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Lollapalooza 2010: Welcome To The MTV News Tent

Posted 8/5/10 7:00 pm EST by in Music


It may not look like much now, but as soon as Friday (August 6) dawns, the tent in that photo will be absolutely jumping. It's one of the many places your intrepid MTV News crew will be stationed around the grounds of Chicago's Grant Park, where Lollapalooza 2010 will take over for the next three days. From this outdoor nerve center, we'll be bringing you the latest news, reviews, updates, opinions, reactions and interviews straight from the festival grounds, giving you the full scoop on the greatness being delivered by the likes of Lady Gaga, Soundgarden, Arcade Fire, Green Day and dozens upon dozens of others.

According to the grounds crew, the pre-production process has been slowed a bit by rain in the Windy City, so the ground is still a little bit wet and many of the moving parts still incomplete (it seems likely that the crews will be working well into the night to make sure the festival kicks off flawlessly tomorrow). But we got to see plenty of stuff in motion: The merch tables are well-stocked with Lollapalooza T-shirts, the giant smokers are being loaded up to churn out meat and the Port-A-Potties are, at the moment, squeaky clean (expect that to change pretty quickly). There's a definite sense of excitement in the neighborhood, as festival-goers are already planning their attacks, scheduling out their days and stocking up on sunblock and bug spray.

As for MTV News, we'll be bringing you the latest developments as they happen, starting tonight. Intrepid MTV Newsroom Blog editor will be headed over to the Vic Theatre to catch an opening night concert from Soundgarden, while MTV News' own James Montgomery will be on the scene at Perez Hilton's "One Night in Chicago" party with B.o.B, Kid Sister, J. Brazil and a handful of others. You can get up-to-the-minute updates by following them on Twitter (Kyle is @kylemtv, while James is @positivnegativ) and be sure to keep in touch with the MTV Newsroom Blog and MTV News for the full reports. We'll see you there!

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'Hope For Haiti Now' Celeb Support Overwhelms MTV's Sway

Posted 1/23/10 2:33 am EST by in Haiti


Tonight's event was the most inspiring movement to help others that I've been in involved with since Hurricane Katrina. So many icons were gathered in one room, in unison, in support of Haiti.

I watched Taraji P. Henson become teary-eyed while describing to me the suffering in Haiti, and it was just tear-jerking. It was inspirational listening to Justin Timberlake humbly express his obligation to give back through song simply because it was the least he could do.

Some of the people you'd least expect to be devoted to this cause, like Ben Stiller, Chevy Chase and Robin Williams, set the jokes aside to speak about the importance of giving and continuing to give. The reconstruction of Haiti will be an ongoing task, they all agreed.

The sheer amount of star power at Los Angeles' CBS Television Studios made it feel like a high school hallway, but instead of students, the place was filled with motivated celebrities.


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'America's Best Dance Crew' Finale Rehearsals: Tim Kash Reports From Backstage ...

Posted 3/5/09 7:17 pm EST by in backstage


LOS ANGELES — We're in between filming here at the legendary Warner Bros. studio lot where tonight, America will decide who will take home the coveted title of "America's Best Dance Crew" — and here's what we've seen so far.

As we were filming some live hits, Beat Freaks, Team Millenia and Boxcuttahz all hit the stage together to rehearse their finale-opening performance, and were soon joined by Quest Crew, Dynamic Edition and Strikers All-stars. Then came the turn of Fly Khicks, Ringmasters and GOP.

In between, Mario Lopez was hard at work reading lines while talking on the phone at the same time — busy guy!

We caught up with JC Chasez backstage as he was getting ready to block the show and he's as curious as anyone about who tonight's winner will be.

The wardrobe department is working hard putting together several different outfits for almost 60 crew members, and there's even someone who goes around all the crews with a wet-wipe cleaning their shoes. (It's a tough job but someone's got to do it, I guess.) My personal award for best outfit has to go to the Fly Khicks — you'll understand why when you see the show tonight.

America's Best Dance CrewIn between rehearsals, all nine crews kick it backstage like one big family, comparing moves, trying out new tricks and listening to music together. Even Dynamic Edition join in!

