Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /var/www/vhosts/music4life.net/httpdocs/inc/inc_head.php:63) in /var/www/vhosts/music4life.net/httpdocs/musicnews.php on line 21
Lady Gaga upped the ante for supersized music videos last night with her Tarantino homage “Telephone,” which co-stars Beyoncé in a homoerotic rampage of capitalistic ultra-violence. Gaga’s been down this road before — “Paparazzi” was an eight-minute cinematic epic — but Michael Jackson truly pioneered the long music video with “Thriller,” “Bad,” “Ghosts,” “Black or White” and “Smooth Criminal.” Rolling Stone’s readers and editors compiled a list of the 50 Best Songs Over Seven Minutes Long a few years ago, but haven’t tracked down the best lengthy music videos yet. The Grammys honor Best Long Form Music Video, but the category really is meant for filmed shorts. So let’s start the nominating right here — check out clips by Metallica, Guns n’ Roses, MC Hammer (yes, really) and the Black Eyed Peas’ recent entry to the field after the jump.
Metallica – “One” (length: 7:42)
Guns n’ Roses – “November Rain” (length: 9:08)
MC Hammer – “Here Comes The Hammer” (length: 8:40)
Black Eyed Peas – “Imma Be Rocking That Body” (length: 10:21)
Michael Jackson – “Bad” (length: 8:55)
Michael Jackson – “Black or White” (length: 11)
Michael Jackson – “Smooth Criminal” (length: 9:35)
Elton John has a famous fan in Lady Gaga, but not everyone appreciates the awesome power of “Tiny Dancer.” A Georgia man was arrested Wednesday for making terrorist threats against Sir Elton. Last month Neal Horsley, 65, posted a YouTube video of himself standing in front of the singer’s Atlanta apartment complex holding a large red sign that said “Elton John Must Die.” Horsley was upset about a Parade magazine interview in which John said he thought Jesus was a “compassionate, super-intelligent gay man who understood human problems.”
“We’re here today to remind Elton John that he has to die,” Horsley says in the video. “What Elton John has done is desecrated the image of the Lord Jesus Christ, blasphemed the Lord Jesus Christ.” He goes on to use homophobic slurs and quote scripture.
This isn’t the first time Horsley — who has a surprisingly thorough Wikipedia page — has raised eyebrows. A militant anti-abortionist, he started a Website in the late 1990s that listed the names and addresses of doctors who performed abortions. Two years ago, Horsley founded the Creator’s Rights Party in Georgia and claims to be a candidate for the 2010 governor’s race. According to the AP, he kicked off his campaign wearing a placard showing a picture of an aborted fetus. The state ethics committee, meanwhile, has no record of his campaign.
Horsley’s bail is set at $40,000. Elton John’s publicist confirmed that the singer has an apartment in Atlanta, but wouldn’t tell the AP anything more.
AP - Lawyers for legendary music producer Phil Spector have asked an appellate court to throw out his second-degree murder conviction on grounds of judicial error and prosecutorial misconduct.
American Idol eliminated its final four semifinal contestants last night, removing any chances of another Idolhero named Lambert breaking out this season — or of original songstress Lilly Scott getting a chance to bring her quirky style to the Top 12 stage. Scott, the blond-haired multi-instrumentalist who shouted out her Moog synth and performed an interesting take on the Beatles’ “Fixing a Hole” during the Top 24 rounds, was voted off along with Alex Lambert (who didn’t take the news well, to put it mildly), dramatic crooner Todrick Hall and earnest 19-year-old Katelyn Epperly. Watch Scott’s “A Change is Gonna Come” above. Photo: Becker/FOX
That means the Top 12 singers — who will be tackling songs by the Rolling Stones — include Aaron Kelly, Andrew Garcia, Casey James, Crystal Bowersox, Didi Benami, Katie Stevens, Lacey Brown, Lee Dewyze, Michael Lynche, Paige Miles, Siobhan Magnus and Tim Urban.
The Rock Daily favorites: Siobhan Magnus, who turned out three fascinating and powerhouse performances during the semifinals (of Aretha Franklin’s “Think,” Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game” and the Animals’ “House of the Rising Sun”), and Crystal Bowersox, whose gritty blues vibe finally gelled on her cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Give Me One Reason.”
At Monday night’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, one half of Abba will dance, jive and have the time of their lives while being honored by a roomful of the biggest names in music. The other two will be at home.
Fans hoping the Swedish pop masters would turn out a sparkling rendition of “Dancing Queen” — something they haven’t done since 1982 — will instead be serenaded by Faith Hill. It’s possible, though, that Abba’s Benny Andersson will perform. “If someone asks me to, yeah, I will,” he told Billboard.com. “I’ll see if I can play something from the old catalog.” Andersson will be attending the ceremony with ex-wife Frida (Anni-Frid Lyngstad). His songwriting partner Bjorn Ulvaeus can’t go because of a family event and Agnetha Faltskog “doesn’t like to fly,” Andersson told the USA Today.
