Tuesday, December 21, 2010

'Family Guy' Exclusive: Nine Minutes Of 'Star Wars' Parody 'It's A Trap!'

'It's definitely the most visually stunning of all of the ones we've done,' creator Seth MacFarlane tells MTV News.
By Eric Ditzian


Brian, Peter and Lois Griffin in "Family Guy: It's A Trap!"
Photo: Fox

Back at San Diego Comic-Con this summer, "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane showed off a first-look at "It's a Trap!," the final installment in the animated series' parodies of the "Star Wars" franchise. But unless you were lucky enough to be sitting in those hallowed, geek-filled halls, you've barely seen anything from the hour-long episode, which tweaks "Return of the Jedi" to hilarious effect.

That's why MTV News is happy to present nine minutes from "It's a Trap," which hits DVD and Blu-ray Tuesday. "It's more of exactly the same kind of jokes you've seen in the other two," MacFarlane deadpanned in a Comic-Con chat with us. "So if you like those, this is the same and you'll enjoy it just as much."

That's just a bit of an understatement, but it's also true: The third episode is no letdown from the first two. Once again, young Chris Griffin plays Luke Skywalker. He's joined by Peter as Han Solo, Lois as Princess Leia, Brian as Chewbacca, Stewie as Darth Vader and all manner of other "Family Guy" characters in various roles. (Paraplegic Joe as Jabba the Hut? Well played!)

"It's a Trap!" begins exactly as the episodes that preceded it, with a LOL-tastic take on the "Star Wars" franchise's iconic opening crawl: "Luke Skywalker has returned to his home planet of Tatooine in order to — okay, you know what, we don't care. We were thinking of not even doing this one. Fox made us do it ... I'm sorry. I took a muscle relaxer earlier and it's kicking in."

From there it's off to the Death Star. We see Solo getting a fart-filled release from his carbonite prison, Meg Griffin as the multi-tentacled sarlacc beast, a Stormtrooper bicycle chase, and appearances from "American Dad!" characters Roger the alien and Klaus the fish in "Jedi" character. Random cameos include Pee-wee Herman, Ted Knight ripped from "Caddyshack" footage and the boogie-woogie piano stylings of Ray Charles. The whole production has never looked better. As MacFarlane explained, "It's definitely the most visually stunning of all of the ones we've done."

Just don't expect the "Family Guy" guys to attack the three newest "Star Wars" flicks. Says MacFarlane, "I would rather chew broken glass."

What did you think of the "It's a Trap!" teaser? Let us know in the comments!

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Akon, Jason Derulo Make 2010 The Year Of The Self-Referential Song

Lady Gaga, Janet Jackson, Eminem also among the artists who have shouted out their own names in their tunes this year.
By Jocelyn Vena


Akon
Photo: Matt Jelonek/ Getty Images

This past weekend on "Saturday Night Live," Akon joined the Lonely Island guys in a hilarious video for a new song called "I Just Had Sex," in which the singer proudly sings his own name, as well as the group's.

Chelsea Handler, meanwhile also got self-referential at the VMAs, when she Auto-Tuned her way through a pre-taped bit with Best New Artist nominee Jason Derülo. And, to be fair, we here at MTV News have been obsessed with pop stars singing their own names in songs for the bulk of 2010, prompted by Derülo's epic use of the device in several of his hits.

Folks like Derülo, Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj ("Right Thru Me"), Kanye West ("Dark Fantasy") and, obviously, Akon join a list of two decades' worth of pop artists who have taken it upon themselves to brand their tracks with their own names. In the '80s, stars like Janet Jackson, Beastie Boys and New Kids on the Block proudly proclaimed who they were in their songs.

Moving into the '90s, "TRL" staples such as the Backstreet Boys, Jennifer Lopez, Kid Rock and Eminem all blasted their monikers on their tracks, letting fans know just who was singing or rapping through hits like Rock's "Bawitdaba" and BSB's "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)."

As the new millennium approached and the musical landscape became more and more flooded with pop stars, it became a regular practice, with everyone from Ciara to M.I.A. to Fergie to Beyoncé to Shakira giving shout-outs to themselves in their songs.

With this practice more common than ever in 2010, MTV News has approved the following rules for self-referential shout-outs. One, you get famous. Two, you brand yourself in song. Three, you put your name in the chorus, or in many cases at the very beginning of the tune. And, four, you name-drop like it's hot. Repeat offenders observing the final rule include Lady Gaga ("Just Dance," "Bad Romance"), Derülo ("Whatcha Say," "In My Head") and Akon, who most recently called out his own name and Michael Jackson's on "Hold My Hand."

What do you think of pop stars singing their own names? Who pulls it off and who doesn't? Tell us in the comments!

