Her friends and collaborators pay their respects on Twitter

AP - When Ciara was churning out chart-topping singles like "One, Two Step" and "Like a Boy," she appeared to be on the verge of superstardom, drawing some comparisons to Janet Jackson and the late Aaliyah.

New mother M.I.A. missed out on the Oscar telecast, and then missed out on the Oscar itself, as her fellow Slumdog Millionaire nominee A.R. Rahman took home the trophies for both Original Score and Original Song-- the latter for his Bollywood closing-credit number "Jai Ho". M.I.A. and Rahman's "O Saya" was considerd a longshot for the song award...