MTV Newsroom › MTV News

Kanye West, Lil Wayne Headline Lakers Championship Party

Posted 6/19/09 3:51 pm EST by in MTV News, Music


By Sonya Mitchell

On Tuesday, the Los Angeles Lakers celebrated their latest NBA Championship with 250,000 people at a giant parade. But last night, they had a far more intimate party at Club Nokia in Los Angeles. The private event was quite the VIP scene, featuring only the players, their families and a handful of celebrity fans enjoying performances from Kanye West and Lil Wayne. We caught up with some of the stars on the Lakers-appropriate purple carpet.

Hiding behind the twin towers that are Pau Gasol and Luke Walton, we found "Twilight" star Ashley Greene, who found parallels between the cast of "New Moon" and the Lakers team.

"Everyone kind of came together and came out on top," she clarified. "Our cast works really hard and we all work really well together. We're all kind of a family. The Lakers are the same."

She had some sound advice for her castmate Robert Pattinson, who was hit by a cab in New York as he attempted to run across the street to escape a gaggle of fans. "Don't run in the streets Rob!"

Tags , , ,

Woman Fined $2 Million For Downloading Had Common Playlist

Posted 6/19/09 1:55 pm EST by in MTV News, Music



The most alarming aspect of yesterday's court ruling that 32-year-old Minnesota woman Jammie Thomas-Rasset owes $1.92 million for downloading 24 songs has nothing to do with the penalty (though at $80,000 per song, it is amazingly excessive). The most amazing thing was the list of songs that she's being rung up for, which include Guns N' Roses' "Welcome to the Jungle," Def Leppard's "Pour Some Sugar On Me" and Green Day's "Basket Case." I took a look at this list and thought, "Has anybody who has downloaded music not sucked down those songs?" When you consider that Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" — one of the most downloaded songs in the history of digital music — was also on there, it kicks the percentage up even further.

Which makes it all the more amazing that Thomas-Rasset was found guilty by a jury of her peers, which means they managed to find twelve people who have never downloaded music before. How could that be? Statistics are hazy, but an estimated one billion songs are passed through peer-to-peer networks each month, and a study published last year in the U.K. showed that the average teenager's iPod contains around 800 illegally obtained tracks. Does that mean everybody has to pay up for rocking Linkin Park's "One Step Closer" — another track Thomas-Rasset was rung up for?

So we ask you: Take a look at the full list of songs Thomas-Rasset downloaded and tell us how many of those tracks you've snagged without paying for them. Or maybe just remain anonymous — after all, the RIAA appears to be out for blood (and cash).

Tags , ,

Subliminal Messages That Rival The Shaker Heights Yearbook

Posted 6/18/09 1:37 pm EST by in MTV News


The senior who slid the phrase "F--- All Y'All" onto the cover of the Shaker Heights High School yearbook has managed to pull off one of the great subliminal pranks of all time. As we know all too well, rock and roll is rife with subtle messages and "backmasking," dating back to the Beatles' "Paul Is Dead" conspiracy 40 years ago. Here are our favorite subliminal messages in rock history.

Prince, "Darling Nikki"
The 1980s version of Prince was a dance-crazed sex maniac who hadn't yet found the Lord. Or had he? At the end of "Darling Nikki," one of the filthiest songs Prince has ever recorded, there's a bit of garbled speech that translates to "Hello, how are you? I am fine, because I know that the Lord is coming soon" when played backwards.
Read More...

Tags , , , , ,

Twilight, Twitter And Same Sex Marriage: The Class Of '09 Cultural Milestones

Posted 6/18/09 12:13 pm EST by in MTV News


Every graduating class has a handful of cultural milestones that will forever be etched into their high school memories (ours included the Monica Lewinsky scandal and Sisqo's "Thong Song"). For the Class of '09, those milestones include the rise of Twitter, the debate over same-sex marriage and the hardcore buzz surrounding "Twilight."

(Click here for the rest of the Class of '09's cultural milestones, plus more video devoted to this year's historic graduating class!)

As a part of MTV News' Class of '09 Week, we'll be celebrating high school graduation season with stories and memories of graduation from your favorite celebrities, but we're also looking for input from you! This is your chance to represent for your peers in the class of '09. We're looking for the best video of you explaining what you think the defining factors of your generation are. What are your goals, dreams and aspirations? What issues and roadblocks do you plan on overcoming? We'll pick out the best answer and fly the winner to New York for lunch with Sway and a taping of the brand new MTV series "It's On with Alexa Chung." The winning video will also appear on MTVNews.com and may even air on MTV!

Want to enter? Just go to your.mtv.com to create a user account and upload your video (which should be no longer than three minutes). We're looking for the clearest, most original answer to the question, "What are the defining factors of your generation, and how are these factors reflected in the hopes, dreams and aspirations of the class of '09?"

Tags , , ,

Andy Samberg's Monologue, Eminem's Record-Breaking Performance Have Tim Kash Pumped For The Movie Awards

Posted 5/29/09 9:01 pm EST by in Movie Awards, MTV News


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...

