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Jason Derulo Pulls Triple Duty At The Video Music Awards

Posted 9/11/10 8:30 pm EST by in VMAs


The first time I met Jason Derülo was in New York a couple months back at a club called SL, where he was performing for a friend's birthday. Over the road of the loud music and huge crowd, Jason and I chopped it up about music, his hit single, his career so far and made a handshake deal that we would set up an interview while he was in New York.

But after weeks of trying to coordinate schedules, we were never able to make it work. We're busy guys after all.

So when I heard Jason was in Los Angeles and coming to the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards as not only a performer but a double-nominee as well, I knew we had to honour our gentleman's agreement and finally do this interview.

Every day this week, there are a ton of VMA concert events happening all over Hollywood, and on Friday night (September 10), Jason took the stage to headline at Music Box for the Feed the Beat event.

So in between various VMA meetings, script read-thru's, interviews and rehearsals, I jumped in a car and headed down with Travie (my trusty camera dude) to catch Jason's soundcheck and get the interview we promised months ago.

Up in the balcony, Derülo and I sat down with the cameras rolling to talk about the success of his monster hit single, the honour of being nominated at the VMAs for both Best Male Video and the prestigious Best New Artist category that has been won before by some of the worlds biggest stars early on in their careers.

But on Sunday, Jason is doing triple duty as guest, nominee and performer. Our resident DJ deadmau5 remixed Jason's hit single exclusively for the VMA show, and according to Jason he has "changed the song completely ... in a great way." Jason is stoked to be taking to the VMA stage for the first time to perform a song that is his, but also not his at the same time. He can't wait to perform it, and we can't wait to hear it. No doubt everyone from Drake to Gaga will be dancing in the aisles.

The 27th annual MTV Video Music Awards will be broadcast live from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles on September 12 at 9 p.m. ET.

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'The Buried Life' Stars Return To The VMAs ... Legally This Time!

Posted 9/11/10 6:05 pm EST by in VMAs


Though the cast of MTV's "The Buried Life" may be having a hard time deciding if Lady Gaga or Eminem should win Video of the Year at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards, what really has them excited is the chance to finally be able to go to the VMAs in an invited capacity. Back in 2007, the guys crashed the VMAs and have finally found the time (and the invite) to make it to the big show when it goes live on Sunday, September 12 at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles.

"It was three years ago at the VMAs that we tried to cross off 'Walk the red carpet,'" Duncan Penn told MTV News at the VMA Radio Forum on Friday (September 10). "We broke into the VMAs, from that built a pilot and sold that to MTV. We were wearing suits we got at a thrift store and they were all like '80s power suits."

Jonnie Penn added, "So this is the first time we've been legally allowed into the VMAs since. Yeah, off the list!"

However, it seems they have yet to leave all of their legal woes behind. "Actually, you have to watch the premiere episode, but we actually end up getting arrested and our mug shots just got released on the Internet," Duncan explained.

"We didn't actually know if we could come to the VMAs because we're supposed to be in court the next day in Kansas City," Jonnie continued. "We're trying to find a way around that right now."

Here's hoping the Penns are able to put Kansas City out of their minds and enjoy the party in Los Angeles!

The 27th annual MTV Video Music Awards will be broadcast live from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles on September 12 at 9 p.m. ET.

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Will.I.Am Joins Nicki Minaj At VMAs, Adds To His List Of Classic Collaborations

Posted 9/11/10 5:00 pm EST by in VMAs


Even though the show is only a day away, the lineup for the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards keeps getting bigger by the hour. We already knew that Nicki Minaj would be making performing the pre-show (which airs live this Sunday, September 12 at 8 p.m. Eastern on MTV), but now comes word that Black Eyed Peas member and super-producer will.i.am will be on board for the proceedings.

A remarkable musical mind, will.i.am not only has he churned out a number of hits with his primary outlet the Black Eyed Peas, but he has also gone off the reservation to collaborate with some huge stars for some massive hits. What are his five best? We're glad you asked.

Estelle, "American Boy"
Not only did will.i.am produce this track, which featured a guest spot from Kanye West and charted in 18 different countries, but he also dropped in a sample "Impatient," a tune from his 2007 solo album Songs About Girls. He laid down an absolutely killer groove, and Estelle and Kanye worked their magic on top of it.

Usher, "OMG"
One of the biggest smashes of the summer of 2010, "OMG" has will.i.am's fingerprints all over it: You can easily dance to it and you can't get it out of your head (no matter how hard you try). He pulls double duty, as he also drops a guest vocal on the track.