Out of curiosity, I took a look at the guest list. The award for biggest entourage for tonight is a tie between host Mario Lopez and judge JC Chasez, with Lil Mama following close behind — but with Mario actually on JC's personal guest list I think Mr. Chasez takes the award. It's a celebrity-packed audience as well, with Snoop Dogg, Lil Jon, some of the cast of "90210" and former "ABDC" winners SupaCrew all in attendance tonight.

Make sure you are too — the show airs tonight, live at 10 p.m. on MTV!

And even though the show may be over at 11 p.m., the party will continue as I host the live “America's Best Dance Crew” finale post-show, where we'll be talking to the winners, the runners-up, the judges and bringing you the real inside track from the "ABDC" finale! And be sure to check out the "America's Best Dance Crew" insider blog for all the latest!

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Britney Spears' Circus Tour Kickoff: The View From Backstage

Posted 3/3/09 10:00 pm EST by in backstage, Britney Spears, tour


Britney Spears

The only thing missing behind the scenes at Britney Spears' Circus tour is a clown car. And who knows, maybe they've got one of those hidden around here somewhere ...

Minutes after Britney and her entourage arrived (at precisely 6:32 p.m. local time, btw) in a fleet of black SUVs, I was escorted through a labyrinth of corridors beneath the New Orleans Arena, past stagehands pushing platforms, dancers limbering up, crates of wardrobe, stressed-out makeup techs and stern-looking security guards to the nerve center of the entire operation: Britney's dressing room.

Of course, no photos were allowed, and I wasn't even here to talk to Britney ... I was there with the night's opening act, the Pussycat Dolls.

The Dolls were a bit tired -- after all, they had just flown in from Eastern Europe last night, and they were still working the kinks out of the evening's routine -- but I managed to ask them about the challenges of performing on an “in the round” stage, which gives the audience a 360-degree view of the action.

"The problem is, someone in the audience always has a view of your heiney," lead Doll Nicole Scherzinger explained.

Good to know. And while we'll have more on our chat with PCD tomorrow, I have to jet ... we're being led up to the press box right now. Looks like the Circus is about to begin!

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The Killers' Brandon Flowers Talks Feathers And Dancer(s)

Posted 10/29/08 9:15 am EST by in backstage, The Killers


Brandon FlowersAs far as I can tell, there have been two water-cooler topics (meaning, of course, the virtual water cooler that is the blog world) surrounding the Killers as they have gradually made their way back into the limelight in advance of the November release of their third album, Day & Age. Last Friday night, in the 15 minutes-plus we got with half the band in a noisy loading-dock hallway backstage at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom, I managed to — sort of — bring up both of them with Brandon Flowers, the band's stylish, affable and sometimes-inscrutable frontman. If you think his lyrics are hard to decipher, try getting him to elaborate on something he'd seemingly rather not discuss.
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Backstage And Behind The Scenes At The 2008 VMAs

Posted 9/8/08 12:10 am EST by in VMAs


Britney SpearsFROM BUZZWORTHY: We've said it before, and we're saying it again: Spotting celebrities at the VMAs is like shooting fish in a damn barrel. From red-carpet arrivals to backstage buzz, we'll be live blogging the movie magic and surprises behind every set and all of our 2008 Hollywood VMA star sightings all night.

6:41 p.m. ET — Fatman Scoop arrives wearing boxer shorts, a tank top and dress socks. No shame whatsoever. He has a huge smile as he steps out of the limo with his wife, Shanda. Damien from "TRL" chats with John Norris about sports. Of course they talk Tom Brady and Chad Pennington's first games of the NFL season. Floor manager says, "Tokio Hotel are five cars away!”

7:16 p.m. ET — Heavy D walks up. No car — just D calmly strolling and talking on his BlackBerry. Soon the roar of the motorcycles traveling with Jeezy can be heard. They're nowhere in sight, though, they just have very loud pipes.

7:18 p.m. ET — Sean Garrett just told us he's working with Beyoncé. He said it was supposed to be a secret, but now the secret is out.

Read more about all the backstage celebrity madness at buzzworthy.mtv.com!

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