Going Foward: Ese Walter writes for the last time, Hopefully.

Ese Walter is back giving us the continuation of her fairy-tale, where she accused the Snr pastor of COZA, Pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo. 

Here is what she wrote on her Personal Blog:

"The past week has ‘killed’ me. It has stripped me of whatever ‘self-importance’ I nursed in the corners of my mind. It has broken me and opened me up to my real self. It has brought me to a deeper level of self-awareness, one I am most grateful for.

When I sat with my MacBook to type my last blog, I never imagined it would generate the kind of attention it did and continues to. I have one last thing to say on this issue before I lay it to rest and move on. (I also hope others can move on too, we have too much going on in this Country to continue to peddle one for longer than necessary.)

A very big thank you to everyone that has felt it necessary to talk about this issue and spread it throughout Nigeria and the foreign scene. I read every email sent to me with awe that people would take the time out to reach a total stranger like me. Some were cursing, calling me a witch from the pit of hell sent to destroy the church as though one individual/church is bigger than the body of Christ. As though God is mere man and would cringe in heaven saying, “Ese don did it this time.” Or as if the good Book didn’t state clearly that ALL things work out for good for those that love God.

Do you love God? If yes, trust that it will ALL turn around for good.

Some people say, ‘I support you, you are brave and courageous’ and I wonder if those terms really define me. I do not think I am brave or courageous. I do know, however that after decades of sleepwalking through life, I am now becoming aware not just of myself but also of my environment, my world, and the universe.

Some say, put out the evidence and we will believe you. Hmmm, the morning I sat to write that post, I really didn’t expect anyone to believe me. Well, apart from those involved. And my motive was simple, let one more woman be spared. Let one more minister of the gospel be mindful and let the church rise up to its responsibilities as God’s legal representatives here in the earth realm.

A copy of the ‘evidence’ is with a respected minister of the gospel should the christian body decide to deal with this issue now and that becomes needful. I am not looking to have a ‘me against them’ case where I need to prove I’m right and someone is wrong. I am far from right, but I have used the only means available to me to free myself of the bondage I put myself in.

Lastly, to all the media people seeking interviews and whatever else mailing me, I have nothing more to say on this issue. I cannot reply every email as reading them is beginning to seem like a new job.
I remember asking a friend once while reading the book of Acts, “Why do we no longer operate in the power the disciples did in Jesus day?” What has changed? How do we ‘unchange’ it?

God is not mocked, if we serve Him, let’s serve Him. We cannot continue to grow as a Nation by oppressing, delaying justice, hating, having the ME ME ME mentality. As Martin Luther King Jr said, ‘no one is free until we are all free.’

Things have got to change and it begins with us. It begins with each and every one of us borrowing courage to stand for what we believe in. Fela Durotoye once said, ‘that thing that annoys you most in society is a sign that you carry its solution.’ (I’m
paraphrasing)

Nothing has called out to me more than people, especially women, suffering in some way and hiding the pain. Whatever we cover doesn’t go away. It grows and it finds different outlets to rear its ugly head until we deal with it.

I am not perfect, I will never be, but I am enough to try what I feel might work. I don’t know what the entire bible says but I am learning and applying the little I find out
daily. And I think everyone owes it to himself or herself to figure it out for
themselves.

At the end of the day, we agree that ‘men of God’ are firstly men, right? This means it’s needless expecting them to help you in your growth with God. I fell into that trap of thinking a ‘man of God’ is equated to God and it is not new to find people fall in that hole.

How do you begin to learn to serve a God you have never seen? It takes another level of faith to do that but we live in a generation/Country where people don’t want to study for themselves. They don’t want to read the Scriptures. Well, they don’t want to read, period. They want to pursue things instead and have somebody do the praying and studying for them. If you fall in that category, you need to repent.

I learnt that when the veil was torn, we all were given equal access to the Father. No matter how long you may have been in church, if you don’t know what that means you better ask somebody. And seek a real relationship with the God you claim to serve.

That is what I am spending most of my time doing these days. Praying, studying, seeking, knocking. The peace I have felt despite all the hate mails and tantrums shows that God is not angry with me and I did what I needed to do to the best of my understanding.

