Every day a multitude of stars wanders through the halls of MTV News to talk about their latest projects and goof around with our intrepid correspondents. But sometimes we catch stars elsewhere, and that's why we put together Spotted!, a daily compendium of stars in the wild.

"Big in Japan" is usually a dismissive thing that people say in the music industry about artists who don't sell any records, the suggestion being that nobody knows them in their home country. Obviously, there are exceptions, and Mariah Carey is one of them. Her popularity in Japan is merely an extension of her worldwide ubiquity, and yesterday she touched town at the airport in Narita for the latest stop on her promotional tour of Asia in support of her new album Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel. The first single from said album, "Obsessed," is still floating just outside the Top 10 on the Billbaord Hot 100 after 14 weeks on the chart, and she just announced via Twitter that she has sold over 1 million copies of the single, which gives her a dozen for her career — more than any other female artist in history.

Carey wasn't the only star on the move yesterday, as actress and occasional Pete Yorn collaborator Scarlett Johansson showed up at the launch of Mango's Winter campaign and Mary J. Blige walked the carpet at the Stepping Out and Stepping Up event in New York. Click here for these photos plus the entire "Spotted!" archive, which features over 300 candid shots of Britney Spears, Madonna, Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake, the Jonas Brothers, Justin Bieber, Adam Lambert, Shakira and Rihanna!

Having spent my entire professional career interviewing famous people (save for those few months where I wrote about bespoke suits and bathtubs shaped like slingback heels), I don't really get starstruck. There are a handful of people around whom I squeal like a teenage girl (as anybody who has been in the room with me while Rob Zombie is present can attest), but I generally don't get blown away by fame.

But when it comes to raw, physical abilities, it becomes a whole different ball game. I'll start hyperventilating over even the most minor athletes. I shook late Boston Celtic Reggie Lewis' hand once and count is as one of the great moments of my life. My brother met former Boston Red Sox pitcher Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd at a bar a few years ago and I got really jealous. I once went to an industry party solely because I was told Kevin Garnett would be there. The point is, I'm blown away by sports figures, so when I was called upon today to sit down with His Royal Highness LeBron James, the King of Everything, I had to take a few deep breaths.

I sat down with King James (along with film director Kris Belman) to talk about "More Than a Game," the documentary about his high school basketball team. We also went over the movie's killer soundtrack, which features tunes from Mary J. Blige, Jay-Z and T.I., as well as the killer remix of Drake's "Forever" that features verses from Lil Wayne, Kanye West and Eminem. He also revealed who his pick is for the "Hottest MCs" list, who he thinks had the best verse on "Forever" and how he rates new teammate Shaquille O'Neal as an MC — all of which will be appearing all over MTV News over the next few days.

But stupidly, here's the first thing I thought when I shook James' hand: "Man, this guy is tall." I've been around basketball players all my life, but I've obviously never been around the best in the game. It is incredible that James is so unbelievably fast considering his size. The other thing I noticed? His tattoos are great. The dude really carries his ink well.

So the sum total of observations I was able to make during my interview? LeBron James is tall and has tattoos. Insight! But hey, at least I got a great photo (I'm on the bottom), so nobody can say I was never in the presence of royalty.

It's only three days until the Video Music Awards and things have really shifted into overdrive. Today I was down at the venue — the iconic Radio City Music Hall — where everyone has been working until the early hours of the morning to ensure that this year's show will be one of the most spectacular stages ever. Judging by what I've see so far, that's exactly what we'll see come Sunday night.

An artist fit for any VMA stage stopped by the studios today: The Queen of Hip Hop Soul herself, Mary J. Blige.

Mary J. Blige, for me, marks the beginning of my career here in the States. My first major gig for MTV here was hosting the pre-show at the 2007 Video Music Awards in Las Vegas, which was one of the best weeks of my life. Not only were we in the party capital of the universe, but I was part of the MTV News family and about to make my debut on American television — something that I had wanted for a very long time. Mary J. was my biggest interview of the night and was the perfect interviewee.