U2, "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight"
Though he has never strayed very far from the hip-hop or pop worlds, will.i.am's foray into the rock universe happens to be exceptional. Read More...

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The 2010 VMA Pre-Show White Carpet Continues To Come Together!

Posted 9/11/10 3:00 pm EST by in VMAs


The VMA.MTV.com">2010 MTV Video Music Awards are getting so close, you can almost taste them (and they taste like madness — delicious madness). The show will kick off on Sunday, September 12 at 9 p.m. live from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, but the action gets started with the official pre-show at 8 p.m. Eastern. That will be your first opportunity to check out all the biggest stars in music (including Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Eminem, Drake, Taylor Swift and Ke$ha) arriving in style. What will they be wearing? Who will they be bringing? And what will they think of Nicki Minaj's sure-to-be-stellar pre-show performance? Tune in for the VMA pre-show at 8 p.m. on MTV, or check out the live blog that will be going on right here at the MTV Newsroom Blog.

This year, the stars arriving to the MTV Video Music Awards will be welcomed into the Nokia Theatre by a white carpet and an impressively large staging area, all of which is being put together at this very moment. The long white carpet has already been partially laid out, the mysterious stages are being build and the backdrop to all the hot photos of the stars arriving is already in place. Check out the live feed of the construction below, and if you really like the look of that white carpet, be sure to enter our white carpet contest, because we're still giving away pieces of it.

The 27th annual MTV Video Music Awards will be broadcast live from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles on September 12 at 9 p.m. ET.

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Justin Bieber, Nicki Minaj VMA Seat Assignments Revealed!

Posted 9/11/10 2:00 pm EST by in VMAs


We have sort of been obsessing over the seat cards that currently sit inside the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, saving the places of all the biggest stars who will be attending the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards this Sunday, September 12. But it's sort of exciting to check out exactly where your favorite stars will be and who they will be sitting close to. After all, the friendly conversations that go down during commercial breaks could easily become the source of great collaborations or headline-grabbing beef.

MTV News' Jim Cantiello did some poking around inside the venue and found a treasure trove of seat assignments for some of the biggest stars of the VMAs. He found that Justin Bieber will only be two rows in front of Nicki Minaj (which feels like an unhinged collaboration waiting to happen), and Ke$ha sits only a row ahead of Bieber. It should create an interesting dynamic between the three, as they are all nominated for the Moonman for Best New Artist. Also sitting in that general vicinity? Bieber mentor and fellow VMA performer Usher, as well as hitmaking songwriter and producer Sean Garrett (who has already worked with both Usher and Minaj). And of course Cantiello gravitated toward the section that contains Gaga, Emiem and Diddy, which will be perhaps the most coveted row in the entire building.

The 27th annual MTV Video Music Awards will be broadcast live from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles on September 12 at 9 p.m. ET.

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MTV VMA Video Of The Year Winners, From Worst To First

Posted 9/11/10 1:00 pm EST by in VMAs


By the time the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards wrap up late Sunday night, a total of 16 awards will be handed out to the various winners at the show. The most coveted Moonman is, of course, the prize for Video of the Year, the clip that personifies the height of music video greatness for the past 12 months. This year's crop includes six well-deserving nominees, including B.o.B's "Airplanes," 30 Seconds to Mars' "Kings and Queens," Florence and the Machine's "Dog Days Are Over," Eminem's "Not Afraid" and a pair of clips from Lady Gaga ("Bad Romance" and "Telephone"). No matter who wins, the victor will join an exclusive club that contains some of the biggest artists of the past three decades (including Madonna, Britney Spears, Eminem, Aerosmith, Green Day, Van Halen and Sinéad O'Connor).

But no awards show is perfect. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has handed out Oscars for Best Picture to the likes of forgettable afterthoughts like "Shakespeare in Love," "Crash," "Kramer vs. Kramer" and "Chicago." The dudes from Steely Dan have a Grammy for Album of the Year for Two Against Nature. "Everybody Loves Raymond" won a pair of Emmys for Outstanding Comedy Series. There are always some missteps, and the MTV Video Music Awards are not immune to them. So check out the list below of all of the clips that have won Video of the Year, ranked from the most regrettable to the absolutely indisputable.

