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On Monday night's "O'Reilly Factor," Jon Stewart showed up to debate Bill O on the so-called "Common Controversy," a seemingly endless stream of speculation and soundbite-ry that stemmed from the rapper's invitation to appear at a White House poetry event, and his "support" of "cop killers," including a visit he paid to one of the accused, "the notorious Joanne Chesimard," (as O'Reilly put it,) in Cuba (gasp!)

The gist of O'Reilly's agitation seems to be that, by having Common appear at the White House, Barack Obama was "validating" the rapper's entire career — not to mention his support of Chesimard and Mumia Abu-Jamal — and that the whole thing was, simply put, "a bad idea," one that undermined national unity (a concept we all know the folks at Fox News certainly strive to nurture.) Not mentioned in all of this were the facts that a) Common's career was pretty nicely validated before the White House invite, and b) Common has, in the past, said some rather nasty things about former president George W. Bush, which didn't exactly put him in good standing with the Right before this whole "controversy" began, but still, it's nice to see America officially give a crap about poetry again, especially since it's been about 16 years since "Spoken Word Unplugged" (shout out to Maggie Estep!)

And while Stewart basically ethered Bill — that's a "rap phrase" — when he brought up the fact that performers like Bono and and Bob Dylan have both penned songs that supported convicted killers (an early version of U2's "Vertigo" was titled "Native Son," about jailed Native American activist Leonard Peltier, and Dylan's famous "Hurricane" proclaimed the innocence of boxer Rubin Carter), and both have been invited to the White House in the past with little incident, Monday night's debate inspired us to go back and look at some of Jon and Bill's greatest hits. After all, the two have traded barbs on each other's shows at several points in the past, and here are some of the best bits.

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Tags bill o'reilly, common, Jon Stewart

By Kara Warner

Although we don't technically need a reason to celebrate our favorite men in music, we were inspired by the happy news that Kings of Leon frontman Caleb Followill married Lily Aldridge last week and the even happier news that there is still one King on the market: Jared Followill.

In honor of Jared's commitment to bachelorhood (however long it may last), we present our favorite bachelors in music. Also, before the comments section lights up with "He has a girlfriend!" "He's dating so-and-so!" statements, please note that the term "bachelor" refers to an unmarried man, girlfriend or no). Here they are, in no particular order:

Adam Levine: pop-star playboy
Those who've been following Levine and his band Maroon 5 know that the frontman has a certain spunk and smolder about him (Exhibit A: the "Makes Me Wonder" video), but thanks to his judging stint on "The Voice," we've been seeing a fun new side to him.

Jared Followill: Southern gentleman with a bad-boy edge
Not that Mr. Followill is a bad boy, by any means, but there's something about Jared ... not only his talent and good looks, but a playful mischievousness. Although if his tweets are to be believed, he might not be on the market for long.

Click here for more sexy bachelor photos.

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Tags Adam Levine, Chuck Wicks, drake, Eminem, Jared Followill, John-Legend, josh groban, Justin Timberlake, Marcus Mumford, tyson-ritter

By James Dinh

In a campaign that ended before it began, Donald Trump has announced that he won't be running for president in 2012.

On Monday (May 16), the business bigwig made the announcement while promoting his reality series "The Apprentice" in New York, saying he didn't doubt he could win in "the primary, and ultimately, the general election," but that he's a businessman first and wanted to stick with his NBC gig. So after weeks of speculation and headlines, the Trump has got us thinking about a few other celebrities we'd like to see give up their day job and seek the presidency.

Oprah

With her talk show coming to a close after 25 years, Oprah has said she's set to turn her focus to the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), but what if the influential media mogul ventured into the world of politics? As one of the richest Americans in the nation, Ms. Winfrey surely knows how to run a business with a string of ventures in film, radio, publishing, and, of course, television.

Angelina Jolie

Despite a number of films under her belt, Angelina has made time to become increasingly involved in various humanitarian causes and was named a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in 2001. Amidst acting gigs and advocacy, she also has time to balance motherhood.

