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MTV's Musical March Madness: Coheed And Cambria Vs. Avenged Sevenfold

Posted 3/28/11 10:00 am EST by in Music

It's MTV's second annual Musical March Madness! MTV News took the 64 biggest names in rock, split them up into four regions, assigned them seeds and puts them up against one another in a single-elimination series of match-ups in a winner-take-all contest. We're leaving it to you to decide an actual champ in this field of 64, so over the next few weeks, fan voting will determine who will emerge as this year's champion. It's all about the fans, and the artist with the most passionate fan base will score the awesome Musical March Madness trophy!

Things are really starting to get serious in MTV's Musical March Madness, as the dominance of the Midwest region hangs in the balance. With Disturbed already throwing bombs against Patrick Stump, it's time to take a look at another key match-up that could very well decide who walks away the 2011 champion.

Voting for all Sweet 16 match-ups will close on Tuesday, March 29 at midnight. As always, you can follow all the voting here.

(6) Coheed and Cambria vs. (7) Avenged Sevenfold
The defending champions have had a pretty easy trip to the Sweet 16 this year, as they have bested the likes of Crystal Bowersox and Vampire Weekend with ease. But now comes their first true test, as they'll have to knock out a very strong Avenged Sevenfold squad. The A7X boys surged through tough tests Taylor Swift and the Black Keys, so they're battle-tested and ready for a brawl. Will they be the ones to dole out Coheed's first Musical March Madness defeat? You decide!

Check out Dick Bagwell and Vincent Twice previewing the Sweet 16!

Check out the Musical March Madness bracket and be take a look at the hoops-centric photos of some of the tournament's biggest bands.

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MTV's Musical March Madness: Disturbed Vs. Patrick Stump

Posted 3/28/11 9:30 am EST by in Music

It's MTV's second annual Musical March Madness! MTV News took the 64 biggest names in rock, split them up into four regions, assigned them seeds and puts them up against one another in a single-elimination series of match-ups in a winner-take-all contest. We're leaving it to you to decide an actual champ in this field of 64, so over the next few weeks, fan voting will determine who will emerge as this year's champion. It's all about the fans, and the artist with the most passionate fan base will score the awesome Musical March Madness trophy!

The NCAA men's basketball tournament has reached the Final Four, but MTV's Musical March Madness is prolonging the magic. Today we present the Sweet 16, which means that superstars and Cinderellas alike will have their mettle tested with the regional finals hanging in the balance.

Voting for all Sweet 16 match-ups will close on Tuesday, March 29 at midnight. As always, you can follow all the voting here.

(9) Disturbed vs. (12) Patrick Stump
In a battle of two underdogs, hard rock heavyweights Disturbed ride into the Sweet 16 on the back of a dominating performance against the top-seeded Foo Fighters. Their fans have definitely come together en masse, which is exactly the kind of support a team needs to make a run to the Final Four. Standing in Disturbed's way is Patrick Stump, who needed some late heroics and the Musical March Madness equivalent of a buzzer-beater. Stump has proven that he has the resilience to overcome the odds, but can he continue his surge? Only your votes can decide who advances to the Elite Eight!

Check out Dick Bagwell and Vincent Twice previewing the Sweet 16!

Check out the Musical March Madness bracket and be take a look at the hoops-centric photos of some of the tournament's biggest bands.

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'The Celebrity Apprentice' Recap: Dionne Warwick Can't Forsee Her Own Exit

Posted 3/28/11 8:30 am EST by in Television

There comes a time in every reality show's season where the quality dips a little bit and everybody agrees to just hunker down until the last few episodes arrive. Contestants become a little more listless, competitions tend to drag and the vibe of the show feels generally off while the middling participants are weeded out one by one (just think of the middle few entries of any season of "Project Runway"). But "The Celebrity Apprentice" is not your average reality show, and it refuses to be anything but positively transcendent. Sunday night's (March 27) episode was no different, as Lil Jon, Gary Busey, Dionne Warwick, Star Jones and the rest all came together for a delightfully weird two hours of television.