In December, Andersson told Rolling Stone that he was shocked Abba received a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nod. “I didn’t think this would happen, because we were a pop band, not a rock band,” he said. “Being a foreigner from the North Pole, this feels really good.” Though he wasn’t certain, even then he predicted the group — which formed in 1970 — would not reunite. “The people who are really fond of Abba for what we did, I think we are doing them a favor by not going out. We all feel the same. It’s been too long of a time.”
Genesis, the Hollies, Jimmy Cliff and the Stooges will also be inducted into the Rock Hall on Monday night, but only the Stooges will perform. As Rolling Stone reported, Chris Isaak, Ronnie Spector, Adam Levine and Fefe Dobson are among the guest performers. Rolling Stone will have complete coverage from Monday night’s ceremony in New York, so stick with us for photos, interviews and more.
Lawyers for producer Phil Spector have appealed his 2009 murder conviction, claiming he didn’t receive a fair trial. Last May, Spector, now 70 years old, was sentenced to 19 years to life in prison for shooting actress Lana Clarkson at his California mansion in 2003. Citing judicial error and prosecutorial misconduct, his legal team requested the conviction be overturned and he be given a new trial, the AP reports.
In papers filed Wednesday, the attorneys claimed prosecutors improperly used testimony from five women who claimed that Spector threatened them with guns in the past. The accounts, they wrote, “became the heart of the state’s case” and were used to persuade jury members to convict Spector “based on his bad character and evil propensities.” His lawyers said their testimonies had nothing to do with Clarkson’s death and that none of their stories “involved events in which Mr. Spector put a gun in someone’s mouth, much less fired it.”
Spector’s lawyers criticized the actions of Judge Larry Paul Fidler, citing that he allowed prosecutors to use the word “pattern” more than 40 times in describing Spector’s history with women and guns. They also decried the judge’s decision to allow jurors in the second trial to see a taped hearing from the first trial that was conducted outside the presence of Spector. On the tape, the judge was seen interpreting a forensic witness’s testimony about the position of the blood spatter on Clarkson’s body. “Under California law, a judge may not offer evidence in a trial over which he presides,” the appeal states, adding that the judge could not be cross-examined by the defense on what the prosecutors said was the most important fact of the case — whether the blood spatter showed who pulled the trigger.
The state attorney general’s office is expected to file a reply brief next month.
By:
MTV News Latest Headlines | 12 Mar 2010 | 2:41 pm
p type="articleSubhead"Gaga said jailhouse heat video worked because she and Beyonce 'both like women.'br/By Gil Kaufman/p
p
a href="http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1633776/20100312/lady_gaga.jhtml"
img type="photo"
src="http://www.mtv.com/shared/promoimages/bands/l/lady_gaga/telephone/usa/281x211.jpg"/
/a
br/
i type="articlePhotoCaption"Lady Gaga in "Telephone"/i
br/
i type="articlePhotoCredit"Photo: Interscope Records/i
/p
p type="articleText"
p
a href="/music/artist/lady_gaga/artist.jhtml"Lady Gaga/a wears a series of barely there outfits in the nine-and-a-half minute a href="/news/articles/1633772/20100311/lady_gaga.jhtml"video for "Telephone"/a that debuted on Thursday night, including one that's no more than discretely applied electrical tape and a pair of torn fishnets. But the singer said despite the acres of provocative flesh (not to mention copious product placement) on display in the "Thelma and Louise"-style revenge fantasy co-starring Beyonc#233;, her aim, as always, is to embed some deeper, less obvious meaning in her videos.
/pp/pdiv/divp
/pp"There's certainly always a hidden message in my music videos," a href="http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b171259_lady_gaga_on_telephone_its_hidden.html?utm_source=eonlineutm_medium=rssfeedsutm_campaign=rss_topstories" target="_blank"Gaga told E! News/a in a sit-down during which she wore her signature round sunglasses and a lingerie-like black leather and lace bodysuit. "But I would say most predominately, I'm always trying to convolute everyone's idea of what a pop music video should be."
/ppAfter hooking up with Beyonc#233; on the set of "Video Phone," Gaga said she was excited to re-team with the RB diva, who shows of a more foul-mouthed, edgier persona in the clip than she has in the past, including the pivotal scene in which she poisons co-star Tyrese Gibson and calls him a compound nasty name. "We had an amazing time working together on her video and it just kind of works out because we both like women," Gaga said provocatively of the "Telephone" clip, the first half of which takes place in the sexiest/scariest women's prison on the planet.
/ppGaga also explained how the infamous "Pussy Wagon" from Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill Vol. 1" ended up making a very prominent cameo. "We were having lunch one day in Los Angeles and I was telling him about my concept for the video and he said, 'You gotta use the Pussy Wagon!,' " she said of the director's reaction to the pulpy look and feel of the video.
/pp"There was this really amazing quality in 'Paparazzi,' where it kind of had this pure pop music quality but at the same time it was a little bit of commentary on fame culture," she said of her first hook-up with director Jonas #197;kerlund, who also helmed the "Telephone" mini-movie. "I wanted to do the same thing with this video #8212; take a decidedly pop song, which on the surface has a quite shallow meaning, and turn it into something deeper: the idea that America is full of young people that are inundated with information and technology and turn it into something that is more of a commentary on the kind of country that we are."