My apologies to everyone this has affected in one way or another.
Firstly, my family: I don’t know how you guys aren’t sick of me yet  
Secondly, ‘the body of Christ,’ my intention was never to cause trouble but to stop a rot I felt might spread and become worse if nobody spoke up about it.

Lastly, to those who said I shouldn’t blog again, I respect and understand your concerns but the truth is, writing is not just my gift, it is also my ‘curse’. I cannot ‘NOT’ write but I PROMISE, this is the last I will say on this issue except the christian body needs to see me.

God is building His church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. No sin is too big to wreck anyone’s faith. If it does, then it means it’s working out a greater good for you. You will definitely come out stronger and better in the end. Like my best friend says “in the end, it will be all right and if it ain’t alright, it’s notthe end.”

“…forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Paul.
Cheers to the weekend people 

Just To Make You Smile: THE BOSS

One day a man goes to a pet shop to buy a parrot. The assistant takes the man to the parrot section and asks the man to choose one. The man asks, ''How much is the yellow one?''

The assistant says, ''$2000.'' The man is shocked and asks the assistant why it's so expensive. The assistant explains, ''This parrot is a very special one. He knows typewriting and can type really fast.''

''What about the green one?'' the man asks.

The assistant says, ''He costs $5000 because he knows typewriting and can answer incoming telephone calls and takes notes.''

''What about the red one?'' the man asks.

The assistant says, ''That one's $10,000.''

The man says, ''What does HE do?''

The assistant says, ''I don't know, but the other two call him boss.'

Kanye West and Kim Kardashian acquires $ 2million armored SUVs built by Latvian-based Dartz Motorz.

Say what you want about Kanye West and Kim Kardashian, but they’re taking the doting parent

 thing pretty seriously – at least based on what little North West will soon be shuttled around in.

The controversial rap star, and proud new papa, has apparently doled out more than $2-million

for a pair of SUVs that can withstand gunfire, bombs, landmines, and rocket-propelled 

grenades.

Built by Latvian-based automaker Dartz Motorz, the trucks look like pumped-up and armor-

plated Hummer H1s with a penchant for wearing lots of bling.

The truck's 6.0-liter V-8 pushes out 552-horspower and comes equipped with a 6-speed 

automatic and all-wheel-drive.

Top speed is a (claimed) 194 mph, and Dartz says the sprint from 0 to 60 mph takes 4.9 s

seconds.

see more pictures below:

what do you think about this? isn't this too expensive?

How to Self-Promote without Being a Jerk

Is it possible to genuinely be interested in the needs of others, and still promote yourself? Absolutely, otherwise all the good people would be starving in the streets. But doing so requires that you skip the sort of "me first", self-centered promotion that many utilize.

Here are some tips for getting the right kind of attention:

Start with the facts. Keep your resume, bio and LinkedIn profile in perfect order. Be factual, clear and complete; If you doubled sales in a year, say so.

Plenty of people do the opposite: they make boastful claims in an article or email, but their profile is lacking the most basic details.

Make it very easy for people to get facts about what you have accomplished. The key word here is "facts." Don't brag, just tell the truth.

Acknowledge others. State your accomplishments in terms of how you have helped others. If you have clients, list the ways they have benefitted from working with you. If you volunteer, be proactive in supporting your favorite non-profits. When your team wins, give credit to the other team members.

Be helpful. The best articles, blog posts, comments and discussion topics serve to help other people. The wrong way to get a new client is to say, "I'm the best, hire me." The right way is to be so helpful that it becomes obvious to others that you are someone who adds value and brings the right attitude to tough challenges.

Beware... people are very good at spotting insincere contributions. Don't simply pretend to help others; actually help them.

Share freely. Few things bother people more than a "teaser" article that forces readers to share their contact information before gaining access to more valuable content. I get the sales and marketing reasons for using such an approach, but a far better strategy is to share freely and make it easy for people to contact you if they value what you have shared.

Be expert. It is much better to be expert than to say you are an expert. If you have worthwhile capabilities, use them. Write a book that imparts genuine insights. Teach others valuable skills. Be calm and focused in stressful situations. Look for actual solutions, instead of simply parroting tired, old phrases. Use your abilities in ways that other people value.

