Today is Friday the 13th, a traditionally unlucky day on the calendar. Interestingly, there's no particular logic behind why there are superstitions surrounding the day, though there are several theories, the most convincing of which is that it's actually a mash-up of two different superstitions. 13 is a naturally unlucky number because in numerology, the number 12 is considered perfect (while 13 is prime and "unnatural"). In some cultures, Friday is considered an unlucky day, dating back centuries (Jesus Christ was crucified on a Friday, making it something of a cursed day). Friday also has negative connotations in Norse traditions.

In the modern era, Friday the 13th has mostly been associated with the film series of the same name (about a sometimes supernatural mass murderer named Jason Voorhees) and a handful of natural disasters that happened to occur on the day (including the 1972 plane crash that inspired the film "Alive").

Though any evidence pointing to Friday the 13th being unlucky doesn't stop people from picking up an extra bit of paranoia ever time it rolls around. Luckily, there are music videos to help. Plenty of songs and clips have embraced the idea of luck (and, more importantly, keeping bad luck away). Madonna sang about her "Lucky Star," Jagged Edge declared one woman their "Lucky Charm" and Ace of Base celebrated "Lucky Love." And Fridays don't end poorly for the Cure (as long as "Friday I'm in Love" is to be believed).

So check out the official Friday the 13th video playlist, including those clips plus those from Jason Mraz, Tom Petty and, of course, Britney Spears.

"I've never been a good judge of what things are going to be huge or not. The songs that I think are the most retarded songs I've written, like 'Cherish' and 'Sorry,' a pretty big hit off my last album, end up being the biggest hits. 'Into the Groove' is another song I feel retarded singing, but everybody seems to like it."

-Pop icon Madonna, explaining to Rolling Stone that she has never been able to predict which of her songs would become hits. The Material Girl is on the cover of the new issue of the seminal magazine, where she discusses her wild rollercoaster of a career as well as her divorce from filmmaker Guy Ritchie. "It was a challenging year," she said. "I think work saved me, and I'm very grateful that I had work to do. I may have thrown myself off a building."

The giant grandfather clock in the MTV Newsroom will sound its final bells at any moment, which means it's time to remedy that terrible short-term memory and take a look back at the week that was here on the Newsroom blog. As the calendar switched from September to October and the fall weather began to descend, Kanye West remained in the headlines, Madonna ate pizza and zombies were everywhere. Want to have an instant nostalgia trip? Just keep reading.

» The "Fame Kills" tour — starring Kanye West and Lady Gaga — got put on the back burner, but that won't stop Gaga from doing her own shows.

» Madonna and David Letterman had a civil interview and then sat down for a slice.

» Jennifer Hudson celebrated the anniversary of "The Wizard of Oz" with a stirring rendition of "Over the Rainbow" live in Central Park.

» Adam Lambert has already sold a ton of albums, even though the record in question has no title or single. But that's okay, because he's driving people to donate to public schools.

» Before she got sick and had to cancel a bunch of Paramore shows, Hayley Williams wore a tank top on "The Tonight Show" that looked awfully familiar to us.
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Every day a multitude of stars wanders through the halls of MTV News to talk about their latest projects and goof around with staff members. But sometimes we catch stars elsewhere, and that's why we put together Spotted!, a daily compendium of stars in the wild.

Madonna's history with David Letterman is pretty checkered, especially considering her notorious 1994 appearance on the veteran talk show host's late night show. Madge was promoting her album Bedtime Stories and had an incredible 20 minutes of air time: She gave Letterman her underwear, cursed repeatedly, smoked a cigar, took exception to questions and jokes about her sex life and repeatedly insulted the host and his show. But that was then, and since then they've clearly patched things up. Last night, she visited "The Late Show with David Letterman" to talk about marriage, sports and pizza. She also acknowledged the previous appearances, even mentioning that a certain herb might have been responsible for her 1994 performance. The two even stepped out for dinner after the show taped, though during the show, Letterman took Madonna out for what she claimed was her first slice of New York style pizza.

Madonna and Letterman weren't the only two celebs getting out into the world yesterday. Shakira celebrated the release of her new album She Wolf in Milan, while Britney Spears took a sojourn to Target in Los Angeles to pick up some necessities. Click here for these and the rest of the photos in the "Spotted!" archive, including candid shots of Justin Timberlake, Mariah Carey, Hilary Duff, Kanye West, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and the Jonas Brothers!

