Rabu, 15 Desember 2010

MTV News

MTV News

Justin Bieber Is MTV News' #3 Man Of The Year

Posted: 15 Dec 2010 03:52 AM PST

In 2010, the pop star cleans up at awards shows, causes worldwide pandemonium — and turns 16.
By Jocelyn Vena


Justin Bieber
Photo: Michael Caulfield/AMA2010/Getty/DCP

Justin Bieber seemingly did it all in 2010. He sold out concerts, filmed a movie, released two albums and set girls hearts aflutter — all in the span of 12 months. Not only is he arguably the biggest pop star in the world, he's also pals with some of hip-hop's biggest names (just ask Drake, Ludacris and Kanye West if you don't believe us), and he chills with some of the prettiest girls in the game thanks to friendships with ladies like Kim Kardashian, Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez.

(They're more than just pretty faces, but you can still check out photos of our Men and Women of 2010!)

This really is Justin Bieber's world, and we're all just living in it. For a kid from a small town in Canada, Bieber's meteoric rise to fame from Internet sensation to bona fide musical superstar may have seemed fast, but let's face it: Bieber is the real deal.

2010 Highlights: Justin Bieber kicked off 2010 with his smash single "Baby." He also showed his charitable side appearing on BET's "SOS: Help for Haiti" telethon and lending his voice to the "We Are the World" remake. He was also a presenter at the Grammy Awards alongside Ke$ha.

Bieber then went bowling with Drake and Ludacris in his "Baby" video and would later date the clip's leading lady, Jasmine Villegas. In February, Justin caused hysteria in Paris during a trip to Europe, and then in March, he turned sweet 16, collaborated with Sean Kingston on the track "Eeenie Meenie" and had Aziz Ansari mock him in a Funny or Die clip he thought was "hilarious." He also released his sophomore album, My World 2.0, which he promised would be "a lot of fun."

Bieber became the subject of his own "Diary" special in late March, released his video for "Never Let You Go" and made an appearance at the Teen Choice Awards. He kicked off April by taking over Funny or Die, where he joked, "I'm a star. I do what stars do. I ride on yachts. I autograph lady lumps."

That same month, Bieber once again showed his funny side on "Saturday Night Live," where he was the night's musical guest. He sat down with MTV News and thanked his fans for making him a constant Twitter trend.

He shook up New Zealand and Australia, causing more fan hysteria, and by May, his fans were threatening the life of Kim Kardashian just for taking a Twitpic with him! In June, he hooked up with Jaden Smith for the "Karate Kid" track "Never Say Never." He was nominated for the Teen Choice Awards and hung out with his mentor Usher in the "Somebody to Love" video. That same month, Bieber was a big winner at the Much Music Awards and kicked off his first-ever headlining tour.

The second half of 2010 was just as busy for the star. In July, he and Lady Gaga battled it out for YouTube supremacy and announced he'd be on "CSI" and releasing a book. (He followed through on all those promises by year's end.) By the end of August, Kanye West's remix of "Runaway Love" hit the world, and it was announced that Bieber would be performing at the VMAs. He also filmed the concert portions of his 3-D movie at Madison Square Garden.

JB hit the stage at the VMAs in September and even took home his first-ever Moonman. At the show, he shared with MTV News that "girlfriends are trouble." He made his cameo on "CSI" and premiered his video for "U Smile," and then in October, he revealed the name of his 3-D flick — "Never Say Never" — as well as the first trailer for the movie.

In November, he released his book and his My Worlds Acoustic album and took home a few American Music Awards. And that brings us to December, when he sat down with Barbara Walters, made Google's Zeitgeist list and went out for pancakes with Selena Gomez.

If doing all that in 12 months isn't reason enough to make Justin Bieber our #3 Man of the Year, then we're not sure what can.

We'll be rolling out our Top Five Men and Women of 2010 all week, until we unveil MTV News' Man and Woman of the Year on Friday. As always, we want to know what you think, so share your picks in the comments below!

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Taylor Swift Is MTV News' #3 Woman Of The Year

Posted: 15 Dec 2010 03:52 AM PST

Swift fell in and out of love through song, but we never stopped loving the superstar in 2010.
By Jocelyn Vena


Taylor Swift
Photo: AP/Matt Sayles

After a year as impressive as 2009, Taylor Swift followed suit in 2010. She toured the world, released a chart-topping album and even starred in her first feature film. Swift kicked off the year winning awards and ended it dominating the charts, and in between, she never looked back.

(They're more than just pretty faces, but you can still check out photos of our Men and Women of 2010!)

Swift proved that she was more than just a crossover coincidence thanks to catchy songs and girl-next-door charm that appeals to the masses. She managed to scoop up awards and be surprised by each win. The other shoe isn't going to drop anytime soon, and 2010 proved that.

2010 Highlights: In January, Taylor took home her first People's Choice Award and covered Better Than Ezra's "Breathless" at the "Hope for Haiti Now" telethon. She also broke Britney Spears' record for first-week download sales by a female artist thanks to her tune "Today Was a Fairytale."

But it was February that would truly leave her breathless. At the Grammys in February, Swift took home four trophies, including Album of the Year. She also hit the stage with Stevie Nicks at the awards show. Weeks later, she would rule the box office alongside former beau Taylor Lautner in "Valentine's Day."

Swift spent much of 2010 on tour, but along the way, she racked up nominations at a slew of awards shows, including the Academy of Country Music Awards and CMT Awards. In the spring, she revealed that she was working on her next album and that, unsurprisingly, it would focus on "boys and love."

In July, the singer announced that her next album would be out in October and that she wouldn't hold back on the aptly titled Speak Now. Weeks later, in August, the album's first single, "Mine," leaked online and then soared to the top of the charts. "I was reflecting back on a boy I liked at a certain time," she said about the song. The video was released at the end of August and showed a more adult side of the singer.

Then September rolled around and Swift took the stage at the VMAs. It was a defining moment for the singer, as she publicly let go of the Kanye West incident from a year prior and buried the hatchet with the rapper thanks to her heartfelt performance of "Innocent."

Swift later explained, "I had a lot of options going into the VMAs: You can not go, you can perform your current single, you can pretend that nothing happened or you can say what you need to say at the time you need to say it."

By early October, Swift was pre-releasing Speak Now tracks, prompting speculation about whether the songs were referring to famous exes like Taylor Lautner and Joe Jonas. "I've never kept quiet the fact that I write songs about people," she said. "It's like, this is album number three. You guys have had fair warning!"

For the album's release, Swift invited fans to her album-release party, and just one week later, she found out that Speak Now had sold 1,047,000 units in its first week, making it the biggest album release in five years.

Swift capped 2010 with performances at the CMA Awards and the American Music Awards, announcing a world tour, embarking on a whirlwind romance with Jake Gyllenhaal and turning 21. Not a bad year, to say the least.

We'll be rolling out our Top Five Men and Women of 2010 all week, until we unveil MTV News' Man and Woman of the Year on Friday. As always, we want to know what you think, so share your picks in the comments below!

