MTV Newsroom ›

It's MTV's World Cup of Rock! The World Cup is the greatest sporting event on the planet, a super-sized stage where legends are born with every strike of the ball, where infamy is just a moment away and where the dreams of millions live or die by the minute. That's why, in the spirit of the 2010 MTV Musical March Madness competition, we've created "The World Cup (Of Rock)," a FIFA-style tournament that takes 16 of the biggest nations — rock-wise (sorry Algeria) — and pits them against one another to determine just which is the most rockingly awesome. Heavyweights like the U.S.A., England, France and Germany are all here, but so are a handful of surprisingly strong sleeper countries. As the Cup progresses, we'll be unveiling the match-ups, and it's up to you to vote your favorites through. In the end, only one nation will be left standing: the world champion of rock.

It's the final day of first round action in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, with the last two groups currently deciding who will move on and who will stay behind. Meanwhile, the group round of the MTV World Cup of Rock tournament is nearly complete, with only a handful of match-ups left. The favorites are already shaking out, but there are still some slots in the knockout round up for grabs.

Germany vs. Spain
As expected, the German team has become something of a juggernaut in Group C (they are currently engulfed in an epic back-and-forth battle with Japan in another match), while Spain is struggling a bit despite the veteran presence of the Iglesias family. Can they overcome the awesome power of Tokio Hotel and pull off the upset, or have Germany already punched their ticket into the next round? Only you can decide!

Be sure to vote in all the games in the MTV World Cup of Rock! Which nation's stars rock the hardest and best? Only you can decide!

Tags Germany, Poll, Spain, World Cup

There will probably be an awful lot of celebrating in South Korea today. Not only did their national soccer team qualify for the next round of the 2010 FIFA World Cup (they'll take on Uruguay this Saturday, June 26), but today is also the birthday of one of their most incredible international exports. Rain, the multi-talented singer, model, actor and business mogul from Seoul, turns 28 years old today.

Born Jung Ji-Hoon, Rain began his career as a back-up dancer who eventually worked his way into the spotlight with his debut album Bad Guy in 2002. Around the same time, he scored an acting job on the popular television drama "Sang Doo! Let's Go to School." More albums followed (six in Korean, one in Japanese), but it was his acting work that helped him make the transition into international stardom.

In 2008, he appeared as a villain in the summer blockbuster "Speed Racer," and by 2009 he scored big with a starring role in the international martial arts hit "Ninja Assassin." Rain has also been quite a friend to MTV. Not only did his work in "Ninja Assassin" earn him the prize for Biggest Badass Star at the 2010 MTV Movie Awards, but he was also a key player in the MTV EXIT campaign, which worked towards ending human trafficking in Asia.

Rain is currently enjoying his latest international hit "Hip Song," which is from his just-released new album Back to the Basic. (He is also leading his team to victories in the MTV World Cup of Rock!) But his signature voice and incredible talent as a dancer has best been on display in the video for "How to Avoid the Sun."

Tags Birthday, rain, video

By Sandrine Milet

Thursday night's (June 24) "So You Think You Can Dance" results show started off with a bang, as the contestants danced a powerful group number choreographed by none other than the amazing Sonya Tayeh. I could tell right away it was her routine, not only because of the unconventional lines and powerful war-like movements but also because of the music choice. Her songs are always off the beaten path and many times have an electronic vibe. This time, the track in question was "Crookers" by Royal T featuring Roisin Murphy, and the song, along with the ripped red costumes and the amazing top 10 dancers, created a perfect performance.

The night proceeded by unveiling who America voted as the bottom three contestants, and I was shocked when Robert's name was announced. He's a great dancer, has personality and his performance Wednesday night was not nearly as bad as some of the other contestants' (Jose's Bollywood? Billy Bell's krumping?). What did America find wrong with him? The other two in the bottom three were Melinda and Christina, both who were in the same position last week (I think that's a sign, girls).

Although Cristina was picked by the judges to leave the competition, Nigel made a point to make his voice heard: He wanted Melinda to leave. She's now in a tough position, because two weeks in the bottom three and tepid responses from the judges, she's got a lot of proving to do if she wants to stay in the game.

The results show was also graced with a performance by the Costa Rican superstar Debi Nova singing her hit single "Drummer Boy" while six All-Stars danced in the background. It even ended with a huge explosion of confetti, a flourish usually reserved for the finale.

If this pattern holds up, it looks like the boys may lead the competition, but I hope that America is able to see that Ashley and Lauren are phenomenal dancers too.

Tags So You Think You Can Dance

It's MTV's World Cup of Rock! The World Cup is the greatest sporting event on the planet, a super-sized stage where legends are born with every strike of the ball, where infamy is just a moment away and where the dreams of millions live or die by the minute. That's why, in the spirit of the 2010 MTV Musical March Madness competition, we've created "The World Cup (Of Rock)," a FIFA-style tournament that takes 16 of the biggest nations — rock-wise (sorry Algeria) — and pits them against one another to determine just which is the most rockingly awesome. Heavyweights like the U.S.A., England, France and Germany are all here, but so are a handful of surprisingly strong sleeper countries. As the Cup progresses, we'll be unveiling the match-ups, and it's up to you to vote your favorites through. In the end, only one nation will be left standing: the world champion of rock.