Jamiroquai, "Virtual Insanity" (1997)
Had the concept of viral video been around in 1997, Jamiroquai's "Virtual Insanity" would have become a much-passed-around hit and then would have vanished within three days (sadly, home use of the Internet was still pretty nascent). It's visually interesting in a how'd-they-pull-it-off? sort of way, sure, but both the band and the song have fallen completely by the wayside as far as relevance is concerned. The winner in 1997 probably should have been Beck's "The New Pollution" or No Doubt's "Don't Speak."

Neil Young, "This Note's For You" (1989)
Neil Young is great — a living legend if there ever was one. But does anybody remember anything about any of this?

The Cars, "You Might Think" (1984)
No disrespect to the Cars, but this somehow beat Michael Jackson's "Thriller." Argument over.
Read More...

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Lady Gaga, Lil' Kim And Mudvayne Lead The List Of VMA Fashion Legends

Posted 9/11/10 12:00 pm EST by in VMAs


It wouldn't be the MTV Video Music Awards without a killer pre-show, so that's exactly what you'll be getting when you tune in on Sunday, September 12 at 8 p.m. Eastern on MTV. MTV News' own Sway and Tim Kash will take you directly to the white carpet outside of the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, where they will chat with each and every one of the biggest stars making their way inside to one of the biggest parties of the year. You'll also be treated to a performance by breakout hip-hop star Nicki Minaj. We'll be live blogging all the action right here on the MTV Newsroom Blog, so be sure to check it out once the show kicks off.

One of the highlights of the pre-show every year is being able to check out all of the fashion choices that your favorite stars have made. The MTV Video Music Awards have always been a haven for envelope-pushing clothes, and there is no one way to show up. Some stars go the glamor route, donning a sharp suit or a gown that could easily be worn to the Oscars or the Grammys. Others go completely casual, wearing little more than a clean T-shirt (guys with guitars tend to do this a lot — we're looking at you, Dave Pirner).

(Click here for more MTV Video Music Awards fashion legends, including Lady Gaga, Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Lopez and Lil' Kim!)

Still, the most memorable fashion moments tend to come when people decide to really let their hair down and go all out. Remember Lady Gaga's cavalcade of costume changes during the 2009 VMAs? What about Lil' Kim's notoriously revealing outfit in 1999? Or Macy Gray's self-promoting dress in 2001?

But when Mudvayne showed up to the VMAs in 2001, they were embracing the best of all worlds. They metal quartet was decked out in tuxedos with white dinner jackets, except they were also made up to look like they each had a gaping head wound. With their outfits spattered in fake blood (or was it?), they definitely left an impression on both the viewers and the other stars present.

(Click here for more MTV Video Music Awards fashion legends, including Lady Gaga, Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Lopez and Lil' Kim!)

Who will have the most eye-popping fashion displays at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards? Tune in to the VMA pre-show live this Sunday, September 12 at 8 p.m. on MTV and follow the live blog action right here at the MTV Newsroom Blog!

The 27th annual MTV Video Music Awards will be broadcast live from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles on September 12 at 9 p.m. ET.

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Lady Gaga Challenges Herself For Video Of The Year: Better Know A VMA Category

Posted 9/11/10 11:00 am EST by in VMAs


The 2010 MTV Video Music Awards are fast approaching, which means that soon you'll be treated to an excellent night of performances and appearances by the likes of Eminem, Linkin Park, Usher, Paramore, Kanye West, Justin Bieber, Drake, Florence and the Machine, B.o.B and Deadmau5 (who will serve as the house DJ at the show). While people tend to remember the classic performances and the unhinged moments, the coveted Moonman is the reason why people show up and tune in. This year, there are 16 categories wherein some of the biggest music stars in the universe will compete for the coolest trophy in awards shows. Today, we take a look at the last of the nominees in the Video of the Year category.

We have run through 15 other categories, and the only one left is the big one: Video of the Year. Over the next few days (leading up to the actual VMA show this Sunday), we'll take a look at each one of the Video of the Year nominees individually. Next up: Lady Gaga, who has two nominations for Video of the Year in "Bad Romance" and "Telephone." Though many artists (like Green Day, Madonna and the Smashing Pumpkins) have had more than one video nominated at the same show, nobody has ever had to square off against herself in the Video of the Year category the way that Gaga does. It's only fitting, considering her commitment to the music video form. Indeed, every time she unveiled a new clip this year, it was a big event simply because of the size and scope of her clips.