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Kanye West, Robyn And More: 20 Best Albums Of 2010

Posted: 15 Dec 2010 03:52 AM PST

In a truly great year for music, Bigger Than the Sound narrows it down to records by Vampire Weekend, Rick Ross and more.
By James Montgomery


<i>Bigger Than The Sound's</i> Best Albums of 2010
Photo: MTV News

As we close the book on 2010, one thing becomes apparent: It may very well have been the best year for music in a long, long time. Major-label artists went insane, indie-rock acts topped the Billboard albums chart, and Kanye just kept being Kanye. The end result was 12 months positively brimming with excellent albums, to the point where making a list of the 20 best was darn-near impossible. Still, I tried. It's my job, after all.

So here are my picks for the 20 Best Albums of 2010. Rock, hip-hop, pop and electro records — from artists big and small — that managed to stick with me through the entire year, which was no small feat. Looking at it now, there are at least a half-dozen other albums I could've included. It really was that good of a year.

That said, I'm sure I left a few off my list, so I'm counting on you to remind me of anything I might have missed. Let me know in the comments below, and here's to a truly great 2010.

20. Linkin Park, A Thousand Suns
The year's most ambitious major-label rock album was also the most controversial, an icy, chilling listen that alternately thrilled and thinned LP's substantial fanbase with its vast swaths of sonic sprawl (and overall lack of guitar solos). A Thousand Suns may be Linkin Park's Kid A or it may just be a colossal misstep, but either way, there's no denying the dense, dark power it packs.

19. Villagers, Becoming a Jackal
The similarities between Conor O'Brien and Conor Oberst go a lot deeper than just a few letters, a pair of dewdrop eyes and a general lack of height. For proof, I present Becoming a Jackal, an expansive, haunting and largely self-produced debut that rivals Oberst's Lifted ... in terms of ambition, scope and sonic palette. The potential on display here is truly staggering, and I can't wait to hear what he does next. So long as it's not Digital Ash in a Digital Urn.

18. The Black Keys, Brothers
An unlikely — though well-deserved — breakout for Akron, Ohio's hardest-working blues hammers, Brothers bears the fruit of everything that came before it (the team-ups with Danger Mouse and Dame Dash, frontman Dan Auerbach's solo album) and boils it down into a staggering, swaggering mash. The tunes are raw and ribbed, and there's a snarling — dare I say sexual — streak that runs through them all. Required nocturnal listening, even during the day.

17. My Chemical Romance, Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys
It's not a concept album; rather, it's an "allegory" for the sad state of the music industry, a heat-seeking "missile" aimed at the barely fluttering heart of rock and roll. In short: It's a positively vital album. On Danger Days, MCR are out to save the world, and they do it by ditching the theatrics (and Liza Minnelli cameos), reinventing themselves as dusty, DayGlo outlaws and harnessing the sheer power of rock. It may seem silly, but it's also a battle someone needs to fight.

16. Beach House, Teen Dream
Forget Katy Perry; Baltimore's Beach House wrote 2010's best soundtrack to teenage melodrama. Teen Dream is full of gauzy harmonies, sun-dappled guitars, swoony histrionics and songs like "Zebra" and "Walk in the Park" that just keep opening up, until they gently burn out and fade away. I'd like to hear them take on "California Gurls" next.

15. Eminem, Recovery
Three million Eminem fans can't be wrong. There's a reason Recovery is the best-selling album released in 2010, one that has as much to do with our love of comeback stories as it does the undiluted strength of Eminem himself, who, clean and sober for the first time in years, lets it rip, tackling subjects both old (celebs) and new (himself) with a renewed vigor and venom. Shoot, at one point he even manages to work "antidisestablishmentarianism" into the mix. When he raps "I am the American Dream," he's not boasting; he's just telling the truth. After all, he's been to the bottom, and with Recovery, he's pulled himself back up to the top by his bootstraps.

14. Deerhunter, Halcyon Digest
A haunting (and haunted) recollection of the claustrophobic past and the agoraphobic present, Halcyon Digest is Deerhunter at their most woozy, weary and wispy, which is to say it's also them operating at the absolute peak of their abilities. An album brimming with ideas and gauzy expanses, vespertine ghosts and floating embers, Halcyon Digest is the musical equivalent of prying open the attic and feeling the warm gust of dusty breath that greets you. Sometimes it comforts, but most of the time it just gives you chills.

13. Rick Ross, Teflon Don
Big Meech. Larry Hoover. And about a million other characters, both real and imagined. Teflon Don is Ross' most thrilling listen, alternating between blunt-force braggadocio ("B.M.F.") and silk-suited swagger (the flossy, glossy "Super High") with a deftness that belies his general ginormitude. You can debate the authenticity of his words, but you cannot challenge his storytelling abilities. Hollywood doesn't make movies this big, let alone Miami.

12. Sleigh Bells, Treats
Sounds like: cheerleader camp, power tools f---ing, the "level-up" music on any NES game (circa 1988), a really sh---y Sanyo boom box, double Dutch, hyperspace, hellfire, hurricanes, a more polite Motörhead, Three 6 Mafia's "Stay Fly," Funkadelic's "Can You Get to That" ('cause they sample it), Brassy, Crystal Castles on Quaaludes, Link Wray on Amphetamines, the impending robot apocalypse, "Top Gun," summer, guard dogs, drugs and joy. In theory, Sleigh Bells are just a guy, a girl, a guitar, some (seriously) overworked machinery and a whole lot of distortion. But in actuality, they're so much more.

11. Jamey Johnson, The Guitar Song
Country purists tout his unflinching dedication to all things blue-collar (the bar, the hometown, the paycheck), and they're correct to do so, but what resonated with me about the double-disc Guitar Song was Johnson's ability to flat out-write 99 percent of his contemporaries. Songs like "California Riots" and "Playing Part" rattle with outsider wit — and outrage — and though I'm no country purist, even I can't deny the beery hook of "Lonely at the Top," on which Johnson crows, "It's lonely at the top/ But it's a bitch at the bottom."

10. Sufjan Stevens, The Age of Adz
Forget everything you (probably didn't) know about Sufjan Stevens. That seems to be the message behind The Age of Adz, a dense, sprawling, cluttering, heaving mass of machinery and orchestration that kicks off with his trademarked plaintive plucking and then proceeds to abandon anything of the sort for the next hour or so. Sure, it's a head-spinning swirl, and the last song may be 25 minutes long (!), but when Suf bleats, "I'm not f---ing around" on penultimate track "I Want to Be Well," you can't help but believe him. Because beneath all the rattletrap, this is an album about very basic (and very Sufjan) things: love, faith, sex, death. Adz is very much a passion play, and though it often comes close to rattling off the rails, it never really does, which is as much a testament to his skill as it is his focus. Dig deep, and the rewards will be yours.

