Even though we're just on the other side of Halloween, the public has already shifted its focus to Christmas. Store displays have shifted, Starbucks has drinks that are eggnog flavored and a handful of lunatics are already considering their Christmas trees. Today marks the first big film release of the holiday season in "A Christmas Carol," the Robert Zemeckis-directed animated feature that stars Jim Carrey as Ebenezer Scrooge. (For more on "A Christmas Carol," be sure to check out all the in-depth coverage over at MTV Movies.) There are plenty more holiday-themed platters on the way, but "A Christmas Carol" is the biggest Christmas-related film to hit theaters this season.

But let's face it: Today is November 6, a full 49 days before Santa Claus comes down the chimney. There's no shame in not feeling any yuletide cheer yet, as we're still a few weeks from Thanksgiving. But maybe you never miss a Jim Carrey movie, or perhaps you want to support Zemeckis so that he has enough success to make a "Roger Rabbit" sequel. If that's the case, then we've got you covered, because there's plenty of Christmas music from some of your favorite stars.

Holiday music has crossed over into pop since the invention of radio, but now just about any pop star worth his or her salt puts out a holiday album at some point. This season, David Archuleta and Bob Dylan have both dropped Christmas albums, and there's a whole heaping back catalog of stuff you could work through no matter what your musical preference is. A fan of Beyoncé? Check out Destiny's Child's "8 Days of Christmas." Do you prefer psychedelic indie rock? The Flaming Lips' "Christmas at the Zoo" is probably for you. Want a little gallows humor with your gingerbread? Enjoy Weird Al" Yankovic's "Christmas at Ground Zero." Or if you just want to rock out, check out the Pogues and Kirsty MacColl blasting out "Fairytale of New York," probably the best Christmas song ever written.

But if you want to start simple, star with Mariah Carey, whose "All I Want for Christmas is You" has quickly become a holiday standard. Be sure to stay tuned for the rest of the video playlist for a treat at the end!

JC Chasez recently told MTV News that he didn't think that was a chance in the world that 'NSYNC would ever reunite in any kind of way. So we're guessing when Chris Kirkpatrick recently spoke to People magazine about how he thought there was a chance that the guys would get back together, he hadn't read that JC article.

"You never know what the future holds. Anything could happen. We're all just being ourselves for a little while," Kirkpatrick, who is now a member of the band Nigels 11, told the magazine. "I think when the stars are aligned, the time is right, and all five of us have our heads on straight and know the direction we're going as a band, it'll eventually happen. If not, I know we'll be best friends forever."

Although he didn't paint the reunion as a definite, it is a far cry from the "you will never see an 'NSYNC reunion" rhetoric that "America's Best Dance Crew" judge Chasez dropped on us last month. "Nope," he said emphatically about any reunion tours or albums in the band's future. "I keep in touch with all of them. [We don't want to do it] because we already did that and it was fun, but we're done with it."

There it is: One guy wants to come back and one guy doesn't. Though we're assuming that as soon as Nigels 11 takes off and finds chart success that Chris will be singing another tune and be too busy for that 'NSYNC reunion. Right?

"American Idol" winner Kris Allen is nearing the completion of his top-secret major label debut (which still doesn't have a title), but a new demo popped up over the weekend that might shed some light on the kind of material he has vetted.

JC Chasez (of 'NSYNC and "Randy Jackson Presents America's Best Dance Crew" fame) wrote and recorded a song called "Build Some Love" for consideration for Allen's debut CD. The tune, which was posted on a JC Chasez fan site yesterday, is a tender ballad that would fit very nicely on a OneRepublic setlist. The gist is that JC (or Kris Allen, I suppose) is in love with an emotionally reserved girl, but his loving is so magical, he's able to tear down her wall and "build some love." Epic, right? [Crickets.]

I mention OneRepublic because everything about the tune reminds me of a track Ryan Tedder would churn out. It's piano-based, with a thunderous bass drum that kicks in a la "Apologize" (and "Halo" and "Battlefield" and "Bleeding Love" and "Already Gone"). It's got a "Love is hard, but I wanna fix it" message. And the chorus tries to soar on a falsetto note or three.

I'm all for Kris recording a ballad or two (or three?) for his album, but I'm not so sure this is one of them. Read more...

Believe it or not, I have never seen Britney Spears in concert. Sure, I have seen the Backstreet Boys and even begrudgingly saw 'NSYNC, but I have never, ever seen the pop princess herself live on stage dancing and singing her way through some of her most classic and choice tunes.

So in order to prepare myself for the show tonight at Madison Square Garden, I asked some of my work colleagues here at MTV News who had the chance to see her on her "Circus" tour the first time around what they think I should expect from the show. Each of them gave me some interesting tidbits of information.

Ashley Mastronardi, who attended the show in Pittsburgh in March, told me, "Britney looks great, but she is not at her 'Slave 4 U' peak (she doesn't dance as much as she has in the past). But this show proves what a star she is because although her dancers pick her up a lot and wheel her across the stage, the audience still went crazy for her. Her star power really shines through."

James Montgomery, who loves to keep his advice short and sweet (which is ironic because in real life he is neither short nor sweet) had the lucky chance to see her on her opening night in March in New Orleans: "Three words: "Expect the gays."
Read more...

Back in May, federal prosecutors sentenced former boy-band impresario Lou Pearlman to 25 years in federal prison for his part in running a two-decade-long financial scheme that cheated investors out of more than $300 million. They also offered him the chance to reduce his sentence by shaving one month off for every $1 million he paid back to investors.

Well, prosecutors have finally tallied up the damage they say Pearlman did to investors with his financial shell games, and the figure is a staggering $424.4 million. Earlier this week, documents were made public showing that Assistant U.S. Attorney Roger Handberg planned to ask U.S. District Court Judge G. Kendall Sharp to order Pearlman to pay back that amount at a restitution hearing slated to take place today, according to the Orlando Sentinel. Read more...