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13 articles
Janet Jackson Flash Mobber Recalls Dancing For Janet Herself
1 hour ago
To celebrate the release of Janet Jackson's new compilation album, Number Ones, fans gathered Saturday for three Flash Mobs that took place in various locations in Los Angeles to dance and pay tribute to some of the veteran diva's best dance moves and songs. The events were produced by Flash Mob America, who posted the locations of the mobs on its Twitter page throughout the day. Hundreds of people gathered to watch, but it was the second Flash Mob stop that grabbed headlines. Soon after launching into their performance at Los Angeles shopping center the Grove, the performers realized that Janet herself was watching the mob from a balcony above the fray.
Joleen Nordstrom was one of those dancers, and she shared her story with the Newsroom:
The first Flash Mob went off flawlessly. The screeching noise at the beginning of the song started, and the Grove shoppers wondered, »
- MTV News
Remembering Ken Ober, The Voice Of 'Remote Control'
3 hours ago
This was a sad day at MTV, as we had a death in the family. Ken Ober, the longtime comedian, television producer and host of early MTV game show "Remote Control," passed away at age 52.
Arguably, Ober's most indelible legacy is "Remote Control," which premiered in 1987 and was one of MTV's first attempts at crafting an original television series. The premise was delightfully low-fi: Ober posited that he hosted a media-obsessed game show out of the basement of his parents' house, and he was joined by a cast of characters who wandered through the set (including fellow comedian and former "Saturday Night Live" cast member Colin Quinn, who acted as the Andy Richter to Ober's Conan O'Brien). The show featured three contestants getting asked a barrage of pop culture questions about movies, music, television shows, sports and, of course, music videos. Along the way, the show was interrupted by comedy skits, »
- Kyle Anderson
Paramore's Hayley Williams Builds A World Of Her Own: The MTV News Quote Of The Day
3 hours ago
"It's really new for us. We've never done a video that wasn't performance. I'm really excited for our fans to see this side of us. This is the first time we've ever had a real set, where it's not like a stage with instruments and a mic. We've built this whole world."
-Paramore singer Hayley Williams, expressing her enthusiasm about their new video for "Brick by Boring Brick," the second single from the band's excellent new album Brand New Eyes. The clip, which premieres on MTV on Tuesday night (November 17), was directed by Meiert Avis, who has also been responsible for videos for U2 ("With or Without You"), Avril Lavigne ("My Happy Ending") and Flyleaf ("Again"). It features the band stepping outside of their normal video routine to cast themselves as characters. "After we came up with the treatment, we wrote it down in an e-mail, sort of sent it out, »
- MTV News
50 Cent: Too Cool To Self Destruct
4 hours ago
Of all the artists that pass through the MTV headquarters here in New York every week, there are few that bring the same level of excitement to the building that 50 Cent does. With his fourth studio album Before I Self Destruct set to hit stores, the G-Unit General is hard at work on the promo trail talking about everything from music to his rivals. Interviewing 50 never gets old. He has as much charisma as he does bottles of Vitamin Water in his fridge, so whenever he comes in for a big sit-down interview you never know what to expect.
It's an interesting time for 50. He's nearing the end of his five album deal with Interscope, and he appears to have come full circle, as the aggression of his debut Get Rich or Die Tryin' is matched only by the new album. Despite having a reported $300 million in the bank and an empire that spans clothing, »
- Tim Kash
The Xx: Band You Should Know
5 hours ago
One of the great quests in rock music has been to try to bring together traditional guitar-drum-bass rock sounds with dance music. Some of the biggest bands in the world have made the attempt (most notably U2, who boldly attempted to bridge the gap between rock and electronica with Zooropa and Pop in the 1990s), but most have failed. At the end of the day, groups with rock elements are written off as dance artists (Hot Chip, LCD Soundsystem) and rockers who dabble in dance are dismissed as overreaching.
Still, that doesn't stop bands from trying, and lately a handful of groups have managed to score points with bold experiments. Bloc Party manage to both rock hard and be groove-friendly, and the Big Pink are currently splitting the difference between English pub rock, shoegaze and techno. The Xx (who hail from London and went to the same school as the »
- Kyle Anderson
Spotted: Justin Bieber On 'Good Morning America'
6 hours ago
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.
Has anybody promoted his debut album better than Justin Bieber? The precocious 15-year-old posted some footage of him singing on the Internet, inspired a bidding war between Justin Timberlake and Usher (the latter won), amassed a ton of Twitter followers and Facebook friends, dropped a series of catchy singles (including the latest one, "Favorite Girl") and appeared on just about every television show available to musicians. Bieber's debut album My World hits the streets tomorrow, and Bieber kept up his push up on Sunday (November 15) with an appearance on "Good Morning America." He performed his first single "One Time" live on the show, »
- MTV News
Adam Lambert's 'For Your Entertainment' Video: The First Photos!
7 hours ago
If you were in Hollywood yesterday and saw more leather chaps than usual, don't panic — it was just Adam Lambert's music video shoot. No big deal.
Actually, yes big deal. Massive deal! So much so that paparazzi came out of the woodwork to snap some photos that should help shed some light on the treatment behind the clip for Lambert's first official album music video, "For Your Entertainment."
Here's what we knew before the photos leaked: the video was directed by Lady Gaga collaborator Ray Kay, and would be shot at the Alexandria Hotel in Los Angeles.
