Before he was a star in movies like “Drumline” and Mariah Carey’s husband, Nick Cannon was a regular at talent showcases when he was a teen — the perfect training for his new job as the host of “America’s Got Talent.”

That’s right, Jerry Springer is moving on and Nick Cannon is moving in to take his place on the TV talent show “America’s Got Talent” that kicks off with a new series tonight.

Dressed in different shades of a colour that can only be described as “pastel,” Nick was in his usual fun mood and ready to chop it up about everything from his new show to his superstar wife.

It’s not just Nick who has big shoes to fill, but the show as well: The phenomenon that is Susan Boyle (her debut performance video has been viewed over 69 million times) all began with the UK version of the show “Britain’s Got Talent,” so the bar has been set pretty high. Will “America’s Got Talent” be able to give the Susan Boyle movement a run for its money? According to Nick the answer is YES!

It wasn’t long before the topic of his wife Mariah Carey came up. One big question we wanted answered was: Will Nick and Mariah ever duet? For now, Nick humbly doesn’t think he has the talent to duet with one of the greatest songstresses of our time. In his own words he has to “step his game up first.”

We still found time to talk about his move into the director’s chair, whether Mariah’s new song “Obsessed” was directed at Eminem or not, his new mixtape The Adventures of Slick Nick, his thoughts on the Perez Hilton/Will.I.Am incident and Chris Brown’s trial.

Check out the rest of the interview at MTVNews.com.

Alexa Chung is only into the second week of her new MTV show “It’s On With Alexa Chung,” and already her sense of style is making waves. She’s brought a bit of East London chic to New York, and the girls in the office forced me to ask her how one achieves the Alexa Chung look.

Apparently, it’s all very simple.

According to Alexa, first you have to look like “a girl who borrowed her brother’s school clothes via her grandmother.”

What does that mean? It’s basically an effortless combination of “boyish school blazers” (i.e. sports jackets) and “ugly grandma things” like baggy sweaters, oversized shirts and big jewelry.

Catch Alexa hanging out in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn (where she lives) and you’ll probably find her in a “tiny smock dress” and “over-the-knee socks” with … wait for it … “ironic leather pumps.”

When I asked her what was ironic about leather pumps, she simply answered, “Well, no one wears loafers.”

Check out the video, where I pretended to know what she was talking about but really had no clue whatsoever! I asked one of our resident office fashionistos, Adam Murphy, to explain.

He said, “The irony comes from the disparity between the type of person that would wear leather pumps in earnest versus the type of person that would wear them as a sort of joke.”

Thanks Adam, but I’m still confused. Well, anyway, if you want the Alexa Chung look, all you have to do is dress a bit like a boy, a bit like your grandma and a bit ironic — and presto!

Not all British people have bad teeth. Our favourite food is not fish and chips. And we don’t drink excessive amounts of tea.

But one thing is true: We are all capable of swearing like troopers at a moments notice. Take the lovely Alexa Chung for example. She may look sweet and innocent on the surface, but don’t let that fool you.

Last week I stopped by to say hi to my fellow Brit and congratulate her on a great first week of her new show “It’s On with Alexa Chung.”

Now that she’s been living in New York for little over a month, I figured that she might be a little homesick. So I surprised her with a full English breakfast: The ultimate fry-up of sausages, bacon (Aside: English bacon and U.S. bacon are very different, but that’s another conversation altogether), Heinz baked beans, toast, eggs, tomatoes and black pudding (fried pigs’ blood — I don’t eat it). But then I find out she’s a vegetarian!

Good work Tim!

Not to worry though, as I had a secret weapon. Go to England and you’ll be hard pressed to find one kid who doesn’t like Ribena, this great little blackcurrant drink that they only sell in the UK. But I’ve got connects in the international Ribena smuggling ring and her genuine reaction to the Ribena surprise says it all … peep the vid.

Something that didn’t make it into the finished piece (for obvious reasons) was a little outtake I wanted to share with everyone. As I said before, she may look like sweetness and light but believe it or not, Ms. Chung has a mouth like a builder.
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When Jamie Foxx takes on hosting duties at the BET Awards in Los Angeles on June 28, you can be sure to expect a bunch of jokes, even more jokes and a few more jokes for good measure. We got a taste of his humor yesterday when we headed down to the studios of BET’s “106 & Park” (which is actually on 57th and 10th, but I guess that doesn’t have the same ring to it) to catch up with the actor/singer/comedian.

Foxx looked slick in a green leather bomber jacket, dark jeans, white Gucci sneakers and some dope Louis Vuitton sunglasses (it’s all in the details). He was in great spirits and joking with everyone in the room. Before the interview had even started, Jamie had me laughing at a funny story about how R&B singer Maxwell stole a girl from him at a club. (It’s funny because Maxwell did the exact same thing to me. Ha.)

We didn’t have long to chat because Jamie had to catch a flight, but it was long enough for us to chop it up about everything from the BET Awards to his steamy kiss with Halle Berry at Spike TV’s Guys Choice awards (lucky SOB).
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Looks like Al Roker hasn’t let the beef with Speidi slide just yet. This morning on the “Today” show, talk of his controversial interview with Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag on Monday was inevitable, as the “weatherman” proclaimed he could take Spencer in a fight and would have “dumped him like a bag of dirt.” Although Al was just firing back at Spencer (who told TMZ that he “would’ve ripped the dude’s head off” if he hadn’t been saved by Jesus), I’m not quite sure if the 52-year-old host of a family friendly show should be talking such smack on morning TV. But it was entertaining to say the least.

Up there with Rosie O’Donnell vs. Donald Trump or even Jamie Foxx vs. Miley Cyrus, the Speidi vs. Roker beef might be one of our strangest yet. How’s it going to play out?

I have a suggestion.