Two more groups got settled in the 2010 FIFA World Cup today, as Paraguay, Slovakia, Netherlands and Japan will all live to play another day in the knockout round (which begins this weekend). In the MTV World Cup of Rock, the home team squares off against the host team in Group B action.

United States of America vs. South Africa
Since the United States has so many great acts to trot out onto the field (including Bon Jovi and Kid Rock, who recently invaded the U.K.), it's only right that this match become something of a civil war that divides the Dave Matthews Band. Frontman Matthews was born in South Africa, while the remainder of the band is a mixture of Virginians and Californians. Can Boyd Tinsley, Carter Beauford and Stefan Lessard band together to overcome the dynamism of Matthews? And will they need an assist from Bruce Springsteen? Only you can decide!

Be sure to vote in all the games in the MTV World Cup of Rock! Which nation's stars rock the hardest and best? Only you can decide!

Tags Poll, south africa, U.S.A., World Cup

"I was a little nervous earlier. I was like, 'Oh my God! There's going to be so many people,' but you know I'm really excited. It's overwhelming but it's a lot of fun to be able to look out and see all of those girls screaming. It's just crazy! You get an adrenaline rush!"

-Singer and Justin Bieber opening act Jessica Jarrell, telling MTV News about the excitement she felt before taking the stage on the first night of Bieber's first headlining arena tour. The trek, which kicked off on Wednesday night (June 23) at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut, also features Sean Kingston.

Jarrell, who first made a name for herself as a Bieber collaborator (she appears on Bieber's "Overboard," one of better tunes from Bieber's album My World 2.0), was also excited to duet with the 16-year-old Canadian teen sensation on stage. "I come out during his set and there's a bunch of fog on the stairs," she told MTV News' Jocelyn Vena on her tour bus before the show. "It's going to be really cool. I'm excited about that song. It's a lot of fun. We goof off and have a great time. It sounds great to be in an arena. It all sounds really good, the whole show, the lighting, everything."

The 15-year-old Jarrell just celebrated the release of her latest single "Up and Running," which is already making an impact at pop radio stations across the country. Her lively blend of pop and R&B should not only please Justin Bieber fans but should also turn her into a much-Twittered-about sensation in her own right.

Tags Jessica Jarrell, Justin Bieber, Quote

Laser beams? Yes. High-flying antics? Check. Floppy hair? What do you think? (Aside: Justin Bieber's exceptional swoop will never live up to the glory days of Nick Carter's mushroom haircut. That made me swoon for days. Sorry, kids!) Anyway, on Wednesday night (June 23), I had the opportunity to attend Justin Bieber's tour kick-off show at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut.

In the process I got to feel both like a teenager all over again and also really, really old. I want to say I'm not much older than the teen girls that flocked to Bieber's show last night. I'm only about a decade older, and so in the process of hindsight I was able to make several intelligent observations. You see, his tour seemed to have similar aspects to that of my concert-going experience from about a decade ago when I attended the Backstreet Boys' extremely epic Into the Millennium Tour.

The Backstreet Boys flew over my head, just like Bieber did. He did it in a heart-shaped contraption. They did it only with wires. Both tours involved white clothing. BSB probably figured all-white get-ups would be all the rage in the new millennium. Apparently they weren't wrong, since Bieber has adopted the look.

I guess what also stood out to me as something that hasn't changed much in the decade between these two concerts is the fact that going to one of these shows costs a lot of money. When I was a teen I didn't think about the fact that my mom not only shelled out a pretty penny for the ticket, but also for a T-shirt and a program. I can't recall how much that all cost, but it was a lot. So please, thank your parents for shelling out that dough for memories that — to be perfectly honest — will last a lifetime. (This is the part that made me feel old.)

Tags backstreet boys, Justin Bieber

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

Throughout their nearly three decades as a band, Bon Jovi have evolved into one of the finest, most definitive American bands. During their career, they have brought just about every major type of American music into their sound, from metal to Southern rock to electronic pop to country. But though the boys from New Jersey are definitively a product of the U.S.A., that doesn't mean they don't have international appeal. They proved that on Wednesday (June 23), when they played a sold-out show at the O2 Arena in London. The band even brought along another definitively American opener in Kid Rock, who brought his stew of rock, hip-hop and country to the proceedings for an evening full of singalongs and hands-in-the-air moments.

They weren't the only stars enjoying merry old England, as Katy Perry visited BBC Radio 1 in London as part of her promotional push for her upcoming album Teenage Dream. Click here for these photos as well as the entire "Spotted!" archive, which features over 400 candid shots of stars like Britney Spears, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Adam Lambert, the Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus, Jessica Simpson, Jay-Z, Madonna, Shakira, Diddy, 50 Cent, the cast of "Twilight" and the Black Eyed Peas!

