MTV Newsroom ›

Wednesday night (October 27) was a historic one in the world of late night television (and politics as well) as President Barack Obama paid a visit to "The Daily Show" in preparation for this Saturday's (October 30) Stewart-hosted "Rally to Restore Sanity" in Washington, D.C. (which, it should be noted, will not feature an appearance by Obama, a moment that was used as last night's "Moment of Zen"). The President — who has not necessarily gotten a free pass on "The Daily Show" in recent months — addressed a number of issues and concerns for the duration of the show.

Following a raucous reception, Obama addressed the current state of the union related to the issues surrounding the midterm elections. Though he is proud of his accomplishments (including steps forward related to health care, personal debt and public service), he noted "Is it enough? No." Still, he asked people to vote for members of Congress who stood by their convictions and voted for things that may have been good policy but bad politics. "I hope people are rewarded for taking those tough votes," he said.

In the interview's key moment, Stewart asked Obama why there sometimes seemed to be such distance between what was promised during the campaign and what is actually being accomplished. "Legislatively, it seems timid," Stewart challenged.

"Jon, I love your show, but this is something where I have a profound disagreement with you and other pundits," Obama responded. "This health care bill is not timid. This is what most people would say is as significant a piece of legislation as we've seen in this country's history. What happens is it gets discounted because we got 90 percent of what we wanted, so we'll focus on the 10 percent we didn't get."

Obama didn't get into nearly the amount of depth he got into during MTV's "A Conversation With President Obama" a few weeks back, and the conversation rarely strayed from economic issues. But it remained informative and entertaining for its duration. "You know what might have made a difference? If you had held the 'Rally to Restore Sanity' two years ago," Obama said at the end before imploring everybody to vote.

What did you think of President Barack Obama's visit to "The Daily Show"? Let us know in the comments!

Tags Barack-Obama, Jon Stewart, Late Night, Talk Shows, The Daily Show

It's that time of the fall again, which means the leaves are falling off the trees, pumpkins are being carved and the San Francisco Giants are meeting the Texas Rangers in the World Series. The seven game series begins tonight (Wednesday, October 27) at AT&T Park in San Francisco, with Giants ace (and Wiley Wiggins lookalike) Tim Lincecum squaring off against Rangers powerhouse Cliff Lee.

This particular series is a classic contrast in styles, as the Giants rely on their dominant pitching to compensate for their sometimes anemic ability to manufacture runs. On the other side of the diamond, the Rangers have quality pitching but have a more traditionally dominant lineup (including slugger Josh Hamilton and steady-hitting Ian Kinsler). The questions for every game will be "Can the Giants create enough offense, and can the Rangers overcome the nasty arms serving the balls up?" It should make for some thrilling baseball (especially the games in San Francisco, where the excitement has been regularly built up to a fever pitch during every single game of this playoffs).

But the bottom line is this: Though the Rangers have a lot of weapons, only the Giants have closer Brian Wilson. Sure, he has a league-leading 48 saves and a solid fastball, but his greatest asset is that he's sort of nuts (though not sandbox-in-the-living-room nuts like the Beach Boys founder of the same name). Wilson has one of the greatest beards in all of sports (it's so iconic that lots of Giants fans have been spotted wearing fake Wilson beards during the playoffs) and he loves to mess with sports reporters. Just take a look at this video compilation, which brings together Wilson's love for non sequiturs and a his love for stirring things up via a wacky character called the Machine.

We could argue statistics all day, but the bottom line is that in high-pressure situations, the best form of madness wins, which is why the Giants are going to take their first World Series victory since 1954 and their first since setting up shop in the Bay Area. Prediction: Giants in six. Time to start the party with San Quinn's "San Francisco."