Adam Lambert's album won't be available in stores until November 24, but you can already pre-order the record on Amazon. It currently sits at the top of the Amazon sales charts, which is not necessarily unusual for a pre-order (especially one as high-profile as an "American Idol" runner-up), but it's a slightly more amazing feat for two reasons.

First, most of the details about Lambert's album is pretty much unknown. There is no title, no single and no complete track listing yet. We do know there are a handful of producers working on the album, including Rob Cavallo, Ryan Tedder, Dr. Luke and Claude Kelly) and that the song Lambert cut for the soundtrack to the upcoming film "2012" totally blew away Queen guitarist Brian May. The buzz around Lambert is truly huge if he's able to sell an album that doesn't yet exist, and the only guarantee is that his name will appear in the sleeve.

The other thing that makes Lambert's Amazon chart dominance amazing is that he has topped a number of high-profile artists, many of whom just released new music this week. Lambert's album stands above new records from Barbara Streisand, Madonna and Mariah Carey (as well as the Beatles). Those are artists with massive followings and plenty of buzz, but clearly Lambert's fans are speaking louder. They're so desperate to hear the album that they're will to buy something that doesn't yet exist.

Dominance on the Amazon sales chart doesn't necessarily mean that the album will be massive, but clearly the anticipation for Lambert's album is massive and will only get bigger between now and the day his record drops.

There are only a few people at MTV who have ever interviewed Madonna. And all the people who have interviewed Madonna all have a certain prestigious history with the network: Kurt Loder, John Norris, a high-level producer here and there.

So you could imagine my surprise when, in the middle of my VMA backstage broadcast for V-Cast Sunday night at the MTV Video Music Awards, a dude in the press department ran up to me and said, "Dude. Madonna. Now."

Whaaat?

The interview went really well. Hell, I'd even say amazingly well. I know this because Madonna's longtime press guru didn't tackle me after our chat veered into zany territory. Watching the tape back, I have to say Madonna seemed to enjoy herself. She was an amazing sport when I asked her a million questions about Lady Gaga. She shared her legendary lightning-fast wit with me. And my producer made her cackle at one point. Score!

But I think I might have creeped her out when I admitted I was obsessed with her 12-year-old daughter, Lourdes. In fact, I know I did. Because Madonna told me.

In my defense, I'm not obsessed with Lourdes in any seedy way. I just find her newly-emerging public persona to be really exciting. She has a funky fashion sense and she just made an appearance in her mom's new video. It seems like Lourdes is dipping her toe into the fame pool. I meant to ask Madonna a legitimate question about Lourdes but instead what came out was, "Are you creeped out that I'm obsessed with your daughter?"

Sorry, Madonna! I promise next time I get to interview you I'll be more prepared and ask you all about your upcoming greatest hits album. But admit it: You had fun with me, right?

Last night's MTV Video Music Awards were a star-studded affair that featured dozens of memorable moments, from Kanye West's stage-crashing appearance to Jay-Z's performance to Eminem helping Tracy Morgan become Best New Artist to Janet Jackson paying tribute to her brother Michael. One of the events that is sure to become iconic in Video Music Awards history was the arrival of Lady Gaga and her very open displays of affection with her date Kermit the Frog. The pair arrived together in a car and later bantered with MTV News' own Sway, who inquired about what Miss Piggy thought about this new relationship. Kermit downplayed it, though Gaga admitted, "Miss Piggy has been sending me some pretty funny text messages."

Of course, Gaga and the Muppets were only the first scene-stealers of the night. Madonna moved the audience with her heartfelt speech about Michael Jackson, Jack Black frightened Leighton Meester with his fake muscles and metal voice, Lady Gaga stunned the crowd with her theatrical performance of "Paparazzi," Beyoncé classed it up by offering Taylor Swift her acceptance speech time back and Jay-Z tore the house down with an assist from Alicia Keys. Click here for these photos, plus even more shots of stars at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, including Eminem, Russell Brand, Katy Perry, Diddy, Pink, Green Day and Janet Jackson.

After detours to Las Vegas and Hollywood, the MTV Video Music Awards are finally coming back to New York City's Radio City Music Hall, the site of the very first VMAs 25 years ago. New York is not only inextricably linked to MTV (the office is just a handful of steps away from Radio City Music Hall) but it also contains dozens of iconic landmarks, buildings and neighborhoods that provide great visuals and personalities. But just as the city has unique personalities, so does the army of pop stars who make up the VMA crowd. It got us thinking: What would certain stars look like as New York City landmarks?

