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It's time for the Britney Spears Tournament: 30 Videos for 30 Years, MTV News' celebration of all things Britney to honor the pop star's 30th birthday! In the lead up to the big day, we're asking you, Brit's most loyal fans, to help us decide which video from her legendary career is your favorite by participating in a winner-take-all tournament. MTV News' resident Britney experts assigned 30 of Britney's videos seeds and put them up against one another in a series of single-elimination match-ups. Fan voting will determine which of her amazing clips is named the fan-favorite. So vote now and vote often for your favorite video. The winner will be announced on December 2 – Britney's 30th birthday!

"Till The World Ends" vs. "Lucky"

In one of the stronger wins from Round Two, Britney's apocalyptic, VMA-winning "Till The World Ends" handily defeated the steamy clip for her cover of Bobby Brown's "My Prerogative." That means one of Britney's latest videos will square off against one of her earliest in the Elite 8. In one of the closest races (among many very close showdowns) Britney's clip for "Lucky" just pulled past her controversial video for the In The Zone ballad "Everytime." How close were they? Well, 51,694 votes were cast in this category alone and the split came down to 50.03 percent for "Lucky" and 49.97 percent for "Everytime". That's close, y'all!

"Stronger" vs. "Criminal"

But guess which race was unexpectedly even closer than the runoff between "Lucky" and "Everytime"? In perhaps the biggest surprise so far in Britney Spears: 30 Videos For 30 Years, "Criminal," the hot and sexy video for Britney's most recent single, defeated arguably her most iconic video of all, "…Baby One More Time." You heard that right. "Baby" took 49.999 percent of the vote, but "Criminal" snagged just a few more key votes to snag 50.01 percent, taking the round. We suspect Brit's boy and "Criminal" co-star Jason Trawick will be quite pleased.

That pits another new video against an early Britney classic, as "Criminal" will go up against "Stronger," which itself knocked another Britney classic out of the competition, in the Elite 8. Going into the holiday weekend, the showdown between "Stronger" and "Oops! I Did It Again" looked was shaping up to be the neck-in-neck contest of Round Two. How wrong we were! Sure, it was a tight race, but in the end "Stronger" ruled the day with just over 52 percent of the vote, leaving the big budget, otherworldly lip for "Oops" with just under 48 percent of the 56,085 votes cast in this frame.

Tags britney spears, Britney Spears Tournament: 30 Videos for 30 Years

MTV Newsroom is feeling all warm and fuzzy as the holidays approach, so we decided to give away an Xbox 360 4GB Console with Kinect plus our sweet new game, Yoostar on MTV, where you insert yourself into music videos and MTV shows. Now you can read Shakespeare’s sonnets to Snooki like you’ve always wanted to.

It beats the mall, right?

How to enter:

Sign up for the daily MTV News alert via Facebook by Tuesday, December 6 at midnight. Open any of the emails from MTV News before Wednesday, December 7 and look for the "Xbox 360 Kinect & Yoostar on MTV giveaway” link inside to enter. (If you don’t use Facebook, sign up here.)

* Must be 13 or older and a legal resident of one of the 50 United States or District of Columbia. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited.

Tags Contest!

By Zachary Swickey

Most artists in today’s mainstream music world churn albums out pretty regularly, which is a necessity considering the wealth of new acts being discovered on the daily (mostly thanks to YouTube). It’s not as common nowadays for a talented funk/pop/rap sensation like Santigold to leave fans waiting nearly four years for a new album (especially a follow-up to a strong debut), but that’s what is happening.

We’re not hatin’ on Santi, we love her, which is why we are hurting for some new music. Who else can turn a mere mortal man into a dancing god? Her guest cuts this year with the Beastie Boys and SNL-troupe The Lonely Island just have us salivating even more. Rap circles were wildly enthusiastic about her killer debut-album track “Brooklyn (Go Hard),” which was produced by Kanye West and eventually sampled by Jay-Z. So it wasn’t very shocking when earlier this year she inked a deal with none other than Jay’s Roc Nation. It sure seemed like a new album was imminent.

A short month later – via Hova’s unique lifestyle blog, Life + Times – Santi released "Go," which was supposed to be the first single from her sophomore record, tentatively being dubbed American Dreaming. The stellar track features guest vocals from Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs – adding some indie cred. The tune is yet another catchy anthem in the Santi canon as she sings, “People want my power and they want my station.”

It’s been seven whole months since the release of that single, and we’ve yet to hear another one let alone see a release date for American Dreaming. For most of 2011, Santi’s been on the road or in the studio, but we still only managed to dig up two interviews with the singer revealing details about the new album. Read more...