/ppiWhat do you think of Lady Gaga's "Telephone" video? Let us know in the comments below!/i
/p
/p
bRelated Videos/b
ul
li
a type="relatedVideo" href="http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?id=1633546"All The Buzz On Lady Gaga And Beyonce's 'Telephone'/a
/li
/ul
bRelated Photos/b
ul
li
a type="relatedFlipbook" href="http://www.mtv.com/photos/?fid=1626824"The Evolution Of: Lady Gaga/a
/li
/ul
bRelated Artists/b
ul
li
a type="relatedArtist"
href="http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/lady_gaga/artist.jhtml"Lady Gaga/a
/li
/ulimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MTVNewsLatest/~4/FOU0dm5rzmo" height="1" width="1"/
AP - A member of the pop group Girlicious has been charged in California with drug possession with the intent to sell after Glendale police allegedly found a dozen plastic bags of cocaine in her Gucci purse.
AP - Brooks Dunn have landed a star-studded lineup for their Last Rodeo concert special to be filmed following the Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas.
By:
MTV News Latest Headlines | 12 Mar 2010 | 9:01 am
p type="articleSubhead"'It's just awesome,' one fan tells MTV News about Lady Gaga's new clip for 'Telephone.'br/By Jocelyn Vena/p
p
a href="http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1633840/20100312/lady_gaga.jhtml"
img type="photo"
src="http://www.mtv.com/shared/promoimages/bands/l/lady_gaga/telephone_video_premiere/alt/281x211.jpg"/
/a
br/
i type="articlePhotoCaption"Lady Gaga in her "Telephone" video/i
br/
i type="articlePhotoCredit"Photo: Interscope/i
/p
p type="articleText"
p
While a href="/news/articles/1633783/20100312/lady_gaga.jhtml"fans continue to comment online/a about a href="/news/articles/1633772/20100311/lady_gaga.jhtml"Lady Gaga's new video, the epic "Telephone,"/a which premiered on Thursday, MTV News caught up with people in Grand Central Station #8212; which, of course, is name-checked in the song #8212; to get their reactions.
/pp/pdiv
embed src="http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:uma:video:mtv.com:492492" width="256" height="223" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashVars="configParams=instance%3Dnews%26id%3D1633546%26vid%3D492492" wmode="transparent" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" base="."/embed/divp
/pp"I think she's a really amazing artist," Marsha Johnson said. "Her style is obviously off the wall and very different, which is great, especially for the young ladies of today. If I had to say I had a very favorite part of the video ... all of it! It's just awesome."
/ppInez Sisak agreed, saying the video is "very lively, a lot of color and a lot of fun. It looks like you want to be in the video yourself!"
/ppJoanna Arpie echoed those statements, saying, "I don't expect anything less from Lady Gaga. It's really weird and it's cool. She's sort of dancing in a jail and doing weird things, and the costumes are crazy. It's entertaining. It's weird, but it's what I expect."
/ppMark Larson said he felt a bit confused by aspects of the clip. "She's kind of doing her own thing," he said. "She seems a little scared to be comfortable with her glamour, so I think she tries really hard to get out there to mask her own insecurities. But that video is kind of out there: I don't get the sandwich deal, but it was a cool video."
/ppHowever, Jess Wachtel had a more cynical view of the nearly ten-minute long video. "Looks like Beyonc#233; and her put together a video to sell some records," he said.
/ppiWhat do you think of Lady Gaga's "Telephone" video? Let us know in the comments below!/i
/p
/p
bRelated Videos/b
ul
li
a type="relatedVideo" href="http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?id=1633773"Meet The 'American Idol' Top 12/a
/li
li
a type="relatedVideo" href="http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?id=1633546"All The Buzz On Lady Gaga And Beyonce's 'Telephone'/a
/li
/ul
bRelated Artists/b
ul
li
a type="relatedArtist"
href="http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/lady_gaga/artist.jhtml"Lady Gaga/a
/li
li
a type="relatedArtist"
href="http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/knowles_beyonce/artist.jhtml"Beyonc#233;/a
/li
/ulimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MTVNewsLatest/~4/Uf9iMAeAPKA" height="1" width="1"/
By:
MTV News Latest Headlines | 12 Mar 2010 | 8:56 am
p type="articleSubhead"Film that documents the climb airs Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on MTV.br/By James Montgomery/p
p
a href="http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1633839/20100312/timberlake_justin.jhtml"
img type="photo"
src="http://www.mtv.com/shared/promoimages/news/s/summit_on_the_summit/timberlake/seg2/281x211.jpg"/
/a
br/
i type="articlePhotoCaption"Justin Timberlake/i
br/
i type="articlePhotoCredit"Photo: MTV News/i
/p
p type="articleText"
p
a href="/music/artist/timberlake_justin/artist.jhtml"Justin Timberlake/a was there when his pal a href="/news/articles/1631622/20100210/kenna.jhtml"Kenna decided to climb Mount Kilimanjaro/a. In fact, he encouraged him to do it, and is "bummed" that his schedule didn't allow him to join his friend on the trek.
