Alec Baldwin

By Shakira Atitebi

A flight attendant was the latest subject of a Twitter outburst episode from Alec Baldwin after the actor was booted from a plane at Los Angeles International Airport for playing Word with Friends on his cell phone as his plane was about to take off for New York.

Baldwin took to Twitter and said, "Flight attendant on American reamed me out 4 playing WORDS W FRIENDS while we sat at the gate, not moving. #nowonderamericaairisbankrupt."

Baldwin's rep told People magazine, "Alec was asked to leave the flight for playing Words with Friends while parked the gate. He loves WWF so much that he was willing to leave a plane for it." Baldwin caught a different flight to New York after the incident and was sure to tweet that the flight attendants on his next flight looked "smarter."

He later added, "Last flight w American. Where retired Catholic school gym teachers from the 1950's find jobs as flight attendants."

American Airlines commented on too, taking appropriately to Twitter to issue a statement: "Our flight attendants were following federal safety procedures on electronic devices when aircraft door is closed."

The American Airlines fiasco is only the latest brouhaha the actor has initiated on Twitter, read on to see who else the Emmy-winning "30 Rock" actor has tussled with on the Interweb. (Update: Baldwin has reportedly deactivated his Twitter account!) Read More...

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By Jonathan Mussman

"Michael Jackson Immortal," the latest Cirque du Soleil collaboration, had its US premiere Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay Arena in Las Vegas. On hand to celebrate were a host of major celebs as well as Katherine, Tito and Jackie Jackson and Michael's kids, who got a full backstage tour prior to the performance. Katherine and the kids entered the arena to a standing ovation from the crowd. "Michael would definitely be proud," Jackie Jackson mentioned backstage following the performance. "He always loved Cirque performances, this show made the most sense for his fans," added Tito Jackson.

In questioning how much of the "This Is It" concert segments were included in "Immortal," Travis Payne, Michael's long time choreographer, added, "All of the iconic 'chunks' as we know them including 'Thriller,' 'Smooth Criminal' and some things from Dangerous were not changed and we took those moments and brought them to this show and surrounded them with new ideas." A few of the original "This Is It" videos and dance segments were included, helping make this arena-based show feel more like an actual MJ concert.

Unlike most highly innovative and creative Cirque shows, "Immortal" relies heavily on dancing and music elements in addition to the jaw-dropping aerial, trampoline and acrobatic acts we expect. Everything was set to an absolutely amazing MJ mash-up soundtrack mastered by musical designer Kevin Antunes, who felt like a kid in a candy shop when producing the score (album now available). "I was given full access to the MJ library with no restrictions," he told MTV News. Working with family members, the estate and Sony archivists, Antunes was able to include legendary songs such as "Thriller" and "Billie Jean" as well as rarely (if ever) heard tracks from ABC and a Spanish-sung version of "I Just Can’t Stop Loving You." All of Michael’s leads are from recordings while the back-up and instrumentals are performed live. Read More...

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By Christina Garibaldi

Big Time Rush already have some "big time" plans heading into the New Year. In February, the boys from the hit Nickelodeon TV show will hit road for their "Better With You Tour." The 16-stop trek will be the band's first U.S. headlining tour, and they'll be promoting their recently released second album, Elevate. The boys spent over a year creating their new album and after looking over the track list, we decided to play a little word association with some of their song titles.

Check out the video below:

Read on for more. Read More...

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By Lauren Kearney, with reporting by Kara Warner

In a "ballsy" attempt to promote her cause for animal rights, more specifically the neutering and spading of dogs, "New Year’s Eve" star Katherine Heigl teamed up with Funny or Die and came up with a ridiculously hilarious viral PSA about her hate of balls. No, not tennis balls or yoga balls … yep, you guessed it – Man Balls.

"It was really the Funny or Die guys that came up with the sketch idea and I have sort of an off-center sense of humor, I guess, and I thought it was really funny," she explained to MTV News at the "NYE" junket. Check it out below:

"I thought it was a great way to make our point and talk about a cause that a lot of people sort of already know about or aren’t that aware of that are probably kind of tired of the same old approach to it so we trying to shake it up a little and catch people’s attention," she added.

In the video, which you can check out after the jump, Heigl spends roughly three minutes discussing how much "terrible, terrible testicles" disgust her. "Unfortunately, I can’t cut the nuts off human men … yet. So I’ve dedicated my time to the neutering of dogs. Cause that's legal!" Read More...

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By Zachary Swickey

Cheap-but-trendy fashion store for the ladies Forever 21 has come under the ire of Nirvana fans and fashion critics for blatantly ripping off a tee designed by the late Kurt Cobain way back in 1992. The singer notably wore his version of the shirt – a shark-like fish that he drew on a white T-shirt with a Sharpie – when Nirvana was the musical guest on “Saturday Night Live” that year. Cobain was known for crafting his own crudely made shirts, famously wearing one with the phrase “Corporate magazines still suck” for Nirvana’s appearance on the cover of Rolling Stone.

Forever 21 did not even credit the design origin to Cobain or Nirvana in any way on its site. Rather, it was described simply as a tee with a “sketched ‘Flipper’ graphic on front.” The clothing store has (smartly) pulled the shirt, which was originally available for the low price of just $16.90.

Unsurprisingly, Forever 21 is loathed in fashion circles for its frequent design infringements. Their list of infractions is lengthy: Diane von Furstenberg settled with the chain for duplicating her dress designs, Gwen Stefani sued them for ripping off her Harajuku Lovers line, and designer Anna Sui took them to court for selling numerous items that bared a striking resemblance to products she debuted at New York Fashion Week. The store was even accused of ripping off an interactive billboard installation in New York’s Times Square from an '09 piece that was displayed in London by artist Chris O’Shea.

