somuchfun

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Usher Sought 'Creative Way' To Debut Looking 4 Myself

Singer will open up about his appearance in the off-Broadway show 'Fuerza Bruta,' as well his new album, during 'MTV First' on Wednesday.
By Jocelyn Vena

Sure, anyone can hold an album-listening party at some record label's headquarters or, to really mix it up, some swanky nightclub. But for <a href="http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/usher/artist.jhtml">Usher</a>, that just wasn't enough. When he was looking for a way to debut tracks off <a href="/news/articles/1684389/usher-looking-4-myself-cover-neck-tattoo.jhtml">Looking 4 Myself</a>, out June 12, he found another way to spread the word.Last month, Usher appeared in the off-Broadway show <a href="/news/articles/1684028/usher-fuerza-bruta-looking-for-myself.jhtml">"Fuerza Bruta,"</a> in which he played the male lead, Running Man, for one night only. During the show, he played all his newest, shiniest tracks for lucky theatergoers. When MTV News spoke to him exclusively during rehearsals, he explained that his part in "Fuerza" provided the perfect pairing between the themes on his album and the visuals of the play.<div class="player-placeholder right" title="Exclusive First Look At Usher's 'Fuerza Bruta' Performance" id="vid:769347.id:1685086" width="415" height="255"></div>"I mean, life is like that in a lot of ways. This was something that I organically came to," he explained. "When you think about the lyrics of 'Climax,' 'Going nowhere fast/ We reached the climax' ... 'Going nowhere fast' would be running in place," he explained, referring to a part in the show where he runs on a treadmill, never actually ending up anywhere."Looking 4 Myself, I'm walking with my head down, counting every step," he explained, referring to another act in the show. "I'm always trying to find very creative ways for the music and the art to work together and this is it. I only hoped it would be viewed in that way, in an unprecedented way. I hoped that people would be able to identify with it and become acclimated with my experience in a fun way, creative. This was kind of an emotional experience that leads you into my world."Usher has even more to share about his experience in the show as well as his highly anticipated album release. He will open up during <a href="/news/articles/1685095/usher-twisted-climax-scream-mtv-premiere.jhtml">"MTV First: Usher,"</a> set to take place on Wednesday, May 16, at 7:54 p.m. ET on MTV. He will introduce exclusive footage from "Fuerza Bruta" and his new single, the Pharrell-produced "Twisted," and will stick around for an interview with MTV News' Sway Calloway to discuss it all on MTV.com afterward. Fans can submit questions via MTV.com or Twitter @MTVNews with the hashtag #MTVFirst or #AskUsher.The performances featured in "MTV First: Usher" were shot exclusively by MTV News during a special album-listening experience with the off-Broadway show "Fuerza Bruta" in New York City.Don't miss "MTV First: Usher" on Wednesday, May 16, at 7:54 p.m. ET on MTV, followed by an interview with the singer on MTV.com!<div class="player-placeholder right" title="Get Ready For 'MTV First: Usher'!" id="vid:768876.id:1685086" width="415" height="255"></div>

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Get Ready For 'MTV First: Usher'!

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Usher

Source:
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1685178/usher-looking-4-myself.jhtml

Dido

Whitney Houston And Michael Jackson's Deaths: Gone Too Soon

'You will always remember where you were ... when you heard the news,' Simon Cowell says, echoing the sentiments after Jackson's death.
By Tomika L. Anderson

