Before you watch Taylor Swift hosting and performing on "Saturday Night Live" this weekend, spend some time on CBS checking out "Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers," an MMA event live from the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. The main event features legendary heavyweight Fedor "The Last Emperor" Emelianenko in a match against undefeated up-and-comer Brett Rogers. The card also features another excellent heavyweight match-up between Brazilians Fabricio Werdum and Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva and an intriguing head-to-head with Gegard Mousasi and Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou. It should be a fun night of fighting (if you're into that sort of thing).
But even if you're not into the sweet science of kickboxing and grappling, one particular fight is not to be missed. The wildly entertaining Jason "Mayhem" Miller — host of MTV's "Bully Beatdown" — will compete for the Strikeforce middleweight championship against friend and rival (and multi-time "Bully Beatdown" guest fighter) Jake Shields. Miller is a singularity in the MMA world who is more than willing to put his personality ahead of his fighting record (though he is an impressive 22-6). As anybody who watches "Bully Beatdown" can attest, he is a manic presence with a sick sense of humor and a seemingly boundless storehouse of energy. In a world where the elite are sometimes overly serious, Miller introduces a welcome bit of liveliness and humor into the proceedings. Need proof? Check out Miller's breakdown of the upcoming fight.
He's also likely to walk out of the cage on Saturday night with a championship belt around his waist. Though Miller's unhinged personality sometimes bleeds too much into his fighting style (he's been known to lose patience or become reckless for the sake of entertainment), Shields is more of a ground fighter. As long as Miller can keep the fight on the feet (where he has a clear advantage), he can probably knock out Shields. Besides, he has by far the best entrance in all of MMA.
Tomorrow night, Taylor Swift will once again grace the stage at Studio 8H at Rockefeller Center when she serves as both the host and musical guest on this week's edition of "Saturday Night Live." It's familiar territory for Swift, who was last on the show back in January, making this her second appearance overall (and the second in this calendar year). Considering the cast hasn't shifted that dramatically between last season and this one, she should be comfortable and familiar with her surroundings. As her promos for this week's show — as well as the promos she cut with host Neil Patrick Harris back in January — she's perfectly comfortable with banter.
Swift wouldn't reveal very much about this weekend's show (except that nothing would be off limits), there are a few things that are almost certain to happen on Saturday night.
She'll Be In An Andy Samberg-fueled Digital Short: When the gig was announced, this was the only thing on Swift's wishlist. And she's done well in the past with experiments like this — remember her collaboration with T-Pain? Read more...
It's always a magical thing when you meet musicians or actors you admire and they turn out to be decent human beings. (We've all heard the horror stories, am I right?) Well, I'm pleased to say that I gave the cast of the hit show "Glee" cast my "Are They Jerks?" litmus test this morning, and they passed with flying colors.
Lea Michele (Rachel), Cory Monteith (Finn) and Amber Riley (Mercedes) stopped by MTV News to talk about the brand spankin' new "Glee: Music, Volume 1" soundtrack album, which just dropped this week. We snagged them at the tail-end of an intense week-long promo whirlwind, but you'd never know we were their 700th interview, given their bright faces and genuine dispositions. (700 might be an exaggeration. Sue me.)
You'll get to see my interview with the cast soon enough. We touched on everything from Madonna to Joss Whedon to off-screen romance rumors (which the adorably cozy Cory and Lea dodged like pros). Oh, and then there was that one moment when Lea totally geeked out and begged Adam Lambert to duet with her.
So keep your eyes peeled for tons of "Glee" stories in the coming days. Plus, MTV News got its very own slushy facial from a certain someone. Confused? You won't be. Trust me — it's epic.
In this age of 24-hour media, it's crazy to imagine that Rihanna has managed to go so long without really sitting down for an interview about the night of February 8, when she was assaulted by then-boyfriend Chris Brown. Friday night (November 6), she'll appear on ABC's "20/20" for a full sit-down interview with Diane Sawyer. A portion of that interview debuted on "Good Morning America" this morning, and the singer spoke tearfully about the aftermath. "People put me on a very unrealistic pedestal," she said. "And all these expectations ... I'm not perfect."
She was talking about the questions that arose when she and Brown were spotted vacationing together only three weeks after the assault, but she could have easily been discussing the way her music is currently being consumed.
