Cassie: The Making of an Internet Diva

Her day job is modeling for the likes of Target, Adidas, and Abercrombie & Fitch, but her heart and soul go into singing R&B. Casandra Ventura (aka Cassie), a striking 19-year-old half Filipina and half African American, is fast becoming the first diva of the web generation.

With a Billboard Hot 100 single, "Me & U", getting big play on radio, MTV, and in Search, Cassie's buzz is strong and rising. Thanks to 13- to 20-year-old (over 60%) and female (over 75%) searchers who can't get enough of her, "Cassie" searches moved up 109% over the past week. She now holds a coveted place in the top 200 queries.

Cassie may ultimately find success because she understands what moves MP3s and viral videos -- she's just a kid on the Net herself. Her MySpace page gets millions of hits. She launches her videos on YouTube. And she shares her trepidations and triumphs with her fans on her blog. The strength of her online buzz has attracted the industry muscle of no less than P. Diddy and Tommy Mottola.

Perhaps her greatest appeal is that Cassie's still a 19-year-old girl, just as dazzled by her growing fame as her fans are. At her debut on "MTV Total Request Live", she zoomed in with her own video camera on the audience going wild. She wanted to be able to blog about "everyone freaking out," she explained.

Via:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/asiandivas/message/6388?l=1

This woman is absolutely gorgeous, and she moves so beautifully. The picture above, while impressive, really does not do her justice. She has such a cute face and sweet smile, I don't know why she doesn't lead with it. Why do models (or their handlers) think they have to look bored or pissed off to be beautiful?

Her true name is Casandra Ventura, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassie, believe it or not. Now I just have to see if my 11 & 8 year old daughters have her on their I-Pods.

I've updated the text with her real name; thanks!

Do you know by chance a site with more/better photos of Cassie?

She was in a fashion spread in Complex Magazine last year. I was so floored by her looks, I didn't know she even sang till a couple months ago. Here's the link. She's in 4 of the 6 pics, and the other 2 are Raica Oliveira.

http://complex.com/index.php?task=Gallery&id=52§ion=2&issue=1

She's so heavily made up in these shots it could be almost anybody! Without all the makeup, she looks quite plain at best for me, which I guess means everybody else here will love her. ;-)