/pp/pdiv
embed src="http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:uma:video:mtv.com:492159" width="256" height="223" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashVars="configParams=instance%3Dnews%26id%3D1633658%26vid%3D492159" wmode="transparent" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" base="."/embed/divp
/pp"a href="/music/artist/kenna/artist.jhtml"Kenna/a and I, every winter, we find a place to go snowboarding, and we were up on a mountain somewhere, snowboarding," Timberlake told MTV News. "We got onto the lift, and Kenna was talking about how, before, he had tried to climb Kilimanjaro." And there, the idea for "Summit on the Summit" was hatched.
/ppUnfortunately, due to work conflicts #8212; the trek up Africa's highest peak was rescheduled several times and ultimately collided with a href="/movies/news/articles/1624196/20091019/story.jhtml"Timberlake's filming for "The Social Network"/a #8212; Justin didn't actually get to make the climb with Kenna Instead, the likes of Lupe Fiasco and Santigold and actors Jessica Biel, Emile Hirsch and Isabel Lucas made the climb up Kilimanjaro), but he remained close to the action, getting daily updates on the trek.
/pp"I was getting sort of a texting diary from day to day," Timberlake recalled. "And the one thing I heard was ... the hardest part was the last day, obviously, because not only were they climbing from 16,000 to 19,000 feet, but that extra 3,000 was really brutal, because of the altitude. And on top of that, I think they woke up at 2:30 in the morning and had to climb the last 3,000 feet. I heard from all of them that the last 3,000 feet, every breath counted. Every single time you could conserve oxygen, you could feel it. It really counted. ... I'm in awe that they did it. I'm really impressed."
/ppTimberlake did record an introduction to the film that documents the climb #8212; and highlights the global issue of clean water #8212; called a href="http://www.mtv.com/shows/summit_on_the_summit/series.jhtml""Summit on the Summit: Kilimanjaro."/a The 90-minute doc premiered Wednesday night in New York and will air Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on MTV. And just because he didn't actually climb the mountain this time around, don't count him out just yet.
/pp"I was bummed that I wasn't able to do it, because I thought it would be a cool thing to do. Maybe one day I will," he laughed. "But it's really an inspiring idea and an inspiring task, and I was very proud of everyone who was involved with it. ... It says a lot about all the people who were involved in the climb, that they were sort of willing to put themselves out there ... to have cameras on them 24/7 and to say, 'Well, if this has any effect on anyone who's watching it, or creates any type of awareness, and gets $10 from one person, well, that's amazing.' "
/ppbTune in to a href="http://www.mtv.com/shows/summit_on_the_summit/series.jhtml""Summit on the Summit: Kilimanjaro"/a Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on MTV./b#160;And find out what you can do to help solve the global water crisis now at the a href="http://www.summitonthesummit.com/#/intro" target="_blank""Summit on the Summit" Web site/a.
/p
/p
bRelated Videos/b
ul
li
a type="relatedVideo" href="http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?id=1633658"Check Out A Preview Of 'Summit On The Summit: Kilimanjaro'/a
/li
/ul
bRelated Photos/b
ul
li
a type="relatedFlipbook" href="http://www.mtv.com/photos/?fid=1633679"'Summit On The Summit: Kilimanjaro' Red Carpet/a
/li
/ul
bRelated Artists/b
ul
li
a type="relatedArtist"
href="http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/timberlake_justin/artist.jhtml"Justin Timberlake/a
/li
li
a type="relatedArtist" href="http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/kenna/artist.jhtml"Kenna/a
/li
/ulimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MTVNewsLatest/~4/vicSa5cjKHc" height="1" width="1"/
By:
MTV News Latest Headlines | 12 Mar 2010 | 8:47 am
p type="articleSubhead"'It's all about incorporating new trends and putting our own twist on it,' she says of her LC by Lauren Conrad brand.br/By Jocelyn Vena, with reporting by Larry Carroll/p
p
a href="http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1633836/20100312/index.jhtml"
img type="photo"
src="http://www.mtv.com/shared/promoimages/news/c/conrad_lauren/kohls_31210/281x211.jpg"/
/a
br/
i type="articlePhotoCaption"Lauren Conrad/i
br/
i type="articlePhotoCredit"Photo: MTV News/i
/p
p type="articleText"
p
Lauren Conrad has hooked up with department store Kohl's for her LC by Lauren Conrad clothing brand #8212; if fans have always admired former "Hills" star's laid-back, girly sense of style, now they can achieve the look.
/pp"It's very much a California brand. It's all about incorporating new trends and putting our own twist on it #8212; relaxed cool without trying to hard," she told MTV News at a press event for the line, adding that there's a piece in her collection for every occasion.
/pp/pdiv/divp
/pp"I have a few [favorite pieces] ... a favorite piece for what? You have to dress the part!" she laughed. "I do a lot of basics, so we have a great blazer, a high-waisted black skirt and biker jacket and all those pieces can be traded throughout ... it's a lot of layering, a lot of switching-up, so you can get more mileage."
