Look, we all know what you're doing this weekend. You're not preparing for Thanksgiving, raking the last of your leaves before the snow arrives or indulging in this year's batch of Beaujolais Nouveau. Rather, you're going to be at your local cinema watching Taylor Lautner's perfectly-sculpted abdominal muscles in "The Twilight Saga: New Moon." And we can't blame you — it's a heck of a roller coaster ride through teenage angst and vampire mythology. But in between screenings (because you're obviously seeing it more than once), you should catch up on everything you missed this week here on the Newsroom blog.

» Last weekend saw a couple of cool-looking flash mobs in honor of Janet Jackson's Number Ones, and we had a first-person account from one of the dancers. (Be sure to catch Janet this Sunday on the American Music Awards, where she'll open the show.)

» MTV mourned the passing of comedian, TV producer and "Remote Control" host Ken Ober with classic clips and testimonials from friends.

» Rihanna premiered the hotly-anticipated video for "Russian Roulette," which really made us think about the head wound Balthazar Getty received in a David Lynch movie.

» Are you a hardcore fan of Adam Lambert, Kris Allen or Allison Iraheta? Make sure you enter our photo contest, with the winner receiving an autographed copy of the new issue of Elle magazine, which features all three!

» There was no shortage of other "American Idol" news this week. For example, we now know why Kris Allen changed his Twitter name.
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"It's gonna be sexy, I think. The wardrobe is amazing. I'm working with 10 dancers that I'm so impressed by. I was looking for a certain sensuality — five guys, five girls and they're all incredible."

-"American Idol" runner-up and For Your Entertainment mastermind Adam Lambert, telling MTV News about his upcoming performance on this Sunday night's American Music Awards broadcast, which marks the first time he'll sing in prime time since the "American Idol" finale in the spring. It'll be a big week for Lambert, as he will perform on Sunday and then drop his debut album on Monday, challenging a number of other high-profile artists (including Rihanna, Susan Boyle, Beyonc&233;, Lady Gaga and Shakira) to a Thanksgiving-week sales war. Lambert also talked about the band he brought together (the same group he just debuted online). "I auditioned a band a couple weeks ago that I've been working with," he told MTV News' Larry Carroll. "I'm so impressed by [them] and it feels really good to be part of a team situation again. It's great because I'm back in a team environment and it reminds me of my roots in musical theater." Check out Lambert — as well as the rest of the AMA performers, like Jay-Z, Rihanna, Eminem and Janet Jackson — this Sunday at 8 p.m. on ABC.

A week ago, a group of David Archuleta fans surprised me (and my co-workers) with a stream of goodies, from flowers to gourmet cupcakes to Kenny G Christmas albums.

Kris Allen fans decided to take a page from "Teen Witch" and play "Top That," metaphorically speaking. The result was a delicious early birthday cake that read "Happy Birthday Jim! #KrimForever."

Since Krim (the nickname Kris Allen gave our little tag team) was about to have another playdate in the form of an interview, I figured I should wait for Mr. Allen's arrival before I dug in. This caused a lot of angry sighs from my mooching co-workers (who now act way too entitled when it comes to tasty treats from "Idol" fans, if you ask me).

After Kris spoke about his fantastic new CD (in stores now), it was time to indulge! Now if only we had silverware.

Watch the video below to watch Krim devour the cakey goodness in a particularly animalistic way.

Thanks again Kris Allen fans! Archie fans need to step up their game if they want to be back in the running for the "Sweetest Ever" title! (Just kidding! You all win! Please stop sending gifts! Save your money for "Idol" CDs!)

Attention all Kradison fans! Want your favorite Season 8 "Idol" star's autograph? MTV News and Elle magazine can hook you up!

In honor of the December issue of Elle — which features a three-page spread starring Kris Allen, Adam Lambert and Allison Iraheta — MTV News is holding a contest to find the #1 fan for each contestant. How can you show your level of fandom?

Easy! Pick up a copy of Elle, read Joey Zee's "A to Zee" column about each contestant's sense of style and do your best to replicate your fave's fashion in your own photo!

Are you gaga for Glambert? Flat-iron your hair, bust out the eyeliner and squeeze into your tightest leather pants. Are you a Krisbert? Rock the plaid and unbutton your shirt to dangerous depths. Or is Allison Iraheta your #1? You'll need a fiery red mane and an aura of general awesomeness.

Keep in mind we're not looking for exact copies of the photos in the Elle spread. Be creative! Whoever captures the essence of their favorite singer will be handsomely rewarded.

With what you ask? Three winners (one for each contestant) will each receive a copy of Elle signed by their favorite "Idol." The Kris fan will get a John Hancock from Kris, the Adam fan will get a signature from the Fierce One and the #1 Allison follower will get a copy signed by Her Royal Rockness.

Here's how you enter: Go to Your.MTV.com, create an account (if you haven't done so already) and then upload your photo! The deadline for submission is November 30, 2009 at Noon EST. I'll be going through the pics and selecting a winner personally, so make them fun, friends!