9. Big Boi, Sir Lucious Left Foot, Son of Chico Dusty
Way back in 2005, Big Boi promised that his solo album would feature "something from every genre, every funk, beat, loop, horn [and] whistle." He also said that it would be hitting stores in 2007. And while he may have been off-base when it came to the release date, he wasn't kidding around about Lucious Left Foot's sonic stew; it's got everything and then some. From the wacked-out funk of "Shutterbugg" to the big-screen weirdness of "General Patton" to the cameos by everyone from Yelawolf to George Clinton, this is a deep-fried, jaw-dropping, head-rattling, downright stanky voyage through his wonderfully odd world. Needless to say, it was worth the wait. Besides, at this point, who needs another Outkast album, anyway?

8. Janelle Monáe, The ArchAndroid
The year's most un-categorizeable album, a conceptual cluster-frick that leaps between genres with the same glee Monáe seemingly gets from pulling her hair up in that outrageous pompadour. Sweaty funk, honey-dripping soul, pastoral folk, paranoid psych — it's all here, and it's all great. Over the course of 18 tracks, the pint-size Monáe weaves a dystopian narrative that's part "Blade Runner," part "Metropolis," managing to out-Badu Erykah and out ATL-ien Outkast ("Cold War," which just might be the year's best song, rages and wails like the baby sister of Outkast's "Bombs Over Baghdad"). Ambitious, impressive stuff, even if you can't adequately describe it to anyone who may be interested.

7. LCD Soundsystem, This Is Happening
In 2007, James Murphy wrote the coda for New York's once-bright electroclash scene with "All My Friends," a bittersweet beauty of a song that also doubled as a rather perfect rumination on the unstoppable advance of middle age (something he's been dreading for a while now, actually). Thankfully, he hasn't shuffled off into pleated-khaki obsolescence just yet, and, if anything, on This Is Happening, he seems to be coming to terms with his lack of cool, lamenting, "Everybody's getting younger" (on album-opener "Dance Yrself Clean"), rolling his eyes at the drunk girls on the dance floor, extolling the virtues of finding "good places to eat" in his neighborhood and picking fights with Village Voice gossip columnists — just because. Acerbic, sarcastic, downright hilarious (and, sometimes, even downright sad), Murphy's like Randy Newman, only for bloggers and kids who still take drugs and dance all night, and minus the paunch and the Hawaiian shirts. For now, at least.

6. The National, High Violet
Somber. Brooding. Beautiful. These are some of the things the National do better than anyone, and on High Violet, they're doing it best. Over the course of 11 knee-buckling tracks, frontman Matt Berninger weaves fractured tales of genteel, upper-middle-class guilt, regret and sadness. He's skilled (and confident) enough to never tell us the entire story, however, instead giving us mere pieces of the picture — a party upstate, a glass of pricey booze, a stray tennis shoe, a kid on your shoulders, a debt that cannot be resolved — and leaving the rest up to our imaginations. And, surprise, surprise, when left to our own devices, we conjure up things more horrible and morose than anything he could have written. His bandmates match him every step of the way, creating a wall of sound that's sometimes paranoid (check the guitars on "Afraid of Everyone"), sometimes gorgeous (the piano/horns that just keep building on "England") but always artfully, woefully sad. Whenever you see a dad standing in his driveway, staring out into nothing while his kids play in the yard and his interest rates climb onward toward infinity, High Violet is what's playing in his head. Safe and secure but dead, or dying, beyond saving and beyond hope. Never, in his wildest dreams, did he think he'd end up like this.

5. Vampire Weekend, Contra
Four years ago, Vampire Weekend were thrust into the spotlight with their self-titled debut and suffered all the slings and arrows that come with that kind of overnight success. Sure, with their pique polos, boat shoes and penchant for, uh, borrowing from the Soweto sound of South Africa, they brought a lot of it upon themselves — but you couldn't blame them for being a bit taken aback by it all. After all, one can only be picked apart by critics (and anonymous blog commenters) for so long before they snap. And Contra is the result. It's by no means an angry album; rather, it's a determined one, a well-conceived, flawlessly executed "f--- you" to their detractors. From the WASPy (and litigious) gal on the cover to the culturally loaded content of tunes like "Horchata" and "Holiday," this is VW at their most resolute. Of course, they back it all up with a boatload of really great tunes — "Cousins," "Giving Up the Gun," the album-closing title track — making Contra perhaps the most polite middle finger in music history. You catch more flies with honey, after all. And then you crush them.

4. Arcade Fire, The Suburbs
"Sometimes I can't believe it," Win Butler keens at the beginning of The Suburbs. "I'm moving past the feeling." It's a striking way to kick off an album, but you get the feeling he doesn't actually believe the words coming out of his mouth, because he spends the next 50-odd minutes attempting to convince himself otherwise. And really, that struggle — to remember (and reconnect with) his roots, to recolor his past, to celebrate (or, alternately, vilify) the place he once longed to leave but now aches to return to — is what makes The Suburbs such a compelling, beautiful and, more often than not, terrifying listen. Because, really, Butler's childhood is no different than yours, even if you didn't grow up in the sprawl: We all learned to drive, we all fell in love, we all waited by mailboxes and discovered punk rock and felt alone and misunderstood. The frightening part is that he's reached the inevitable conclusion many of us haven't: that friendships end and people disappear, that the past is gone and it's never, ever coming back. Sometimes it's easier not to feel.

3. Robyn, Body Talk
All hail the new Queen of Electro Pop. In 2010, Robyn released three albums of staggeringly great, pulse-quickening pump, a feat that, on sheer effort alone, probably would've earned her the crown. But unlike any of her contemporaries (insert whomever you'd like here), she infused her tunes with genuine heart, filling even her sweetest bon bons ("Dancing on My Own," "Hang With Me") with a heartbreakingly sour center. Of course, sometimes, she just wanted to get down, and when she did (in songs like "Dancehall Queen" and "Fembot"), she distanced herself from the pack too. You can heap on the accolades, but at the end of the day, what makes Robyn's triumphant rise so great is that she did it her way, never compromising and never looking back. Picking up the mantle of fellow Swedes like ABBA and Ace of Base, she now lords over dance floors worldwide. And she doesn't show any signs of abdicating the throne anytime soon. Long may she reign.

2. Titus Andronicus, The Monitor
Sure, it's flawed — a tad too long, a bit unfocused, a little muddied, production-wise — but one expects those sorts of things, especially when a band this young attempts an album this ambitious. The Monitor is, after all, a concept album, though said concept is sort of hard to define: In part, it's about the Civil War (it takes its name from the first ironclad ship built by the U.S. Navy), but it's also about wild-eyed frontman Patrick Stickles' quest to figure out life in the 21st century, a journey that takes him from the safe confines of New Jersey to the unfriendly confines of Boston and back again. He never quite finds what he's been searching for and, in the end, learns that things are just as fractious as they were 150 years ago — perhaps even more so. Bursting with ragged, thoroughly epic songs ("A More Perfect Union," "Four Score and Seven," "The Battle of Hampton Road") and buoyed by an indomitable spirit that can't be deflated no matter how troubling the times, The Monitor is the kind of album so big, so bold and so unabashed that you learn to love it, warts and all. Sometimes it pays to dream big.