There's a reason the line is very feminine #8212; LC only has plans to design for the ladies. "I'm not a boy," she joked, adding she's too "selfish" to design clothes that she can't wear herself.
/ppAnd while there were probably other retailers clamoring to get LC's designs in their stores, she had a very specific reason for working with Kohl's. "They're very accessible. They're everywhere and they're online and they're affordable," she explained. "It was a fun way for me to work with a really great company and to say, 'This is what I think is going to be in in a couple months' and 'This is what I'm gonna wear at a great price point and great quality.' "
/p
/pimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MTVNewsLatest/~4/C-l2zJIksiw" height="1" width="1"/
By:
MTV News Latest Headlines | 12 Mar 2010 | 8:31 am
p type="articleSubhead"'American Idol' top 12 cheat sheet looks at James' strengths and weaknesses.br/By Jim Cantiello/p
p
a href="http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1633834/20100312/index.jhtml"
img type="photo"
src="http://www.mtv.com/shared/promoimages/news/a/american_idol/2010/top_12_video_show/casey/281x211.jpg"/
/a
br/
i type="articlePhotoCaption"Casey James at the "American Idol" top 12 party/i
br/
i type="articlePhotoCredit"Photo: Jesse Grant/ WireImage/i
/p
p type="articleText"
p
IOn Thursday night, "American Idol" revealed its Top 12 finalists for the ninth season of the hit show. MTV News "Idol" expert Jim Cantiello whipped up a handy cheat sheet for each finalist, breaking down each candidate's journey thus far. He also got the "Idol" hopefuls to weigh in when he caught up with them at Thursday night's Top 12 Party in Hollywood./I
/pp/pdiv
embed src="http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:uma:video:mtv.com:492433" width="256" height="223" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashVars="configParams=instance%3Dnews%26id%3D1633773%26vid%3D492433" wmode="transparent" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" base="."/embed/divp
/ppbCasey James/b
/ppDuring his audition, Casey James turned Kara DioGuardi and guest judge Victoria Beckham into slobbering schoolgirls when he happily took off his shirt at their request. And now the poor guy can't seem to get off the casting couch! For three weeks, the conversation around Casey has been more about Kara's crush on him than his viability as a music artist.
/ppbBest Performance/b: Casey showed an appealing vulnerable side when he warbled Bryan Adams' "Heaven," which sent DioGuardi into a disruptive tizzy. To James' credit, he was able to tone out the cougar's giggles and get through the song without incident.
/ppbWeakest Performance/b: Casey's "Idol" inexperience showed when he picked Gavin DeGraw's "I Don't Want to Be" because it had been covered on "Idol" so often in the past. (You got that backwards, buddy.) Despite Casey's best efforts to switch up the song with added electric guitar riffs, his performance had the authenticity of a Pat Boone heavy metal album.
/ppbTragic Backstory/b: When he was 21, Casey was involved in a life-threatening car crash. Doctors told him he'd never play guitar again. But Casey was determined to pick up the ax again, and now he's able to rock out whenever he wants.
/pp
div
table width="200" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" background="/shared/promoimages/news/tables/flipbook/bg.jpg" align="left" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"
trtd width="200" colspan="3"img src="/shared/promoimages/news/tables/spacer.gif" width="200" height="36"/td/tr
tr
td width="30"
img src="/shared/promoimages/news/tables/spacer.gif" width="30" height="105"
/td
td width="140"a href="/photos/?fid=1633781"img src="/news/photos/a/american_idol/10/top12_party/promo/140x105.jpg" width="140" height="105" border="0"/a/td
td width="30"img src="/shared/promoimages/news/tables/spacer.gif" width="30" height="105"/td
/tr
trtd width="200" colspan="3"img src="/shared/promoimages/news/tables/spacer.gif" width="200" height="45"/td/tr
trtd width="10"img src="/shared/promoimages/news/tables/spacer.gif" width="10" height="50"/td
td width="180" align="left" valign="top"font size="1" color="#FFFFFF"a href="/photos/?fid=1633781"'American Idol' Top 12 Party/a/font/td
td width="10"img src="/shared/promoimages/news/tables/spacer.gif" width="10" height="50"/td/tr
/table/div
/ppbWhy He Will Win/b: Never underestimate the power of the cougar vote! And since Kara and "Idol" producers go out of their way to make references to his shirtless audition, expect those middle-aged women to continue dialing like mad.
/ppbWhy He Will Lose/b: Casey's been coasting for three weeks. He has to step it up quickly or else Lee Dewyze will start stealing the horny housewife contingent.
/ppbWhat He Should Sing/b: Simon's already established that he doesn't have enough "grit" to pull off bluesy rock numbers, but we think he has enough soul to make Paul Weller's "You Do Something to Me" his "Idol" moment.
/ppbOn Being A Sex Symbol/b: "It's not even a reality for me," he said. "It doesn't come into reality because I'm just the same dude I've always been. Casey James should be sitting at the house with his dogs chilling out right now, or at a gig."