Few people will forget where they were when they heard that the King of Pop, <a href="/news/articles/1614744/michael-jackson-dies-at-50.jhtml">Michael Jackson, had died</a> in June 2009. And now, the same can be said for 1980s and '90s <a href="/news/articles/1679029/whitney-houston-dead.jhtml">Queen of Pop Whitney Houston</a>.<div class="player-placeholder right" title="Celebrities React To Whitney Houston's Passing" id="vid:733106.id:1679030" width="240" height="211"></div>The beloved, long-suffering singer died Saturday inside a Beverly Hills hotel room, hours before she was expected to attend a <a href="/news/articles/1679046/whitney-houston-dies-grammys-clive-davis.jhtml">pre-Grammy Awards party thrown by her longtime mentor Clive Davis</a>.And while the official cause of death is yet unknown — what's been speculated so far is that <a href="/news/articles/1679049/whitney-houston-dies-details.jhtml">Houston may have drowned</a> in the bathtub after taking prescription drugs, including Xanax — given her very public struggle with substance abuse, depression and anxiety over the past decade, it's hard not to conclude that some drug- or alcohol-related accident may have been to blame.It's much like, most recently, British singer Amy Winehouse and the late, great Michael Jackson before her, who died after taking a fatal cocktail of propofol and two other drugs. Also like Jackson, Houston's sudden death — at the age of 48 — has stopped the world in its tracks, an enormous, one-of-a-kind musical flame forever extinguished.Even Jackson's brother, Jermaine — who was first introduced to Houston years ago by Clive Davis at the same Beverly Hills Hilton where the singer passed away — could not help but draw the comparison. In an interview with CNN overnight, he paid tribute to the two fallen musical giants. "They shared a lot of success in the late '80s and they were great friends," he said. "I'm happy and honored to have been a part of their lives."And oh, what lives they led: Like Jackson — who died at just 50 years old, after years of struggling with personal demons — Houston, too, had an intensely profound and everlasting impact on the world of entertainment.Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Hudson and countless other chart-topping entertainers have all name-checked her as their musical mentor, icon and inspiration: To date, she is one of the best-selling artists of all time, with more than 170 million albums, songs and videos sold.In her lifetime, Houston achieved what precious few of them have or ever will — stacking an astonishing 415 awards, including six Grammys, two Emmys, 22 American Music Awards, 30 Billboard Awards.Her voice, in its prime, was a national treasure."X Factor" mastermind Simon Cowell may have summed it up the best: On "Piers Morgan Tonight," he said, "She was one of the greatest voices in our lifetime. Whitney was the number one singer that other singers want to emulate. People like that can't be manufactured. They've either got, it or they don't."He added, "You will always remember where you were and what you were doing when you heard the news."Like Michael before her, gone too soon.<center><embed src="http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:uma:video:mtv.com:733107/cp~id%3D1679030%26vid%3D733107%26uri%3Dmgid%3Auma%3Avideo%3Amtv.com%3A733107%26instance%3Dmtv" width="460" height="260" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" base="." flashVars=""></embed></center>MTV News' Sway and James Montgomery will be live from the <a href="http://www.mtv.com/news/grammys/">Grammys</a> red carpet tonight starting at 5 p.m. ET to get reactions from music's biggest stars on the death of Whitney Houston. Watch reactions and remembrances at MTV.com.Share your condolences with Whitney's family and friends on our <a href="https://www.facebook.com/mtvnews/posts/381732435187118&rdquo" target="_blank">Facebook</a> page.

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Whitney Houston: Life And Music Of An Icon

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Jennifer Aniston

Monday, May 28, 2012

Lil Wayne Releases Pusha T Dis 'Goulish'

Days following the release of a new Pusha T record, Tunchi responds to the Virgina native.

Photo: Daniel Boczarski/ Getty Images

Georgianna Robertson

Michael Jackson - They Don't Care About Us

They Don't Care About Us

Artist: Michael Jackson
Label: MJJ
Director: Spike Lee
Album: So Many Stars

Source:
http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?artist=1102&vid=208348

Amanda Detmer

Babe Ruth?s former Massachusetts home is on the market for $1.65 million

Babe Ruth?s former Massachusetts home was recently put on the market for $1.65 million. When the Babe wasn?t literally knocking it out of the park, he and his family were kicking back at Home Plate Farm, a green clapboard farmhouse in Sudbury, Massachusetts. The 5,000 square foot home has been renovated with modern-day conveniences, including [...]

Source: http://www.celebritymound.com/babe-ruths-former-massachusetts-home-is-on-the-market-for-1-65-million/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=babe-ruths-former-massachusetts-home-is-on-the-market-for-1-65-million

Hilarie Burton

'Game Of Thrones' Battle Of Blackwater 'Off The Scale'

'They've spared no expense in making an awesome episode,' Richard Madden tells MTV News.
By Kara Warner

Richard Madden
Photo: MTV News

So, how about Sunday's episode of "Game of Thrones"? Have you recovered from all the fireworks? 'Twas a doozy, for sure. Thank goodness there is still one more episode left in this action-packed season.

