definitely taking her to another level. I think she’s a pop icon, so her music should reflect that."

Here we go again. "Taking her to another level" is another statement that isn’t supported by the lack of spark in Russian Roulette.

Harmony then went on to explain how the half-dressed Rihanna on the cover of the album is "genius."

"It fits in with the song. The way it’s unfolding is so genius. Like, ’The wait is ova’ [message on her site]. I was waiting too. I wanted to see the cover, I wanted to hear the song. It’s one of those records where you just don’t know. It’s not a faith record. It’s one of those thought-provoking records."

We think the idea with the cover art was the old s*x sells. Maybe for the impulse buy, but there are better pictures of Rihanna wearing nothing at all on the Internet.

If you have "explain" how great a performer is, and how great the album is, you’ve already failed.

Rihanna is better at looking like Larry King than she is at singing. Russian Roulette was a very poor effort. Why is it that Rihanna can’t write any of her own music?

Rihanna has released her new single Russian Roulette, which was written and produced by Ne-Yo, whose long track record with Rihanna includes the #1 hit “Unfaithful”, their Top 10 duet “Hate That I Love You”, and #1 pop/ #1 R&B “Take A Bow”. In addition to Ne-Yo, other producers and writers on Rihanna’s new album include the team of The-Dream and Tricky Stewart, Chase & Status, Stargate, Justin Timberlake and more.

Nothing Rihanna does, it seems, is written by her. She just performs what everyone tells her to do.

Click here to listen.

The lyrics to Russian Roulette are below:

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Charo (58) performed Rihanna’s Please Don’t Stop the Music on the Jerry Lewis Muscular Distrophy Association Labor Day Telethon.

Thank you Jerry Lewis for dedicating your life to helping others.