Today, she was as nice as ever. Dressed casually in some killer boots, jeans, a white tee and a black leather jacket, Mary J walked in the room as we sat down to talk about everything from her new movie "I Can Do Bad All by Myself" to working with Drake on "The One," the first single off her new album Stronger.

We talked about her new love for acting and how she's hard at work with acting classes, who she thinks is the hottest MC in the game right now, the return of R&B with Maxwell and Whitney Houston back on top and why Chris Brown is not in the video for "Stronger" despite being on the original song. We also gave her the opportunity to offer some clarity on the confusion surrounding whether she will be taking part in the Michael Jackson tribute concert in Vienna later this month.

We broke down the vibe and motivation behind her new album, and of course, with the VMAs taking place right here in her home city, we had to get one of New York's most famous resident to talk about what makes New York the best city in the world!

The MTV Video Music Awards has had many homes since its inception in 1984. It lived in Miami for two years, spent some time at various venues in Los Angeles and even made a chaotic sojourn to Las Vegas in 2007. But spiritually, its home has always been New York City. The very first awards were held at Radio City Music Hall, the VMAs New York City home for all but the two years when it was at the Metropolitan Opera House. Whenever the VMAs come to New York, the show always gets a great reception from the Big Apple's biggest residents. Are they just as excited about this year's show as they have been in year's past? New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, Santigold, Mary J. Blige and Diddy all seem pretty amped.

And Queen Latifah is right: Anybody in town for this weekend's festivities really should make a sojourn to Gray's Papaya for the Recession Special. And if you can't make it out to Radio City Music Hall for the big event, you can still tune in Sunday night at 8 p.m. for all of the stars, performances, fashion and outrageous moments that not only define the Video Music Awards but also the host city of New York.

The new season of "American Idol" won't premiere until January 2010, but preparations are already heating up. Paula Abdul is out as a judge, and with auditions already underway, the roster of guest judges is growing every day. Joe Jonas, Katy Perry, Mary J. Blige, Kelly Clarkson, Victoria Beckham and Shania Twain have all committed to lending their expertise to the singing competition, with more names on the way. The role of the guest judge is always tough, as there is always the worry that the chemistry between the adjudicators will be thrown off or the guest won't have as much to add as Simon or Randy. But "American Idol" is a show that likes to experiment, as evidenced by that eclectic lineup of guest stars.

The MTV Newsroom has already endorsed Joe Jonas as the favorite, but we wanted to get some outside perspective. So we hit the streets outside the MTV News offices and asked a handful of "American Idol" enthusiasts which one of the announced guest judges would be their favorite.

The nowhere-near scientific results are in, and the numbers show that Mary J. Blige slightly edges out Katy Perry for the top position with 39 percent of the vote. Perry is in a close second with 31 percent, followed by Victoria Beckham with 17 percent. Shockingly, Joe Jonas finds himself bringing up the rear with a paltry 13 percent of the vote. Many fans rallied behind Blige's experience in the industry, whereas most people credited Beckham with being sexy. By far the best endorsement was for Katy Perry, who one respondent voted for because with Abdul gone, somebody has to show up and say something crazy.

With Paula Abdul currently out of the picture, the producers of "American Idol" are working on beefing up the star power on the show. So far, they've only broken out the big guns: Katy Perry, Mary J. Blige, Shania Twain and Victoria Beckham have all been confirmed for the upcoming season of the show, and two more huge stars are apparently close to confirming their participation. The first, Kelly Clarkson, is an obvious choice. Why wouldn't you want to involve the first (and arguably most successful) "American Idol" winner? The other name is probably bigger and arguably more intriguing than Clarkson, and that's Joe Jonas of those more-famous-than-famous Jonas Brothers.

While Joe doesn't necessarily have the same sort of long career that Blige or Twain or even Clarkson, he's a guy who knows all about singing, performance, songwriting and fame. Since the Jonas Brothers exist in just about every pop music context you can find (pop and rock, kids and teens, dance music and ballads), he should have advice for everybody, not just the contestants who seem to match up with his worldview. (Blige, for example, probably would be no help to anybody with more of a rock background, and Twain will likely only be useful to those finalists interested in country music.)