We should get Al Roker into a studio with a hip-hop producer like Swizz Beatz, and get him to record a dis track under the rap moniker the Weather Man. We’ll even foot the bill, just to see it happen (Editor’s note: By “we,” Tim must mean himself). Get Pharrell to take him shopping and get his hip-hop swagger on. Get Diddy to teach him some performance moves … and voilà: The Weather Man is born!

And with Spencer making a foray into the world of hip-hop, Roker should do the same. Both new rappers should release their songs on iTunes, and whoever sells more wins the beef!

Come on, admit it. It’s kinda genius!

Over the past couple of weeks, “The Hills” stars Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt’s antics on “I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here!” have been one of the most talked-about items on the Internet. And on this morning, the couple stopped by MTV headquarters to give us the scoop on what really went on in the jungle.

The couple were up at 4 a.m. for a full day of press, starting with the “Today” show and host Al Roker — which, as it turned out, was not the most peaceful way to start their day. (The couple had plenty to say about their heated conversation with Roker.) After taking some time to talk with Ryan Seacrest on his show about Roker, and then their appearance on MTV’s new show “It’s On With Alexa Chung” (well done on a great show, Alexa), we caught up with Speidi for a quick chat.

For a quick chat, we covered a lot of ground: Why they left the show, their takes on fellow castmates, how Heidi’s sister Holly is doing on the show, Holly and Sanjaya’s relationship (Heidi calls them “Sanjayolly”), whether they’d ever go back to the jungle, Heidi’s Playboy shoot and much more!

Despite all the controversy, I must say I enjoy meeting up with these two whenever they’re in town: They’re relentless in their quest to be the most famous couple in the world, and even though they might never reach the levels of Brangelina or TomKat, Speidi are certainly giving it their best shot!

This week I got to meet two of my biggest musical idols. I value each of them for different reasons, but both have been incredibly instrumental in shaping how I listen to music.

I was at a club on Saturday night celebrating a birthday party. As I was sitting talking to a friend, I saw a group of five walk up to us. I’ve been around enough to recognise a security team when I see one, but this time they were a little more difficult to spot. Especially here in the States, bodyguards tend to be these giant hulking mountains of men with no necks who you can spot a mile away. The visual-intimidation factor of bodyguards is the first line of defense, after all. But this time, these two guys dressed all in black were a little different. They were … short. No taller than 5-foot-4. Don’t get me wrong, they were both as wide as a bus — but boy, were they short! Finally, I saw their boss.

Standing at 5-foot-3 (in high heels, no less) was one of the biggest names in music: Prince.

I was amazed at how young the 51-year-old Prince looked. Whatever his secret — whether it’s his diet, sex life, no smoking, bathing in milk, whatever — Prince is doing something right. No word of a lie: Prince looks the same as he does in Purple Rain. I was stunned and left with many questions. I wonder if he clones himself to stay forever young? I wonder if he purposely hires bodyguards who make him look tall? Am I heightist? Is that even a word? I’ll ask him next time.

A few days later I was invited to a lunch with His Royal Highness Prince Edward of England, who gave a speech to various business types, philanthropists, investors and me. But HRH wasn’t the only royal in the room, as one of the guests was king of producers Quincy Jones.

There isn’t enough room on this blog to talk about all the great work the man has done in sculpting the world of music, but one thing is for sure: The guy is one very cool cat. Jones worked the room like it was his first, giving everybody a hello handshake, never tiring of meeting new people. When he came to me, he asked, “So … who are you?” Taking it as an invitation, I told him … everything! And you know what? He listened to every word and gave me advice that I will never forget. Want to know what it was?

You’ll have to ask Quincy next time you see him.

It’s the day leading up to the MTV Movie Awards, and right now feels like the calm before the storm. I’m sitting here on the side of the red carpet, which is currently empty, except for the crew who are getting ready to rehearse the big preshow. It’s amazing to witness the transformation. In just a few hours from now, this carpet will be packed shoulder-to-shoulder with some of the biggest celebs in the world: Megan Fox, Lil Wayne, Eminem, Miley Cyrus, Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Shia LaBeouf and, of course, Brüno (Sacha Baron Cohen’s newest character). Tonight is going to be a lot of fun to watch.

Inside, the producers of the main show are hard at work putting the finishing touches to tonight’s big performances by Kings of Leon and Eminem, not to mention our host, Andy Samberg, who I promise you will have everyone in stitches.

Late last night, Eminem took to the stage for his rehearsal, and even though he’s been away for four years, there’s no doubt EMINEM IS BACK! I don’t want to spoil it for you, but expect a really special performance and a little bit extra. That’s all I’ll say.
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We found another famous car here at the Universal lot. Actually, it’s more of a van. I had heard rumours from the team that the Mystery Machine — complete with a real-life Scooby Doo and a guy dressed as Shaggy — had been driving around, so we had to track it down.

Along with digital producer Brian, we headed back to the famous-car graveyard that we had found the day before where the “Back to the Future” DeLorean and the Trans Am from “Smokey and the Bandit” are slowly rusting away. And there it was: the green-and-orange VW wagon with the words “The Mystery Machine” sprawled across it. Read more…

There are just two days left before the big night on Sunday when the MTV Movie Awards take over the Universal Studios lot here in Universal City, California.

The team of lighting technicians, engineers, stage designers and riggers all worked overtime and well into the night to create what is, in my opinion, the best-looking stage we’ve ever had here at the Movie Awards. From the massive, sweeping staircase that the presenters and performers walk down to the two giant robots onstage and the massive screens and thousands of lights, it looks amazing — and it’s not even finished yet!

Andy Samberg just walked onstage to start rehearsing so I couldn’t help but stick around for his opening lines. If his opening monologue is anything to go by, he’s going to be very, very, very funny! Read more…