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Lana Del Rey

By Rya Backer

NEW YORK – It's hard to know what to make of Lana Del Rey at first glance. Is she as Jools Holland once dubbed her an "Internet phenomenon" worth no more than a few salacious blog posts? Or is she a legitimate chanteuse wrapped in the hyper feminine, yet innately American (and admittedly well-curated) image she's projected in videos for such tracks as "Video Games" and "Blue Jeans"?

Regardless of where one stands on the issue, last night at her sold-out show at Bowery Ballroom, Del Rey offered skeptics and fans alike a recital in the most literal sense: she played all the songs she'd practiced, hoping to show both the crowd how much she's improved since she first appeared – seemingly out of nowhere – less than six months ago.

Arriving on stage shortly after 9:15, looking like a Real Housewife (perfect makeup and blow-out? Check) dressed up for a night downtown, pairing her low-top Chuck Taylors with a tailored, white pleated dress, Del Rey sauntered onto a stage aglow with white balloons projecting the stock footage and vintage-treated videos that would look familiar to those privy to her YouTube account. Read More...

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By Akshay Bhansali

Swedish electronic dance music DJ-producer Tim Berg winds down 2011 seemingly seated on a throne. Under his Avicii stage moniker, he has arguably one of the most popular dance music singles of the year, "Levels," which was recently released by Interscope and has a hilarious music video to accompany it. He sits just above Afrojack at #6 on DJ Mag's list of top 10 most popular DJs on the planet. And more recently, a song he co-produced with David Guetta, "Sunshine," was nominated for a Grammy for Best Dance Recording.

Underscoring the accolade, MTV News caught up with Guetta this weekend, where the dance music icon sang Berg's praises. Check it out below:

“He's an amazing new talent,” Guetta says. "I think he has a great future. In the same way that I met with Afrojack two years ago and was like, 'Wow this kid is amazing!' and I tried to help him as much as I could, last year I met Avicii."

Read More...

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By Adam Stewart (@AdamMTVNews)

Get out your noisemakers and silly hats, New Year's Eve is just around the corner. You either love it or hate, it, but let’s get real, you know when it comes down to it, no matter how much you resist, you're going to end up doing something on the last night of 2011.

Now, you could hit up that house party in town and hope the girl you've been eying runs up to you for a smooch when the big hand is on the little hand at midnight, or you can be smart and knock her socks off by taking her to one of the hottest parties in the country. What do you have to lose? After all, if the Mayans are right, it'll be your last NYE on earth anyway. So saddle up, take a stand against "Dick Clark's Rockin' New Years Eve" and let this handy MTV News' guide to an EDM infused NYE be your beacon for beats.

NEW YORK

>>> Avicii at Pier 94
Selling out in less than an hour, EDM’s hottest rising star is taking over Pier 94 with support from Arty and Swanky Tunes for a once in a lifetime riverfront bash -- and the party continues into New Year's Day as Boris and Victor Calderone keep it thumping with Apocalypse 2012. Whichever your pleasure, 15,000 crazed fans in a 135,000-square foot structure with a zillion big ass speakers? Sign us up! (Note: a little birdie tells us more tickets are being released very soon!)

>>> Deadmau5 at Pier 36
Maybe it’s "Pier Pressure," but our favorite Canadian is taking his sight and sound spectacular to Gotham in similar fashion, and knowing the visual effects package he rolls with we're sure this won't be anything short of awesome. Don’t be surprised if you see Lady Liberty sporting a Mau5head for the night.

Read on for more! Read More...

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Lana Del Ray V Magazine

By Shakira Atitebi

Sexy singer Lana Del Rey, who appears in V Magazine's first-ever Music Issue, is on her way to becoming a superstar. Del Rey released her first EP, Kill Kill, in 2009 under the name Lizzy Grant (her real name is Elizabeth Grant), but things really took off after she posted a video to her song "Video Games" on YouTube in August 2011. The video has had over 10 million hits and went to number one on the charts in 9 countries, including Australia, the UK, Holland, France and Germany.

A lot has changed for this indie artist. The Lake Placid, New York, native is now recognized all over the world. "You talk about all these things that happened to me in this short space of time, but the one thing that has really changed is that I now have an audience," she tells V. "I turn up in Glasgow or Manchester or Amsterdam and there are good people waving at me from the crowd. That’s amazing.”

Del Rey appreciates her fans and the sacrifices they make just to see her, saying, "Someone showed me their ticket stub and asked me to sign it. You know how much it cost to see a show? These people really want to see me."

On Thursday, December 1, Del Rey's second official single, "Born to Die," was uploaded on YouTube and has already received a huge international response praising the song and Lana's voice. If you're in New York City, You can catch Del Ray tonight at the Bowery Ballroom.

The much-buzzed-about singer's album will be released January 31, 2012. For more on Del Rey, visit V Magazine online and check out the Music Issue on newsstands January 12. Check out more hot pics of the rising star after the jump. Read More...

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By Zachary Swickey

We’ve covered quite a few diverse rock acts for Bands We Like – from the soul-powered retro pop of Fitz & the Tantrums to the always evolving musings of Dredg – and all of the groups had a stellar year in 2011. Other Lives will soon be the opening act for Radiohead, El Bronx fulfilled their own fantasy by appearing on Conan’s late night show, and The New Regime’s Ilan Rubin is now the new drummer for Tom DeLonge’s side-project, Angels & Airwaves. We’ve taken the liberty of rounding up the five bands to keep an eye on in the New Year and wonder which one you think will be the breakout act of 2012?

Check out the Bands We Like All-Stars and vote in our poll, after the jump! Read More...

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