Diddy

OK, so he doesn't have the best sudden-impulse resistance when making decisions. (Yes, we're thinking about Aubrey O'Day.) But no one can deny Diddy's influence and accomplishments throughout the world of hip-hop and fashion. Not only is the entertainer focused on his endeavors, but he's still turning out them hits alongside his group Diddy-Dirty Money. Plus, he's quite the talker. Remember his Vote or Die campaign?

NeNe Leakes

NeNe might not know much about politics or seem like your first choice as the head of state and government for the United States of America, but this Real Housewife of ATL knows just when to stand up and speak for what she believes in. Just ask Star Jones — and Donald Trump.

Who would you like to see run for president? Tell us in the comments below!

Tags angelina_jolie, Diddy, donald-trump, oprah winfrey

By James Dinh

Kelly Clarkson fans: Don't fret! Even though the "American Idol" alum isn't dropping her brand-new studio album until September, the singer/songwriter is already beginning to hype the project. Over the weekend, the powerhouse pop star announced via Facebook that she'll be releasing the LP's lead single in July.

And when that happens, the heat will be scorching, meaning only one thing: Summer will be upon us. Like every year, a select song is unanimously chosen by the public as the jam of the summer season.

Noticeably absent from the public, Clarkson may have just the right tune to get fans on their feet and rocking out. (Remember "Since U Been Gone" and "My Life Would Suck Without You"?) Even though no details regarding the singer's new song have surfaced, she's already facing some heavy competition for the coveted Summer Jam title. Peep our list of potential summer anthems of 2011:

Lady Gaga, "Edge of Glory"

After "Alejandro" snatched up MTV's Summer Jam title last year, Gaga has high chances of earning the title once again with her feel-good dance single "Edge of Glory." Inspired by her late grandfather, the pop star co-produced the Born This Way cut alongside DJ White Shadow and Fernando Garibay. "It's a bold move on her part to put this out there the way it is, where the full version is intact [on the radio]. When was the last time you heard a musical solo sax break in the middle of a song on the radio?" Garibay recently told MTV News.

Katy Perry, "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)"

Well, Fernando Garibay, to answer your question, Katy Perry's latest single "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" also features a saxophone break. Ruling the past year with back-to-back-to-back hits, Mrs. Russell Brand shows no signs of stopping with this catchy track about recalling a wild evening's string of antics. Plus, who doesn't love a cheerleading-like T-G-I-F chant?

Pitbull (featuring Ne-Yo, Afrojack and Nayer), "Give Me Everything"

In his quest to take over the dance floor (and collaborate with just about everybody under the sun), Pitbull teams up with Ne-Yo and Nayer for this club-ready track. As the second single from the rapper's Planet Pit, the tune is already creating waves with heavy rotation on both pop and urban radio.

Joe Jonas, "See No More"
Sure, the first taste of solo music from Joe Jonas has yet to see the light of day, but that will all change when he drops "See No More" on June 3. Co-written by himself and Chris Brown, the Brian Kennedy-produced song is the lead single off Joe's highly anticipated solo debut, which hits stores September 6. The singer recently told Rolling Stone magazine that he wanted to incorporate dance into the album, saying, "I wanted to make a record that a DJ would be attracted to. I love electronic European sounds that are just big."

What songs will you be listening to this summer? Share your suggestions below!

Tags kelly-clarkson

By Sterling Wong

Girls may run the world, but on the pop charts these days, Beyoncé isn't exactly running things. The diva has cemented her position as arguably the world's top female pop star, so expectations have been high for the first song off her much-anticipated fourth album, 4. But so far, her new single, "Run the World (Girls)," hasn't had an overwhelming reception, at least not by Beyoncé's meteoric standards. And last week, it was announced that the video's official release was being delayed because the singer is "perfecting it."

The song was released to iTunes nearly a month ago and it hit the top 10 for a day, before descending again. It's currently languishing at #157 on the iTunes top 200. Compare this to peers Lady Gaga and Britney whose recently released first singles, "Born This Way" and "Hold It Against Me," both shot to #1 just hours after being released to iTunes and maintained those positions for several days.