What did we learn from the photos? Adam Lambert is fully embracing the S&M lyrics featured in his single. Greased up dancers are dolled up in leather, dog collars, nipple clamps (zoinks!) and platform boots. He's not kidding when he asks in the song, "Push the limit/ Are you with it? »
- Jim Cantiello
Liam Gallagher Has A New (Old) Band With No Name
8 hours ago
Earlier this year, something inevitable happened: Oasis was finally torn asunder. Noel Gallagher and his brother Liam, who made up the core of one of the biggest bands in the history of England, had always had a contentious relationship, often squabbling in public and undercutting each other in interviews. They managed to survive through seven studio albums, a handful of genuine worldwide hits (including "Wonderwall" and "Live Forever") and more than a few drug problems. Now that Noel has left to pursue other interests, Liam announced that he will continue performing with the remainder of the band. Noel's future remains uncertain, though there are so many former members of Oasis that he could still recruit a band and reasonably call it "Oasis."
The name will be free, because Liam announced that his new old band would not be using it. But what will this new project be called? Liam hasn't announced anything yet, »
- Kyle Anderson
Lady Gaga Contest Proves '2012' Doesn't Have The Market Cornered On The Apocalypse
9 hours ago
When the "Fame Kills" tour was called off, the disappointment was palpable. The concert series that was supposed to bring together Kanye West and Lady Gaga was going to be a theatrical, over-the-top production from the minds of two of pop music's greatest and most warped superstars. While Kanye disappeared somewhere into the Internet, Gaga pressed forward with the "Monster Ball" tour, which will take her across the country presenting a crazed pop opera. It's all in support of The Fame Monster, her new expanded album reissue that hits shelves next week.
The tour promises to be a multimedia affair, as Gaga has reached out to her fans to provide her with video content for the shows. Over the weekend, she announced on her Twitter that she was looking for film creations "in the theme of the apocalypse." She also pointed to a Web site that lets fans upload video clips, »
- Kyle Anderson
Manny Pacquiao's Amazing Saturday: 12th Round Tko, Sold Out Concert
9 hours ago
On Saturday night (November 14), all eyes were on Las Vegas and the boxing match between Wbo welterweight champion Miguel Cotto and Filipino phenom Manny Pacquiao. The challenger started off shakily, but it was all Pacquiao from the second round on. He consistently knocked Cotto to the mat, and the fight probably could have been stopped as early as the eighth round. But the referee finally waived off the fight in the 12th and final round, giving Pacquiao the victory and his seventh championship belt (he's won one in seven different weight classes).
The night drew a number of huge stars to the MGM Grand Arena, including Mark Wahlberg, Will Ferrell and Diddy, who tweeted throughout the night from his seat at ringside. "I got Cotto in a upset," he wrote before the fighters touched gloves. As the night went on, Diddy changed his tune. "This is ugly live! A lot of blood, »
- Kyle Anderson
Dr. Dre Takes A Step Toward Detox: Wake-Up Video
11 hours ago
Last year saw the long-awaited release of Guns N' Roses' Chinese Democracy, an album that was first discussed in earnest some time around 1994 and finally hit store shelves 14 years later. It provided an easy metaphor for work that seemed to be forever delayed (one of the many reasons it was ultimately disappointing). With Axl's opus finally out in the open, the anticipation turned to Dr. Dre, whose Detox has been talked about for just as long. Dre revolutionized the way the public thinks about commercial rap with 1992's The Chronic, and since that record was released he has been teasing out a project called Detox. All the while, Dre has continued to produce for other MCs and oversee his label Aftermath Entertainment, but Detox remains incomplete (so much so that there are next to no inklings about what it could possibly sound like).
But 10 years ago, Dre provided a »
- Kyle Anderson
Black Eyed Peas' Fergie Throws Some Punches On 'Saturday Night Live'
11 hours ago
This weekend's edition of "Saturday Night Live" didn't live up to the highs of the previous week (when Taylor Swift reigned supreme over just about every aspect of the show), but it still provided a handful of laughs. Host January Jones (of the critically-acclaimed television drama "Mad Men") looked a little lost at times but still turned in some memorable moments. But most of the notable highlights came courtesy of musical guests the Black Eyed Peas. The group turned in a trio of excellent performances and managed to get the normally staid "SNL" audience to make a little noise and bang around a bit.
The quartet also delivered on the comedy front. In one of the episode's first sketches, the Peas appeared as the guests on "Today," hosted by Kathy Lee Gifford (played by Kristen Wiig) and Hoda Kotb (played by newcomer Jenny Slate). During the sketch, Wiig's Gifford starts singing, »
- Kyle Anderson
Taylor Swift Not Dead, Just The Latest Victim Of Internet Hoax
12 hours ago
It seems like every other week there are rumors of some celebrity dying that quickly becomes an Internet rumor that is re-tweeted and Googled so often it almost becomes the truth. Jeff Goldblum had to fight off rumors of his death with appearances on "The Colbert Report," and it took a response from girlfriend Amber Rose to prove that Kanye West hadn't in fact perished in a car crash. Miley Cyrus' death rumors weren't even dignified with a response (rumors about her demise seem to surface every other day).
This morning, there was a new entry in the I'm-not-really-dead pantheon: Taylor Swift. The idea got passed around last night and quickly became a trend on Google and Twitter. But Swift remains alive and well, having tweeted just a few hours ago, "Dancing around my kitchen to 'Do You Remember' by Jay Sean. I love every song he's put out so far! »
- MTV News
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