Even though "Telephone" is the bigger, longer, more colorful of the two videos, "Bad Romance" is the one that expresses the Gaga worldview more acutely (when you compound the fact that the song was a bigger hit than "Telephone," it's no wonder "Bad Romance" has 10 total nominations). It's full of eye-popping fashion, unusual dance moves, near-nudity and a peculiar, otherworldly sci-fi aesthetic that makes it particularly engaging and thrilling. On the other hand, "Telephone" is an epic, cinematic Technicolor nightmare full of references, cheeky jokes and, of course, Beyoncé. Both "Bad Romance" and "Telephone" are not only among the best videos made all year, but also could safely be added to the list of the greatest music videos of all time, alongside such greats as Michael Jackson's "Thriller," Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer," Guns N' Roses' "November Rain" and Nine Inch Nails' "Closer."

Because of her dominance in this year's nominations (if you include her contributions to Beyoncé's "Video Phone," Gaga has an astounding 18 nods under her belt), Gaga should be considered the odds-on favorite to take home the night's most coveted Moonman. But could her dual nomination for Video of the Year split her votes and allow for somebody else to take the lead in an upset? Gaga will almost certainly be walking away from Sunday night's show with some hardware, but whether or not she'll take home Video of the Year remains this weekend's most intriguing question.

The 27th annual MTV Video Music Awards will be broadcast live from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles on September 12 at 9 p.m. ET.

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What Will Eminem, Lady Gaga And Diddy Talk About At The VMAs?

Posted 9/11/10 9:00 am EST by in VMAs


With only a few dozen hours to go until the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards get started in grand fashion, preparations at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles are coming together fast and furious. The stage — which is being whispered about in the sort of tones normally reserved for game-changing secrets — has been built, the white carpet construction continues, the performers are rehearsing and, best of all, the seat assignments have been doled out. As MTV News' Jim Cantiello explained earlier in the week, the seats inside the venue are arranged in a very specific pattern for maximum exposure and ease of access for the nominees, performers, presenters and their guests. MTV News' own Jonathan Goldner slipped inside the Nokia Theatre to sneak a peek at the seating arrangements, and he uncovered the coolest trifecta in the building.

(Click here for more behind the scenes photos from the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards, including rehearsal shots from Justin Bieber, Usher, Drake and Florence and the Machine!)

You're seeing that correctly: That's Lady Gaga, Eminem and Diddy all sitting in the same row. Those placards combine the most-nominated star, the hottest performer and a former VMA host all in one package. What will their conversations during commercial breaks be like? Will Gaga try to recruit Slim Shady for a collaboration? Will Diddy offer Gaga fashion advice? Will Eminem look to add a late guest verse on Last Train to Paris? The possibilities are endless, and since the MTV Video Music Awards is a show where people can come together (you're welcome, Russell and Katy), time will tell what may come out of this particular row.

In any event, it will be thrilling to see these stars (plus the dozens of others who will be present) live when the show kicks off on Sunday, September 12!

(Click here for more behind the scenes photos from the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards, including rehearsal shots from Justin Bieber, Usher, Drake and Florence and the Machine!)

The 27th annual MTV Video Music Awards will be broadcast live from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles on September 12 at 9 p.m. ET.

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Justin Bieber Sang To Me At His VMA Rehearsal

Posted 9/11/10 1:12 am EST by in VMAs


By Sohyung Kang

I am an admitted Belieber. "Baby" is my jam. I blast his songs in the office on a daily basis, despite the fact that I am in my late 20s and probably should have outgrown listening to bubblegum pop long ago.

So when I was given the opportunity to watch the Beebz rehearse outside for his VMA performance, I leapt from my chair, skipped, and then threw up from the excitement. OK, I didn't. But I really wanted to.

I stood 10 feet away from Bieber as he practiced a medley of his biggest hits. The pop prince turned out to be quite the perfectionist, going through multiple takes before being satisfied with his singing and dancing. He even went so far as to exclaim that he "sounded like crap!" after one run-through. But you didn't, Justin. Your voice took me to a beautiful meadow of sunshine and lollipops.

The highlight of the rehearsal was when he looked me in the eye and sang to me. That's right, Justin Bieber pointed right at me and serenaded me. So what if it's only because I happened to step directly in front of him by accident? Let me have my moment.

I'm not at liberty to share any more details about his performance, so you'll just have to check out these pictures and then tune in to the VMAs on Sunday. I promise it will be amazing. Just remember that he's crooning to me, and not you, though.

Boo-ya!

The 27th annual MTV Video Music Awards will be broadcast live from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles on September 12 at 9 p.m. ET.

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