When you don't know the answer, just say so. It is human nature to fall into the trap of thinking you have all the answers. Newsflash: no one has all the answers. If you want to earn credibility, be the first to admit when you are over your head. Even better, send people to other experts who are equipped to answer their current questions; paradoxically, doing so will raise your credibility.

One last caution... don't be full of yourself. Never use these words to describe yourself: thought leader, visionary, insightful, or genius.

And please - if you are over the age of 20, never put your GMAT, LSAT, or SAT scores on your profile. Once you get into a school, it is bad form to tell others how you did it. Listing your board scores is equivalent to saying, "I'm smart, but I lack common sense."

Bruce Kasanoff

5 Things You Have to Unlearn to Succeed at Work

A big theme in my life has been how much I had to unlearn to come to the decision to homeschool my kids.

I had to unlearn all my assumptions about parenting (it turns out that kids don't need teachers, they need love). I unlearned my assumptions about self‑management (well-roundedness is an outdated goal). And I had to change my assumptions about how much respect each child deserves (freedom to choose what we learn is a fundamental right).

Now that I've been homeschooling for a while, I understand that the reason it's traumatic for most young adults to enter the workforce is because they have to unlearn so many things from school in order to survive in adult life.

No matter what age you are, the faster you start your unlearning the faster you can shed the weights that hold you back from moving forward in today's knowledge-based workforce. Here are five things most people need to unlearn.

1. Accommodating forced learning
Gen Y’s latest thing is binge learning, where you become so interested in what you're doing that you don't want to stop until you've learned it all. But the only way that you can binge learn is to know how to find course materials on your own and choose the sequence of those materials that works best for you. This means you can't rely on someone else's syllabus and you can't rely on somebody laying out the steps for you.

In the workplace, to create our own value, we must create our own learning path. You have to unlearn the habit of waiting to be told what comes next in your education if you want to take control of your adult life.

2. Studying for the grade you can get on the test
Adult life doesn't give letter grades. Sometimes adult life gives promotions or if you're good at sales you might win a trip to Hawaii for your family, but in general, the reward of adult life is being able to find a path that's good for you and put yourself on it. There's no letter grade for that because the only person who can judge whether it's a good path or not is you.

The act of making decisions independent of letter grades is completely opposite to everything that school stands for, because if you're doing work that is separate from earning an A, then you're completely uncontrollable in the classroom as you start losing the need to even show up to the classroom.

So school teaches you that you should study what's on the test. Work is the opposite. What matters will never be on the test.

3. Saving self-discovery for vacation
For those of you who don't follow the lives of Prince William and Prince Harry, a gap year is when somebody finishes high school and takes a year off before university study, presumably because you don’t learn about yourself while you are studying, so taking time to learn about yourself is important enough to give it a whole year.

This is actually true that usually you don't learn about yourself when you're studying, because if people tell you what to study, then you gain no insight into who you are. But if you take a year off to learn about yourself, you reinforce the idea that education and self‑knowledge are two completely different things.

However, in the workforce, education and self‑knowledge through work are the twin tickets to adult happiness. If you're not synchronized so that you have them moving together, you will always feel like you're missing something.

4. Saying something even when there's nothing to say
In sixth grade my teacher gave us a list of topics about Mesopotamia for a ten-page paper she assigned. When she got to the topic of medicine in Mesopotamia, she said it was a hard one. I picked that one.

I brought it home to my dad who can win Trivial Pursuit in one turn every time and my mom who was on Jeopardy, and they said, "Medicine in Mesopotamia? There wasn't any. What are you going to write about this?" We did a bunch of research to determine that, indeed, there were not ten typed pages to be written about medicine in Mesopotamia. We did conjecture instead, but that only got us to five. So I learned the art of bullshit by writing ten pages about medicine in Mesopotamia.

Paul Graham, one of the premier investors of college‑age startup founders, talks about how forced yammering on topics about which you have nothing to say end up affecting you negatively in the workforce.

He talks about kids who have great ideas for startups and they think it's time to raise money, so they force themselves to start talking about why it's time to raise money when, in fact, it's not time to raise money. They have nothing to say about raising money. They should just be at home doing their business idea.