1. Kanye West, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
In theory, Kanye began spinning his Fantasy on September 13, 2009, immediately after storming the stage at the MTV Video Music Awards. That wasn't actually the case, of course, but when you're dealing with truly great works, sometimes a little mythology is needed to do them justice. And Fantasy is truly a great work, West's most personal album to date, full of unflinching introspection, bloody honesty and, of course, outrageous brags and boasts. It's less an act of contrition than it is a sweeping declaration of independence, full of odes to excess and depravity, thrilling highs and crushing lows, as West gives the listener a guided tour through the past 14 months of his own personal hell. Accordingly, there are angels and demons, ghosts and Greek choruses, kings and pharaohs, but there's never truly an apology, because there really shouldn't be. By getting deep, by being brave and bold and, yes, probably a little bit crazy too, West has not only created the hip-hop album of our time, he's succeeded in having the last word too. And if there truly is nothing left to say, perhaps I'll just end with this. It sort of sums everything up, doesn't it?

What did we miss? Share your picks for the Best Albums of 2010 in the comments below!

Jay Electronica Is Our Fire Starter Of The Year

Posted: 15 Dec 2010 03:52 AM PST

Nomadic MC spit heat in 2010, conjuring the 'Ghost of Christopher Wallace' with Diddy, earning a nod from Nas and a deal with Jay-Z's Roc Nation.
By Jayson Rodriguez


Jay Electronica
Photo: Gus Stewart/ Redferns/ MTV News

Jay Electronica is an MC shrouded in as much mystery as his densely packed rhymes.

Raised in New Orleans, with stops in Detroit, Philadelphia and Brooklyn, which the rapper now calls home, the literary-leaning rapper arrived on the scene as a fully formed adult. His lyrics prove the point with references to everything from the JFK assassination ("My World (Nas Salute)") to Kurt Vonnegut ("Exhibit A (Transformations)"). But with few details in terms of backstory beyond his hard-to-find rhymes, his narrative is being scripted in real time for the hip-hop community.

The start of that tale was officially birthed this year with Jay's breakout hit, the Just Blaze-backed "Exhibit C." With an elaborate rhyme pattern and illustrious production, Jay Elect announced his arrival with a boom bap harder than a DJ Premier drum snare.

"You either build or destroy, where you come from?" he spits over the sweeping number. "The Magnolia Projects in the 3rd Ward slum, hmm/ It's quite amazing that you rhyme how you do/ And how you shine like you grew up in a shrine in Peru."

The underground anthem resonated beyond the blogs, rattling mainstream radio to the point that DJ Enuff penned a blog on his site about wanting to play the record on New York's Hot 97 in spite of the track's ethereal backpack appeal. From then on, the MC — with his esoteric storytelling and heart-stinging lines — was hailed as the second coming of Nas.

Diddy co-signed his appeal by riding shotgun on Jay's "The Ghost of Christopher Wallace." And Electronica also joined forces with Talib Kweli, Mos Def and J.Cole for the thumping "Just Begun."

While fellow 2010 breakouts like Wiz Khalifa may have a bigger online base, and 25-year-old J. Cole may have the benefit of even more years ahead to develop and build a career, it's Jay Electronica who has the presence, sculpted pedigree and once-in-a-generation skill set to make an impact — right now.

That was never more evident then last month when the Erykah Badu-loving MC (he has a child with the singer) spurned offers from Diddy and several labels to ink a deal with Jay-Z's Roc Nation.

"It's obvious that he really genuinely loves it and is a student of rap and the game," Jay-Z told MTV News of his latest signee. "You can't write those sort of songs or come to that sort of conclusion without having a deep love for what you're doing and a deep understanding and a deep drive."

The nomadic MC has now plugged himself into the matrix of the music industry, where expectations for him will be tracked by bottoms lines, SoundScan sheets and Grammy voters. The wild child has grown-man responsibilities to contend with when it comes to music.

The future remains uncertain, but the past 12 months have been nothing short of riveting and make Jay Electronica our 2010 Fire Starter of the Year.

For more on our Mixtape Daily year-end award winners, be sure to check out a special edition of "RapFix Live," when this week's guest will be Joe Budden. "RapFix Live" airs on Thursday at 4 p.m. ET on MTV.com.

For other artists featured in Mixtape Daily, check out Mixtape Daily Headlines.

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Reese Witherspoon Marvels At Her 'Sophisticated' Kids

Posted: 15 Dec 2010 03:52 AM PST

'They're both learning to play the electric guitar, and it's kind of awesome,' she tells MTV News.
By Kara Warner, with reporting by Josh Horowitz


Reese Witherspoon
Photo: MTV News

When she's not working, Reese Witherspoon is a full-time dedicated mom to her two kids, daughter Ava, 11, and son Deacon, 7. And although plenty of kids would think having Witherspoon as their mom would be considered cool, the 34-year-old recently revealed to MTV News while promoting her upcoming film "How Do You Know" that it's the other way around: Her kids are the cool ones.

"They're into the White Stripes right now. They're both learning to play the electric guitar, and it's kind of awesome," she said. "They're playing 'Seven Nation Army' around the house."

An 11-year-old girl and a 7-year-old boy into the White Stripes? We have to agree, she has cool kids.

"That's the thing too: Having kids that grow up in L.A., the sophistication level is totally different," she explained. "They are only into songwriters who write their own music, and I'm like, 'Wow, I was not that sophisticated as a child.' "

Witherspoon once told Parents magazine that her kids with ex-husband Ryan Phillippe keep her grounded. "Realizing you're not anything special to the kids is always a great sort of reminder that you're just a regular person," she said. "A regular embarrassing old mom. They know what I do for a living — that I'm an actress — but they haven't seen any of my movies. Yet."

Speaking of being embarrassing, Witherspoon said her daughter once asked her not to embarrass her at a Carrie Underwood concert. "She said, 'Mom I really appreciate you taking me to the concert, but will you please not embarrass me in front of Carrie Underwood by singing because she's a real singer and you're just, like, a movie singer.' "

Kids say the darndest things!

Check out everything we've got on "How Do You Know."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

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Gwyneth Paltrow LP Would Be Little Bit Country, Little Bit Cee Lo

Posted: 15 Dec 2010 03:52 AM PST

'If I was going to make a country record, it would be like a super-bare, kind of stripped-back,' the 'Country Strong' star tells MTV News.
By Kara Warner, with reporting by Josh Horowitz


Gwyneth Paltrow
Photo: MTV News

Gwyneth Paltrow has already dipped her toes in the country music world. She'll play washed-up singer Kelly Canter in the upcoming "Country Strong" and gave a much-discussed live performance at the Country Music Awards last month. So might she be ready to go the way of other actress/singers and record a proper album?

MTV News recently caught up with Gwyneth and asked her about that possibility as she promoted her December 22 flick.