The contest is officially underway, so Kradison krazies, get your dress-up on now!

Dear Adam Lambert,

I am so sorry about last night. My co-worker, Larry Carroll, asked if you were ticklish on the Us Weekly "Hot Hollywood" red carpet. And then things got awkward. It's all my fault.

Here's what happened.

Yesterday afternoon, my boss emailed me to say that you and Kris Allen were scheduled to walk the Us Weekly red carpet event, and that I should send Larry some questions. Given that you and I are scheduled for a sit-down interview next week (can't wait, by the way!) I didn't want to give Larry all my questions, so I jokingly emailed, "Ask Adam if he's ticklish. I'm just kidding. Don't really ask that."

Well, Larry apparently took me seriously, because he opened his interview by saying "Jim Cantiello wants to know if you're ticklish."

"That's a little creepy, Jim," you said. "I think it's a private fantasy of his. I'm unaware of it."

If you need me, I'll be crawling into a hole and dying.

Dude, I assure you I'm not a creep. I don't have tickle fantasies.

In any case, I can't wait to talk to you about your excellent new album next week. And I promise that you will realize as soon as you meet me again that I'm not a psycho, and that this whole tickle thing was a big, silly misunderstanding.

Best of luck at the American Music Awards this Sunday. And whatever you do, do not watch this episode of "Tweet Beat."

Professionally,

Jim Cantiello
MTV News "American Idol" Expert

During his tenure on "American Idol," Adam Lambert always showed signs of a glam rocker buried deep beneath the network television-friendly exterior. Now that he is dictating his career, the floodgates have opened. Last week, we saw the first photos from the video shoot for "For Your Entertainment," which appears to be set at an S&M club in the "Mad Max" universe. Yesterday, Lambert hopped on Twitter and revealed the first photo of his band to the universe. The five person combo keeps the theme going, combining Rihanna's taste for bondage with the end-of-humanity styling in John Carpenter's "Escape from New York."

The band will be appearing in the "For Your Entertainment" video and will also perform on stage with Lambert when he plays the American Music Awards, which air live this Sunday, Novmeber 22 on ABC and will also feature Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston and Jay-Z.

One striking thing about the photo of Lambert's band: In those costumes, they sort of look like goth New Wave futurists Orgy. This is an excellent development, as Orgy were a perpetually underrated band that were strangely lumped in with nü metal (being on Korn's record label probably didn't help) but actually dealt in glammy, pulsating futurist rock that featured healthy doses of Bowie and the Cure. Of course, we already have a sense of what For Your Entertainment is going to sound like, and it's nothing like Orgy, but it's refreshing to have a group that deals in such interesting aesthetic choices. For Your Entertainment is less than a week away, and it promises to be a huge juggernaut.

If you were in Hollywood yesterday and saw more leather chaps than usual, don't panic — it was just Adam Lambert's music video shoot. No big deal.

Actually, yes big deal. Massive deal! So much so that paparazzi came out of the woodwork to snap some photos that should help shed some light on the treatment behind the clip for Lambert's first official album music video, "For Your Entertainment."

Here's what we knew before the photos leaked: the video was directed by Lady Gaga collaborator Ray Kay, and would be shot at the Alexandria Hotel in Los Angeles.

What did we learn from the photos? Adam Lambert is fully embracing the S&M lyrics featured in his single. Greased up dancers are dolled up in leather, dog collars, nipple clamps (zoinks!) and platform boots. He's not kidding when he asks in the song, "Push the limit/ Are you with it?" This video shoot looks like it's pushing boundaries well past the mountains and hurricanes Adam had to sing about on the "Idol" finale.

Hooray!

"American Idol" blogger MJ gathered a bunch of intel from eyewitnesses who claimed to have seen a "destroyed ballroom" set featuring Buddhist statues, champagne and lawn chairs. From the sound of it, it could be a genius mash-up of Nine Inch Nails "Closer" video with the slick excess of late '90s hip hop videos.

I'm downright giddy that Lambert (and his team) are fully embracing his wild side. One of the highlights of this past summer's "Idol" tour was Lambert's in-your-face sexuality and swagger. Judging from these leaked photos (which have the rocker in head-to-toe leather holding a gold cane), they're letting Lambert unleash the fierce in a bold way. In other words, those of you disappointed with the lack of makeup in the "Time for Miracles" clip should have nothing to gripe about now. He's going there. Awesome.

What do you think of these photos? How excited are you for Adam's new video? How much do you think MTV will have to edit in order to play it on the channel? And how in the world is he going to dramatize the lyric, "I'ma work ya 'til you're totally blown?" Comment away below!

Dye your hair with Kool-Aid and start joking about cutting, because 30-second snippets of Allison Iraheta's major label debut Just Like You have hit the web. Everybody knows I was less-than-thrilled with the super-poppy, heavily-processed vocals of Iraheta's Max Martin-produced single "Friday I'll Be Over U." But will the rest of her album make me happy? Let's go through these too-short snippets and see.