Graham points out that the idea that it doesn't matter whether something is relevant or pertinent or necessary is lost on kids who have been forced to talk about nothing for eighteen years.

5. Using video games as a reward for finishing learning
It's fashionable right now for parents to use video games as a reward for having finished schoolwork or, for the really nice parents, as a reward for just having made it through the school day. The thing is that video games actually teach important skills for work. And kids who play video games do better as adults.

I'm really happy to tell you that human resource managers understand this so well that it's been shown that people who play World of Warcraft at work during work hours on the work computer are higher performing employees. There are lots of reasons for this. World of Warcraft is extremely competitive. It requires long‑term commitment and strategy, and it favors people who understand how to shift between different sorts of tasks that require different kinds of thinking.

Parents need to unlearn schooling in order to parent so that their kids don't need to unlearn schooling in order to work.

Penelope Trunk

Mrs Annie Idibia has a new look

Mrs 2face Idibia cut her hair and dyed it ...what colour is that? I thinks it's Gold, am not sure... do you like?

"I have no man in my life' - Actress Dayo Amusa reveals

"There's no man in my life at the moment' the actress revealed in a recent interview while promoting her new movie - Unforgivable, starring Desmond Elliot ad Mike Ezuruonye "I am focused right now on my movie and creche. The story that I fought Laide Bakare over K1 De Ultimate was fabricated. The stories come from young journalists who cook up stories to impress their editors"

Jumia Nigeria has finally launched their Mobile App for Android Phones

Nigeria leading online retailer JUMIA NG, has once again captivated the heart of their customers by releasing a mobile Application for easy shopping, Below is a statement from them:  

"Today, we launch our long-awaited Jumia App for Android. This app is FREE and it is available on the Play Store.

 For direct download and install on your android device, you can use this link https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jumia.android. Also, see the banner to announce this launch on the homepage, click it and get more details about the app.

 Kindly share with your friends and start shopping."

check here for pics:

looks like this is gonna be more chilling :-) just a click and my item/order is right at my doorstep

Peter Okoye and his crew hit the strip clubs in Toronto, Canada

P-Square is on their US/Canada tour. After a performance in Chicago and Texas, they moved to Canada yesterday and hit the strip clubs last night.
Pls somebody stop them from chopping their money oh!

OMG: Afrocandy offers Beverly Osu a role in her soft porn movie

I'm sure you guys know Afrocandy, but just in case you've never heard of her, she's soft porn actress and movie producer...Google her to see her in action. 

what do you guys think?

Wizkid and Daddy Showkey to sing together in Wizkid Album?

"wizkidayo 30mins nd we made a jam!"

TECH: Sony says sorry for Grand Theft Auto V leaks

Sony has issued an apology after leaks of the new Grand Theft Auto V occurred after users downloaded the digital pre-order

Sony has said sorry for the release of certain GTA V assets after digitally pre-ordering the new game.

The assets, such as the game's main theme and its soundtrack, were then published online.

Social media manager, Sid Shuman, posted on Playstation's blog to say, "We sincerely apologize to Rockstar and GTA fans across the world who were exposed to the spoiler content."

Read more: Grand Theft Auto 5 gameplay footage released

The blog also stated that Sony had now removed the digital pre-order file containing leaked assets from the PlayStation Store in Europe to ensure no further damage.

Earlier this month, the GTA 5 official website launched an interactive travelogue of the city of Los Santos, enabling users to explore the surrounding areas before the game is released.

Shuman lastly said, "GTA V is one of the most highly anticipated games of the year with a very passionate following, and we're looking forward to a historic launch on September 17."

According to GTAForums, artists such as Muse, Wham!, Snoop Dogg (Lion), Tupac, Johnny Cash, and Rihanna will apparently feature on the soundtrack and in-game radio stations.

Source: PlayStation Blog

Apple reportedly begins training employees for iPhone trade-in program

Apple has reportedly started to train its US retail employees ahead of the introduction of the iPhone trade-in program

According to sources that have spoken to MacRumours, Apple has begun training its retail employees for the iPhone trade-in program first rumoured back in June.