Tags Santigold

By Sterling Wong

Thanksgiving is a time for traditions – turkey, pecan pie and, this year, some Lady Gaga. Yes, last night, after their big Thanksgiving meals, many Little Monsters undoubtedly crowded around the TV with their families to take in Gaga’s ABC special, “A Very Gaga Thanksgiving Special.”

Right from the start of the 90 minute special, you could tell that this would not be the MTV Video Music Awards meat dress-wearing Lady Gaga. Instead, Gaga appeared in a classy black, off-shoulder dress, blond hair and blood red lips. She opened the show performing “The Lady is a Tramp” with the legendary Tony Bennett, who showered Gaga with high praise, saying that she had “a touch of theatrical genius” and that “she might become America’s Picasso.”

The show was also very much a homecoming for the pop star, as much of the special was hosted in Gaga’s elementary school, New York City’s Sacred Heart. We saw Gaga hanging out with some third- and fourth-graders from Sacred Heart, where, according to Gaga, “we made turkey arts and craft and talked about what the meaning of Thanksgiving is.”

You could tell how Gaga grew up to become such an intelligent, articulate woman. The pop star mentioned Jackson Pollock when talking to the kids, and to her surprise, many of them actually knew who the artist was (Jackson Pollock also trended on Twitter after her mention. Such is the power of Mother Monster.) Gaga then led the kids in a singalong of “Born This Way” … which led into a full-blown performance of the song by Gaga, wearing another elegant black gown and backed by dancers in black tuxedos and dresses. Read more...

Tags Lady Gaga

By Christina Garibaldi

We are now in the second round of the competition in our Britney Spears Tournament: 30 Videos for 30 Years! From now until December 2, Britney Spears' hottest, sexiest and most iconic videos are battling it out for the title of Best Britney Video of All Time. We know that this is not an easy decision to make, which is why we are here to help! We will be taking a look back at several of Ms. Spears' videos throughout the years to get insight from directors, set visits and Britney herself.

Next up is one of Britney’s biggest budget videos of all time, "Oops! I Did It Again." The video will battle it out against "Stronger" in the second round, another video off her Oops!..I Did It Again album. Britney hooked up with director Nigel Dick to bring "Oops" to life, which stripped Britney of her school girl look and put her in to a skin-tight catsuit.

"There was another catsuit, actually, which was fantastic, which I loved," Nigel told MTV News in 2009. "And the night before, I was told that Britney hired this guy that worked with Michael Jackson, and so we're going to use that catsuit. So that's the catsuit."

Britney told MTV back in 2000 that she was the one that actually came up with the concept for the video. "This whole idea was my idea," she said. "I was like, 'I want to be on Mars, dancing on Mars.'" Read more...

Tags britney spears, Britney Spears Tournament: 30 Videos for 30 Years

By Christina Garibaldi

We are now in the second round of the competition in our Britney Spears Tournament: 30 Videos for 30 Years! From now until December 2, Britney Spears' hottest, sexiest and most iconic videos are battling it out for the title of Best Britney Video of All Time. We know that this is not an easy decision to make, which is why we are here to help! We will be taking a look back at several of Ms. Spears' videos throughout the years to get insight from directors, set visits and Britney herself.

This Thanksgiving we are giving you a look back at Britney’s video for "Piece of Me." The video, which got a first round by in the competition for its 2008 VMA win for Video of the Year, gets in on the action against "Hold It Against Me." "Piece" was the second single off her 2007 album Blackout and the video takes aim at the paparazzi, who at the time (and even now) were following her every move. The video marked not only Brit’s first Video Music Award, but also director Wayne Isham’s.

"On 'Piece of Me,' I really just wanted to put the mirror back onto the whole experience," Isham told MTV News in 2009 about the video's concept."You can see that she had that kind of confidence. And, literally, every take became a more and more confident take, so that she could have fun with what was going on. Not being over-the-top sarcastic but having a laugh at everything that was going on around her with confidence."

And it seems that Britney’s real-life confidence was returning as well. Wayne revealed that she came up with the choreography for the final dance on the set of the video. Read more...

Tags britney spears, Britney Spears Tournament: 30 Videos for 30 Years

Round Two of MTV News' Britney Spears Tournament: 30 Videos For 30 Years is underway and everyone in the MTV Newsroom is ultra excited about it!