In fact, the chart performance of "Run the World (Girls)" is looking similar to that of Christina Aguilera's "Not Myself Tonight," which also fizzled upon its debut last year. (Both "Run The World" and "Not Myself Tonight" sold 77,000 downloads in their first week of digital release, maybe not the most flattering parallel.)
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Tags Beyonce

By Kara Warner

Despite the presumed dominance of the many high-profile album releases over the last few months (Britney, J,Lo, the Beastie Boys, etc.), the biggest-selling star is British powerhouse Adele, whose sophomore album "21" just snagged the #1 spot on the Billboard albums chart for the seventh week since its release.

Adele fans aren't surprised, given the album's rave reviews and the chart-climbing single "Rolling in the Deep," but the fact that the somewhat lesser-known U.K. import has basically defeated pop-music royalty has raised a few eyebrows.

One man who couldn't be more excited about the new crop of album sellers is songwriter/producer Evan Bogart. When MTV news caught up with him recently to discuss one of his many projects — he's an executive producer on the upcoming Bravo songwriting contest "Platinum Hit," which premieres May 30 — we got sidetracked with a conversation about the state of pop music and current chart-toppers.

"I think the songwriting is getting a lot better," Bogart said. "I think that the general public is becoming more in tune with real artists and you see the recognition finally of people like the Black Keys and people like Mumford & Sons jumping on the scene, and obviously people like Adele," he said. "I think those people are selling albums, and I think there's a lot of top 40 candy pop — which, by the way, I definitely write some of — are selling a lot of singles. I think the line between who's selling singles and who's selling albums has been drawn in the sand."

Bogart, who's responsible for hits like Beyoncé's "Halo" and Rihanna's "SOS," went on to say that it's becoming more apparent which artists are in it for the single and which ones are in it for a career.

"The people who are in it for the career are starting to cut through the nonsense," he said, which brought us back to Adele and "Rolling in the Deep."

" 'Rolling in the Deep' is still climbing, like, 2,000 spins a week. It's still flying up the top 40 charts. That makes me so happy," Bogart said. "I know at this point, people who are Adele fans or people who are on it are like, 'Oh my God, I'm sick of this song, can we just talk about the rest of the album?' But it's so important that this song gets into the top five and reaches #1," he emphasized. "It's so important for music. People don't understand how important it is that someone like Adele can top the top 40 charts; it's going to change music. Real music can be done, and it doesn't have to be something with a four on the floor and a rehashed synth with the same kind of chords played in a different order, basically the same song written over and over and over again, in order to get top 40 success.

"It really, really makes my soul happy to see a song like that flying up the charts," he continued, adding that it's a sign of very good things to come. "I think both the music business and the actual music within the music business are on the precipice of a new golden era, a new golden age."

Do you agree with Bogart? Are we on the precipice of a new age in music? Tell us in the comments!

Tags Adele, Evan Bogart, Mumford and Sons, Rolling in the Deep

Sometimes we "Idol" prognosticators get it totally right and then there's this week.

All around, we couldn't have been more wrong about what was going to happen on Thursday night's "American Idol" elimination show. After all the Haley Reinhart talk and the certainty that the blues grunter would be sent back to Chicago (where there are, it should be noted, tons of perfectly decent cheesy blues bars eagerly awaiting her return), James' booting was a bolt of heavy metal thunder that came totally out of the blue.

"Season 10 has had more insane plot twists than M Night Shyamalan's filmography!" said MTV News' own "Idol" expert Jim Cantiello. "After surviving last week's results without even landing in the bottom three I thought James was untouchable. His fans protected him through his worst showing on 'Idol,' so if he had a better run on Wednesday common sense would suggest he'd be planning his parade this morning."
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Tags Haley Reinhart, James Durbin

"American Idol" viewers have had a lot to grumble about this season. There have been shocking eliminations (Pia Toscano, Casey Abrams and, last night, James Durbin), judges with transparent biases and imbalanced critical stances, and obscure theme nights — Carole King? Leiber and Stoller? — that left many wondering if the producers were elitist or just lazy.