We started with Lady Gaga, pop music's greatest modern art experiment. Naturally, she is the living embodiment of the Guggenheim Museum, a worldwide centerpiece for contemporary pieces.

Others were more obvious. Jay-Z, who helped put Brooklyn on the hip-hop map, seamlessly became the Brooklyn Bridge. Britney Spears is always shining and full of attention-grabbing energy, which makes her a perfect fit for Times Square. Since the history of the Video Music Awards lives in her DNA (she performed on the very first show in 1984), Madonna is like a living Museum of Natural History. The hot Young Money MC Drake? He's the new Yankee Stadium because while he is brand new to the game, something about him feels old school.

Want to see Taylor Swift as the Statue of Liberty, T.I. as Wall Street and Kanye West as the Empire State Building? Click here for the complete "VMA Stars As New York City Landmarks" gallery, which also includes Robert Pattinson, Green Day, Lil Wayne and Beyoncé!

The end of summer is officially here, which means it's time to tack an extra day onto this weekend. But fret not, as the MTV Newsroom blog will be back on Tuesday to start counting down to the Video Music Awards as well as the release of "The Beatles: Rock Band." Until then, hit up a barbecue, crack open a cold beverage and let the summer wind blow through your hair one final time in 2009. In between rounds of volleyball in the pool, gorge yourself on the highlights from this week's dispatches.

» Michael Jackson was finally laid to rest, but not before a birthday party in Brooklyn that celebrated what would have been his 51st birthday.

» Whitney Houston paid a visit to "Good Morning America" and turned in a performance that can only be described as ... complicated.

» DJ AM was memorialized in Los Angeles this week. Many of his friends came forward to mourn, including the Black Eyed Peas.

» Paramore's Hayley Williams suggested that if you're headed back to school, you should really pick up some vests designed by Miley Cyrus.

» Speaking of Cyrus, she really does have an amazing Twitter.

» In VMA news, it was announced this week that the cast of "New Moon" will be there to present an extended version of the trailer to their upcoming movie. In order to prepare, you should watch a Backstreet Boy turn into a werewolf.

» This week's big lesson: The only reason to have 19 children is if you're developing a Polyphonic Spree tribute act.

» Jay-Z certainly made the rounds, hitting up a Grizzly Bear concert with wife Beyoncé, stopping to give details on his September 11 concert to MTV News correspondent Tim Kash and taking a spin through all of his old album covers.

» Madonna released the new video for "Celebration" this week, which inspired us to dig into the archives and unearth this crazy piece of tape featuring Jim Cantiello as a safari guide.

» TV on the Radio's Tunde Adebimpe told us the band is taking a break for a year to work on other stuff.

» Beyoncé celebrated her 20th birthday. Did you remember to sign the card?

» We laughed when Missy Elliott got hit in the head with an umbrella in at 2006's version of the show, but what are your favorite "WTF?" VMA moments?

» Finally, the NFL season kicks off next Thursday, which gives the Miami Dolphins plenty of time to sign Willy Zoom (also known as Will.I.Am).

Certain VMA moments are burned into our collective memory: Eminem getting mad at a puppet in 2002, Madonna and Britney Spears sucking face in '03, Britney just plain sucking at the '07 show in Vegas. Sure, I love those clips as much as any other red-blooded pop-culture-addicted American. But I've always been partial to the smaller moments — the blink-and-you-missed-'em-WTF-is-going-on-did-you-just-see-that moments that have me grabbing my TiVo remote for an instant replay.

So in honor of this year's upcoming Video Music Awards, I took a trip down to the MTV library and decided to create a list of my favorite WTF VMA moments that time has forgotten. You'll have to go to V-Cast on Verizon Wireless phones to see the full list, but below is just a taste of the awkward bloopers I love highlighting.

During the Hype Williams tribute at the 2006 Video Music Awards, Missy Elliott tried her best to re-create the iconic video for "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)." She had the Hefty-bag outfit, the cropped hair and the teeny-tiny jeep down pat. But I don't seem to remember poor Missy getting bonked in the head with an umbrella in the video. Do you?

Everybody hopes for great performances and classic moments, but there's no doubt that on Sunday, September 13, there will be some jaw-dropping, head-scratching moments at Radio City Music Hall. I can't wait for a new batch of classic moments.

What are your favorite WTF moments at the VMAs, and who will be responsible for one at this year's show? Leave your thoughts in the comments below or head on over to Your.MTV.com to make your voice heard!