The uphill battle for Rihanna is avoiding the "victim" tag in her return to the music world. So far, the new singles, images and video that she has produced for her new album Rated R cast her as a strong, independent, almost otherwordly woman. "I pitch with a grenade/ Swing away if you're feeling brave/ There's so much power in my name," she sings on "Wait Your Turn (The Wait Is Ova)." While the music we've heard so far is a little more deliberate than her past singles (and not nearly as catchy as something like "Umbrella" or "Disturbia"), there's an underlying toughness in her lyrics, as though she's daring everybody to question her spirit.
We won't know if Rihanna's entire musical focus has shifted until we hear the rest of Rated R (which hits stores November 23), but one thing is for sure: The perception of her music will certainly shift, at least for the time being. Plenty of people are already wondering why there weren't more direct references to Brown in the single "Russian Roulette," but that seems like an unfair set of expectations. She has gone through a traumatic event in a very public forum, and it's almost certain that whatever she felt in the aftermath exists in the subtext of whatever she's going to put out.
After a few months of relative silence following his altercation with Rihanna, Chris Brown is back with a new album (Graffiti, due in stores December 8), a fresh set of singles, an otherworldly video and a "Fan Appreciation" tour. It's a long road back, and Brown is taking it one step at a time.
But plenty of questions still remain, which is why MTV News correspondent Sway traveled to Brown's home in Virginia for an extended sit-down with the singer. It was a no-holds-barred conversation, and the result will be revealed on Friday (November 6) when "Chris Brown: The Interview" airs at 6 p.m. on MTV.
Brown was ready for Sway's questions, as he said he has posed them to himself over and over again since the fateful night in February. "My thoughts [when I look back on it now] is like, 'Why did it happen?' Like, 'What was I thinking? What is wrong with you?' That's what I'm thinking with myself."
The singer said that it was "anger" that drove him to strike Rihanna, adding "Young people, we do before we think." But he's clearly struggling to make amends and figure out what he must take away from the experience. "It's like, 'How do we get past it? How do you, Chris' — talking to myself — 'how do you go from point A to point B? How do you learn from your mistakes, turn it into a positive and help other people with the situation, and at the end of the day become the person that you want to be?'"
For more, be sure to tune into "Chris Brown: The Interview," this Friday, November 6, at 6 p.m. on MTV.
Justin Bieber's promotional blitz for his debut album My World continued yesterday when the 15-year-old singer hit yet another milestone. Bieber made his daytime television debut on yesterday's episode of "Ellen." He performed his first single "One Time," sat down for a brief conversation with the host and got a bit of one-on-one time with some rabid fans.
During their short chat, Bieber told DeGeneres how he parlayed his Internet stardom into a bidding war between Justin Timberlake and Usher, which has lead to his tremendous crossover success. He also told DeGeneres that he attempted to spin his success into a relationship with another pop star.
"Did you ask Rihanna out? Is that true?" DeGeneres asked.
"Yes, that did happen. I just went in," Bieber said.
"And what did Rihanna say?"
"Well, I'm not dating her," he replied. Still, he held out hope for a possible relationship in the future. "Maybe in a few years."
DeGeneres repeatedly called Bieber "adorable," and the singer told her that the biggest lesson he has learned from his new mentor is that he needs to "stay humble." Bieber's debut album My World hits stores on November 17, and his new single "Favorite Girl" — a funky, groovy, swaggerific jam — just debuted on iTunes today. So far, Bieber has dropped three other singles ("One Time," "One Less Lonely Girl" and "Love Me"), each of which has catapulted up the iTunes charts ("Favorite Girl" currently sits at #4). Check out his "Ellen" performance of "One Time" below.
Sometimes it seems like the producers of "Dancing with the Stars" are daring the audience not to drift into a boredom-induced coma during the results shows. In fact, the very concept of "results shows" should really be stricken from the television lexicon. A creation of the reality show revolution, they stretch 30 seconds of content into an interminable Möbius strip of recaps, guest appearances and pre-commercial teases that can only lull the viewing audience into a deep sleep or drive them completely homicidal. (It's mostly the former, probably.) Last night's episode of "Dancing with the Stars" was the worst kind of offender, as it delayed a foregone conclusion (the elimination of both Michael Irvin and Mark Dacascos) with padding care of Rod Stewart, Colbie Caillat and the premiere of the almost-boy-band featuring Mark Ballas and Derek Hough.