This week, the teams had to create a 30-second commercial for an ACN video phone (the sort of gadget that people in 1975 thought the future would look like in 1992). Lil Jon took the helm for Backbone, while NeNe Leakes was named project manager for A.S.A.P., the female squad. While the men's team was a model of efficiency (even Ivanka Trump noted that Backbone seemed to have developed a real "harmony" during the challenge), the women devolved into their typical arguing, backbiting and insulting the deaf.

Though both of the commercials concocted by the teams were essentially the same, the women went for "heart" while the men decided to go for comedy (casting Jose Canseco as a gay man in a marriage proposal reveal). But Lil Jon managed to sell the presentation a bit better, possibly because he kept shouting "Yeah!" and possibly because he duped the ACN executives into buying into random buzzwords like "viral" (which also impressed Donald Trump and provides further proof that dudes in suits will buy into anything if they think it'll be "viral"). Backbone scored the victory, which allowed for another all-female board room scene.

Leakes brought Warwick and Hope Dworaczyk into the boardroom with her, but the former Playboy model was just a spectator to the collision between the others. Leakes called out Warwick for bolting from the editing booth in order to sleep while the rest of the group was trying to finish the commercial, but Warwick claimed she was asked to leave (which certainly wasn't on the tape). After some crosstalk, Warwick somehow came around to the idea that she agreed that she was the one who should be fired. Trump didn't stand in her way, and she was let go.

But she didn't exit gracefully. "You're a coward, baby," she cooed at Leakes while waiting for the elevator. The two women did not get to the bottom of whether or not Leakes was a liar or a coward or both or neither. In any event, "The Celebrity Apprentice" lost one of its key characters in Warwick, though there are still plenty of antagonists about.

Who would you have fired? Let us know in the comments!

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March Madness, Chris Brown And A Jaw-Dropping 'American Idol': This Week's Deep Cuts

Posted 3/25/11 5:00 pm EST by in Music

Another busy week is in the book, and next week promises to be even more eventful, as there are a number of surprises in store that we can't talk about yet but are certain to keep you glued to your computer screen. In the meantime, you should spend this weekend watching more intense NCAA basketball action, standing in line to see "Sucker Punch," playing games of Cat-opoly or just thinking up awesome new fillings for burritos. Before you do all that, be sure to check out all of the great stuff you might have missed this week on the MTV Newsroom blog.

» MTV's Musical March Madness marches on, with second round voting running through the weekend and closing on Sunday night at midnight. Vote for all of your favorite artists here!

» Chris Brown had an interesting week that saw him release an excellent new album, throw a tantrum at "Good Morning America," lose a publicist and stop off for a quick game of basketball.

» "American Idol" also had a particularly nutty week, as the performance episode contained some of the season's best work and perhaps one of the best performances in the show's history.

» And then the next night, Casey Abrams found himself at the bottom of the voting heap only to later pick up the elusive judges' save.
Read More...

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MTV's Musical March Madness: The Second Round!

Posted 3/25/11 4:30 pm EST by in Music

It's MTV's second annual Musical March Madness! MTV News took the 64 biggest names in rock, split them up into four regions, assigned them seeds and puts them up against one another in a single-elimination series of match-ups in a winner-take-all contest. We're leaving it to you to decide an actual champ in this field of 64, so over the next few weeks, fan voting will determine who will emerge as this year's champion. It's all about the fans, and the artist with the most passionate fan base will score the awesome Musical March Madness trophy!

The entirety of the second round of MTV's Musical March Madness is now open, which means you can vote for all the match-ups that will decide the members of the Sweet 16. Many of the second round battles are exceptionally tight (including the tilt between U2 and Green Day, as well as the war unfolding between Rise Against and Patrick Stump), which is why you should take advantage of the fact that voting will be open until Sunday, March 27 at midnight. We'll reveal the Sweet 16 on Monday, March 28, but in the meantime, here's your easy one-stop shop for second round pairings.

