Serena Williams' fans show passion, emotion, loyalty

There’s fandom, and there’s how comedian Sandra Bernhard feels about Serena Williams.

“It’s visceral, it’s emotional,” Bernhard says. “She’s an American dream. To see a woman like Serena — with the strength, the grace, the beauty, the power — just keep battling through ... it’s something that’s important and essential for our culture.”

Racism, sexism and other topics come up, too, and that’s just in the first five minutes talking to Bernhard about her favorite athlete.

Williams, 33, can evoke that kind of fervor in her fans. It owes to her on-court longevity and excellence and perhaps also to protectiveness given her detractors, plentiful and sometimes vitriolic in their comments on the Web.

By far the most popular female tennis player on social media, Williams has more than 5 million followers on Twitter and 1.8 million on Instagram. She also has a legion of celebrity fans, including J.K. Rowling, Kerry Washington, Drake, Kim Kardashian West, Michelle Obama and Kobe Bryant.

Bernhard, 60, has watched Williams from the start, through each of her 21 Gra

nd Slam singles titles, and likens the experience to watching “your own child.” She marvels at Williams’ power, conditioning, angles and returns.

“It’s an elegant game, it’s a beautiful game, it’s a powerhouse game,” Bernhard says. “I can’t blink when I’m watching her.”

Like many fans, Bernhard is superstitious and has assorted coping mechanisms during Williams’ matches. She might turn her belongings in a certain direction, utter incantations or crouch in specific positions to enable energy flow.

“I’m cuckoo crazy,” Bernhard says.

Diano Eko gets it. The 34-year-old Indonesian was intent on watching his hero in person when Williams won the 2009 Australian Open. He used a year’s savings to fund the trip, and when his boss didn’t let him take enough time off, Eko quit.

A fan shows support for Serena Williams during the Western and Southern Open tennis tournament on Aug. 23, 2015. (Photo: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports)

“It was all worth it,” says Eko, who at the time was an account manager for a global ad agency. “Serena ended up winning the title. She and Venus won the doubles title. It’s one of the best decisions I ever made.”

And it paved the way for Eko’s new career as a tennis analyst. When he wrote about his experience on Facebook, a TV producer saw it and invited him to audition for Indonesian sports channel MNC Sports.

Eko has worked as a TV commentator for six years and also does work for Fox Sports Indonesia. He has been on air for many Williams matches. Yes, he sometimes gets emotional, especially during Grand Slam tournament wins.

“My voice will be a bit shaky, and I’ll tend to be poetic about everything,” Eko says. “But I haven’t received any complaints from viewers for being biased, so I guess I’ve been doing something right.”

Eko, too, roots for Williams partly for reasons apart from serves and ground strokes. It began when he watched news footage of her infamous 2001 Indian Wells final. “I watched a local 19-year-old player being booed by a hostile crowd, in front of her family, and still manage to win not only the match but the situation. It was amazing,” Eko says.

Die-hard fan Tony Carmody, a 28-year-old Wisconsin-based IT professional, is drawn to Williams’ confidence and desire to improve. “I love Serena the athlete. I could watch her practice serve for hours,” he says. “It’s like Peyton Manning throwing a football or Michael Jordan dunking a basketball. It’s just one of those greatest ever shots in all of sports that is amazing to see in person.”

Her fans love her for all manner of things and show it in numerous ways. Glance at the TennisForum.com threads, “You know you’re a Serena fan” and “When (and why) did U become a Serena fan?” to get a sample.

Serena Williams (USA) signs autographs for fans after defeating Tsventana Pironkova during the Western and Southern Open on Aug. 19, 2015. (Photo: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports)

Eko notes that a subset of Williams fans “go crazy on social media,” adding they’re more extreme than “even Maria Sharapova fans and hard-core Ana Ivanovic fans.” He suspects some are trying to be protective because of all they feel she has endured.

“The ‘Rena Army’ is much like Serena herself,” Carmody says. “In the past Serena has discussed her compartmentalized yet very different personalities, and in the Serena fan base, like all sports fan bases, you’ll find your fair share of Summers, Megans and of course Laquandas.”

Summer, Megan and Laquanda are Williams’ multiple personas that she has discussed in the past. (As for Laquanda, “You cross her, then she snaps. ... She’s nuts,” Serena once said.)

The calendar-year Grand Slam would mean a great deal to her fans. Only three women have won all four majors in a single year: Maureen Connolly Brinker, Margaret Court and Steffi Graf. Court holds the record with 24 major championships.

“I want Serena to win 25 Grand Slams,” Bernhard says. “I think she can go past Margaret Court and take it to a level no one has taken it to.”