Tags bon-jovi, Kid-Rock, photo, Spotted!

In the decade or so since Eminem first appeared on the scene with his debut album The Slim Shady LP, he has changed the music game in more ways than one. His breakthrough 2000 release The Marshall Mathers LP paved the way for edgier hip-hop to live at the top of the Billboard album chart. He bridged the gap between the worlds of mainstream pop (he was a staple on "Total Request Live" with the likes of Britney Spears and 98 Degrees), pure hip-hop (he was a well-respected freestylist who associated with Dr. Dre) and the more aggro side of the rock world (his songs were often played on modern rock radio and would often tour with guitar bands). In addition to being the best-selling artist of the past decade, Eminem also changed things culturally (in many ways for the better).

When his first album became a huge hit, most people expected a whole new wave of white rappers to storm the gates and take over the music business. There were certainly a handful of white rappers who made an impression before Marshall Mathers did (the Beastie Boys, MC Serch and House of Pain's Everlast among them), but the whole concept had been tainted by that whole Vanilla Ice debacle in the beginning of the '90s. It took a force as powerful as Slim Shady to overcome the stigma on white rappers that Ice had left behind.

Eminem's ability to conquer the charts was impressive, but he didn't necessarily throw open the flood gates for the rest of the people of his kind. Still, he did give rise to a handful of white MCs who probably would not have gotten the opportunity were it not for Slim Shady (which would have been very disappointing indeed).

Asher Roth
Perhaps the most successful follower in the shadow of Slim Shady (his upcoming second album is eagerly anticipated), Roth scored a massive hit with his first single "I Love College," a somewhat deceiving ode to laid back life on campus. But Roth is not some frat guy, as his debut album Asleep in the Bread Aisle (and especially his recent mixtape Seared Foie Gras with Quince and Cranberry) is full of complicated rhyme schemes and thoughtful observations about modern life.

Slug
The rapping half of Minneapolis hip-hop duo Atmosphere is actually of mixed race, but he is often lumped into the wave of white MCs who scored big at the beginning of the millennium. Like Eminem, Slug's raps are brutally honest, full of stories about relationships with women, the perils of fame and identity politics. Often dismissed as "emo rap," Slug is a perpetual underdog who continues to improve and evolve with each release.
Read more...

Tags Asher Roth, atmosphere, Bubba Sparxxx, Eminem, Sage Francis, The Streets

On Wednesday night (June 23) in Hartford, Connecticut, Justin Bieber kicked off his first-ever headlining arena tour (the aptly-titled My World 2.0 tour). His fans came out in big numbers to see the 16-year-old Canadian teen dream sing all of his best tunes, including recent smashes "Baby" and "Somebody To Love." In a surprise that seemed to shock even the headliner himself, Bieber's mentor Usher even stopped by for quick hello at the end of his show. OMG, indeed!

The concert, which included a heart-shaped cage that flew Bieber over the audience, set the bar high for what is sure to be a very successful run on the road for the Canadian heartthrob (and opening acts Sean Kingston and Jessica Jarrell also delivered excellent performances — especially Jarrell, who definitely has the potential to be a breakout star). When MTV News caught up with the fevered Bieber fans after the show at the XL Center (former home of the Hartford Whalers) in downtown Hartford, they had tons of warm wishes for Bieber as he continues his trek (he'll continue on in Trenton, New Jersey tonight). Check out the video below to watch his fans wish him "Good Luck," and be sure to leave your kind words of support for Mr. Bieber in the comments!

Where are you going to see Justin Bieber on his current tour? Let us know in the comments!

Tags Justin Bieber, video

It's MTV's World Cup of Rock! The World Cup is the greatest sporting event on the planet, a super-sized stage where legends are born with every strike of the ball, where infamy is just a moment away and where the dreams of millions live or die by the minute. That's why, in the spirit of the 2010 MTV Musical March Madness competition, we've created "The World Cup (Of Rock)," a FIFA-style tournament that takes 16 of the biggest nations — rock-wise (sorry Algeria) — and pits them against one another to determine just which is the most rockingly awesome. Heavyweights like the U.S.A., England, France and Germany are all here, but so are a handful of surprisingly strong sleeper countries. As the Cup progresses, we'll be unveiling the match-ups, and it's up to you to vote your favorites through. In the end, only one nation will be left standing: the world champion of rock.

Slovakia is currently trying to put Italy's World Cup dreams to sleep in a tremendously physical match-up in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The MTV World Cup of Rock tournament carries on today as well, with an opening head-to-head match-up between two nations trying to fight their way out of Group A.

Mexico vs. Nigeria
Both of these teams are fighting to make their way out of Group A, though Mexico already has a win in its coffers while Nigeria needs to score here to have any hopes of advancing. Can the power of Afrobeat overcome the team that features the likes of Carlos Santana, Cafe Tacuba and Kinky? Only you can decide!

Be sure to vote in all the games in the MTV World Cup of Rock! Which nation's stars rock the hardest and best? Only you can decide!

Tags mexico, Nigeria, Poll, World Cup