Tags , ,

Our 'American Idol' Rock Week Predictions

Posted 5/5/09 12:53 pm EST by in American Idol, MTV News


American Idol Top 4To the best of our knowledge, "American Idol" has never done a straight-up, honest-to-goodness "Rock Week." Sure, there's been a "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame" week and a "Beatles" week, but tonight's show marks the first time they're just doing "Rock." Plain, awesome "Rock."

Of course, given that this is "Idol," they're also making it as confusing as possible, which means that, depending on what you read, tonight might also be "Classic Rock" (i.e. "songs from the '70s and '80s") night, or it might be "Rock Duets" night, or it might be some combination of the two.

We know, we don't get it either.

Anyway, despite our confusion, we here in the MTV Newsroom take both "Idol" and "rocking" pretty seriously, which means that we've been exchanging countless e-mails about just what each of the final four should sing tonight ... there were no shortage of selections, and you can read some of the best after the jump. Read More...

Tags

Dave Matthews And Carter Beauford Make This MTV News Intern's Day

Posted 4/13/09 6:56 pm EST by in Behind The Scenes, Interns, MTV News


By Matt Wenzel

Today, I had the honor of meeting two-fifths of the Dave Matthews Band: drummer Carter Beauford and Matthews himself.

As an intern, I've sat in on some interesting interviews — with Bow Wow, Day26 and director Harold Ramis, just to name a few — but none seemed to have Matthews and Beauford's brand of charisma.

Read More...

Sean Connery Believes I'm Kind Of A Big Deal

Posted 3/31/09 11:50 am EST by in Behind The Scenes, MTV News


Sean Connery is a legend. He's Indiana Jones' dad. He's Bond, James Bond. And my interview with him from last night left me both shaken and stirred.

When I arrived at Dressed to Kilt — a Scottish benefit for American veterans — here in New York on Monday night, little did I know that by 8 p.m., I'd have had one of the most interesting experiences of my professional life. I've interviewed a good deal of people, but never someone like Sir Sean.

When he showed up to the red carpet, mayhem ensued: Publicists starting shuffling around and the press line shifted, so that all the reporters could get a quote from the legendary Scot. In a nutshell, everyone wanted a piece of him. So, when we saw our opportunity, we sort of bombarded him. And there I was, face to face with Connery.

I asked him about how he got involved with the event — why I chose such a mundane question is beyond my reasoning in hindsight. But now I'm happy I did, because here's what followed:

Jocelyn: How did you get involved with tonight's event?

Connery: I wrote in and sent my money, and they accepted it. But how did you get in?

Jocelyn: I'm kind of a big deal. So, I don't know if you've heard about me. (In the background you hear my coworker, Vanessa White Wolf, say to herself: Oh no!)

Read More...

25 Things About MTV News

Posted 2/6/09 4:23 pm EST by in Facebook, MTV News


By Rachel Josue

This "25 Things" Facebook chain letter has jumped the shark, now that the mainstream media has started writing about it (Thanks, USA Today!). Sure, I posted mine in my abundant free time, but do you really care that I like fish, both sushi and goldfish crackers? No. However, we thought maybe you'd like to know 25 things about our daily life here at MTV News. Then, maybe this whole trend will go away by next week.

1. The MTV newsroom overlooks Times Square.

2. Current and former MTV News correspondents number 17 in all. How many can you name?

3. Tim Kash used to be the MTV UK correspondent.

4. Kim Stolz was a contestant on "America's Next Top Model."

5. Kurt Loder will celebrate his 21st MTVersary on February 19.

6. Do you love "Detox"? Guess what, it shoots in our newsroom! (And it's really, really loud.)

7. Speaking of "Detox," host Jim Cantiello originally worked in MTV's tape-dubbing facility until he was discovered by an MTV News executive producer who read Jim's brilliant and elaborate entry in a company-wide year-end top 10 albums list. The rest is history. Read More...

An Awesome Voicemail From 'Rock Of Love' Star Bret Michaels Made My Day!

Posted 1/30/09 4:52 pm EST by in MTV News, Super Bowl


By Christina Garibaldi

One of the many perks of working at MTV News is the people you get to meet and talk to. Yet only a few have ever gotten me really excited, like my teen dreams the Backstreet Boys, Yankees slugger Derek Jeter, and now ... Poison frontman/ "Rock of Love" star Bret Michaels!

Well, I didn't actually get to talk to Bret directly, but he did leave me a pretty kick-ass voicemail. See, yesterday, two of my co-workers were talking about doing a phone interview with Michaels about his picks for the Super Bowl (since he's a Pennsylvania native but an Arizona resident, that's a bit of a dilemma — read what Bret's got to say about it here).

Upon hearing that, I was completely envious and begged just to listen in. I mean, who wouldn't want to talk to him? Isn't every girl's guilty pleasure a little "Rock of Love"? Well, it certainly is mine.

So today was the big day — and although, unfortunately, I couldn't listen in, my two co-workers had a little surprise for waiting for me. Once the interview was over, I went back to my desk and found the voicemail light blinking, and this is what I heard.
Read More...

Tags , ,

12345678910