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Taylor Swift, Katy Perry Team Up For Video Music Awards Performance Video

Posted 8/25/09 6:38 pm EST by in VMAs


The 2009 MTV Video Music Awards are less than 20 days away, and anticipation continues to build. More performers will be announced later this week, fleshing out the lineup already overflowing with stars like Jay-Z, Green Day, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Pink and Muse. In honor of the Video Music Awards' return to New York City (after dalliances with Los Angeles and Las Vegas), MTV recruited Swift, Cobra Starship, Ne-Yo, Katy Perry and host Russell Brand to participate in a variation on the classic song "Tonight," from the iconic Broadway musical "West Side Story." In the clip, which is in its full-length form below, the performers each hang out in iconic New York locations (an alley, a subway station, a rooftop garden, the back of a cab) and sing customized verses that drop in portions of their own tunes.

The whole show goes down on Sunday, September 13, at New York City's legendary Radio City Music Hall. For the second straight year, Russell Brand will assume hosting duties for the show, which features Beyoncé and Lady Gaga tied for nine Moonman nominations each. Will Pink and Katy Perry kiss? They might! But you won't know unless you tune in.

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MTV's Bollywood Dancing Intern Meets 'America's Best Dance Crew'

Posted 8/25/09 6:11 pm EST by in Behind The Scenes, Music, Television


By Varun Gurunath

I am in the premier Bollywood dance troupe NDM Dance Productions. Our choreographer and artistic director, Nakul Dev Mahajan, received a call that "America's Best Dance Crew" wanted to do a Bollywood challenge for one of their episodes. He and our troupe jumped at the offer and after endless hours of sweat, pain, and focus to perfect different Bollywood dance styles and techniques to present to the crews, the 14-hour-day that followed was totally worth it.

The day started off well. We got our wardrobe and got our makeup and hair done (girls first, obviously). After the girls finished teaching the first piece almost two hours later, the whole troupe realized we were in for a long night. But it didn't go by slow at all, because after a piece was done, it was off to wardrobe to change and get back on stage for more dancing.

When the time came for my first performance, I was a bit nervous. Read More...

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Steven Tyler Wants Your Forgiveness: The MTV Quote Of The Day

Posted 8/25/09 5:51 pm EST by in Music


"I'm dealing with the pain pretty good. I'm just so pissed — it was such a great tour. I had to ruin it all by falling and I'm sorry. I've said that to the fans and my band and everybody else. I f---ed up. I get in the zone when I'm onstage."

-Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler talking to Rolling Stone about the injuries that derailed his band's tour with ZZ Top. The 62-year-old singer slipped and fell back on August 6 following a show in South Dakota, and his injuries required a trip to the hospital and the subsequent cancellation of the remaining tour dates. Since then, he has been recovering and taking "all the drugs I'm not supposed to be on." (Tyler had a legendary substance abuse problem in the '70s.) Still, he says that the band will continue on once his body becomes fully functional again. "We're just one for all, all for one. It's probably why we've never quit. No one's got enough money!"

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Jay-Z Builds Careers For Rihanna, Kanye West And Ne-Yo

Posted 8/25/09 5:06 pm EST by in Music


By Gigi Abrantes

Since he first dropped his debut album in 1996, Jay-Z became an instant classic on the hip-hop scene. Now that he is about to drop his 11th album The Blueprint 3, MTV News takes a look back at the history of one of the greatest artists in rap history with The J to Z of Jay-Z.

Last week, Jay-Z joined forces with former protégés Kanye West and Rihanna for his new music video "Run This Town." It's a testament to Jigga's reach, as it featured two stars whose careers he helped nurture — something he has done time and again over his career.

21-year-old Barbados native Rihanna first brought her Caribbean flavor to the United States in 2003. She spent over a year shuttling between New York City and her home, shopping her demo, writing songs and making connections. She finally caught the ear of then-CEO of Def Jam Jay-Z, who signed her on the spot. Ne-Yo, the 29-year-old songwriter with lyrics that tug at everyone's heartstrings, has been writing hit ballads since he was a teenager, and before he was a performer, he penned hits for Mary J. Blige, B2K, Faith Evans and Musiq Soulchild. But despite being the name attached to R&B's hits like Mario's "Let Me Love You" and Marques Houston's "That Girl," Ne-Yo failed to receive the attention and fame as a solo artist himself. It wasn't until 2006 when Ne-Yo sparked Jay-Z's interest and was also signed to Def Jam.

Kanye West, the 32-year-old rapper/producer got his first taste of popularity as the architect behind much of Jay-Z's 2001 album The Blueprint. Read More...