Tags baseball, brian-wilson, San Francisco Giants, San Quinn, Texas Rangers, World Series

At this point, there are only a select few people who still think of Dave Grohl as "the drummer from Nirvana" before they consider him "the frontman for Foo Fighters." Grohl has had way more years, hits and sold-out tours than his old band ever did, and his status as one of rock's best frontmen (and interviews) has elevated him to legendary status. But according to an interview with BBC Radio 1, he doesn't have any problem acknowledging his former band. Grohl told host Zane Lowe that not only is the new Foo Fighters album (set to drop at some point in 2011) being produced by Butch Vig (the guy who manned the boards for Nevermind, as well as other classics like Smashing Pumpkins' Siamese Dream and recent hits like Against Me!'s New Wave and White Crosses) but Grohl will also be collaborating with former Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic.

Though Novoselic has toyed with a few musical projects since Nirvana ended (including the profoundly underrated Sweet 75, the also-underrated Eyes Adrift and a reformed version of Flipper), he has spent most of his post-Nirvana life working on political projects (many of which have been quite successful). But his quirky sense of humor and his imposing stage presence (the six foot seven inch Novoselic always cut quite a figure on stage). Exactly what his contributions to the album (or any subsequent Foo Fighters project) is currently unclear, but regardless, it'll be good to have Novoselic back on a stage this size.

As Grohl noted, it has been 20 years since he hooked up with Vig in a studio for a full album, though Vig did handle production on "Word Forward" and "Wheels," the the two new songs that appeared on the 2009 compilation Greatest Hits. "Wheels" in particular was an excellent track that should have been a bigger hit than it was. Let's start the second life campaign now, shall we?

With Grohl and Novoselic back together, Soundgarden a unit again and Alice in Chains back on the charts, it's starting to feel a lot like the Seattle of '93 around here. Could the long awaited reunions of Love Battery and Cat Butt be far behind?

Tags Dave Grohl, Foo-Fighters, Nirvana

"Those things are not things that I stop myself and don't write songs about, those are things that take a while to figure out how to write. I write about everything that intensely affects me. The more intense, the more painful, the more of a shudder it is to think about, the more I know I need to write a song about it to get past it. It's been like this since I was a little kid, and I would go to school, and I would think to myself, 'Man, I'm really lonely, and I don't know who to talk to today, but it's OK 'cause I can write a song about it later.' It's the same process; I'm just 20 now."

-Pop sensation Taylor Swift, discussing how the songs on her new album Speak Now reflect what she is actually thinking and feeling — even if those things are painful. The new album (which just hit stores this past Monday, October 25) is full of naked confessions and deeply personal stories, with each song containing a narrative about a particular person in Swift's life. Those subjects include a handful of other famous people she has had run-ins with, including John Mayer ("Dear John") and Taylor Lautner ("Back to December").

Most critics agree that Swift's raw approach has resulted in a better, more mature album, and it could mean big things for her at the cash register, as there is speculation that should could come close to selling one million copies of Speak Now in a single week.

Tags Quote, Taylor Swift

Is there a little more spring in your step this morning? Does everything feel just a little less heavy? Is the world generally brighter? That's probably because the NBA season got started last night, and any time there is meaningful basketball in the universe, everything gets better. The NBA kicked off on Tuesday night (October 26) with a trio of great games. The big match-up boasted the regular season debut of the new "Big Three" in Miami as the Heat took on the Boston Celtics. Though LeBron James dropped in 31 points (and went on a very LeBron-esque tear in the second half), the Heat couldn't overcome the sharp shooting of Ray Allen and the swarming, aggressive defense of Rajon Rondo, Kevin Garnett and new Celtic Shaquille O'Neal. Boston ended up taking the victory on their home court in a sloppy game by a score of 88-80.

In Portland, the Trail Blazers put down the visiting Phoenix Suns by a score of 106-92. It represented another great breakout performance for Trail Blazers star Brandon Roy, who scored 24 points and added six assists to his team's effort. The game was a microcosm of two teams in transition, as the Blazers are on their way to becoming a top-tier, elite power in the league while the aging Suns seem to be on the last fumes of the Steve Nash era.

