There’s really no delicate way to put this – Alicia Keys unveiled her new wax figure at Madam Tussauds in New York yesterday and it looks like her white half sister! The features are off a little, which is typical, but more than that it’s too light. It could possibly be the lighting or the flash. Madam Tussauds’ African American celebrities, such as Will Smith, Beyonce, Denzel Washington, and Rihanna all look closer in skin tone to their originals. (Update note: Alicia is of mixed ethnicity.) It’s possible this is closer to how she looks without bronzer, as some commenters on Bossip are pointing out. A lot of people are also mistaking the wax Alicia with the black pants on for the real Alicia, because you would expect her wax figure to be wearing a dress. So I guess it’s hard to tell.
Another thing people are noticing is that they made her figure a little thick-looking in leather pants. She just had a baby eight months ago and they possibly took her measurements recently and made the mold completely accurate. She looks hot, but I would ask them to shave a size or two off me, and it’s been six years since I had my last kid. It’s a courtesy they owe you when they’re preserving your figure for posterity. It’s like airbrushing with wax – make my hips look skinnier damn it.
Alicia was on Good Morning America yesterday, where she performed Fallin and Butterflyz. She just put out a 10th anniversary edition of her first CD, Songs in A Minor. It seems like a lazy move to just do an anniversary edition, but I guess she’s busy with little Egypt and that beak nosed tax evader husband of hers. I don’t like how she ended up with that scammer, but I can’t be too hard on her. She’ll end up getting hurt in the end for sure.
I like her hair better wavy with the wax figure, but she had it curly on GMA and that was so pretty too. I love that she switched up her hair but left her dress the same.
Photo credit: Fame and WENN
Alicia is bi-racial, not black, and she identifies as such. And although the wax piece is a little light, it’s not exceptionally so. If you look at Alicia’s feet you will see that she is closer in complexion to the wax model. She’s just wearing tons of bronzer on her upper body. Oh, and she got what she paid for with Swizz Beatz. The guy walked on his wife and children to be with Alicia, he’s not exactly a keeper. But that’s what she wanted.
Chile, this figure has nothing to do with her…It isn’t just the color, but features are completely off! (eyebrows?!)
Actually, I had to add this, because I just looked the pics again: Are they serious?
Obama is biracial too and his wax figure looks way closer.
as a bi-ethnic person myself, i never use the word bi racial, it irks, me, i mean there is only one actual race ie species and that is human, there are just many varied ethnic mixes.
alright im off my soap box now and i will say, the skin tone on the wax figure is a lot different then hers now, so im not all that sure about it.
I was referring to your comment that other “black” celebrities have more realistic wax figures. If she acknowledges both sides of her ancestry, it seems a bit offensive to negate the other part. @scotchy: I’m biracial myself (black, white) and I see nothing wrong with the term, but we’re all different.
@ Frankie. Exactly!
As a fellow bi-racial woman, I can say that I am about the shade of the wax statue (wow, that sounds weired)
It all depends on your parents genes.
But that looks NOTHING like her!
@Frankie: how can I reword that so it sounds less offensive? Should I write “other celebrities of color?” I will definitely change it and would just like help with that.
Most mainstream magazines and commercial ads routinely photo shop to bleach out black performers skin tones. It’s a VERY yucky and offensively racist practice that I think should be boycotted.
Here’s Alicia’s beautiful and real skin tone:
http://livelyindepthmusicent.com/2010/07/25/candid-moments-alicia-keys-and-swizz-beatz-at-russell-simmons-art-for-life-benefit/
The figure was probably according to Alicia’s skin tone before bronzer, as shown in the link:
http://ucesy-sk.happyhair.sk/celebrity_img/keys5sep2208.jpg
I agree with Addie, I am also mixed and is about the shade of Alicia’s wax figure. Leaned more towards my moms genes
well, the skin tone and the features are off, but at least they got the smug look right.
and hasn’t Keys always been a bit thick in the hips/thighs? I think that part is accurate.
Maybe “African-American”? That implies an association with a particular ethnic origin as opposed to a specific race. Other people might have an issue with that, but I suppose it’s a more pc term. Hope I’m not being the PC police or anything, but I know that you’ve always tried to be respectful to everyone (expect Paris Hilton 🙂 )and expect the same from your readers.