/ppbGet your "Idol" fix on MTV News' a href="/news/topics/a/american_idol/""American Idol" page/a, where you'll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions./b
/p
/p
bRelated Videos/b
ul
li
a type="relatedVideo" href="http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?id=1633773"Meet The 'American Idol' Top 12/a
/li
li
a type="relatedVideo" href="http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?id=1632717"'American Idol' In 60 Seconds/a
/li
/ul
bRelated Photos/b
ul
li
a type="relatedFlipbook" href="http://www.mtv.com/photos/?fid=1633781"'American Idol' Top 12 Party/a
/li
li
a type="relatedFlipbook" href="http://www.mtv.com/photos/?fid=1632503"'American Idol' Season Nine Performances/a
/li
/ulimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MTVNewsLatest/~4/64j3lNpClYc" height="1" width="1"/
By:
MTV News Latest Headlines | 12 Mar 2010 | 8:31 am
p type="articleSubhead"Our 'American Idol' top 12 cheat sheet looks at Benami's strengths and weaknesses.br/By Jim Cantiello/p
p
a href="http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1633833/20100312/index.jhtml"
img type="photo"
src="http://www.mtv.com/shared/promoimages/news/a/american_idol/2010/top_12_video_show/didi/story/281x211.jpg"/
/a
br/
i type="articlePhotoCaption"Didi Benami at the "American Idol" top 12 party/i
br/
i type="articlePhotoCredit"Photo: Jesse Grant/ WireImage/i
/p
p type="articleText"
p
iOn Thursday night, "American Idol" revealed its top 12 finalists for the ninth season of the hit show. MTV News "Idol" expert Jim Cantiello whipped up a handy cheat sheet for each finalist, breaking down each specific "Idol" journey thus far. He also got the "Idol" hopefuls to weigh in when he caught up with them at Thursday night's top 12 party in Hollywood./i
/pp/pdiv
embed src="http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:uma:video:mtv.com:492358" width="256" height="223" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashVars="configParams=instance%3Dnews%26id%3D1633773%26vid%3D492358" wmode="transparent" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" base="."/embed/divp
/ppbigbDidi Benami/b/big
/ppIt took no time for Didi Benami to establish her "American Idol" identity: the resident weepy mess. From her initial audition in Denver to almost every single interview on the "Idol" stage, the sensitive singer/songwriter has shed a tear. Tears of joy, tears of mourning, tears of stress. But Didi saves the real emotion for her passionate performances, connecting to lyrics unlike any other singer this season.
/ppbBest Performance/b: Didi helped put money in Kara DioGuardi's pocket when she covered the judge's song during Hollywood Week brilliantly. Tuesday night, however, Didi busted out the big guns #8212; Fleetwood Mac's "Rhiannon" #8212; and the timing couldn't have been more perfect. In the last chance before top 12, Didi picked the right week to remind viewers what she's capable of. Perhaps she held back on her guitar-playing skills during the first two semifinal performances on purpose?
/ppbWeakest Performance/b: Didi's Ingrid Michaelson cover was more fragile than a Faberg#233; egg. Was it the first-week jitters, or just that the song was too small for an "Idol" live-show debut? Regardless, "The Way I Am" was a shrill, off-key 90 seconds.
/ppbTragic Backstory/b: Didi decided to audition for "Idol" shortly after her close friend died at a young age.
/ppbWhy She Will Win/b: Benami may have struggled at the beginning, but "Rhiannon" demonstrated an exciting "Idol" characteristic: She thrives under pressure. We hope for bigger and better sneak attacks in the coming weeks as the numbers continue to whittle down.
/pp
div
table width="200" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" background="/shared/promoimages/news/tables/flipbook/bg.jpg" align="left" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"
trtd width="200" colspan="3"img src="/shared/promoimages/news/tables/spacer.gif" width="200" height="36"/td/tr
tr
td width="30"
img src="/shared/promoimages/news/tables/spacer.gif" width="30" height="105"
/td
td width="140"a href="/photos/?fid=1633781"img src="/news/photos/a/american_idol/10/top12_party/promo/140x105.jpg" width="140" height="105" border="0"/a/td
td width="30"img src="/shared/promoimages/news/tables/spacer.gif" width="30" height="105"/td
/tr
trtd width="200" colspan="3"img src="/shared/promoimages/news/tables/spacer.gif" width="200" height="45"/td/tr
trtd width="10"img src="/shared/promoimages/news/tables/spacer.gif" width="10" height="50"/td
td width="180" align="left" valign="top"font size="1" color="#FFFFFF"a href="/photos/?fid=1633781"'American Idol' Top 12 Party/a/font/td
td width="10"img src="/shared/promoimages/news/tables/spacer.gif" width="10" height="50"/td/tr
/table/div
/ppbWhy She Will Lose/b: This year is chock-full of female singer/songwriters, which sets the stage for a potential disastrous vote-splitting scenario. (Remember that horrific Fantasia/ LaToya London/ Jennifer Hudson bottom three from the Season of the Divas?) Next time she packs up her guitar, she might as well pack the rest of her belongings too. Also, Didi's teary post-performance interviews may start to freak people out. You cry once? You get sympathy. You cry every week? You get concerned viewers calling a mental hospital on your behalf.