On Beyoncé’s Birthday, a ‘Bey Day’ Celebration Fit for a Queen

For most Americans, it’s merely the Friday before Labor Day weekend, a dull smattering of hours that stands between them and a hard-won three days off.

But for some, it’s Bey Day.

Beyoncé, America’s luminous sphinx of a superstar, turned 34 years old, and her fans’ enthusiasm around the event falls somewhere between birthday celebration and national holiday.

Beyoncé Knowles? The surname seems a bit extraneous and awkward now, like dangling a “Ciccone” after Madonna, or a “Nelson” after Prince. To her fans, many of them denizens of the BeyHive, she is simply referred to as Queen. To them, she is the physical embodiment of female power, mother of music, mother of style — or, in keeping with popular Internet parlance, she’s just “mom.”

Beyoncé uses few words to respond to the adoration. She has not granted a public interview in months (this month’s Vogue cover story is more like a “think piece,” its Pulitzer-winning writer told 

She prefers instead to lead her devoted following by aesthetic example on Instagram — over one million people liked a photo of her boating with her daughter — and on her website. Additional information is carefully doled out and rationed, usually transmitted through finely curated tidbits of praise.

To celebrate her birthday, her friends and family created a playlist of songs that reminded them of her. The song “Yellow” by Coldplay reminds her husband, Jay Z, of their vacations. “Part of Your World,” a song from “The Little Mermaid,” is a favorite of her daughter, Blue Ivy. That’s enough information for now. (Oh, and also, she got bangs.)

Some fans also paid tribute by posting photos, videos and GIFs that span Beyoncé’s decade-plus time as a superstar. Here are just a few of the most popular eras of Queen Bey’s reign, plucked from the #BeyDay archives:

Baby Beyoncé

On Instagram and Twitter, fans seized the opportunity to celebrate the blessed birth by sharing a baby photo that Beyoncé had previously posted (with only the word “throwback”) on her website.

Kim Richards' 'Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' co-stars react to the arrest on Twitter

Real Housewives Kim Richards' of Beverly Hills co-star has reacted to the arrest of a surprise that occurred Thursday morning.



He was arrested after a drunken scene at the Beverly Hills Hotel Polo Lounge, where he refused to leave the bathroom. When he ordered, he kicked a police officer at the station.

Since Richards has been drunk for three years, this is disappointing news for those who are close to him. Her co-star, many of whom he struggled with at the reunion, have taken to Twitter to provide support since the arrest.

Lisa Rinna, who Richards struggled with the most, tweeted, "I'm sad to hear about the incident Kim and I wish him and his family the best."

Eileen Davidson responded well, tweeting, "I feel bad for Kim Richards and his family thoughts and prayers are with them during this difficult time."

Sister Richards', Kyle Richards, do not respond and even though they are not in a good place, Lisa Vanderpump tweeted, "U can not help someone til they want to help themselves, I know for sure that you will always support each other when the time comes. "

A good friend of Richards', Brandi Glanville, tweeted appreciation Richards donated to charity and continue, "their real friends in the good times, the bad times and especially my worst times.I blessed with real friends and a true friend itself. "

I am very sad to hear about the incident Kim and I wish him and his family the best.
quoted from

thecelebritycafe.com/

4 MTV Movie Awards Best Kiss award More Swoon-Worthy Of Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort

Of all the stars winner golden popcorn at the MTV Movie Awards Sunday night, some fairly bright shining like Shailene Woodley, whose film The Fault in Our Stars won Best Movie. Woodley heartrending take on the character Hazel in TFIOS also won the trophy for Best Female Performance, and he took home the coveted (and super deserve) Trailblazer Award, to be a true pioneer in the industry and is basically one of the most amazing person ever . Finally, Woodley and Ansel Elgort game TFIOS honored with the always entertaining (and anticipated) Best Kiss Award. Unfortunately, Elgort not on hand to take the stage with Woodley and receive awards. However, Shai works so well on her own, instilling a speech short and sweet with a bit of humor by saying, "[Ansel] wishes he could be here. He's busy doing the film. But if you've ever wondered what it's like kissing your sister, it is rather large. "

I never thought such a statement can be made without being super cringe-worthy, but Woodley is a woman of many talents. We only wish we could see the adorableness that must happen has Elgort could attend! Speaking of adorableness, there are a ton of it for years per recipient Best Kiss award. Some of them have (dare I say it) could be considered false Elgort and Woodley with their romance awkward speech. Now, to be fair, Woodley was left alone in this, but just for fun, let's look back at the four winners of the Best Kiss that makes our hearts (or at least me) pitter patter with delight. artycle by bustle.com