Thanks Frankie I appreciate that and will switch it up to African American.
-edit- I’ll also switch it up to mixed ethnicity! Sorry about that.
My mixed-ethnicity children (learn the phrase; it’s less offensive) vary in shade of colour. One is lighter than the other; they have different hair colour and type; both get darker in the summer and lighter in the winter.
And they are both BEAUTIFUL. I mean, drop-dead gorgeous. (And that’s not just a mother’s bias.)
The 2000 census forms say ‘Race’.
http://blog.vovici.com/blog/bid/18176/Demographic-Questions-Sample-Survey-Template
I see many forms are now also asking ‘what is your ethnicity’? As far as I know, the identifier ‘race’ is acceptable to describe one’s ethnic background. Has something changed that I don’t know about?
IMO, I think it should be illegal to gather ethnic background information just like it is to ask age in employment interviews.
Edit – I have no problem saying African American or Caucasion instead of black. A lot of the worlds’ population is a mixture of ethnic backgrounds. I guess I take it for granted and use a short hand term ‘black’ instead of always identifying someone’s full ethnic mix, which in many cases I don’t KNOW.
I think it looks way more like a Kardashian than Alicia.
@ the original bellaluna: sounds like you have wonderfully & beautiful kids.
Looks nothing like her. These wax figures always suck.
I’ll never understand why Tussauds is so successful. Their work is just awful.
@bellaluna your kids sound gorgeous! Hope you are managing with their hair.
Love my natural curly hair, but took a while to manage it well after mom (Russian woman with pin straight hair) just gave up trying
🙂
I think it’s what Kim Kardshian wants to look like
I am white but my husband is of different race to me. Our 3 beautiful kids vary in colour my eldest is the darkest closer to his fathers skin tone while my baby daughter is closer to my colouring. As their mother of course I am going to be biased and tell you all they are gorgeous.
I really want them to be proud of who they are and excepting of their hertitage and skin colour. So I will let them refer to their own “race” as they please. If they want to identify with one, both or call themselves citizens of the world. Don’t care, I want them to know the longest relationship you will have is the one with yourself.
i think they DID shave a size or two off of her. she was always a little fuller in her hips/thigh area. either way, gorgeous woman and bad statue.
Definitely lighter, but I agree she probably does wear bronzer or something too. She is so pretty, I hope she never goes the plastic surgery route.
@ Addie & Quest – They are and they do. Son has big curls, like Shirley Temple, in my hair colour (gets lighter and blonds out in the sun); daughter has beautiful dark brown spiral curls wit auburn undertones. They both fought the hair, but there’s really nothing to be done about it. Love what you have and make the best of it. But I can’t tell you how much money I’ve spent on hair product – daughter has terminally dry hair. I went with “ethnic” hair care lines (as well as the really expensive stuff, like Nexus and the lot), and we found what works due to trial and error. (And I also suffer the terminally won’t-hold-a-curl-to-save-its-life straight hair.)
(Littlest is a confuzzle to me: he’s my “surprise” baby with second hubs. Totally “caucasian” hair. I learn something new every day!) 😀
And just out of curiosity, how is it that “black” is not a “race” on those gov’t forms, but “white” is? Playing devil’s advocate here, but if “African American” and “Native American” and all the rest are considered a “race”, why is “white” (aka non-ethnic) a colour instead of a race?
I’m sorry, don’t get me started.
And (despite your opinion of her) AK is a beautiful woman.
I think that wax figure looks nothing like her and in real life she seems to have fatty arms and legs (at least that is what I see sticking out of that ugly green dress).
Well the wax figures tone matches her legs and her arm. I think im going to go with the bronzer theory or it could have been simply a miscalculation with no malice behind it. It looks close enough and I dont think taussads would make her whiter on purpose. They didn’t do that to other black people’s wax figures why start now.
Race is the most stupid and ‘racialist’ term there is. Not only is it inaccurate, it’s outdated.
