MTV Newsroom › listicle

Is Olly Murs The Next Brit to Break? Four Other Pop Stars Who Paved the Way (Poll)

Posted 6/20/12 5:13 pm EST by in Adele, listicle, Music, Newsroom Poll

By Meredith Goldberg-Morse

Looks like the recent trend of British pop stars invading our radios, record stores and television screens won’t be ending any time soon — popular English singer-songwriter Olly Murs will release his debut album In Case You Didn’t Know in the U.S. on September 25. Murs’ has already won over our cousins across the pond with his catchy tunes (and perhaps a little assistance from his not-exactly-unappealing physical appearance), already boasting two platinum records and three #1 singles in the UK.

The former soccer player (or footballer, if you want to get sophisticated) had dreams of going pro, but a neck injury forced him to watch games from the pub rather than the field. A few successful Stevie Wonder covers on the pub’s karaoke machine led Murs to audition for the sixth season of the original UK "The X Factor." The runner-up is currently assisting One Direction on their North American tour.

Not bad for a second-choice career, huh?

Murs, who recently released his debut single “Heart Skips a Beat” (below) featuring Chiddy Bang in the U.S., isn’t the only Brit currently captivating American listeners. Check out the other British performers we’re most glad landed on American soil, and vote in our poll below for your favorite!

Read More...

Tags , , , , ,

12 Things That Give Me Hope For 2012! (Nos. 5-1)

Posted 1/4/12 3:55 pm EST by in listicle, Music, Television

A new year, a new crop of pop culture to consume. Sure, "The Hunger Games" is gonna be huge, and yep, Madonna will definitely make a splash with her follow-up to “Hard Candy.” But here’s the second part of my list of 12 releases that I’m personally shaking and crying over in 2012. Welcome to my brain, internet!

5. “Jesus Christ Superstar” on Broadway
No disrespect to my Sunday school teachers, but everything I retained from the Bible I learned from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s rock opera. What’s the buzz? Well, the creator himself (as in Mr. Webber, not … uh … the big guy upstairs) said that this particular production, which originated in Ontario, is “the best acted version of the show [he’s] seen in 40 years.” In other words, everything’s alright, yes. Everything’s fine. (Previews begin March 1, opening March 22; Jim plans on rocking “Heaven On Their Minds” at his karaoke birthday party January 20)

4. New music from Season 8 “American Idol” finalists!
Kris Allen and Adam Lambert – the top two from what I consider to be the most entertaining “Idol” season ever – both have new albums out this year. So far, we’ve only heard runner-up Lambert’s lead single, "Better Than I Know Myself." It has an infectious chorus and a radio friendly OneRepublic vibe. It’s a good start, but I’m even more excited for the full-length, Trespassing, which Lambert promises will be a darker, more electronic affair with co-writes and production assists from Pharrell Williams, Nile Rodgers and Bruno Mars, amongst others. You know you already have March 20 on your glittery calendar.

Meanwhile, Kris Allen is ready to follow-up the platinum success of "Live Like We’re Dying" with a new batch of tunes. Details are scarce thus far. All we know is that since his first album, he’s honed his skills on the road, from covering Radiohead and Chris Gaines (!) to debuting a new, impossibly cool rockabilly toss-off, he’s tweeted about listening to indie darlings Deerhunter, and his new stuff has the bigwigs at RCA Records publicly declaring their love for him. Bonus: Allen promised me he’d release this new collection on vinyl, making him the first “Idol” champ to have a full-length on wax. [edit: Sorry, Kris. David Cook totally beat you to the vinyl game. You can buy a record of his 2011 opus "This Loud Morning" exclusively at his website store. Still, make a record for the vinyl nerds and get it in real record stores!] (Tresspassing out March 20; Kris Allen’s release date and title TBA)

Read on for more! Read More...

Tags

12 Things That Give Me Hope For 2012! (Nos. 12-6)

Posted 1/4/12 2:59 pm EST by in listicle, Music, Television

A new year, a new crop of pop culture to consume. Sure, "The Hunger Games" is gonna be huge, and yep, Madonna will definitely make a splash with her follow-up to “Hard Candy.” But here’s the first part of my list of 12 releases that I’m personally shaking and crying over in 2012. Welcome to my brain, Internet!

12. Rob Lowe as Drew Peterson
You just know "I’m untouchable, bitch" will become THE catchphrase in 2012. Enjoy it now, until we get sick of it once “Drew Peterson: Untouchable” debuts on Lifetime January 21.

