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MTV News' Jim Cantiello Joins 'The X Factor' Team

Posted 10/25/11 9:39 am EST by in reality tv, the x factor


X Factor

Big announcement alert!

Big announcement alert!

Big announcement alert!

I’ve been asked to join “The X Factor” team as a backstage reporter for their official weekly pre-show. Starting Tuesday, October 25 at 7pm EDT on "X Factor's" official site – and continuing weekly on Wednesdays – the live pre-show will feature interviews with the judges, the fans and all of the industry heavy-hitters roaming around backstage, capturing all the craziness that ensues in the moments leading up to the live "X Factor" broadcast on Fox.

So how the hell did I, as a lowly TV fan and MTV News personality, become heavily involved with a big major network reality competition? It’s a long, insane story, but the short of it is this interview (check it out after the jump): Read More...

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Drake Bell Says 'Terrific' Video Is For The Fans

Posted 10/25/11 8:17 am EST by in Music, Video


Drake Bell released his EP, A Reminder, earlier this year as a sort of reminder to his loyal fans that between acting gigs he's still always in tune with their desire to hear new tracks from him. So when he dropped a music video for the feel-good song "Terrific" (which sort of reminds us of something you'd hear in "That Thing You Do"), fans immediately became excited.

"You know we shot that video a while ago in my house," he told MTV News about the clip, which debuted last week on his Facebook page. "We just wanted to … it’s a really, really cool song. It's really, I think, the reason people are digging it [is] cause it deals with a lot of things young people deal with every day. It's sort of like, 'You don’t have to change who you are just so you can fit in over here, you can be yourself.' I think that they connect to it in a way."

Drake is hard at work on his next album and since he doesn't really know when that will drop, he wanted his fans to have something to hold them over. "That's why I released the EP. I've been writing so much, but I haven’t had any time to actual sit down in a studio and construct an entire record. I realized I hadn’t put out a record for quite some time, so I felt like I was robbing the fans," he said. "I got to get them something, so I had enough time to get in there and do these four tunes and these four songs were the most different from the stuff that I'm writing now .I wanted to get those songs out cause I loved those songs."

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Drum's Latest Single 'Money' Came Together In 'Half A Day'

Posted 10/24/11 3:24 pm EST by in Music


By Matt Elias

We caught up with New York indie darlings The Drums at a recent tour stop in Los Angeles, where they were playing two sold out shows at Echo Park’s famed Echoplex. The trio are touring in support of their latest effort, Portamento, which was released on Sept. 13. That album’s lead single, “Money,” came together rather quickly, but it’s the song’s meaning that some are still trying to make cents, er, sense of.

“It’s one of those songs that comes together in a half day and then it was done,” singer Jonny Pierce said. “That’s the version on the album, you know, it’s like – that’s the most exciting thing about being in a band. You know, like this, how quickly things come together.

“I think a lot of people take it literally, especially with this whole Occupy Wall Street thing, you know, everyone’s thinking about money or the lack thereof. But the song really is, I think for me, it’s meant to be taken in kind of a more romantic sense, sort of being an outcast or someone who’s out of sync with the world who wants to be better at things, be a better person for someone else but always falling short, you know.”

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Kelly Clarkson's 'Stronger': Five Key Tracks

Posted 10/24/11 2:16 pm EST by in kelly-clarkson, Music


By Elizabeth Lancaster

Miss Independent is back!

In her most organic recording to date, Kelly Clarkson brings the heat with Stronger, her fifth studio album, due out tomorrow. And she's brought her A-game to the set, combining her usual empowering lyrics with her strongest vocals yet.

Prospective and former boyfriends would be smart to walk on egg shells around Miz Clarkson, because this girl is not afraid of taking you to task if you act like a dog. Here are the top 5 tracks you cannot afford to miss: Read More...

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CMJ Week: A Roundup Of The Best Shows

Posted 10/24/11 1:19 pm EST by in Concerts


Lamar

By Steven Roberts

Way back in 20 aught 7 when I started interning at MTV News, CMJ Week was one of the things that got me noticed and helped me stick around. The annual music showcase sees dozens of artists descend – well, some just take the L from Brooklyn – on New York City to try and prove themselves. As an intern, I loved the chance to run around my hometown to cover music. I was doing that already, but this time it was free and I could tell girls I was working for MTV News.

Fast-forward four years, I'm old and jaded, and CMJ isn't that big of a deal. Well, that isn't entirely true. It still provides kids an opportunity to see plenty of up-and-coming acts and it gives those acts a chance to broaden their fanbase. And I wasn't mad at all of those invites in my inbox either.

My co-worker CJ and I decided to compile a list of some of our favorite shows this weekend, read on for more. Read More...

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Two Truths & A Lie With Hilary Duff

Posted 10/24/11 11:43 am EST by in hilary duff, Two Truths & A Lie


With reporting by Christina Garibaldi

When the beautiful Hilary Duff stopped by the MTV Newsroom to talk about her second novel, "Devoted," she also dropped some pretty big news – she's looking to get back in the studio soon to record a follow-up to her 2007 album Dignity and doesn't see why her growing baby bump should stop her.