Americans get with the program and use ethnicity, instead of race – which harks back to the era of eugenics. We all have the same DNA, it’s just expressed differently. So there is no ‘race’, in terms of clear DNA categories of culture. Seriously, how long is this going to go on? Personally, I’m fed up with every American college science textbook that is imported here, because of the word ‘race’ and its overuse.
Even the APA acknowledged that race was inaccurate in the 1990s.
Wax figures are so creepy. Even if they’re reasonably close to looking like the person, they’re freaky.
I wondered why Alicia Keys was standing next to a Kim Kardashian doll before I read anything.
That figure needs to be scrapped because the artist/sculptor did not capture Alicia’s face, it does not look like her and it doesn’t reflect her beauty, and the figure is much too pale. I would’t accept that image if I was her.
I think it’s the lighting… in the last picture, the wax figure looks darker-skinned than in the first couple.
Also, folks need to take a chill pill. It’s a wax dummy, guys. RELAX
I’ve noticed that AK’s skin colour fluctuates with her sun exposure–in some pics right off of vacation, she’s browned up a bit more, others (probably when she’s working in the studio quite a bit)…she’s whiter. I believe her mom is white & dad is black, so as in my family skin variations do occur. I look whiter in some pics; browner in the others. I actually love the variation.
I like bi-ethnic as well.
Although my daughter is NOrwegian and Native American on my side and Jamaican on her dads side so she’s more like tri-racial?
and I am with bellaluna on the beauty of my child..omg simply stunning!! So pretty it hurts ( especially when she is getting checked out and hit on now!! )
mixed ethnicity babies are the prettiest ( in my humble opinion )
That was tri-ethnic not racial…grrr…
I thought it was Kim Kardashian too!
Also I think the word Caucasian is stupid. I remember being 10 years old or around that age and learning the word from American Girl catalog. I was so shocked it referred to my skin tone–white! I always say I’m white, I never use the word Caucasian.
Yeah, I am all for having pride in your children, I just ask that you not camp out in “the only way a person can be beautiful is if they are multi-ethnic” land. Remember, Hitler had a similar thought pattern. First, it’s just not true. Secondly, it sounds like you all are fetishizing your own children! “I am with bellaluna on the beauty of my child..omg simply stunning!! So pretty it hurts ( especially when she is getting checked out and hit on now!! )” Even if it was unintentional, it just sounds really creepy.
I think the leather pants and her figure in them is accurate in regards to the occassion where she performed in those pants, or pants very similar. I don’t remember the event but she sang a couple songs and wore an outfit just like that. Her size then was pretty close to the wax figure. I don’t think the skin color is as “off” as the features of her face. It looks as if they started making Kim Kardashian’s wax figure then, after the face was done, switched it to Keys.
Race, ethnicity, heritage, etc…just remember people, semantics are only semantics. Words don’t always represent what is in people’s hearts. Many people use terms that offend others, but are socially acceptable and not slurs, without a biased or mean bone in their bodies or any ugliness in their hearts towards those who are different than them. Many people are oh so politically correct but if you could look into their brains, you would see a whole lot of prejudice. Don’t get caught up on words. They are quite arbitrary when you really think about it. Myself, I like to refer to people’s genetic backgrounds as their heritage but that’s my personal preference. Eventually the world will be so homogenized that it won’t even be an issue.
All they need to do is sit her wax figure in the sun for a bit ……problem solved!
The wax figure looks really good maybe a slight lighter because Alicia now wears bronzer. They did a good job.
@Nate: I agree. My mom is Jamaican, and I’ve had to deal with the whole “browning” thing for most of my life. That is, I’ve always been considered prettier than my sisters because I have light-skin and Caucasian features. It disturbs me to hear mothers of biracial kids talk about how much more gorgeous they are,like the commenter that said that multi-ethnic kids are the most beautiful, as if darker kids or kids who are not mixed are somehow less attractive. I also hate hearing moms talk about their kids’ hair texture and go on and on as though its a big feat to comb kinky or curly hair, and they deserve a medal.
I thought the wax figure was the real deal.
Since not everyone’s wax figure comes out looking well, I think we shouldn’t complain because hers is beautiful.
And she looks a little hippier in real life than the wax figure, so in truth they’d have to glop more wax on rather than shave it off if we want to be realistic.