"I think if I was going to make a country record, it would be like a super-bare, kind of stripped-back kind of country," Paltrow explained. "Like a little bit of bluegrass-influenced kind of thing."

But Paltrow said that she wouldn't necessarily limit herself to one genre, saying she also loved singing Cee Lo's "Forget You" on "Glee." "I also love singing '40s standards and stuff like that," she added.

Still, Paltrow said fans shouldn't look for her to rap on an album after we suggested she might let Jay-Z produce her LP. The Oscar winner said she'd leave that lane to a worthy female MC. "She just has it," Paltrow said of Nicki Minaj, MTV News' #5 Woman of the Year. "There's no need for another. It's all about Nicki in my life."

Whether she decides to get in the studio remains to be seen, but Paltrow has been getting great feedback. The "Country Strong" star told us she'd heard through the grapevine that Cee Lo had enjoyed her "Glee" cover.

"I have heard from Cee Lo through other people," Paltrow said. "He was incredibly sweet about it. It's embarrassing to think of Cee Lo hearing me sing his song," she laughed.

Should Gwyneth record an album? Tell us what you think in the comments!

Check out everything we've got on "Country Strong."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

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Diddy And Justin Bieber Team Up In The Studio

Posted: 14 Dec 2010 07:59 AM PST

MTV News' Sway joins rap mogul, teen idol and manager Scooter Braun as Bieber records song he wrote himself.
By Kelley L. Carter


Diddy, Justin Bieber and MTV's Sway Calloway
Photo: Bad Boy

On Tuesday (December 14), RapFix and MTV News' Sway tagged along with Diddy as the rap mogul went on a whirlwind promotional tour through New York in support of Diddy-Dirty Money's just-released Last Train to Paris.

There were many stops along the way — New York radio station Hot 97, a scorching-hot performance of "Coming Home" on "The View" — but the part of the day that's sure to make the girls scream is when Diddy linked up with Justin Bieber.

A little before 7:30 p.m., Diddy hung out with Justin at a recording studio. They were there because the Grammy-nominated teen idol had an idea for a song and needed to "get it off of his chest," according to Bieber's manager, Scooter Braun. Apparently, this studio is like a second home for the 16-year-old pop star.

But it wasn't all laying down tracks. Braun recalled the first time Bieber met the rap impresario (on the 2009 VMA red carpet), and Diddy gifted Bieber with a Diddy-Dirty Money jacket, declaring him an honorary group member! But that gift probably can't top the 16th-birthday present the Diddy-Dirty frontman gave the Biebs this year.

His big-deal birthday present? A $200,000 Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder.

Before we parted ways, Scooter also dished about Bieber's upcoming 3-D movie, "Never Say Never," calling the MTV Films release "incredible."

Diddy and his Dirty Money ladies, Dawn Richard and Kaleena, are celebrating the release of their Last Train to Paris on Tuesday night with a Ustream party.

Are you excited to hear Diddy and Justin were in the studio together? Tell us in the comments!

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Lil Wayne Premieres New Song, '6'7" '

Posted: 14 Dec 2010 01:18 AM PST

Weezy reteams with 'A Milli' producer Bangladesh for first single off Tha Carter IV.
By Alvin Blanco


Lil Wayne
Photo: Getty Images

Lil Wayne is officially back. The Young Money CEO was released from Rikers Island in November, but on Tuesday (December 14) Lil Wayne let Funkmaster Flex premiere his latest single, "6' 7"," featuring Cory Gunz and produced by Bangladesh.

The combo of Weezy and Bangladesh creates instant heat, just as it did when they linked up on "A Milli" from Tha Carter III. That single became one of 2007's most popular and helped push the album to a million units sold in its first week.

Lil Wayne snaps on "6' 7"," dropping some very quotable verses ("Most of y'all don't get the picture unless the flash is on") over Bangladesh's schizoid production of sped-up vocals, blade-sharp percussion and murky bass.

Vivid metaphors flow throughout the track. Raps Wayne, "Life is a bitch and death is her sister, sleep is the cousin, what a f---in' family picture/ You know Father Time, we all know Mother Nature/ It's all in the family, but I am of no relation."

The latest Young Money signee, Cory Gunz, caps off the song with a double-time flow on the final third verse.

Blog sites began posting a radio rip of the song almost immediately. On Shade 45 earlier Tuesday morning, Lil Wayne told hosts DJ Drama and Karen Civil that "6' 7" " is not only "a very tall record" but is the lead single from Tha Carter IV,, which he said will be in stores February 2011.

What do you think of Lil Wayne's new single? Share your reviews in the comments!

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Justin Bieber Won't Face Charges In Laser-Tag Incident

Posted: 14 Dec 2010 12:35 AM PST

Pop star was accused of punching a 12-year-old boy in the face.
By Gil Kaufman


Justin Bieber (file)
Photo: Getty Images

It looks like Justin Bieber will not have this on his permanent record. After facing possible sanction for an incident at a Richmond, British Columbia, laser-tag park where he allegedly punched a 12-year-old boy in the face, police in Richmond said they have decided not to file charges against Justin Bieber.

"The file in regard to the alleged assault at the entertainment center has been concluded, and no charges will be forwarded," Corporal Turley of the Richmond Royal Canadian Mounted Police told MTV News on Tuesday (December 14). "The investigation is complete." Turley said the evidence collected did not support going forward with the investigation, noting that she was unable to confirm whether Bieber was one of the persons involved because of a law prohibiting the dissemination of information into criminal cases involving youths.

Bieber had been accused of getting into a scuffle with the unidentified boy during an October 15 session at the Planet Lazer Entertainment Center in Richmond. According to reports, Bieber got angry when the boy allegedly hurled a homophobic slur at him and lashed out in response.

The boy sustained minimal injuries after what TMZ reported was an incident in which Bieber, 16, was targeted by an overzealous laser-tag player who used an anti-gay slur against him. When the 12-year-old stuck his hand out toward Bieber, the "Baby" singer reportedly batted it away and left the park.

A short time later, Bieber spoke out against bullying and posted an "It Gets Better" clip. In it, he said, "Hey guys, I'm Justin Bieber. I just wanted to say there's nothing cool about being a bully. And if you're getting bullied, make sure to tell someone and, you know, it gets better. And if you're a bystander, make sure to step in and, you know, help out."

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Kristen Stewart Is 'Incredible' In 'On The Road,' Garrett Hedlund Says

Posted: 14 Dec 2010 06:11 AM PST

'Everyone is going to get to see how hard a worker she is,' he tells MTV News of KStew.
By Kara Warner, with reporting by Josh Horowitz


Garrett Hedlund
Photo: MTV News

While Garrett Hedlund isn't exactly a household name yet, filmgoers will soon be very familiar with him via his two new projects "Tron Legacy" and "Country Strong," not to mention the upcoming "On the Road" film. When MTV News caught up with the busy man recently, we asked him about the recent uptick in his career — beginning with landing that coveted role in "On the Road."