And since Joe is a pretty playful performer and often game for whatever (he did pour himself into a catsuit to pay homage to Beyoncé's "Single Ladies" video after all), he would be ready to banter with Randy, go toe-to-toe with Simon and do whatever it is that Kara does. It'll make for some great television as well as produce good music.

So here's hoping the rumor morphs its way into confirmation. And why stop at just offering him a guest slot? Make him a permanent member of the team! He's probably got a lot of other stuff going on (what with being in one of the biggest bands in the world and all), but even if you don't like the Jonas Brothers, Joe Jonas can only bring awesomeness to the upcoming season of "American Idol."

Baltimore, Maryland has a lot of nicknames. B-More. Charm City. The City That Reads. Bodymore, Murderland. Monument City. The lively city has given the world Baltimore club music, former Vice President Spiro Agnew, David Byrne, Parker Posey, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Upton Sinclair and filmmaker John Waters, and it was officially established on this day in 1729. Perhaps the city's greatest cultural contribution (in this millennium, anyway) was providing a setting and inspiration for "The Wire," the shockingly gritty and realistic HBO series that portrayed the struggle between law enforcement, government and the drug lords who threaten everyday life. It was an incredibly complex, subtle show that built a remarkably deep tapestry of characters and locations that reflected Baltimore better than any piece of fiction has ever depicted a city (for better or worse, of course).

"The Wire" also contributed to the music world, relying a great deal on local musicians and rappers to provide the soundtrack for the show. It also employed a handful of people from the music world, including Felicia "Snoop" Pearson (who played a vaguely fictionalized version of herself) and the Wu-Tang Clan's own Method Man. Meth spent four seasons on the show as Melvin Wagstaff, Prop Joe's nephew who was known on the streets as "Cheese." It was the best performance in an excellent acting career for the rapper, who has also made memorable turns on HBO's "Oz," "CSI" and the Zach Braff film "Garden State." It's no wonder that Meth ended up being an excellent actor, as his rhymes have always been some of the most cinematic and character-driven in the entire Clan. Need proof? Check out his 1995 collaboration with Mary J. Blige "I'll Be There For You/ You're All I Need to Get By."

T.I. is currently incarcerated, serving a sentence of a year and a day for felony weapons charges stemming from a 2007 incident at the BET Awards. But prison bars can't keep the man down, as he just released a teaser for an upcoming video for the song "Remember Me." The song features a guest spot from Mary J. Blige and is from the upcoming album Paper Trail: Case Closed, which is set to hit the streets in August. The clip dramatizes T.I. dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit and being lead to his cell. A narrator declares, "It matters not how many times you fall down — what matters most is how many times you rise."

The Atlanta rapper has expressed a great deal of remorse over the course of his legal troubles and has committed himself to community service (as was seen on the MTV documentary "T.I.'s Road to Redemption"). If he serves his one year and one day sentence, Tip will be free in March of 2010, but in the meantime his video will hit "soon."

By Rya Backer

Hello, Newsroom blog readers! Today's HOTD offers up a range of stories — some happy, some... well… that are total downers.

DoSomething.org has released a PSA that re-enacts the alleged altercation between Chris Brown and Rihanna. Disturbing!

President Obama reached out to the country in a different way last night: by appearing on Jay Leno! The prez talked about a variety of things from AIG to "American Idol," but unfortunately, he also made a comment about the Special Olympics that got him into trouble.

Think Mary J. Blige is just a music sensation? Well, you're wrong. Find out how she'll be doing just fine on the silver screen!

Have a great weekend!

Washington, D.C.

President-elect Barack Obama doesn't take the oath of office until Tuesday, but the nation's capital already feels like the site of the biggest, most expensive political pep rally for America ever.

Strolling along the National Mall on Saturday afternoon near the Lincoln Memorial - the location of Sunday's "We Are One" all-star show featuring Beyonce, Bruce Springsteen, Usher, Mary J. Blige, U2, John Legend and others - the unmistakable strains of The Boss' "The Rising" rose up into the frigid grey sky.
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