11. “Downton Abbey” Season Two!
At first, this British miniseries may look like every other stuffy “Masterpiece Theater” entry. But with lightning-fast pacing, relatable characters and enough “oh no she didn’t” barbs and juicy melodramatic twists to last a lifetime of Tyler Perry movies, “Downton Abbey” skirts the typical costume drama clichés. When’s the last time “PBS” and “buzz” appeared in the same sentence? (Season two premieres January 8; season one now streaming on Netflix)

10. Van Halen Reunion
Admittedly, I’m more excited for all the David Lee Roth/Eddie Van Halen drama backstage than the music they’re going to be performing on stage. Is it too late to request a reality show? [Grabs popcorn.] (Tickets go on sale January 10)

9. “Robot and Frank”
I went to film school with the dudes who made this flick, which is making its debut at Sundance, starring Frank Langella as an elderly man who gets saddled with a strange new caretaker, a robot voiced by Liev Schrieber. Ten years after I read the script for the short film version in class, I still think about it regularly. If the feature treatment is half as good as what I remember, movie fans are in for an unforgettable offbeat tale. (Sundance schedule TBA)

Read on for more! Read More...

Tags

Our Most Hoped for Hip-Hop Comebacks

Posted 9/2/11 12:00 pm EST by in hip-hop, listicle

By Zachary Swickey

Thanks to the lyrical abilities of rhyme-spitters like Lil Wayne, Kanye West and Jay-Z, the rap game is alive and well in 2011. Weezy is reportedly on track to sell around 850-900k copies of Tha Carter IV, and Watch the Throne is one of rap’s most talked about albums ever (not to mention it’s pretty damn good). With such astute rappers in today’s fast-paced music world, it’s easy to forget some of the past heavy-hitters.

Some rappers inexplicably lose their luster or disappear from the public eye altogether, but occasionally they revive their careers from the grave. Take Dr. Dre, for example. The Doc released the legendary hip-hop album The Chronic way back in ’92, but his career was basically nonexistent for most of the mid-to-late 90s. That is until he met a lanky white boy from Detroit named Eminem. Finally, seven years later – after signing one of rap’s hottest new artists – he released his follow up, 2001, which was a huge success, selling more than twice as many copies as his debut. And who knows, maybe the doctor will have yet another comeback with the eventual release of his third album, Detox, which is quickly becoming the Chinese Democracy of rap.

There are several rappers who we’d like to strongly encourage dusting the cobwebs off their mic and giving us the swagger-filled comeback albums we’re hurting for. Here are the top five hip-hop comebacks that we find ourselves craving the most. Read More...

Tags , , , ,

Things We're Looking Forward To This Fall

Posted 8/31/11 3:30 pm EST by in listicle, Lists, Movies, Music, Television

Today is the last day of August and that means fall is just around the corner. Not only is it our favorite season, it means all of our favorite TV shows will soon be returning, Oscar-caliber movies will start hitting theaters and some hot records will drop.

It was an awesome summer for entertainment. At the movies, we saw the biggest film franchise ever come to a fitting, well-made and moving conclusion with "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2," a bunch of blockbusters turned out to be better than expected ("Thor," "Captain America") and some legitimately good films turned into surprise box office success stories ("The Help," "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," "Bridesmaids," "Midnight in Paris").

As good as this summer's movies were, for us, however, this summer was all about music. We got a great collaboration record from Jay-Z and Kanye West, Watch The Throne, plenty of dance jams from Lady Gaga's Born This Way and our favorite album of the year so far landed in late June – Beyonce's 4.

Seriously, watch this and tell us she isn't the best thing since sliced bread:

So what is waiting in the wings this fall? Read on to see what we are most looking forward to in music, TV and movies. Read More...

Tags , , ,

Breaking: Teenage Pop Stars Make More Money Than You Ever Will

Posted 8/17/11 12:10 pm EST by in Justin Bieber, listicle

Justin Bieber

It should come as no surprise that Justin Bieber made bank last year. After all, the teen phenom sold a bunch of albums, turned his concert film “Never Say Never” into a box office smash, launched a bestselling fragrance and filled arenas all over the world with his ongoing “My World” concert tour. That he raked in a staggering $53 million, however, is enough to make every PhD holder in the world weep over their silly decision to major in medicine instead of pop stardom.

(Ed note: How long do you think it will take for a college to offer pop stardom as a major? “Madonna Studies” is already a legit subgenre in many media studies departments and Bowling Green State University will award you a master’s degree in pop culture.)

Bieber wasn’t the only teen star making big money last year. Miley Cyrus came in second to Bieber (but not by much), earning $48 million. Often-shirtless “Twilight” wolf Taylor Lautner cashed checks totaling $16 million, while no-longer-jailbait (ogle accordingly) Nick Jonas did well for himself too, with $12.5 million in earnings. Jayden and Willow Smith added some coin to the family piggy bank too – Jayden made $5 million, and Willow whipped her hair to the tune of a cool $4 million.

How does that stack up against what regular people make? Read on to find out! Read More...