So excited that we called up our friend Tamar Anitai from MTV Buzzworthy to join MTV News' own Christina Garibaldi and Kara Klenk to get into an in-depth discussion of the second round of competition. The fierce ladies of MTV are joined via Skype by one of Britney's biggest fans, celebrity blogger Perez Hilton, who reveals his favorite Britney video!

Check out the red-hot discussion below:

And don't forget to vote Round Two of Britney Spears: 30 Videos For 30 Years:
>>> Round Two, East Division
>>> Round Two, West Division

Tags britney spears, Britney Spears Tournament: 30 Videos for 30 Years

By Uptin Saiidi

As Republican presidential hopefuls continue on the road to the primaries, President Barack Obama’s campaign for re-election is in full force and trying creative ways to find donors. And not just from the ultra rich.

Last month, the campaign ran a promotion that for a minimum donation of $10 you’d be entered into a lottery to have dinner with the President.

The campaign made true on its promise as four people from across the country were chosen and traveled to Washington, D.C. to dine with Mr. Obama. In a video released by the campaign, their trip is documented leading up to the dinner at a nearby DC restaurant.

One of the winners was Juanita, a teacher from Colorado who worried, "I just hope I remember the questions I’ve been wanting to ask him."

Ken, a United States army veteran from Arizona, claimed, "It’s going to be the most special moment I’ve ever had in my life."

Casey has a small software development company in Minneapolis and was just eager to hear about the day-to-day life of a President. "What does a president’s day look like?" he asked. "Dudes like me never get to hear about." Read more...

Tags Barack-Obama

By Christina Garibaldi

We are now in the second round of the competition in our Britney Spears Tournament: 30 Videos for 30 Years! From now until December 2, Britney Spears' hottest, sexiest and most iconic videos are battling it out for the title of Best Britney Video of All Time. We know that this is not an easy decision to make, which is why we are here to help! We will be taking a look back at several of Ms. Spears' videos throughout the years to get insight from directors, set visits and Britney herself.

Next up is Britney’s video for "Stronger." The clip, which has some stiff competition in the second round against "Oops! I Did It Again," was the third single off Brit’s second album. This video was Britney's first departure from her brightly colored, feel-good music videos, showing a more mature, darker side. The clip also marked the first time Britney teamed up with director Joseph Kahn, and like most of her videos, Brit was the one that came up with the concept.

In the video Britney showed off some serious dance moves… with the help of a chair.

"She pitched it to me as an original concept by herself, but the first thing that came to my mind when I thought of the chair sequence, in terms of how it applies to music videos, was Janet Jackson's 'Pleasure Principle' — the iconic chair sequence in that," Joseph said.

And it seemed that this was the point in Britney’s career when she was ready to show the world her sexy side, even if her manager wasn’t. Read more...

Tags britney spears, Britney Spears Tournament: 30 Videos for 30 Years

By Nick Philippou

Sofi is climbing the ladder yet again on her new two-part EP Locked & Loaded, which hit the online charts on production pal and mega-producer Deadmau5’s Mau5trap label just a few weeks ago. Part one of the two-installment EP includes "Broken Souvenirs' and "Joyride" both collaborations with dubstep collective and fellow Mau5trap signee Millions Like Us. But while part one is making the rounds in due fashion, buzz is building around the second installment of Locked & Loaded, "Bring Out the Devil" and a collaboration with Skrillex and Kill the Noise, which almost disappeared from the album entirely.

“The tragic story is that we recorded the track about a year ago and his hard drive was stolen, his computer, everything he had was stolen in Italy. He called up Kill the Noise and was like, 'Hey, can you save the day and reproduce the track?' And he did," Sofi told MTV News. "And it was amazing!"

Once the first drafts of "Bring Out the Devil" were lost, Skrillex's demanding touring schedules and Sofi’s tour dates on Deadmau5’s "Meowington's Hax" tour prevented the song from being the first release on the album. So the song took on a new life and a new sound, pairing Sofi’s soft voice with Skrillex’s finishing touches with Kill the Noise smashing out a hard track, combining it all into something musically unique.

Originally slated as the debut track on the first installment of the EP, "Bring Out The Devil" will be released instead on part two of Locked & Loaded, available on iTunes and Beatport on December 5.

"It has that rawness to it," Sofi said. "I feel like it’s such a mash up of things at this point and it’s so hard to pin point just a genre. It's electronic dubstep. I don't know where it’s going. For me personally, I'm just having a good time with it. I'm not really stuck on, ‘Oh my gosh is this dubstep?’ I love this kind of music and I enjoy making it right now." Read more...

Tags skrillex, sofi