Yet for all these complaints, we now have a top three arguably comprised of the strongest contestants: Scotty McCreery, Lauren Alaina and Haley Reinhart. Which is to say that despite singers possibly exiting too early, judges who rarely served as expert guides for the audience, and random musical themes that could easily have become yawn-inducing, "Idol" voters might actually have gotten it right this time around.

Of course, not everyone agrees. One look at our "Idol" elimination story from last night shows how angry Durbin's fans are about his ouster. "Now that James is gone I'm done with 'American Idol,' no need to watch it anymore," wrote one typical Durbin-ite. So too do people continue to rage that Casey, Pia and others are no longer part of the competition. "When Casey left, I was outraged," said another commenter. "He was so unique, and such an awesome talent — which is why they spent their only save on him."

So clearly not everyone is on the same page. That's why we're putting the question to you in our "Idol" poll: Do Scotty, Lauren and Haley constitute the correct top three? Did "American Idol" voters get it right?

Tags American Idol

By Nuzhat Naoreen

Late last week, New York magazine's Daily Intel blog jokingly implied that President Obama promised too much when he told the teenage daughter of a 9/11 victim, Payton Wall, that he would help her meet the man of her dreams: Justin Bieber.

According to the New York Post, Payton was inspired to write a 1,500-word letter to the White House detailing her grief about the loss of her father after watching Justin Bieber's documentary "Never Say Never." The Post said the White House responded to Payton (who had also tweeted to Biebs to no avail) the next day and invited her to attend a wreath-placing ceremony at Ground Zero last Friday, which is where Obama told the young girl he'd help her meet Justin.

Now it's one thing to promise world peace or an end to hunger (totally doable, right?), but a meeting with the Biebs? The bloggers at Daily Intel wondered why the prez dared make such a commitment.

"Doesn't he know the PR machine around Justin Bieber is more impenetrable than Donald Trump's ego?" Intel bloggers asked.

Well, apparently not. Justin (whom we're guessing just got wind of the story) responded to the doubters a few hours ago via Twitter (with a link to Intel's post), to make it clear that he planned to help the president keep his promise.

"I think you're wrong. pretty sure President @BarackObama will keep this promise. #payitforward," Justin tweeted.

The Biebs and the president working together? No offense, Mr. Biden, but if we were in your shoes, we'd be a little nervous about that 2012 vice-presidential slot ...

Tags Justin Bieber, president obama

By Sterling Wong, with reporting by Jim Cantiello

In case you didn't realize it from watching "American Idol" these past few months, Jacob Lusk is a little intense. And we mean that in the best possible way. Jacob was eliminated from the show last week, but the budding star has bounced back from disappointment quickly, as you can see in the video clip below. Jacob stopped by MTV News' New York offices a few days ago to chat with our very own Jim Cantiello, and you will love the impassioned answers Jacob gave when we drilled him with our 10 questions.

Remember when Jacob performed "Man in the Mirror" and said that America wasn't ready to look itself in the mirror? Maybe it's because he thinks we've lost our passion to fight for what we believe in. When asked which year he would time-travel to if he could, he gave an earnest reply: "1964. That's the year the Civil Rights Act was passed. It was a crazy year. ... That was a time where I felt like people really — not that we don't stand for anything now — but I think back then, people were really set in their convictions even if they weren't necessarily right, and they fought for their convictions. I think we as a people have lost that. We'll eat up whatever pop culture throws at us, but we don't stand up for things we believe in; we don't fight for what we believe in."

It wasn't all serious business, of course. We asked Jacob if he'd prefer to have delicious pancake batter come out of his navel or sweat sweet Southern tea, and not only was Jacob not grossed out, he was terribly excited by the latter idea! "That would be amazing!" he exclaimed of perspiring sweet tea. "People would lick you. I'd lick myself, darn it!"

Jacob may seem critical of pop culture, but he revealed that his favorite show besides "Idol" is "The Amazing Race." In fact, he said he'd love to go on the reality show, and he'd choose fellow season 10 contestant Naima Adedapo as his teammate! CBS producers, can you picture the ratings gold this pairing would produce? Make it happen. please!

What do you think of Jacob's comments? Would you lick him if he could sweat sweet tea? Tell us in the comments!

Tags Jacob Lusk