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Aaliyah's Legacy: Futurist Pop

Posted 8/25/09 4:35 pm EST by in Music


When the 15-year-old Aaliyah first appeared on the scene in 1994 with the smash hit "Back & Forth," she was already a confident, cocksure young woman with an incredible sense of melody and a penchant for deceptive sexuality. She seemed to debut fully formed, which is why it seemed like she was around for a lot longer than she actually was when she died tragically eight years ago at the age of 22. Aaliyah managed to be the bridge between two great R&B universes: The silky smoothness of R. Kelly's post-New Jack Swing groove (Kelly wrote and produced much of Aaliyah's debut album Age Ain't Nothing But a Number) and the futuristic stutter-funk of Timbaland (who treated Aaliyah like a muse and gave her some of his best beats, like "Are You That Somebody?"). In an era when R&B seemed destined to wallow in the rut created by stuff like K-Ci and JoJo, Aaliyah was a catalyst for looking to the future.

Though she only spend eight years putting out music, Aaliyah built up a pretty impressive greatest hits collection: The tough "Down With the Clique," the playful "If Your Girl Only Knew," the faux-psychedelic "Rock the Boat," the twitchy "More Than a Woman," the unnerving "4 Page Letter" — the list goes on and on. Since her death, the R&B world has stagnated a bit, with Missy Elliott's career on a downward slope and TLC derailed by the death of Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes. Even Timbaland doesn't seem like the same producer — just compare recent, too-busy stuff like "Throw It On Me" with the simple robo-burbles and computer tweets of 2000's "Try Again," which earned Aaliyah a Grammy nomination.

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Spotted: Joe Jonas Hits The Hill For Juvenile Diabetes

Posted 8/25/09 3:07 pm EST by in Music


Every day, stars wander the halls of MTV News to talk about their latest projects and goof around with staff members. But sometimes we catch stars elsewhere, and that's why we put together Spotted!, a daily compendium of celebs in the wild.

The Jonas Brothers aren't just about catchy songs, teenage hearts and wacky sitcoms. They're also steeped in activism: Joe Jonas ran in a charity race for the Special Olympics, and yesterday Nick went to the National Press Club luncheon in Washington, D.C., to discuss his struggle with juvenile diabetes. Nick was diagnosed with Type I diabetes when he was 13 and has to keep close tabs on his insulin levels. He has established the Change for Children program and helped out with a PSA for the Children's National Medical Center. At the luncheon, Nick encouraged the press to delve deeply into the problems surrounding juvenile diabetes. "I'm lucky to have a great support system in my family as well as the tools I need to manage my diabetes properly," he said. "By speaking publicly about my experience I hope to increase diabetes awareness, encourage diabetes education and help fundraising for research and other programs for kids with diabetes. The more you report about diabetes, the more people will know."

Nick Jonas was certainly the most altruistic of celebrities out in public yesterday, but that didn't stop them from attracting some camera flashes. Lady Gaga landed at the airport in Los Angeles, Britney Spears visited the M&M Store in Times Square and Rihanna explored lower Manhattan. Click here for these photos, as well as the entire "Spotted!" archive, including candid shots of Beyoncé, Hilary Duff, Gwen Stefani, Madonna and Justin Timberlake!

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Colbie Caillat: Future Hip-Hop Diva?

Posted 8/25/09 1:58 pm EST by in Behind The Scenes, Music


By Nicole Guanlao

If someone was to ask me how I would describe Colbie Caillat's music, I'd have to say her tunes ooze happiness. I love to be happy, so it's no wonder that I'm a huge fan of this blonde beauty's work. Admit it! You had "Bubbly" on repeat! Imagine my elation when I got to interview her and I realized that Colbie is actually just as sweet and nice as her music.

We talked about skydiving (she just recently jumped out of a plane) and the story about her tattoo (which looks like it was drawn on with crayons). The tiny flower symbolizes Coco, her debut album, while the larger one represents her follow-up record, Breakthrough (which drops today).

The highlight of the interview came when we talked about future collaborations. Colbie's team-up with the hat-wearing, guitar-strumming Jason Mraz on the single "Lucky" wasn't much of a surprise considering they share a laid-back, California-centric sound, but I was surprised to hear that the songstress' musical taste is more diverse than I originally thought. Fans would be surprised to know that she hopes to pull a Taylor Swift (a former collaborator on Swift's "Breathe") and work with a rapper next!

"The next collaboration I want to do is with a hip hop artist like Common or Pharrell Williams," she told me. "I love [Bone Thugs-N-Harmony] and Notorious B.I.G., so something like that where I can do the pretty melody — kind of like the Fugees and Black Eyed Peas."

It’s hard for me to see Colbie waving her hands in air like she's a true playa, but I have to admit that she's talented enough to pull it off.

Her new video for "Fallin' for You" has her frolicking on the beach with "Saturday Night Live" funnyman Bobby Moynihan, but upon hearing of her desire to work with a hip-hop artist, I couldn't help but swap Bobby out for T-Pain and visualize the rapper rolling around on the beach and surfing. Now that's a sight to see!