But the real headline-grabber of the night (and also the most thrilling game) was the throwdown between the Lakers and the Houston Rockets in Los Angeles. The teams went blow-for-blow for most of the game, and though the Rockets looked like they were in control at the end of the game, but a bit of late-game heroics courtesy of new Laker Steve Blake put the defending champions over the top by a score of 112-110. Kobe Bryant had a typical night (27 points, seven assists) and managed to overcome some strong performances from Rockets sharpshooter Shannon Brown.

Before the game, the Lakers raised their championship banner (the 16th in the franchise's history) and received their blingtastic championship rings. In typical Lakers fashion, plenty of stars were in attendance, including Denzel Washington, Snoop Dogg, David Beckham, Jaden Smith and Justin Bieber (who showed off one of the rings himself).

Tags basketball, Jaden Smith, Justin Bieber, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA, photo

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.

With shows like "Rock of Ages" and Green Day's "American Idiot" making Broadway a friendly place for rock and roll, it was only a matter of time before the Beatles conquered the New York stage. On Tuesday night (October 26), "RAIN — A Tribute to the Beatles" opened up at the Neil Simon Theater in New York. The show is essentially a concert full of lushly-staged Beatles tunes, though there are certainly worse reasons to buy a ticket to the theater. A number of stars showed up to celebrate its official opening, including Broadway legend Chita Rivera and pop star Chris Brown (fresh off the big premiere of his latest single and video "Yeah 3X").

Brown wasn't the only star in the mix, as Ne-Yo shook hands with some fans at a record store in Japan and Take That began the promotion for their big reunion tour at BBC Radio 1 in London. Click here for these photos as well as the entire "Spotted" archive, which features over 500 candid shots of stars like Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Madonna, Justin Timberlake, Jay-Z, Miley Cyrus, Eminem, the Jonas Brothers, Rihanna, the Black Eyed Peas and Taylor Swift!

Tags Chris Brown, photo, Spotted!, The-Beatles

The new Rihanna album Loud will be hitting stores in a few weeks, and thanks to a news blast from RocNation we now know the official track list. We already knew that the album would feature collaborations with Drake ("What's My Name?") and Nicki Minaj ("Raining Men"), but the full list points to a collaboration with Eminem on the familiar-sounding "Love the Way You Lie (Part II)."

Of course, the original "Love the Way You Lie" was a chart-topping smash from Eminem's multi-platinum Recovery, so it's logical that Rihanna would want to continue the narrative. Rihanna is hardly the first artist to follow up a hit song with a sequel, and as you can see below, she will be in excellent company.

Alicia Keys, "Empire State of Mind (Part II)"
Perhaps the clearest antecedent for "Love the Way You Lie (Part II)," Alicia Keys followed-up her chart-topping guest appearance on Jay-Z's "Empire State of Mind" with a mellow version of her own that appeared on her 2009 album The Element of Freedom. Though not as big a chart success as the original, it still continued the vibe of the first tune.

Metallica, "Unforgiven II"
Metallica's breakthrough self-titled 1991 album featured a number of tracks that became iconic in the band's catalog (including "Enter Sandman" and "Nothing Else Matters"). It also contained "The Unforgiven," which got not one but two sequels from the band. Read more...

Tags Alicia Keys, Eminem, Master P, Rihanna

Even though they are one of the most beloved dance music acts in the world, Daft Punk are notoriously stingy with original music. The last time the duo of French knob-twiddlers Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter last released an original album in 2005 (the excellent Human After All), and the last time they dropped a single was in 2007 (and even that was just a live version of "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger," a song from 2001 that got a new life thanks to Kanye West's fandom). But that will all change pretty soon, as Daft Punk have put together all of the music for the upcoming 3-D event flick "Tron: Legacy," and a new video just premiered that not only reveals a bunch of new footage from the movie but also a juicy minute or so of the pair's new single "Derezzed."

The new track has everything you could possibly want from a Daft Punk track. It has a heavy, dramatic opening followed by a torrent of keyboard propulsion and powerful kick drum-fueled beats. The song has that rare quality in dance music that obviously will sound great in a club but will also be perfectly reasonable playing on your personal stereo while you let it turn you into a fine white ash. (As an aside, there is no greater walking-around-town-listening-to-your-iPod album than Daft Punk's landmark 2001 album Discovery.) Plus, the video also gives a glimpse of Daft Punk's cameo in the film itself (first revealed to MTV by Olivia Wilde last year).