She also joined the fun to play our favorite getting-to-know-you game: Two Truths & A Lie. Is Hilary a natural redhead who dies her locks blonde (sort of like her former nemesis Lindsay Lohan)? Is she obsessed with the cinema classic "Drop Dead Gorgeous," starring Kirsten Dunst and Denise Richards? Or is the LA-based starlet one to watch out for when she hits the freeway?

Watch the video below to find out.

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Jennifer Lopez Cries In Concert: A Timeline of Her Loves

Posted 10/24/11 10:02 am EST by in Jennifer-Lopez


Over the weekend, Jennifer Lopez took the stage at Mohegan Sun's 15th anniversary celebration in Connecticut and paid homage to her many past loves in a tear-filled performance. During her tracks "If You Had My Love" and "Until It Beats No More" the singer brought a number of dancers on stage that resembled her and the men she's been connected to over the years. "I took a trip down memory lane" she told the room, before showing a photo of her twins, adding, "There's love – and then there's love."

Well before there was that kind of "love," there was a heck of a lot of other kinds of "love." So we thought we'd take a look back at some of JLo's greatest beaus.

Read More...

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'American Idol' Season 11 Promo Debuts, Brings The Nice

Posted 10/24/11 8:54 am EST by in American Idol, Jennifer-Lopez


They're not even on at the same time of year, but the arms race between "American Idol" and Simon Cowell's "X Factor" continued on Sunday night when Fox (which airs both shows) unwrapped the first commercial for season 11 of "Idol."

The show doesn't return to air until January 22, but three months out producers seem to be sticking with the positive people vibe they explored last year with a revamped judging panel that included newbies Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez. For the first time since season seven, the entire panel has returned intact, with veteran old-schooler Randy Jackson getting some serious love as the first face you see in the new ad.

Strutting through a tree-lined park lane, Jackson is surrounded by budding singers, and, despite some ribbing from early "Factor" promos that dinged "Idol" for its shiny, happy attitude, all seems well in "Idol"-ville. The first glimpse of Lopez is of her designer shoes, as the camera pans out and we see more freshly-scrubbed faces singing and busting moves on an Pleasantburg, U.S.A. Hollywood set.

The poppy, acoustic soundtrack (sample lyric, "anything is possible"), soars into lite rock territory when Tyler spots a garage band (in a literal, cul-de-sac garage!) jamming out as he waves them to join his legion of primary color t-shirt-wearing minions. Check the promo out, after the jump! Read More...

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Skylar Grey Says Her Song With Kaskade Is 'One Of Her Best'

Posted 10/21/11 4:53 pm EST by in dance, Music


By Nick Philippou

It’s fair to say that like virtually every fan of EDM this year, Kaskade, dance music’s King of Cool, was moved by Eminem and Diddy-Dirty Money collaborator Skylar Grey. Dirty South’s remix of "I’m Coming Home" is easily one of the most popular house anthems of 2011, so we were delighted to hear Grey featured on Kaskade’s new track, “Room for Happiness,” one the songs on the famed DJ-producer’s highly anticipated double album, Fire and Ice, which drops October 25.

“I’m a huge fan of her voice,” Kaskade recently said. “I just said, 'You know what, I think your voice will work really well with dance music.'”

And guess what, Kaskade fans? When he first reached out to Grey, he was pleasantly surprised to hear that Grey was already a fan of his music!

“I’m really excited about the release of the song because I think that it’s one of the best songs I’ve ever been a part of,” Grey says. Coming from someone that’s been nominated for a Grammy for Eminem & Rihanna’s "Love The Way You Lie" and worked with Dr. Dre, that’s not too shabby an accolade.

So what is the song about? Read on for more. Read More...

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Rihanna's 'We Found Love' Director Schools Us On Casting Hottie Dudley O'Shaughnessy

Posted 10/21/11 2:59 pm EST by in Rihanna


When Rihanna spoke to her "We Found Love" director, Melina Matsoukas, she had one directive about casting the video's leading man. "I mean, in the casting she was like, 'You just need to find me some hot a** guy ... so then he had to be somebody she found attractive," Matsoukas explained. So, Melina did her girl one even better by casting the hotness that is British model/boxer Dudley O'Shaughnessy.

The green-eyed up-and-comer certainly caught our eye, and when we spoke to Melina she complimented his demeanor on set. "He's really good. I'll work with him again," she told MTV News. "He' so good and so sweet and so professional."

Dudley was chosen to play Sid to Rihanna's Nancy after Melina put out a call. We imagine the casting notice for the dark, dizzying clip read something like "hot a** guys need only apply" and boom there was Dudley, being all smoldering.

"Even with the actor we cast, we had a casting and there were tons of people that we looked at and I saw him," she said, noting that he had to look like he "was supposed to be some London rough kid and that's what he looks like to me. He's perfect because he doesn't feel like he American and he fit. We just saw pictures and I was like, 'His look is definitely good, but can he act?'" Read More...

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