/ppbWhat She Should Sing/b: Didi's a gorgeous girl. Why not take a page out of the Lacey Brown handbook of TV seduction and add some sultry moves to her singer/songwriter repertoire? Suzanne Vega's "Caramel" could leave guys (and some girls) salivating. She better hope "Idol" has a "female folk singer" theme week!
/ppbReaction to Making the Top 12/b: "I've dreamed about this for a long time, being where I am. Really what I want to do is move people with music, and that's what I feel like God put me here to do, so I'm just here! Here I am!"
/ppiWhat do you think of Didi's chances on "Idol"? Were you happy to see her make it to the top 12? Let us know!/i
/ppbGet your "Idol" fix on MTV News' a href="/news/topics/a/american_idol/""American Idol" page/a, where you'll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions./b
/p
/p
bRelated Videos/b
ul
li
a type="relatedVideo" href="http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?id=1633773"Meet The 'American Idol' Top 12/a
/li
li
a type="relatedVideo" href="http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?id=1632717"'American Idol' In 60 Seconds/a
/li
/ul
bRelated Photos/b
ul
li
a type="relatedFlipbook" href="http://www.mtv.com/photos/?fid=1633781"'American Idol' Top 12 Party/a
/li
li
a type="relatedFlipbook" href="http://www.mtv.com/photos/?fid=1632503"'American Idol' Season Nine Performances/a
/li
/ulimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MTVNewsLatest/~4/nC2vYlQkL58" height="1" width="1"/
By:
Billboard.com | 21 Jul 2009 | 5:07 pm
Norwegian rock duo Kings Of Convenience will break a five-year silence this fall with its third studio album, "Declaration of Dependence," due Oct. 20 from Virgin.
By:
Billboard.com | 21 Jul 2009 | 1:43 pm
Sources have confirmed to Billboard that a deal between the Michael Jackson Estate, AEG Live and Sony for a theatrical release of the Michael Jackson rehearsal footage from the ill-fated This Is It concerts could close today.
By:
Billboard.com | 21 Jul 2009 | 12:23 pm
Danish rock duo The Raveonettes has announced the dates for a fall tour in support of its fourth studio album, Billboard.com can exclusively report.
By:
Billboard.com | 21 Jul 2009 | 10:00 am
Jackson Browne is hopeful that the protection of music copyrights will be bolstered by the settlement of his lawsuit against U.S. Sen. John McCain and the Republican Party over unauthorized use of one of his songs in the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign.
By:
Billboard.com | 21 Jul 2009 | 9:27 am
Sony Corp.'s movie studio has bid $50 million to acquire the worldwide distribution rights to a film based on rehearsal footage for Michael Jackson's "This Is It" comeback concert series, according to a person familiar with the bid.
By:
Billboard.com | 21 Jul 2009 | 9:08 am
Alt-rock acts Florence & The Machine and Kasabian have emerged as the bookmakers' favorites for the 2009 Barclaycard Mercury Prize, the U.K.'s album of the year award.
By:
MTV News Must See Video | 15 Dec 2008 | 1:51 pm
object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowScriptAccess="never"
allowNetworking="internal"
height="318"
width="423"
data="http://www.mtv.com/player/embed/air/"
param name="allowScriptAccess" value="never"/
param name="allowNetworking" value="internal"/
param name="movie" value="http://www.mtv.com/player/embed/air/"/
param name="flashvars"
value="CONFIG_URL=http://www.mtv.com/player/embed/air/configuration.jhtml%3Fid%3D1601279"/
param name="base" value="."/
img type="photo"
src="http://www.mtv.com/shared/promoimages/movies/c/cadillac_records/od_premiere_show_112508/show/281x211.jpg"/
/object
p
a type="playlistTitle" href="http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?id=1601279"MTV News' Women And Men Of The Year/a
/p
p type="playlistSubhead"We're counting down the artists who made big news this year. Who will be #1?/pbr clear="both"/
br clear="both"/
a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?s=7fde63efe5226fd391ea52797225ed27p=1"img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?s=7fde63efe5226fd391ea52797225ed27p=1"//a
img src="http://www.pheedo.com/feeds/tracker.php?i=7fde63efe5226fd391ea52797225ed27" border="0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MtvOverdriveNews/~4/xTRZri5rXmE" height="1" width="1"/
By:
MTV News Must See Video | 15 Dec 2008 | 1:51 pm
object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowScriptAccess="never"
allowNetworking="internal"
height="318"
width="423"
data="http://www.mtv.com/player/embed/air/"
param name="allowScriptAccess" value="never"/
param name="allowNetworking" value="internal"/
param name="movie" value="http://www.mtv.com/player/embed/air/"/
param name="flashvars"
value="CONFIG_URL=http://www.mtv.com/player/embed/air/configuration.jhtml%3Fid%3D1601282"/
param name="base" value="."/
img type="photo"
src="http://www.mtv.com/shared/promoimages/news/a/afropunk_121508/od/281x211.jpg"/