Fans of George R.R. Martin's source material had an inkling of what to expect from the highly anticipated Battle of Blackwater, but the sheer spectacle of it all was something to behold, even for the actors who had prepared themselves for it.

"It was off the scale," star Richard Madden (a.k.a. Robb Stark) told MTV News of the production that went into the sequence. "I know in season one we started a battle and we saw the end of a battle, and I know some people weren't too pleased about that, but season two makes up for that and then some. They've spared no expense in making an awesome episode."

So, how many days did the cast and crew actually spend working on the battle? "Days and days and weeks," Madden said. "I know there was months of CGI work to get those episodes looking awesome. If you've read the books, you know what that battle entails: It's pretty visual, like a lot of George's stuff. I think people won't be disappointed."

Looking ahead to what's to come for the would-be king, we also asked Madden if he has read ahead to find out what's in store for his character.

"It's one of the things I try to avoid doing. I only read season by season: I don't read ahead," he explained. "It's one of the great things about the books that I loved is that you are constantly surprised by these characters and the story, and as an actor, I want to try and stick to that.

"I know if I read too far ahead, I'd start preempting character traits or decisions he makes," he continued. "I'd much rather be an actor and make one decision and stick to it and then have the challenge of turning it around and going in a different direction. I try and keep it like that as much as I can so the audience gets as surprised by the journey as I do when I read the books and when I read each script."

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'Game Of Thrones' Season Two

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1685924/game-of-thrones-battle-of-blackwater.jhtml

Estella Warren

Britney Spears To Get New 'Glee' Tribute Episode

Fox comedy will also move to Thursday, like 'X Factor,' where Brit has signed on to judge.
By Jocelyn Vena

After drawing <a href="/news/articles/1648982/britney-spears-glee-episode-draws-record-setting-ratings.jhtml">record ratings the first time around, "Glee"</a> has announced plans to pay homage to <a href="http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/spears_britney/artist.jhtml">Britney Spears</a> ... one more time. The news comes hot on the heels of the announcement that Spears will join the "X Factor" as judge, when the competition show returns to Fox this fall on Thursday nights. (Glee also moves to Thursdays for season four.)While Brit appeared in the September 2010 tribute episode, which used her impressive collection of hits, the 2012 tribute episode will instead focus on her "Glee" namesake, Brittany S. Pierce (played by Heather Morris), without any appearances from Spears. <a href="http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/05/15/glee-scoop-second-britney-tribute-exclusive" target="_blank">EW.com</a> reports that the new episode will be the second in the show's fourth season, returning in the fall.The Spears-centric episode will feature eight of her songs, and a source revealed that Fox is excited to have Spears joining the network on "X Factor" and that the "Glee" ep is partly a reflection of that.Spears was on hand Monday at the Fox Upfront presentation in New York City, where she appeared alongside fellow <a href="/news/articles/1685057/demi-lovato-britney-spears-x-factor.jhtml">"X Factor" newbie Demi Lovato</a>, as well as returning judges L.A. Reid and Simon Cowell. At the event, the judges and host of "So You Think You Can Dance" weighed in on the <a href="/news/articles/1685066/britney-spears-demi-lovato-x-factor.jhtml">ladies joining the show</a>."I don't have any advice for those ladies," "SYTYCD" host Cat Deeley told MTV News. "What I do like about it though is they will be able to absolutely impart some serious wisdom. I love the idea that they've been in the business for so long and since being kids, and so quite often they've had successes and they've had failures on things."And I think the most important thing is the mistakes we make," she added. "You learn so much from mistakes that you make and I think they'll be able to impart their wisdom to the new kids coming through. I think it's a great booking."Are you excited for another Britney tribute episode on "Glee"? Tell us what songs you want to hear in the comments section!

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Britney Spears

Source:
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1685127/britney-spears-glee-episode.jhtml

Autumn Reeser