"It's the hardest I've ever had to work, which is a very good sign," Hedlund said about the big-screen adaptation of Jack Kerouac's tour-de-beatnik classic. "It's the greatest experience of my lifetime — well, these last couple years have [been]. All these mean so much to me, with 'Tron Legacy' and the world getting to see ['Tron' director] Joseph Kosinski for the first time, who I feel is the next great visionary genius," he said. "For 'Country Strong,' I worked six months on the guitar to get that down and to play a country singer with Gwyneth [Paltrow] and that gets to showcase Shana Feste's incredible talents as a writer/director, because she's just miraculous.

"Now with 'On the Road,' getting to work with Walter Salles, who I owe such a tremendous amount to because he gives me so much," he explained of the "Motorcycle Diaries" director. "He fulfills me with so much other people haven't been able to do, and he does it so simply."

Hedlund went on to say that "Road" will be full color not black-and-white, which had been rumored, and he called the experience, fittingly, "a long journey."

Regarding Kristen Stewart, Hedlund had nothing but the highest compliments to pay his co-star.

"[She is] incredible, and in this, everyone is going to get to see how hard a worker she is, the devotion that she puts into her work," Hedlund enthused. "And her performance is going to be exposed highly in this."

Hedlund added that the entire cast is packed with talent. "Everybody, Sam Riley is phenomenal, we've had a lot of wonderful surprises in having people like Viggo Mortenson, Amy Adams, Elisabeth Moss join us," he said. "Most recently, Steve Buscemi and Terrence Howard. Alice Braga, it's been phenomenal, it's been quite the family."

Are you excited to see "On the Road"? Tell us in the comments!

Check out everything we've got on "On the Road."

For young Hollywood news, fashion and "Twilight" updates around the clock, visit HollywoodCrush.MTV.com.

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'Glee' Stars 'Thrilled' About Golden Globe Nominations

Posted: 14 Dec 2010 01:08 AM PST

'I've been extra high pitched and stutter-y all morning!' Chris Colfer says after supporting actor nod.
By Jocelyn Vena


The cast of "Glee"
Photo: FOX

"Glee" might be a show about a bunch of outcasts, but the show is anything but in Hollywood. On Tuesday morning (December 14), the show was nominated for five Golden Globes, including Jane Lynch's nod for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, Matthew Morrison for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Comedy or Musical and the show's Best Television Series - Comedy Or Musical nomination.

"#GLEE has received 5 Golden Globe nominations!" the show's official Twitter reads. "Congrats Jane Lynch, Chris Colfer, Lea Michele, Matthew Morrison and the whole cast and crew!"

Chris Colfer, who is up for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role, was overjoyed by the news. "I'm so excited to be nominated!" he said in a statement. "I've been extra high pitched and stutter-y all morning!"

(Click here for photos of this year's biggest nominees!)

"OMGG! I can't believe it! Am I awake? OUCH!" he also tweeted. "Yes, I'm awake! I'm going to obnoxiously tackle everyone I see today!"

Meanwhile, Lea Michele, who is up for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Comedy or Musical, not only was excited for her own nom, but also her fellow castmates' nominations. "I am very grateful to the HFPA and honored to be included with this extraordinary group of actresses. I am so excited for Chris, Matthew and Jane and share this nomination with the entire cast and crew of 'Glee.' "

She also tweeted, "Oh my g-d!!!! So excited, happy, thrilled, and thankful this morning:) What amazing news!! So happy for our show, Jane, matt & chris too!!!!"

What do you think about all the "Glee" nominations? Let us know in the comments below!

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Jon Favreau Won't Direct 'Iron Man 3'

Posted: 14 Dec 2010 02:43 AM PST

Marvel is in search of a new director for third installment of the comic book franchise.
By Kara Warner


Jon Favreau on the set of "Iron Man 2"
Photo: Merrick Morton/Paramount

On a day when the movie industry was focused on the Golden Globe nominations, just like in the movies, Hollywood got a few surprise twists. First, Ryan Reynolds confirmed to MTV News that he and wife Scarlett Johansson are splitting. And now, word is that Jon Favreau will not return to direct "Iron Man 3."

According to New York Magazine's Vulture blog, Favreau informed Marvel Studios as recently as Monday night that he would not direct the third film in the blockbuster franchise. The news is shocking considering the massive box-office success and popularity of "Iron Man" and "Iron Man 2."

On Tuesday evening (December 14), Favreau hit Twitter to confirm the reports. "It's true, I'm directing Magic Kingdom, not Iron Man 3," he tweeted. "I've had a great run with Marvel and wish them the best."

With few details having been made public, we can only speculate about what might have led Favreau to drop out, aside from his "Magic Kingdom" responsibilities.. MTV News spoke to the director just last month, and he seemed uncertain about plans for the third film, particularly with regard to a story line and his impression that Marvel was preoccupied with "The Avengers" movie.

"In theory, 'Iron Man 3' is going to be a sequel or continuation of 'Thor,' 'Hulk,' 'Captain America' and 'Avengers,' " Favreau said. "This whole world ... I have no idea what it is. I don't think they do either, from conversations I've had with those guys.

"Honestly, right now 'Captain America' and 'Thor' are their big priorities," he continued. "And you learn things by shooting and making movies. The script is one thing, but when you actually see what you land on at the editing room — especially with Marvel where they film, cut, film some more and shape the film — you really learn as you go."

"Iron Man 3" is currently scheduled for a May 13, 2013, release. New York Magazine reported that Marvel began their search for Favreau's replacement on Monday night.

What do you think of Favreau parting ways with "Iron Man 3"? Tell us in the comments!

Check out everything we've got on "Iron Man 2."

For breaking news and previews of the latest comic book movies — updated around the clock — visit SplashPage.MTV.com.

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Diddy-Dirty Money's <i>Last Train To Paris</i> Release Day: We're Live-Blogging!

Posted: 14 Dec 2010 02:12 AM PST

Sway is hanging with the trio all day; stick with RapFix for constant updates.


Diddy
Photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images/DCP

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Lil Wayne 'Didn't Understand' His #7 Hottest MCs Ranking

Posted: 14 Dec 2010 02:05 AM PST

'Label me what you wanna label me,' Weezy says during radio interview.
By Alvin Blanco


Lil Wayne
Photo: John Parra/ WireImage

Even while he was in the midst of his eight-month stay on Rikers Island, Lil Wayne still managed to land at #7 on MTV News' 2010 Hottest MCs in the Game list. Weezy appeared on satellite-radio channel Shade 45 on Tuesday (December 14) and talked about what he considered to be a pretty low ranking.

Host DJ Drama said he heard rumblings that, despite his incarceration, Wayne should have been higher on the list. Lil Wayne was #1 on the list in 2007 and had been in the top five until this year. Drama asked the rapper whether he was upset about where he fell on 2010's list.