The trade-in program, reported by Bloomberg, stated that Apple had teamed up with Brightstar to begin accepting trade-ins of the current iPhone handsets for newer models.

MacRumours has stated, "Apple has reportedly sent materials to its stores to support the initiative, while the first line of store trainers will be receiving instruction about the program today."

It is rumoured that these trainers will then train the other employees next week ahead of a program launch.

Old iPhones that has been traded in would then be refurbished and sold in emerging markets.

The news come just weeks before Apple's September 10th iPhone media event.

Rumours have circulated so far around the official unveiling of the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C.

An analyst has predicted the iPhone 5S to feature a new A7 system-on-a-chip design with 1GB RAM, suuply a 128GB handset option, and have embedded fingerprint scanner technology in the home button.

The iPhone 5C is said to mirror the current iPhone 5 but with a plastic casing and a budget price.

Source: MacRumours

Lamar Odom goes missing after intervention

Khloe Kardashian Slams Divorce Rumors

Rumors of marital troubles have been plaguing Lamar Odom and Khloe Kardashian for months now, from cheating allegations to divorce rumors. Needless to say, the Keeping Up With The Kardashians star is not happy about the gossip, and recently slammed the rumors, or more so, those spreading them!

Khloe Kardashian is not one to sit back quietly when rumors are buzzing about her family, so fans have been wondering why the star has not opened up and addressed the recent rumors that she and husband, Lamar Odom were getting divorced. Well, she finally did! Yesterday, Kardashian apparently couldn’t take it anymore, and blew up on Twitter, posting: “Really hard to sit here and listen to people talk sh-t about my family! F-ck you and shame on you! I’m too protective for this sh-t!”

Prior to that Tweet, Khloe kept quiet about all of the rumors, which include a possible divorce, cheating allegations, and more recently, drug use by Lamar. She did, however, leave a series of cryptic Tweets last week, such as: “Stop trying to figure me out and get to know your self first,” and, “Only the strong will survive.”

Meanwhile, new reports popped up this weekend that Lamar Odom has gone missing – or perhaps he is just hiding from the Kardashians?

What do you think of Khloe and Lamar rumors? Do you believe the affair allegations against Lamar Odom? Did he really cheat on Khloe with the women claiming he did? We know you have an opinion and we want to hear from you. Feel free to share your opinion in the comments section below!

As Ballmer Leaves Microsoft, Will Buffett Pick New CEO?

Apple also has several executives who might run Microsoft. The most widely respected among them is Jonathan Ive. The senior vice president of design was often considered Steve Jobs’ right hand as the company built the iPhone and iPad. But Ive has never run a large company, and as a creative engineer is not suited to take on the responsibility.

That leaves second-tier executives from a number of global tech companies. From the standpoint of the market, such a choice would be inadequate.

What Microsoft could do is what International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) did when it reached a critical stage of failure. It brought on a gifted executive who had little to no tech experience. Lou Gerstner was CEO of RJR Nabisco and a top executive at American Express Co. (NYSE: AXP). Before that, he was an executive at McKinsey & Co., a breeding ground for big company CEOs. Gerstner took over at Big Blue in 1993, and by the time he left in 2002 , he returned IBM to its place as one of the most highly regarded technology companies in the world.

According to John Thompson, Microsoft’s lead independent director, the new CEO will need to focus on new technologies and rely less on the Window’s operating system. “The board is committed to the effective transformation of Microsoft to a successful devices and services company.”

For that reason alone, the most logical choice to replace Ballmer might be Steve Burke, CEO of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA). Prior to his current job, Burke ran the cable division of Comcast, the largest wired broadband distribution system in the country.

Comcast is in the broadband distribution business, but it is also in the content business and the hardware business. All of these are critical to Microsoft’s future, organized around its gaming platform and new mobile devices and operating systems. Burke’s experience would compliment these goals well. He is also what Wall Street wants most — a skilled great executive and an outsider.

Perhaps most important for Burke, he sits on the board of Berkshire Hathaway — a position from which one of Gates’ closest friends could hand pick the next CEO. Warren Buffett, who has a decades-long relationship with Gates, has committed nearly all of his fortune to the Gates Foundation.

