Leighton Meester has already made a name for herself as a TV star as Blair Waldorf on "Gossip Girl," and her upcoming film "The Roommate" could very well represent her big crossover into movies. But Meester also has a music career she's trying to develop: She signed a record deal with Universal back in April and is currently working on an album. Meanwhile, she does a guest spot on Cobra Starship's new single "Good Girls Go Bad." The video for that track doesn't debut until next week, but MTV News' Jim Cantiello gave a sneak peak to a handful of fans waiting to get into today's episode of "It's On With Alexa Chung," and here's what they had to say.

Meester is surrounding herself with the right kind of talent (including hit songwriter and "American Idol" judge Kara DioGuardi) and doesn't seem to take herself too seriously. As long as she doesn't attempt to put out a "meaningful" concept album or become obsessed with prog rock, she should do just fine. What do you think? Do you approve of Meester's multi-tasking or should she stick to TV?

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.
Read more...