Midwest

» (1) Foo Fighters vs. (9) Disturbed

» (4) Rise Against vs. (12) Patrick Stump

» (3) Vampire Weekend vs. (6) Coheed and Cambria

» (2) Avenged Sevenfold vs. (7) The Black Keys

West

» (1) 30 Seconds to Mars vs. (8) Pearl Jam

» (4) Florence and the Machine vs. (5) Panic! at the Disco

» (3) Green Day vs. (6) U2

» (2) Blink-182 vs. (7) Red Hot Chili Peppers

South
Read More...

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MTV's Musical March Madness: Radiohead Vs. Owl City

Posted 3/25/11 3:30 pm EST by in Music

It's MTV's second annual Musical March Madness! MTV News took the 64 biggest names in rock, split them up into four regions, assigned them seeds and puts them up against one another in a single-elimination series of match-ups in a winner-take-all contest. We're leaving it to you to decide an actual champ in this field of 64, so over the next few weeks, fan voting will determine who will emerge as this year's champion. It's all about the fans, and the artist with the most passionate fan base will score the awesome Musical March Madness trophy!

With the voting now active on the match-up below, the second round games are now completely open. The winners of these pairings will all advance to the Sweet 16, where the voting windows get shorter and the competition even more intense.

Voting for all second round match-ups will close on Sunday, March 27 at midnight. As always, you can follow all the voting here.

(2) Radiohead vs. (7) Owl City
Owl City are very much the Butler of this tournament, scoring unlikely victories against bigger, faster and more famous squads. They had an improbably hot run in last year's Musical March Madness, and this time around they dispatched of indie darlings the Decemberists in relatively short order in the first round. But they'll have to take on a very game Radiohead team who are coming off a big win against TV on the Radio. Which group will keep marching toward immortality and which will have to pack it in until next year? Your votes will tell the tale!

Watch the breakdown of the first round and a preview of round two!

Check out the Musical March Madness bracket and be take a look at the hoops-centric photos of some of the tournament's biggest bands.

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MTV's Musical March Madness: My Chemical Romance Vs. Rage Against The Machine

Posted 3/25/11 2:00 pm EST by in Music

It's MTV's second annual Musical March Madness! MTV News took the 64 biggest names in rock, split them up into four regions, assigned them seeds and puts them up against one another in a single-elimination series of match-ups in a winner-take-all contest. We're leaving it to you to decide an actual champ in this field of 64, so over the next few weeks, fan voting will determine who will emerge as this year's champion. It's all about the fans, and the artist with the most passionate fan base will score the awesome Musical March Madness trophy!

The second round is almost completely open, though there is plenty of action still to come today (and over the weekend). Some of the Sweet 16 teams are coming into focus, while others remain up in the air. This particular pairing is especially intriguing, as it pits a perennial favorite against a surprise underdog.

Voting for all second round match-ups will close on Sunday, March 27 at midnight. As always, you can follow all the voting here.

(3) My Chemical Romance vs. (11) Rage Against the Machine
Despite not having released new music in years, Rage Against the Machine took down current modern rock chart kings Cage the Elephant in a first round drubbing. They'll square off against My Chemical Romance, who stomped all over Panda Bear in the opening round in hopes of securing the championship trophy this year (they fell in the finals of 2010's tournament). Will they continue their surge, or will Rage continue their unlikely run? Vote to find out!

Watch the breakdown of the first round and a preview of round two!

Check out the Musical March Madness bracket and be take a look at the hoops-centric photos of some of the tournament's biggest bands.

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MTV's Musical March Madness: The Strokes Vs. Phoenix

Posted 3/25/11 11:30 am EST by in Music

It's MTV's second annual Musical March Madness! MTV News took the 64 biggest names in rock, split them up into four regions, assigned them seeds and puts them up against one another in a single-elimination series of match-ups in a winner-take-all contest. We're leaving it to you to decide an actual champ in this field of 64, so over the next few weeks, fan voting will determine who will emerge as this year's champion. It's all about the fans, and the artist with the most passionate fan base will score the awesome Musical March Madness trophy!