Buffett also has an excellent track record for helping companies in trouble. He has rescued many large companies before, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS), Salomon Bros., and the Washington Post. He also financed the acquisition of ABC by Capital Cities (the company was later acquired by Disney).

Gates can make one call to Buffett to get the shortlist for CEO candidates at Microsoft. From Buffett’s standpoint, no one has a resume, or proven skills that could top Steve Burke.

By Douglas A. McIntyre

Little Girl Befriends, Kisses Gorilla at the Zoo

Finally, an animal story that doesn't have to do with guinea pig sex or censored kangaroo pics.

In the following video, a little girl forms an instant connection with a gorilla at the zoo, as the monkey copies (apes?) the little girls's movements and slaps at the windows in excitement.

And to cap off the adorable interaction? The gorilla presses his face against the glass at the same time as his young friend and the two exchange a kiss! AWWWW!

We dare you to watch and somehow not smile broadly now:

Girl kiss Gorilla

Did Taylor Swift just mouth "shut the f*** up" at One Direction?

When our favourite five lads One Direction were presenting at the MTV Video Music Awards, it seems Taylor wasn't exactly too bothered about listening to their chatter.

As the squeaky Sass Master from Doncaster, Louis Tomlinson, is gearing up to award Selena Gomez with a moon man for Best Pop Video, Taylor appeared to whisper a bit of swearing.

 

It appears that she's caught saying: "Shut the f*** up."

Which is quite a big ask considering they were only doing as they were told.

And the organisers probably wouldn't be too impressed if they stopped talking because Taylor didn't want to listen to Harry and his mates any longer.

Harry Styles and Taylor Swift pictured together for the first time since break up at MTV VMAs

They looked weirdly similar at the VMAs

They might not have dated for long but a lot has been said about Harry Styles and Taylor Swift's relationship.

It might not be the most glamorous reunion as Harry was sat with his bandmates as Taylor danced past in her figure-hugging blue dress.

The couple were the stars of the MTV Video Music Awards broadcast as the cameras rarely left their faces throughout the evening.

But there wasn't a feisty clash or a flirty confrontation, instead the Trouble singer didn't stop to speak to her former boyfriend as she was leaving the Barclays Center in New York.

Harry appears to take a quick glance at the pretty popstar but avoids being busted staring at her bum.

Editiorial: Stop Using These 30 Phrases At Work!

I reckon every office or workplace has one of those people that are just full of jargon-ridden management drivel. Does this kind of 'management speak' remind you of someone at your work place: "Before going forward we have to touch base and reach out to our key stakeholders so that we can drill down into the key issues that are not yet on our radar and catch the low-hanging fruits..."

Are you surrounded by people who annoyingly can't get enough of the management gobbledygook and who utter one jargon buzzword after another? Are your meetings buzzing with so much management lingo that you find it hard to get to the real meaning of what is being said? The problem I have with these phrases is that they sound so pretentious and often are counter-productive because they irritate people so much and deflect from the real meaning.

Below are my top 30 most irritating and overused phrases we hear at work. I am sure you have others that you can add to this list. Let's make it the most comprehensive list of unnecessary management drivel ever - Please add your ones using the comment field!

For me, these are my top 30 most irritating jargon phrases and words used at work:

1. Going forward
2. Drill-down
3. End of play
4. Touch base
5. It's on my radar
6. No brainer
7. Best of breed
8. Low hanging fruit
9. Reach out
10. Dive deeper
11. Think outside the box
12. Positive momentum
13. Execute
14. Milestones
15. Run the numbers
16. Touch points
17. Keep your eye on the ball
18. Back to the drawing board
19. Get the ball rolling
20. Bang for your buck
21. Close the deal
22. Leverage
23. Shift paradigm
24. Move the needle
25. Game-changing
26. Move the goal post
27. Value added
28. Win-win
29. Across the piece
30. All hands on deck

What do you think? Do you agree? Are these the most irritating phrases? Please let me know which ones you would add to this list!