Tags , ,

Just In Time For 'Shark Week,' Here's A Playlist With Some Teeth

Posted 8/1/11 5:30 pm EST by in listicle

Shark Week 2011

Here in the Newsroom, we spent plenty of time in the morning looking at the day and week ahead. But it was clear this AM that Discovery's "Shark Week" was also very much on our minds. We were still reveling in the magic that was "Ultimate Air Jaws" when we started brainstorming the perfect songs to play when staring a toothy great white shark down.

"Weird Fishes/Arpeggi" by Radiohead
"Shark Attack" by Split Enz
"Teeth" by Lady Gaga (She Talks About Her 'Teeth' Below)

Read More...

Tags ,

By The Numbers: Lady Gaga Reaches 12 Million Twitter Followers

Posted 7/28/11 4:00 pm EST by in Lady Gaga, listicle, Tweet Beat, Twitter

Lady Gaga, unofficial headmistress of Twitter, has reached yet another milestone on the ubiquitous social network. The “Born This Way” songstress now has over 12 million followers. (Justin Bieber is hot on her heels with about 11.3 million.)

So congrats to Mother Monster on amassing one of the biggest fan communities on the Internet. In the spirit of having a little fun, we decided to crunch the numbers and see where else in the larger culture that big total arises.

Gaga’s Twitter following tops the populations of Cuba (11.204 million) and Greece (11.283 million), and there are only six U.S. states that have populations exceeding 12 million (California, Florida, Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania and Texas).

While 12 million is a towering number, it represents just 3 percent of the total number of views for her “Bad Romance” video on VEVO.

When you apply the figure to money, you get to have all sorts of fun. For example, when you go back to your tiny apartment this evening to spray cheese out of a can onto a cracker for dinner, think of Nicole Kidman, who was paid $12 million for a two-minute Chanel No. 5 directed by her “Moulin Rouge” helmer Baz Luhrmann in 2004. Take a minute (or two!) and let that sink in.

Read More...

Tags , ,

TeenNick's 'The '90s Are All That' Block Takes MTV Newsers Back To The Good Old Days

Posted 7/26/11 5:00 pm EST by in Behind The Scenes, listicle, Television

By Stefan Doyno and John Mitchell

The ‘90s are back, and so are your favorite shows. Last night, TeenNick premiered "The ‘90s Are All That," a statement anyone in their twenties or early thirties will most certainly agree with. Twitter has been burning up with love for the classic shows that made Nickelodeon the channel it is today. Shows like "iCarly," "Drake and Josh" and "Victorious" are wildly popular with the younger generation, but it was shows like "All That," "The Amanda Show," "Rugrats," “Clarissa Explains It All” and "Doug" that paved the way and still have a special place in our hearts.

The two-hour run of shows, which air weeknights from midnight to 2AM, is not just a block of programming, it’s a movement. Viewers can "Watch. Discuss. Obsess." on Facebook and Twitter. You can also join the ongoing conversation, keep up with the evolving schedule and catch all of your favorite clips and episodes on 90sareallthat.com.

In honor of this momentously awesome occasion, the staff here in the MTV Newsroom decided to unleash our inner tween and think back on our favorite Nick shows of the 1990s. You see, unlike the kiddies catching these shows for the first time on TeenNick, we were there the first time around. Sigh. Read More...

Tags ,

Mermaids Are Old News! What Other Mythical Creature Should Lady Gaga Dress Up As?

Posted 7/20/11 2:30 pm EST by in Lady Gaga, listicle

By Stefan Doyno

I don't know if you guys have been keeping up with world news, but there are some serious issues going on right now. And by serious, I mean mermaids.

Can you believe that Katy Perry had the audacity to steal the "mermaid" idea from Lady Gaga? Yeah well, neither can I. But now the tables have turned, with Bette Midler calling Gaga out for dressing up as the mythical creature as well. The veteran singer even went on a bit of a Twitter rant defending her originality.

"I’m not sure @ladygaga knows that I’ve performed my mermaid in a wheelchair for millions of people -- and many of them are still alive….." Middler tweeted on Friday. She later added, "Dear @ladygaga Ive been doing singing mermaid in a wheelchair since 1980-You can keep the meat dress and the firecracker t*ts-mermaid's mine."

Whoa. Let's all calm down.

Obviously mythical creatures are all the rage right now, so here are some original ideas that won't get Lady Gaga into so much trouble!

Yeti
Also known as the Abominable Snowman. The Yeti is an ape-like cryptid that inhabits the Himalayan region of Tibet, Nepal and India. If anyone can pull this off, it's Gaga. Just imagine a lot of white fur.

Centaur
Forget the wacky shoes, if it's height she desires, then a Centaur is what she needs. The Centaur is an Ancient Greek creature that has a human upper body while the lower half consists of horse. It can be done. She hatched from an egg. It's not like we're reaching for the stars here.

Read More...

Tags ,

12
SPONSORS
AD:
©2013 Viacom International Inc. All Rights Reserved. MTV and all related titles and logos are trademarks of Viacom International Inc.