This week's performance show wasn't much better, though it did set some drama in motion for the final episodes of the show. The final four all had extra-solid performances this week, especially Aaron Carter, who has swung from frontrunner to loathed bottom-feeder to underdog and now seems primed to make a run at Mya for the top spot. Donny Osmond also remains in the mix, and though it seems like he's still kept around to keep the 60-something ladies in heat, he did have one of his best dances this week. Joanna Krupa and Kelly Osbourne round out the top five, with the latter easily showing the greatest improvement between the beginning of the season and now. (Between Kelly's dancing and Ozzy and Sharon's killer bits on WWE's "Raw," Monday night was a big one for the Osbourne clan.)
In the end, Irvin was shown the door, but not before he gave an enthusiastic exit speech that mentioned something about the economy (was his dancing supposed to inspire job growth?). He was followed by Dacascos. Both were in over their heads and probably should have been kicked out weeks ago. But all's well that ends well, as the final five represent four contestants who have consistently performed well (Mya, Carter, Osmond and Krupa) along with the one constantly-improving underdog (Osbourne). The next few weeks should provide some great drama, but maybe ABC could just text us the results next week?
Last night, Ozzy Osbourne took some time off from jamming with Metallica and headed to Worcester, Massachusetts to invade WWE's "Raw," the sports entertainment company's long-running weekly live show. Osbourne was accompanied by wife and manager Sharon, and he presided over the two hours with an iron fist, making matches, cutting promos and referring constantly to "Crazy Train." He also made copious plugs for his upcoming book "I Am Ozzy," his forthcoming autobiography that hits stores in January. (Sample text: "I survived a direct hit by a plane, suicidal overdoses, STDs. I've been accused of attempted murder. Then I almost died while riding over a bump on a quad bike at f---ing two miles per hour." The rest of it must be awesome.)
In the show's best segment, Ozzy, Sharon and seven foot giant the Great Khali sat in as judges on a segment called "Raw's Got Talent." Comedy act Santino Marella bit the head off of a Batman action figure in a pale homage to Ozzy's notorious bat-biting incident. But then "The Masterpiece" Chris Masters came up and flexed his ample muscles rhythmically to "Crazy Train," which drew big cheers from the crowd and genuine laughs from Ozzy.
WWE has been recruiting guest hosts for its Monday night show for a few months now, and Ozzy is one of the few musicians to step into the ring for the show. (Snoop Dogg and the men of ZZ Top already beat him to the punch.)
If nothing else, last night's show reminded everybody of the greatness of Ozzy's output, particularly "Crazy Train," which is always good for one more spin.
Ellen DeGeneres spent most of the month of October pranking staffers and celebs on her show, so when Taylor Swift stopped by last Thursday (October 29), she probably should have been expecting something. But based on video evidence, the country star was caught completely off guard by the newest "American Idol" judge.
Swift followed in the footsteps of Katie Couric, Mario Lopez, Lauren Graham and David Spade, who all got a little scare from Ellen. DeGeneres showed the audience Swift's prank on Friday's episode of the show, and in the grand scheme of everyone who got pranked, Taylor definitely was the biggest scaredy cat.
The pranks all followed the same sort of formula: Ellen sent stars off to a green room where she told them there was a picture of the pair hanging up in the bathroom. Just as the celeb walked into the bathroom, Ellen popped out from behind a door to give them a fright. For the most part, people just kind of did a quick scream and laughed it off, but Taylor got truly frightened.
She got so scared of Ellen's prank that she screamed very loudly and fell to the floor. After a few seconds she composed herself, started laughing hysterically with Ellen and shared a hug with the talk show host. Ellen said it best: "Oh my god! That was the best one yet!"
Leave it to the hard-hitting folks at "South Park" to do more for conservationism than fifteen cable reality shows put together. In last night's episode, the long-running Comedy Central series took on Japan's heavily-criticized whaling industry by way of targeting the do-nothing marauder antics of Animal Planet's aquatic melodrama "Whale Wars."
But while character Stan Marsh was off sinking fishing boats (and generating headlines like "New 'Whale Wars' Cast Member Turns Vegan P---ies Into Actual Pirates"), fellow South Park resident Eric Cartman was adding some flavor to the proceedings with an amazing interpretation of none other than Lady Gaga's VMA-nominated "Poker Face."
First introduced while playing "Rock Band" earlier in the show, Cartman's enthusiastic rendition of "Poker Face" was later memorialized during a particularly hilarious montage later in the episode. Check out that first scene below, and if you have the time, click here to watch the entire episode online.