"I was, I'm not gonna front, I was," Weezy admitted. "I didn't understand it. Somebody tried to explain it to me, like, 'Nah, it was a list about this.' They was trying to tell me it was some kinda, l don't know. ... It's all good. Label me what you wanna label me; everybody know them n---as ain't f---ing with me, man."

Drama then pointed out that Lil Wayne protégés Drake and Nicki Minaj had great spots on the chart (#4 and #6, respectively), to which Wayne replied, "Of course."

Besides being sure of Young Money's rap dominance, Wayne also confirmed that there would be a Dedication 4 mixtape ("Hell yeah," he said). On Tuesday, the rapper debuted "6' 7"," featuring Cory Gunz, which is the lead single from his new album, Tha Carter IV, due February 2011.

What did you think of Lil Wayne's placement on the Hottest MCs list? Let us know in the comments!

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Michael Jackson Producers Defend Posthumous <i>Michael</i> Album

Posted: 14 Dec 2010 01:28 AM PST

'Michael mentored me so much to where I kind of knew how to complete his sentences,' Theron 'Neff-U' Feemster tells MTV News of picking up where MJ left off.
By Jayson Rodriguez, with reporting by Steven Roberts


Michael Jackson's <i>Michael</i>
Photo: Epic Records

Michael Jackson's first posthumous album, Michael, has been met with mixed emotions by fans of the King of Pop. Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am lashed out at MJ's estate for commissioning the album, while Akon, a contributor on the project, hailed the effort.

Some of the songwriters and producers behind Michael are simply asking people to give it a chance before making a decision.

"They're gonna love the music, because it speaks for itself," Eddie Cascio, who is credited as a songwriter on "Breaking News," told MTV News. "Michael sounds great. The songs are great. The production sounds great. Teddy Riley did a phenomenal job finishing off the songs. The quality and production are incredible."

Theron "Neff-U" Feemster agreed. The producer had a hand in three of the album's 10 tracks, including "Hollywood Tonight" and standouts "(I Like) The Way You Love Me" and "Best of Joy." Feemster worked with Jackson in the past, as did the majority of the contributors to Michael, which he thinks made the project uniquely authentic despite MJ having little say in the way his tracks were completed.

"It wasn't difficult," Feemster told MTV News of picking up the rough material. "It was like coloring. It was coloring a frame that was already structured. Michael mentored me so much to where I kind of knew how to complete his sentences. I understood the expectations that he wanted. He wanted to be beyond great. He wanted to give the world a gift, something they'd never heard or seen before. So even after his passing, it was great to have a great team of people to work with who also had experience working with Michael. It made it that much easier. Bringing very creative people together and people who understood his integrity and what he wanted as well, it was great."

What do you think of Michael? Share your reviews in the comments.

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What Do Golden Globe Nominations Tells Us About Awards Season?

Posted: 13 Dec 2010 11:29 PM PST

'King's Speech' and 'Social Network' got the most Globe love, but that doesn't mean Oscars will follow suit.
By Eric Ditzian


Golden Globe statuette
Photo: Getty Images

With the Golden Globe nominations out Tuesday morning (December 14), the awards-season horse race is fully upon us. The announcements delivered on expectations ("The King's Speech" and "The Social Network" continued to perform well) and offered more than a few surprises (all that "Tourist" love and none for "True Grit"?).

So what do we know now that we didn't know before the Globe announcements? Which films are on solid footing and which ones saw hopes dashed? And how much does this show really matter to the overall awards-season picture? We talked to some industry experts to get their takes on the big takeaways from the Globe nominations:

Awards Season Might Be a Two-Horse Race
No one who's been paying attention to awards season should be surprised that "King's Speech" nabbed the most Globe nominations, including nods for Best Motion Picture - Drama and Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama. As David Poland of Movie City News pointed out, "It has been the Oscar front-runner since Toronto. No change here, except in media perception."

(Click here for photos of this year's biggest nominees!)

Nor should anyone have expected anything less than a strong showing for "The Social Network," which has been dominating critics awards and garnered six Globe nominations (one behind "King's Speech"). Where it gets interesting is how this leaves the rest of the field — possibly out of luck.

"I think we do have a two-horse race as far as the overall awards season goes," Dave Karger of Entertainment Weekly said.

That could leave other hopefuls like "Black Swan" invited to the party, but without a shot to bring home the top prize.

"The Fighter" Has Tons of Momentum
Though the Best Picture Oscar might be a fight between "King's Speech" and "Social Network," we can't discount how strongly "The Fighter" performed with the Globes: Its six nominations tie it for second place with "Social Network."

"Fighter" had remained an awards-season hopeful in best picture and supporting actor categories, but few prognosticators expected the film to nab not only a picture nod at the Globes, but nominations in all four acting categories and Best Director. That puts the film in a very strong position going forward.

"Of all the movies coming out at the end of the year, that's the one that has the most momentum," Karger said. "For all four castmembers to get nominations, plus the director and the movie, that just showed that this is a movie that is really on the rise."

"True Grit" Is Hurt But Not Dead
The Globes' biggest surprise (besides perhaps the strange love shown for "The Tourist") is that "True Grit" was completely shut out. The Coen brothers-directed Western had been an Oscar darling, expected to rope in a slew of high-profile nominations. But the Hollywood Foreign Press Association thoroughly rejected the film. Are its Oscar chances dead as well? Don't count on it.

" 'True Grit' is far from dead — remember 'Crash,' " Poland said, citing the 2004 film that didn't get a Best Picture nod at the Globes but ended up winning the Best Picture Oscar. "Its fate will be determined by public reaction, not critics groups and Globe hacks."

Similarly, the Coen brothers' "'No Country for Old Men" didn't win the Globes' top drama prize but did triumph at the Oscars. The takeaway, according to Karger, is that the HFPA members simply "don't worship the Coen brothers like movie critics and the Academy."

"The fact that it didn't get anything is surprising," he added. "But international journalists probably don't feel the same reverence for the Western genre that the Academy probably will. I still think 'True Grit' is a decent bet for a Best Picture nominee."

The Globes Don't Make a Very Good Oscar Predictor
The important thing to remember in all of this is the Globes are historically a fairly poor indicator of what's going to happen at the Oscars. At the last Globes, "Avatar" won Best Motion Picture - Drama but lost out to "The Hurt Locker" at the Oscars. At the 2008 show, "Atonement" won big, only to lose to "No Country for Old Men" at the Oscars. The list goes on and on.

"The Golden Globes is a perfect predictor of who semi-retired foreign journalists think will be Oscar nominated and who they want on their red carpet," Poland said. "Only to the extent that they are reading tea leaves does it mean much in the Oscar race."

Did the Golden Globe nominations surprise you? Share your biggest shockers in the comments!

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

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Mark Hoppus Calls New Blink-182 Album 'Expansive'

Posted: 14 Dec 2010 12:49 AM PST

Bassist says upcoming project reflects the band's past and even gets a bit dark.
By James Montgomery, with reporting by Jim Cantiello


Mark Hoppus
Photo: Jason Kempin/ Getty Images

It's already been described as "ambitious" and "weird," and now Mark Hoppus is tossing another adjective onto the ever-growing pile of descriptives used for Blink-182's upcoming album: "expansive."