» "Friday I'll Be Over U"
This.

» "Robot Love"
In this pulsating electro-pop ditty (which samples Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll Part II"), Iraheta is pissed that her boyfriend is in love with a robot. Whether said robot is an actual lady cyborg or just an iPhone is to be determined. Also TBD? Whether this song will have a discernible melody. We're on track two and I'm already thinking "filler?" Ruh-roh.

» "Just Like You"
Good news: I'm finally hearing Allison's voice without a bunch of studio trickery around it. Bad news: The mid-tempo chorus is as generic as it gets, both melodically and lyrically. Good news again: The verse sounds more promising, where the sassy teen sings about deleting a dude's texts.

» "Don't Waste the Pretty"
Whoever gave Iraheta this bland track should be choked. (Like this!) Did Roxette or Savage Garden write this? Was this left over from a Natalie Imbruglia CD? (It turns out the offending parties are Michael Dennis Smith, Stefanie Ridel, Miriam Nervo and Olivia Nervo.) "Don't waste the pretty on life/ 'Cause soon it's gonna fly on by." How did this new-age feel-good gunk make it on to the Rocker's album?
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Being a diehard "American Idol" fan is an emotional roller-coaster. No matter how much you dig a performer on the show, by the time his or her album leaks your fandom has been deflated by less-than-awesome singles and frustrations with how they're being marketed. "Idol" albums are often over-written, over-produced and over-calculated, making the artist feel like studio-bots with little personality. "I'll like the songs on tour, without all the studio crap around it," you say to yourself, trying to save face when deep down you know your favorite new singer laid an egg.

Well, fans of our current "American Idol" can breathe a giant sigh of relief, because AOL premiered Kris Allen's self-titled major label debut this morning and it’s pretty damn good.

I jotted down some notes while listening to the CD for the first time. And MTV News would like me to share them with you. So here we go!

» "Live Like We're Dying"
Y'all know I love the single, which was originally a b-side from the Script, and Team Allen did right by starting the album strong. Besides, any power-pop album that features piano on the opening track instantly gets my seal of approval. (See: New Radicals' Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too.)

» "Before We Come Undone"
Whew! What a massive improvement over the demo I heard over the summer. (It featured an ill-fitting electronic drum track. Did not want.) Reverse guitar and piano parts give the track a really neat unraveling sound, as if the song itself is coming undone along with the rocky relationship Kris sings about. If I have one gripe, it's that I feel like Kris' vocals sound just a smidge behind the beat, as if they decided to increase the track's tempo by a couple beats-per-minutes and forgot to update Kris' track.

» "Can't Stay Away"
Allen's flirty side comes out to play in this white boy funk track. The verses sound like Maroon 5 without the whiny vocals, and the choruses are like Gavin DeGraw with less soul man posturing. Sorority girls: Be prepared to hear this when your frat guy boyfriends make you a new mix.

» "The Truth"
>>Kris' breathy ballad vocals remind me of Richard Marx on this track. Considering I'm a sucker for Marx's schmaltzy oeuvre, this one hooked me early, even if this Pat Monahan/Toby Gad-written song is considerably less cornball than Marx's massive hits. These lyrics really jumped out at me: "While the floors underneath our feet are crumbling/ The walls we built together tumbling/ I still stand here holding up the roof / 'Cause it’s easier than telling the truth." I can see why the Beatles-obsessed Allen chose this song, as the collapsing-house-metaphor recalls "Fixing a Hole."
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"People want to talk about whether I have rock cred, whether I'm selling out, the theatricality, the gay stuff. ... Chill out! And just enjoy yourself. It's not that deep. Sometimes it is deep. Some of the songs on the album are. Sometimes it's just, 'This is hot, I feel good, this song makes me want to go get a drink and flirt with somebody and have a good time.' Good energy is just as credible as the cathartic, dark, heavy stuff. It's just as important!"

-"American Idol" runner-up and budding glam icon Adam Lambert, who spoke to The Los Angeles Times about his debut album, his ever-evolving image and the public reaction to his work outside of "Idol." Lambert's first record For Your Entertainment drops in a few weeks, but he has already found himself defending his aesthetic choices — including his embrace of traditionally theatrical tropes. "People look at me and immediately say, 'Oh, he's doing the musical-theater thing,'" he explained. "But if you look at most female pop stars right now, how are they any less theater? Beyoncé is doing 'Single Ladies' with two girls in character shoes and leotards, doing Fosse choreography from 'Sweet Charity' and 'West Side Story.'" The singer credits his eclectic taste with his multi-faceted sound. "I was a Paula Abdul fan, a Michael Jackson fan, a Madonna fan. When Christina Aguilera came out when I was in high school, that was a great example of someone taking the pop-dance feel but who could really sing," he said. "Pop stars have done it; it's just not a lot of guys have done it."