Where's Lady Gaga? Miley Cyrus Snatches Crown for Queen of Obscene at VMAs

Robin Thicke & Miley Cyrus [Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage for MTV]

With Lady Gaga set to open the MTV Video Music Awards, the audience braced themselves for a dose of patented Gaga shock treatment. For half a decade plus now, Gaga has served as the reliable producer of those jaw-dropping moments that dominate water cooler talk the next day. 

And this year looked to be a return to form. Gaga, looking for a bit of a comeback after some time out of the spotlight, needed to hit the stage hard. Counting on her chatter-generating skills, MTV booked her Ladyship into the lead-off slot. On the red carpet before the show, Gaga was asked how she planned to stun the crowd. The expectations were high.

But after coming out standing in a milk carton, a few retrospective wig changes, smearing some paint on her face, the big moment? A quick spin to flash the singer's teeny tiny thong.

Just when people began to relax after Gaga's not-so-weird performance, the real sucker punch of the night came: when the girl who was still a practically a Disney princess while Gaga was rocking a meat dress - Miley Cyrus hit the stage.

Cyrus stepped up and assumed the throne for the strangest, most provocative performer at this year's VMAs, fitting nicely into the crown for Queen of Obscene, funny hair horns and all.

The singer emerged  in a furry gray leotard with the face of a seemingly-intoxicated teddy bear to perform her single "We Can't Stop." Following the theme of her music video, she was backed up by a gaggle of dancers with the giant teddy bear backpacks, folks in teddy bear suits, and the World's Tallest Burlesque Dancer, Amazon Ashley, who stands at 6'7''.

Living up to her reputation for shamelessly working it, she didn't disappoint as she playfully bounced, popped and thrust through the song that had viewers in a trance.

Once Robin Thicke came out to perform what is probably the song of summer '13, "Blurred Lines," Cyrus shed the fun fur to reveal a very Gaga-esque nude vinyl bikini, not much unlike the latex getup Gaga wore at the 2011 Grammys. And she just kept twerking like she copyrighted the move.

"Miley better get a pregnancy test after all that twerkin', " joked comedian Kevin Hart during the show. The whole audience may need to as well. The 20-year-old left Gaga in the dust with her gratuitous show of both skin and gesturing this year, blowing up social media with images and commentary on her performance.

After Miley's dance, we'll never look at a foam finger the same way again. Prancing about the stage with the prop, the singer made every rude, crude gesture imaginable. Then she took it a step further and made Robin Thicke the victim of some very lewd pokes.

Ultimately, Miley Cyrus has made it clear over and over again that she is all grown up and raising the bar for sexiness and strangeness with every appearance. Could she be the next Lady Gaga? Where do you think she'll go from here?

As Jay Z says in "Somewhereinamerica," "Somewhere in America / Miley Cyrus is still twerkin' / Twerk, twerk Miley, Miley."

Rihanna and Drake Dined Together in New York Before 2013 MTV VMAs

Are Rihanna and Drake back on together or is a new duet song in the work? The couple who was briefly linked after she split from Chris Brown in 2009 was spotted grabbing dinner together at Sons of Essex in New York over the weekend prior to the Sunday MTV Video Music Awards. 

Unfortunately, there wasn't any picture of the couple taken from their low key dinner. News of their sighting was spread by fellow diners on social media. "Rihanna and Drake in the House @SonsofEssexNYC by Chef, Chris Coleman @COLEMANCOOKING," so the chef tweeted of the pair. 

A patron wrote, "Chillin on the LES w/ @hashtagnatalie with @rihanna and @Drake a few feet away. It's a good, good night with my big!" before adding, "Didn't realize my tweet would cause such an outrage! No pics of or with @Drake & @rihanna - didn't want to interrupt their dinner/night out!" 

Another diner posted, "Big personal milestone. Drake's bodyguard just kicked me out of my seat at Sons of Essex. Apparently Rihanna was feeling the kid's vibe," to which the Sons of Essex jokingly replied, "Hey, just consider it a compliment. Maybe they saw you as competition. Thanks for joining us!" 

Both RiRi and Drizzy attended MTV VMAs at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on August 25. The rapper sat in front of the Bajan beauty who wore simple attire consisting of a sleeveless white tee and denims. Breezy, on the other hand, was absent from the star-studded event.