Oh shoot, now that people have mentioned Kim Kardashian, I can see the “foot face” look on the wax figure! And I really enjoyed it before that image was planted in my head.
Yeah, FAIL. Crabby-making.
@frankie: Thanks for understanding my message. It will probably offend some, but it was my attempt to stress the seriousness of this kind thinking. What is your ethnic heritage? How are you? How are your sisters? How did you all handle that kind of pyschological assault? I hope my questions aren’t too forward and you don’t need to go into any detail, I am just curious about your experience. 🙂
Not here to join in about the race issues. I just wanted to say “EW!” Her dress which she chose not to change for the GMA thing is STAINED! Tee hee!
I think that all of God’s children are beautiful, black, white, asian, any color at all. And they don’t even have to be related to me.
@Nate: no problem. I get you completely. My mother is a light-skinned Jamaican woman, my father is Irish-American and my parents have 2 kids together. My mom has 3 kids from a prior relationship. We’re a close family, but there is some tension there, and I understand why. I have one sister who carries around a lot of baggage and has had several crappy relationships in part because she does not value herself. I get so mad when people say my kids has “good” or “pretty” hair, or gush about their eyes or other features, as though they are superior to any other types of “looks”. I don’t think people understand the damage they do sometimes when they try to compliment someone.
This is the dumbest question ever. She can look white because she is white…and black so what is the issue here?
Take a look at a photo of her taken during winter and you will realize that the skin tone was probably done during the winter.
I go through massive changes during the winter and then in the summer, in between I’m just zebra.
Skin tone can change during the course of a year
@frankie: I am a complete stranger to you and you still shared your story with me. Thank you for that. 🙂
If Keys was a Kardashian, that’s what her wax figure looks like to me.
Her skin tone is much darker than the wax figure? Id be pissed if i were her.
All I can see is a wax figure of a lost Kardashian sister. Katelyn? Koko? I mean I know Alicia often wears questionable outfits, but that catsuit looks more like Kim K going to a rock concert than Alicia.
ITA with the posters who say they made Alicia look more like Kim Kardashian than Alicia Keys.
Her waxwork looks Lebanese.
the wax figure doesn’t look anything like her. it looks more like Sporty Spice.
i love her hair where its curly!!
As I haven’t seen Alicia in person, I can’t speak as to whether she uses a lot of bronzer to make herself darker.
It’s entirely possible that the skin tone she has now is the result of tanning/just being outside. Especially being bi-racial (as many of my friends are), their skintone could get *so* much darker during summer, & almost as fair as me in winter.
That said… I don’t think the features look right at all. The figure’s facial features make her look like a fair-skinned latina. (Which the skintone contributes to as well).
—
Re: ‘…Of color’ – This is something I’ve always wondered about. I do understand that it’s used as a more classy way to refer to people with darker skin tones. But my first thought is always “Hey, I’m a color… It’s the color of a white-washed fence, but it’s still a color!“
Alicia Keys is really quite pale and she uses makeup and self-tanners. mostly because she has always struggled with bad acne. I personally think she is embarassed by being so light. Why? Who knows. People should accept themselves and be hhappy. ACelebitchy; I don’t have a problem with the term black and I equally accept African-American although neither of them are accurate. In my family alone we have native American, Irish, African, Scotch and who knows what else. but those are nationalities not ethnicities you see? i don’t have time in my life to sift through all of the pC-ness of it all but I do know that God made us all beautiful.
Kardashian Looking Wax Figure = Alicia’s winter complexion.
Real Alicia = summer complexion.
Why is that so hard to grasp? My biracial children are light in the winter and darker in the summer (as are a lot of other folks). Black, brown and beige people do tan.
I don’t think the Madame Tussaud’s people conspired to bleach out AK’s skin tone. SMH
Alicia is black, light-skinned black as it’s usually defined.
I don’t think it matters about skin colour does it? I mean Mexicans are usually dark-skinned and they’re Caucasian, plus Asians can have a variety of shades, so Alicia isn’t mixed, she’s just light-skinned.
My niece has ‘white’ skin but she’s racially black xD
omg! It’s sporty spice mel c! no way is that alicia keys, it looks nothing like her and yes it’s pure white. hahaha that’s awful!