On the massive timeline that is the universe, five days doesn't seem like an awfully long time, but consider how different the world was on Monday morning: Soupy Sales was alive, Lil Wayne was a free man, people were still wondering what Rihanna's new single would sound like and the content of "Michael Jackson's This Is It" was still relatively mysterious. But now that we're five days older and that much wiser, it's time to take a look back at anything you might have missed in the Newsroom.

» Rihanna unveiled her new single "Russian Roulette," which also came with an edgy album cover that immediately put it in rare company.

» Adam Lambert also had a busy week of debuts, as his made its way to the Web, along with the epic video for that same song.

» Drake added "college basketball coach" to his ever-growing list of occupations.

» Whitney Houston performed on TV in the U.K., busted out of her dress and still managed to absolutely kill "Million Dollar Bill."
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By Nuzhat Naoreen

The road to a comeback isn't without its challenges, as Whitney Houston learned first-hand on Saturday (October 17) during a performance on English television show "X-Factor" (an "American Idol"-esque show produced by Simon Cowell). Houston, who recently hit Oprah's couch and took over the "Good Morning America" stage in order to promote her new comeback album I Look to You, experienced a wardrobe malfunction during an energetic performance of the Swizz Beatz-produced "Million Dollar Bill."

The legendary singer appeared in front of a cheering crowd Friday, wearing a sparking silver dress with straps in the back. Halfway through the song, the straps suddenly became untied. The mishap seemed to catch Whit off-guard for about half a second, but in true diva style, she simply shrugged at the camera and plowed through the rest of the song. Luckily for her, the front half off her dress managed to stay in tact throughout the whole fiasco, and it didn't stop her from hitting all her high notes and staying in the pocket of the tune's infectious groove.

After she wrapped up the song, Houston laughed off the malfunction to "X-Factor" host Dermot O'Leary: "I sang myself out of my clothes!" she said. It took the poise of a true diva to work her way through that, which is why there is no doubt the Houston still has it, and that her performance — combined with the excellent video for "Million Dollar Bill" — means that the comeback is complete.

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).

Yesterday, the big buzz in the Newsroom surrounded Whitney Houston and her performance on yesterday's episode of "Good Morning America." Houston's run through four songs was equal parts amazing, confusing, cringe-inducing and impressive. It sparked a lot of conversation about Houston's career and the extreme peaks and valleys. As a result, we tapped into the deep MTV Networks tape archive to take a look at some of Houston's television highlights, and we stumbled on an amazing piece of tape: The 1995 Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards, which Houston hosted. It was an immediate nostalgia trip for most everybody in the office and reminded us of the existence of stars like Taran Noah Smith from "Home Improvement" and the Mowry twins from "Sister, Sister." It also featured some clearly tongue-in-cheek editing, most notably from whoever cut the package that introduced the "Favorite Movie Actress" category. Sally Field was nominated for her role in "Forrest Gump," and what clip did they use during the nomination package? The scene where Field (playing Gump's mother) offers sex to the school principal. You're welcome, kids!

Houston's hosting performance was excitable but totally reasonable, but she was upstaged by a trio of amazing musical performances. A 16-year-old Brandy sang her way through the crowd, Soul for Real crooned their infections hit "Candy Rain" and Montell Jordan brought out a cleaned-up version of "This Is How We Do It." That song — which contains decidedly kid-unfriendly lines like "I reach for my 40/ And I pull it up/ Designated driver take the keys to my truck" — was a gigantic hit for Jordan. He had a great 1995: Not only did he get to perform on the Kids Choice Awards, he was also nominated for two MTV Video Music Awards and was also nominated for a Grammy. And you know what? "This Is How We Do It" holds up.

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.

Whitney Houston's comeback continued this morning, when she performed in New York City's Central Park on "Good Morning America." Houston sang four songs at the mini-concert, including two tracks from her just-released new album I Look to You as well as the past hits "My Love Is Your Love" and "I'm Every Woman." The 44-year-old diva told co-host Diane Sawyer that what got her through the tough times in her life was "My faith and the love and support of my family which I do have. The support of my friends in the good, bad and indifferent times." She also said that the "You" in her album's title referred to her devoted fans (which got a big pop from the crowd).

Houston wasn't the only performer on the promo tip, as Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz turned up in Los Angeles to sign copies of the new comic book "Fall Out Toy Works," and "Entourage" star Jeremy Piven showed up to talk to David Letterman about mercury poisoning and his latest film "The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard." Click here for these photos plus over 200 more shots of Beyoncé, Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake, Madonna, Kanye West and the casts of "New Moon" and "Gossip Girl."