"Tron: Legacy" will be hitting theaters in dazzling 3-D on December 17, while the full-length soundtrack by Daft Punk will be available on December 7. Check out the full video after the jump, and let us know what you think about Daft Punk, "Derezzed" or "Tron: Legacy" in the comments below.
Read more...

Tags daft-punk, Tron: Legacy, video

In any live performance scenario, silence is usually the kiss of death. Even a negative reaction is better than no reaction at all, so from an outsider's perspective, Tuesday night's (October 26) Corin Tucker Band concert at New York's Bowery Ballroom might have looked like a disaster. But the silence between tunes wasn't out of boredom or embarrassment, but rather out of reverence. For most of the capacity crowd, it had been far too long since singer and guitarist Corin Tucker — formerly of groundbreaking band Sleater-Kinney — had been in front of them on a stage grinding out guitar jams and letting her powerful, unique singing voice fill the space.

Tucker is on the road for the first time since her former band called it quits in 2006 and just released the first album of her post-Sleater-Kinney life in 1,000 Years, a moody collection of rock tunes that balance jittery guitar crunch with an understated sense of beauty and refinement. At Tuesday night's show, the turned-to-11 jams (like "Riley" and "Doubt," the latter of which sounds the most like Sleater-Kinney) got the biggest reactions, but Tucker's quieter moments were the most stunning. The band paused for a brief acoustic interlude (including strings) for runs through gorgeously-arranged new epics like "It's Always Summer" and "Dragon," both of which began small and swelled to surprising crescendos. "Miles Away," which opened Tucker's encore and features little more than her gentle, dynamic voice and a rolling piano riff, is lovely on the album but became a full-blooded torch song on stage. Sleater-Kinney's songs mostly all swirl and no release, but Tucker's new approach seems to be about resolution.

Tucker is a woman of few words — outside of an aborted story about where she got her vintage dress, there wasn't much in the way of between-song banter. But she was quite gracious. In the midst of one of those stunned silences, someone shouted "Thank you!" Tucker, slightly taken aback, chuckled and said "You're welcome." Clearly, she was as happy to be back on stage as the crowd was to have her in the building again.

Tags Concerts, Corin Tucker Band, sleater-kinney

If you need proof that the Major League Baseball playoffs have been going on for far too long, consider this: The 2010 World Series between the Texas Rangers and the San Francisco Giants kicks off tonight (Wednesday, October 27), but on this day in 2004, the Boston Red Sox beat the St. Louis Cardinals by a score of 3-0 to win the World Series for the first time since 1918.

Whether you liked the Red Sox or not (and in 2004, plenty of people didn't), that particular run through the playoffs was remarkable and memorable, mostly because of the incredible seven game series between the Red Sox and the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series. Through the first three games of the series, the Yankees won all three in convincing fashion (including a 19-8 drubbing in game three) and seemed like a lock to move on to the World Series (especially considering no baseball team had ever come back from a 3-0 deficit in a seven game series). But the Red Sox used a lot of late heroics in extra-inning games and eventually bested their hated rivals from the Bronx in jaw-dropping fashion.

Though it was historic because of the Red Sox victory, the actual World Series in 2004 was pretty flat. With the momentum from the ALCS fueling them, the Sox torched the Cardinals with stellar pitching (after an 11-9 shootout in the first game, the Cards — one of the most powerful offensive squads in baseball in 2004 — could only scrape together three runs over the remaining three games) and clutch hitting from unlikely heroes like Bill Mueller and Mark Bellhorn. In a cosmic twist, the final game of the series took place under a lunar eclipse, which threw a super-spooky red light on Busch Stadium in St. Louis. So what better way than to commemorate the Red Sox' World Series triumph than with Rancid's "Red Hot Moon"?

Tags baseball, Boston Red Sox, video