/object
p
a type="playlistTitle" href="http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?id=1601282"How Afro-Punk Turned Into A Movement/a
/p
p type="playlistSubhead"African-American youth take a stand against common stereotypes about black identity through music, films and activism./p
bRelated Artists/b
ul
li
a type="relatedArtist"
href="http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/monae__janelle/artist.jhtml"Janelle Monae/a
/li
li
a type="relatedArtist"
href="http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/tv_on_the_radio/artist.jhtml"TV On The Radio/a
/li
li
a type="relatedArtist"
href="http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/santogold/artist.jhtml"Santogold/a
/li
/ulbr clear="both"/
br clear="both"/
a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?s=7185674b57a44e06580d3af05db9031ap=1"img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?s=7185674b57a44e06580d3af05db9031ap=1"//a
img src="http://www.pheedo.com/feeds/tracker.php?i=7185674b57a44e06580d3af05db9031a" border="0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MtvOverdriveNews/~4/WGInGsljjwI" height="1" width="1"/
By:
MTV News Must See Video | 11 Dec 2008 | 5:01 pm
object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowScriptAccess="never"
allowNetworking="internal"
height="318"
width="423"
data="http://www.mtv.com/player/embed/air/"
param name="allowScriptAccess" value="never"/
param name="allowNetworking" value="internal"/
param name="movie" value="http://www.mtv.com/player/embed/air/"/
param name="flashvars"
value="CONFIG_URL=http://www.mtv.com/player/embed/air/configuration.jhtml%3Fid%3D1601049"/
param name="base" value="."/
img type="photo"
src="http://www.mtv.com/shared/promoimages/bands/s/scarface/scarface_golf/2/281x211.jpg"/
/object
p
a type="playlistTitle" href="http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?id=1601049"Golfing With Scarface/a
/p
p type="playlistSubhead"What happens when a Houston legend hits the links with MTV News' hip-hop editor?/p
bRelated Artists/b
ul
li
a type="relatedArtist"
href="http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/scarface/artist.jhtml"Scarface/a
/li
/ulbr/
a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?s=0d89342305a3e1e2e6a5e919a02d35b8p=1"img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?s=0d89342305a3e1e2e6a5e919a02d35b8p=1"//a
img src="http://www.pheedo.com/feeds/tracker.php?i=0d89342305a3e1e2e6a5e919a02d35b8" border="0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MtvOverdriveNews/~4/U7KXjYmtsh4" height="1" width="1"/
By:
MTV News Must See Video | 11 Dec 2008 | 4:43 pm
object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowScriptAccess="never"
allowNetworking="internal"
height="318"
width="423"
data="http://www.mtv.com/player/embed/air/"
param name="allowScriptAccess" value="never"/
param name="allowNetworking" value="internal"/
param name="movie" value="http://www.mtv.com/player/embed/air/"/
param name="flashvars"
value="CONFIG_URL=http://www.mtv.com/player/embed/air/configuration.jhtml%3Fid%3D1601120"/
param name="base" value="."/
img type="photo"
src="http://www.mtv.com/shared/promoimages/movies/t/tropic_thunder/rough_cut/seg3/281x211.jpg"/
/object
p
a type="playlistTitle" href="http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?id=1601120"Before They Were Golden Globe Nominees/a
/p
p type="playlistSubhead"Earlier this year, we spoke to many of the nominees about their award-worthy performances./pbr/
a href="http://www.pheedo.com/click.phdo?s=e2ff00a7bb6793cb9c6b1213d2d3c57ep=1"img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.pheedo.com/img.phdo?s=e2ff00a7bb6793cb9c6b1213d2d3c57ep=1"//a
img src="http://www.pheedo.com/feeds/tracker.php?i=e2ff00a7bb6793cb9c6b1213d2d3c57e" border="0" height="1" width="1" alt=""/img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MtvOverdriveNews/~4/aNawIdJLB7s" height="1" width="1"/
By:
Music News | 17 Jul 2008 | 2:21 am
(July 16) - Third time's a charm for Bret Michaels, because VH1 has just announced plans for a new season of "Rock of Love".
By:
Music News | 16 Jul 2008 | 10:01 pm
NEW YORK (Billboard) - Rapper Lil Wayne led the U.S. pop
album chart for a third non-consecutive week Wednesday, while
Kid Rock's former chart-topper returned to the top five in its
40th week of release.
By:
Music News | 16 Jul 2008 | 9:14 pm
LONDON(Reuters) - Rolling Stones guitarist Ron
Wood has entered rehab for a drinking problem, his spokeswoman
said on Wednesday.
By:
Music News | 16 Jul 2008 | 5:20 pm
(July 16) - "Heroes" starlet Hayden Panettiere premiered her first single on a Los Angeles radio station Tuesday morning, telling host Ryan Seacrest how "very excited" she is to launch her music career.
By:
Music News | 16 Jul 2008 | 4:11 pm
FAYETTEVILLE, N.Y. (AP) - The singer and guitarist for the band
Barenaked Ladies has been arrested on drug charges in upstate New
York.