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Should Lindsay Lohan Leave Her Neighborhood? The Oh Snap! Poll

Posted 8/25/09 1:15 pm EST by in Music


Times are tough for Lindsay Lohan. Her big film comeback was relegated to the ABC Family cable network, and now she's got security problems. Over the weekend, her Hollywood Hills home was broken into, and she was robbed of multiple fashion accessories and a safe that was ripped clean out of a wall. This was the second such incident in a year for Lohan, who shuttles between Los Angeles and New York regularly. Now it looks like her neighbors are banding together to try to get her to move out of the area, as they now consider her a security risk and that the narrow street creates a traffic hazard for the other members of the neighborhood. According to Perez Hilton, Lohan is actually planning on moving out. It seems a bit harsh to pile onto the star considering the break-in was no fault of her own, but the traffic and security issues are legit.

But what would you do? We hit the street in Times Square to talk to some people (including a number of Colbie Caillat fans waiting to get into today's episode of "It's On with Alexa Chung") and ask them what they thought of the Lohan situation, and if they would drive Lohan away if they lived in her 'hood.

The fantastically unscientific results are in, and it's a relatively even split for Lindsay, with 56 percent of the respondents saying they would give her the boot. They cited her penchant for partying as the biggest issue that stuck in their collective craw, though at least a few people just didn't like her work. As for those 44 percent who would support her right to stay where she wanted, they preferred the "celebrities are humans too" argument, with at least one person saying that she was allowed to stay as long as she got invited over for a party.

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Britney Spears' Circus Show: Leather Masks, Trampolines And Jordin Sparks

Posted 8/25/09 11:44 am EST by in Concerts, Music


I popped my Britney Spears concert cherry last night at Madison Square Garden, and it was a one-night stand I won't regret.

"But Jim," you ask, "how the hell did a pop culture fanatic like you go 27 years without seeing Britney perform live?" I dunno. I guess I never had the urge to pony up the $8 million needed to catch a Britney show. (I kid. Ticket prices are less than that. Slightly.) Plus, I was never a diehard fan of Britney's music. Don't get me wrong: I always dug her as a pop culture force, and the hoopla around her and her career has been fascinating to me since day one. I just can't say I have ever purchased a Britney song on iTunes.

Not to mention that Britney has a reputation for not always singing live at her concerts. Why would I want to pay money to see someone lip-synch for two hours? I'll save my money for the next time Grizzly Bear is in town. Now that's a concert.

But given all the "She's back!" buzz surrounding the Circus tour, I jumped at the chance to check out her first of three nights at Madison Square Garden. "If I'm gonna see Britney, now's the time to do it," I told myself during another one-sided conversation. She's a total underdog that you can't stop rooting for, and I was curious to see if she's really "back."

Let me echo the sentiments of her fans, folks. Yep, she's baaaaaaack! And I had the time of my life at her concert.

Here are five more things that totally surprised me about the "Circus" tour.

» Jordin Sparks = Force To Be Reckoned With
Jordin Sparks debuted on the Circus tour last night, and she came out like she owned the place. The girl has more bona fide smash hits than some artists twice her age, and she flaunted each and every one of them during her tight opening set. MSG lit up with camera flashes the instant Ms. Sparks appeared on stage (wearing a sick-looking feather skirt) to sing "One Step at a Time." The crowd was less enthusiastic about the pair of newer album deep cuts she tossed into the set (girl's gotta sell her new record!), but once she finished with a one-two-three punch of "Battlefield," "Tattoo" and "No Air," the room was bouncing and singing in unison. It didn't hurt that Sparks sounded spectacular live, even with her ear monitor flying off two songs in. She is a fantastic addition to the Circus tour.

» Just Because You Have No Legs Doesn't Mean You Can't Jump On A Trampoline Read More...

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Is Danyl Johnson Secretly Daniel Johnston?

Posted 8/25/09 11:11 am EST by in Music, Television


The Internet has exploded over a singing performance by a guy named Danyl Johnson, whose audition on the British television show "X-Factor" the notoriously cantankerous Simon Cowell called the best first audition he had ever seen. Johnson, a 27-year-old school teacher, blazed through the Beatles' "With a Little Help From My Friends" (though his version sounded more like the one by Joe Cocker) and received a glowing ovation both from the studio audience and the judges seated at the desk. But though Johnson appears to be a young Brit, is there any proof that he's not actually Daniel Johnston, the bipolar singer-songwriter who recorded legendarily low-fi wonders like Yip/Jump Music and Hi, How Are You? and who was Kurt Cobain's favorite songwriter?

There's more there than you might think. First of all, both have an affection for the Beatles. Johnson covered a signature Fab Four tune from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, while Johnston often cited John, Paul, George and Ringo as his favorite band, and his song "The Beatles" contains the lyric "Four lads who shook the world/ God bless them for what they done." Both Johnson and Johnston also scored early exposure on television (Johnson on "X-Factor," Johnston on a 1985 MTV documentary about the Austin music scene) and both have (so far) incited rapture among audiences.

Of course, Johnson's voice is far cleaner than Johnston's whine, and obviously they look nothing alike. But the warmth and prettiness of Johnson's delivery on "With a Little Help From My Friends" is not unlike the sort of haunting tone Johnston grabs on "Some Things Last a Long Time."

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