I seen something on the cover of the XXL: 'The Death of the Super-Producer?' It was on the cover. I was like, 'I hope the f--- they not talking about me.'"

-Producer/rapper/painter Swizz Beatz, assuring the world that his career hasn't fallen off. In fact, he's the busiest he's been since the early days of the Ruff Ryders, as lately he's been working with megastars like Whitney Houston, Jay-Z and 50 Cent, in addition to producing his own solo album Life After the Party. Swizz is a veteran, and even he admits that he sometimes forgets just how long he's been in the game. "I'm starting to feel like a senior citizen. I have people coming to me, saying, 'I started to listen to you when I was 9.' But I gotta remember: I started when I was, like, 16, 17."

By Selina Kaye

Swizz Beatz has proven that he is a man of many talents. As a producer, he has sat behind the boards for some of the biggest names in hip-hop and R&B, including Beyoncé, Jay-Z, T.I., Fat Joe and Busta Rhymes. As a label founder and mogul, he introduced the world to DMX and Ruff Ryders. As a performer, he had a massive hit with "It's Me B----es". Lately, he's been honing his skills as a tattoo artist, and last week photos surfaced of Swizz inking Eve (another Ruff Ryders find) with a black spider on her shoulder. Now Swizz is working to nurture yet another role: Painter.

Lately on his Twitter, Swizz has been plugging his burgeoning art career. He posted two pictures of paintings he has recently completed: One of a mother and child, and another depicting a young Michael Jackson that he made as a tribute to the late star. Both paintings are beautiful and intricate, and Swizz clearly has an eye for detail and skills with a brush.

He's also been working his way into the art community. In fact, a few weeks ago Swizz hosted an event sponsored by high-end magazine Haute Living in Miami, celebrating the opening night of Art Basel Miami, a top-shelf worldwide art show. His artwork was showcased on the walls of the restaurant at the event. All the while, Swizz has kept it interactive, streaming video of him working in his art studio and keeping his fans posted via Twitter. In fact, he recently Tweeted that he has his first solo show coming up soon.

He hasn't forgotten his other projects, though, as he has a new production on Whitney Houston's new album and has at least one credit on 50 Cent's upcoming Before I Self Destruct.

Last night, Whitney Houston hosted a listening party for her upcoming album I Look To You, which attracted the likes of Alicia Keys, Swizz Beatz, L.A. Reid and label head Clive Davis. I Look To You represents the first collection of new Houston songs since 2002's Just Whitney, and by all accounts it represents an exceptional comeback for one of the biggest divas in music history.

Among the most enthusiastic attendees at last night's event at Lincoln Center was TV host/magazine magnate/homemaking icon Martha Stewart. She took to her Twitter account to praise the singer and her new album. "Whitney Houston singing and performing better than ever last night!!" she wrote. She also posted a picture she snapped of Houston on stage with a microphone. Stewart also got particularly excited about one of the songs via her Twitter. "ALICIA KEYS WROTE ONE OF THE SONGS. She danced while it played. L.A. Reid, Dionne Warwick, Whitney's mom Missy,and lots of other friends, family," she wrote. (Stewart's Twitter is fantastic, by the way, as it has these dispatches from her social life in between random drink recipes and suggestions for centerpieces. Totally surreal.)

Houston premiered nine songs from the upcoming album (scheduled for release on September 1), including two tracks written by R. Kelly and a Swizz Beatz-produced number called "Million Dollar Bill." Meanwhile, nobody should be shocked that Stewart was at the part rubbing elbows with record industry executives and VIPs from the R&B world. After all, she and Busta Rhymes go all the way back to 1997.

By Sabrina Rojas Weiss

With Britney Spears' career seemingly on the upswing and li'l sis Jamie Lynn lying low while raising baby Maddie Briann, it's probably safe for their mother, Lynne Spears, to step forward and admit she was at least partly responsible for her daughters' tumultuous lives. If things hadn't turned out well, we wonder if she really would be taking the blame while out promoting her book, "Through the Storm: A Real Story of Fame and Family in a Tabloid World."

To be (sort of) fair, Lynne is hardly the only, or even the worst, celebrity mother of 2008. And she seems to be trying to make up for any neglect by telling England's Daily Mail she almost called the memoir "It's All My Fault." Let's take a look back at some of the other famous moms and dads who maybe shouldn't be writing parenting guides anytime soon. Read more...

Could Whitney Houston be the Rocky of the music world? It's been a long time since the singer was in her prime, and "Like I Never Left," her first new song in nearly five years, has leaked. She worked with Akon on it and proclaims she's coming back — but will her fans be there? What do you think?