The East region marches on with a pair of excellent indie rock favorites taking one another on for Sweet 16 berth. It promises to be a barnburner that should go down to the last day.

Voting for all second round match-ups will close on Sunday, March 27 at midnight. As always, you can follow all the voting here.

(4) The Strokes vs. (5) Phoenix
In the first round, the Strokes took out fellow New York indie darlings MGMT in a reasonably close race, while Phoenix delivered a surprisingly thorough beatdown of Phish (the Phish fans did not come together the way some prognosticators expected). Will the French genre-hoppers be able to upend the New York comeback kings (who may be getting a boost from their well-received new album Angles)? Only your votes know for sure.

Watch the breakdown of the first round and a preview of round two!

Check out the Musical March Madness bracket and be take a look at the hoops-centric photos of some of the tournament's biggest bands.

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MTV's Musical March Madness: Sum 41 Vs. Coldplay

Posted 3/25/11 9:30 am EST by in Music

It's MTV's second annual Musical March Madness! MTV News took the 64 biggest names in rock, split them up into four regions, assigned them seeds and puts them up against one another in a single-elimination series of match-ups in a winner-take-all contest. We're leaving it to you to decide an actual champ in this field of 64, so over the next few weeks, fan voting will determine who will emerge as this year's champion. It's all about the fans, and the artist with the most passionate fan base will score the awesome Musical March Madness trophy!

Welcome back to the East region, where upsets abound and contenders are born. The second round has been intense, and it promises to stay that way as we move into the weekend. The biggest Cinderella in the whole tournament is up, with the Sweet 16 hanging in the balance.

Voting for all second round match-ups will close on Sunday, March 27 at midnight. As always, you can follow all the voting here.

(8) Coldplay vs. (16) Sum 41
The biggest upset of the first round came when Sum 41 (who are about to drop a new album called Screaming Bloody Murder) upended fellow Canadian countrymen Arcade Fire (who rode their big Grammy victory for Album of the Year to a number one seed). For their trouble, they'll have to go up against worldwide superstars Coldplay, who dropped Cake in round one without much fuss. Who will stand tall once the voting ends? Only you know the answer!

Watch the breakdown of the first round and a preview of round two!

Check out the Musical March Madness bracket and be take a look at the hoops-centric photos of some of the tournament's biggest bands.

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Notorious B.I.G. Experiences Life After Death: Wake-Up Video

Posted 3/25/11 8:30 am EST by in Wake-Up Video

It would be easy to dismiss the fact that Notorious B.I.G. released an album called Life After Death on this day in 1997 (only a few weeks after his own murder) as just a sick coincidence, but in reality it was party of a larger theme for the man born Christopher Wallace. For all of his raps about living large, Biggie was obsessed with death. After all, this is a man who titled his debut album Ready to Die and often rapped about his own funeral. He was constantly aware of his own mortality, and it permeated every inch of his musical persona.

Still, the whole idea of Life After Death hitting store shelves only 16 days after Biggie passed away is more than a little bit haunting. The album cover depicted the MC standing next to an old style hearse, draped in spooky shadows with a ghostly look on his face. Despite the greatness of flashy singles like "Hypnotize" and "Mo Money, Mo Problems," the best songs on the two-disc affair are loaded with dark imagery that vividly portrays the dark side of the gangster lifestyle, including the claustrophobic album opener "Somebody's Gotta Die" and the bracing "You're Nobody (Til Somebody Kills You)."

Tragically, that was Biggie at his best. His biggest hits were about his the high-class pimp lifestyle ("Big Poppa") or love jams ("One More Chance"), but he was never better as a rapper when he tapped into that rare combination of hunger and paranoia that fueled his death-filled fantasies. The Biggie that gave the world "Warning" — that's the Biggie that will live forever in the minds of hip-hop fans everywhere.


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