That's what he told MTV News backstage at Z100's Jingle Ball in New York, but he didn't stop there. Hoppus also hinted that the band's forthcoming disc will also be an all-encompassing affair, one that not only harkens back to Blink's past, but also touches on the dark days they've had in the present, including the deaths of longtime producer Jerry Finn and friends Chris Baker and DJ AM.

"We've gone through a lot of really heavy stuff over the past few years. ... There's plenty of heavy stuff to write about," Hoppus said. "I think in moments it will [be dark]. We're still just barely getting into the whole writing process. We have about three or four songs done. I wouldn't say it's going to be a dark record; I think it's really an expansive record. There's stuff that sounds like what we were doing on the last Blink record, and there's stuff that sounds like what we were doing 10 years ago and stuff that we've never done before."

Of course, whether all that equates to a "mature" album is a matter of debate, one Hoppus wants no part of. Because after a lengthy hiatus and several dark days, he and his Blink mates are now focusing on the future — and it looks bright indeed.

"There's going to be a new record, tours, the whole deal," he said. "We're in the studio pounding it out right now, and it's going really good. It's been so great to be back in the studio with Tom and Travis creating a new album. We can't wait to get it out there."

What are you expecting from a new Blink album? Let us know in the comments!

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Miguel Learns Showmanship From Usher, Mary J. Blige Tours

Posted: 14 Dec 2010 01:02 AM PST

'They go out there every night and they give it 100 percent,' singer says of his tourmates.
By Vanessa Denis, with reporting by Steven Roberts


Miguel
Photo: MTV News

"All I Want Is You" singer Miguel began making noise on the road this fall, when he opened up for Mary J. Blige's Music Saved My Life Tour. From there, he jumped onboard Usher's OMG Tour, which will end its North American leg on December 31. Both outings have given the 24-year-old up-and-comer a crash course on being a performer.

"Coming off the tour with Mary J. Blige and Jazmine Sullivan and El DeBarge, being able to watch them onstage, was such a tremendous learning experience," Miguel told MTV News. "First of all, the audience is very different demographic-wise from the audience on the OMG Tour, but the one thing that is consistent is that everything changes in every city."

One thing he noticed was how his tourmates don't let their personal ups and downs affect what they do on the stage.

"We all have our own personal circumstances, life, and these people are professionals, and they go out there every night and they give it 100 percent and they connect with their audience," he observed. "And that's something that I really, really studied, how they adapted. Adapting to the differences, and the different sound."

After transitioning from Music Saved My Life to OMG, Miguel also had to learn how to connect to the crowd in larger venues. "And now that we're about halfway through the tour, I think my band and I, we all feel really, really comfortable being in these venues," he said. "It's been a lot of fun, just kind of trying things and augmenting and evolving the show, in order to reach that person way up at the top, as well as the person right down front and center."

As an opening act, Miguel sees a huge value in making a good impression on the audience.

"We go out there, and I think we go offstage and the people are impressed," he said proudly. "If you didn't know who I am [before the show] ... you leave wondering or wanting to know more."

Have you seen Miguel in concert? Talk about it in the comments.

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'Black Swan' Duo Call Golden Globe Nominations 'Huge'

Posted: 13 Dec 2010 11:47 PM PST

MTV News catches up with director Darren Aronofsky and actress Mila Kunis after the good news.
By Kara Warner, with reporting by Josh Horowitz


Mila Kunis and Natalie Portman in "Black Swan"
Photo: Fox Searchlight

Reactions to Tuesday morning's (December 14) Golden Globe nominations are coming in fast and furious, with a mix of pleasant surprise and full-on jubilation from the nominees. Two of those happy campers are "Black Swan" Best Director nominee Darren Aronofsky and Best Supporting Actress honoree Mila Kunis.

MTV News was lucky enough to catch Aronofsky and Kunis on the phone for brief chats about their big news.

"I'm in Paris bouncing around doing press," Aronofsky said. "I got an e-mail last night from Scott [Franklin], my producer, and he was like, 'The announcements come out tomorrow.' That was the first I heard of it," he admitted. "It's always exciting. It means so much for these smaller films to get this type of recognition. It really helped us on 'The Wrestler,' and I'd imagine it'll help us this time as well."

(Click here for photos of this year's biggest nominees!)

Aronofsky's much-buzzed-about supporting star Kunis was similarly out of the loop with the nomination news.

"I'm in L.A. I genuinely didn't know. I was happily asleep," Kunis revealed. "I kind of just forgot. I went to sleep at midnight or 1 and all happy to sleep in till 10 a.m., and then my phone wouldn't stop ringing at, like, 5:30 a.m. I was half-asleep, and I was like, 'What the f---happened?' I was like, 'Somebody must have died.' That's how I found out."

Aronofsky said he and "Black Swan" actor Vincent Cassell already had plans to go out to dinner on Tuesday night, but now that dinner might include a celebratory bottle of champagne. Kunis, meanwhile, has some errands to run.

"I have to take my dogs to the vet. And then I have to go do ADR for a film," she said, referring to automated dialogue replacement, a process used by movies in post-production to have actors dub in lines that need to be tweaked or added to the finished film. "Maybe tonight. Maybe I'll have some champagne. Is that what people do when they celebrate? Sloppy joes?"

Kunis jokingly added that she'll be making plans to take out the competition. "One person at a time. That's the only way to do it, right?" she joked. "Are you kidding me? Being nominated is a huge thing for me."

Aronofsky went on to say that he is just plain excited — both for the film's recognition and for its wider release and reception nationwide. "It's working well in all the cities we've been in. I think there's a lot of buzz," he said. "The fear at the beginning when we were trying to raise the money was, who is this film for? It's erotic. It's ballet. It's a horror film. Everyone thought it would fall through the cracks, and I just kept telling people, 'Hey, we're just trying to entertain people and have fun,' and to get that back from the audience is the biggest thrill you can get."

Speaking of thrills, Kunis said this is about as good as it gets, and she won't even think about Oscar talk.

"No. I could never even allow myself to think about [an Oscar nomination]," she said. "I wouldn't know what to do. I am so not a part of this world. For me to be nominated in any awards show is such a shock. I come from such a small town in the Ukraine! It wasn't like at the age of 9 I said this is where I'd be at 27. This is not where I thought I'd be. I never thought this would happen, let alone at 27!"

Aronofsky and Kunis' other partner in crime, Best Actress nominee Natalie Portman, released a statement after hearing the news: "I'm very honored by the HFPA nomination, and to be included in this group of actresses I so admire. The experience of filming 'Black Swan' with [director] Darren Aronofsky and our incredible crew is already the most fulfilling experience of my career. The audience appreciation of the film is only furthering how grateful and proud I am to be part of the film."

What do you think of the chances for "Black Swan" at the Golden Globes? Tell us in the comments!

Check out everything we've got on "Black Swan."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

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