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'Never Say Never' Director Was 'Nervous' About Justin Bieber Flick

'[It's] always scary when you try to show someone the story of their life,' Jon Chu tells MTV News of screening for teen star.
By Jocelyn Vena


Justin Bieber
Photo: John Shearer/ WireImage

In February fans will finally get the chance to see Justin Bieber's long-awaited "Never Say Never." And the flick's director, Jon Chu, recently dished to MTV News that things are coming along fine as he puts the finishing touches on the February 11 release.

"Oh, we stand pretty tall. It's nuts! This is a world that I have never experienced before," he laughed to MTV News about the 3-D film. Chu, who was promoting the DVD release of "Step Up 3D," said getting the fans' support has been invaluable.

"Again it's like dance, where music tells the story. It's really interesting and his fans have been amazing, shooting him in 3-D in Madison Square Garden, exploring his life, going to his hometown. We're almost done with our cut right now and I'm really proud of it. I think people are going to be surprised about the story that they're going to get. Something is really special."

Bieber tweeted about seeing the film recently and gave it his seal of approval. And Chu admitted to us that he's feeling the pressure now to make the best possible film.

"I mean, I'm always nervous. We're always trying to make our movies better," he explained. "We're never done with it though. I just keep going until they tell me I've run out of time. So [Justin] got to see it this week, which was really exciting and he loved it, which is always scary when you try to show someone the story of their life, but he's been very supportive, he and his family and his team. I'm excited to share it with the world and show another side of 3-D. With 'Step Up 3D,' we learned a lot of lessons and we discovered a lot of things, and it's just the beginning."

Are you excited to see Justin's "Never Say Never" movie next year? Tell us in the comments!

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2010 In 60 Seconds: Comebacks By Kanye, Eminem, Betty White And More

MTV News' pop-culture expert Jim Cantiello takes a look back at the year that was: all in a minute.
By James Montgomery


Kanye West
Photo: Jean Baptiste Lacroix/ WireImage

Well, 2010 is nearly in the books, and if you're a fan of octogenarians on the comeback trail, "California Gurls" gone wild and swoop-haired Canadian teenagers, congratulations on the best year of your life!

Yes, it was quite a ride ... Kanye West returned to top form, Eminem recaptured his old magic, Taylor Swift moved a million, Rihanna proved to be unstoppable, Katy Perry proved the doubters wrong and Ke$ha, well, she just proved to be Ke$ha. Lady Gaga dared to speak out, Weezy went away, and a host of new stars — everyone from Drake to Justin Bieber to Willow Smith — stepped up to the plate.

In pop culture, we were mesmerized by the exploits of everyone from Amber Portwood to Zac Efron, obsessed with the likes of Antoine Dobson and the "Pants on the Floor" guy, cheered on Betty White and vilified Mel Gibson (and probably Miley, too). We watched as our favorite couples went their separate ways, said goodbye to "Lost," "The Hills" and Jay Leno (whom we then said hello to all over again), and went absolutely crazy for the iPad. Oh, and everything in the universe was made in 3-D.

And all of that was just the tip of a rather sizeable iceberg. It's pretty difficult to sum up 2010 in any way, so let's just say it was the "most" year in recent memory. The most stars, the most scandals, the most use of the word "vuvuzela." There were more shake-ups, breakups and comebacks than we can even remember ... so it's a good thing we've got MTV News' pop culture expert Jim Cantiello to do it for us. Here's his look back on the year that was ... in 60 seconds, of course.

Ready? Go.

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Monday, December 20, 2010

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Enrique Iglesias Says 'Tonight' Isn't About Shock Factor

Online sneak peeks tease Ludacris-starring video: 'It's a little out there.'
By Jocelyn Vena


Enrique Iglesias
Photo: Kevin Winter/ AMA2010/ Getty Images

Enrique Iglesias is following up his 2010 hit "I Like It" with another sexy dance track, "Tonight." While this song's a bit more forward than his previous one — boasting the lyric, "Tonight, I'm f---ing you" — it is just as party-ready. And though the song may leave some listeners blushing, Iglesias says he wasn't trying to shock anyone.

"I was asked by a bunch of journalists, 'Was it a shock factor that you wanted to create?' And I honestly told them, it truly wasn't about that," he explained to MTV News. "I love the song. I loved the melody. I loved the beat. I thought it was unique. Look, how many adults go out at night or go to the club and that goes through their head, but they would never have the guts to say it?"

Regarding the song being a bit sexier than fans may be used to hearing from the singer, he laughed, replying, "I'm a little more religious, right?"

Iglesias joked that he got Ludacris on the track to displace some of the blame he might get from the song's raunchy content.

"I loved his work. I think he's one of those artists that every single feature I've heard of his, it's always a perfect 10. He's always dead on," Iglesias explained. "I played it for him, and I wanted to see what his reaction would be like, so when I played it for him he immediately called me back and was like, 'Man, I'm on this.' This is exactly what he said: 'This is my kind of sh--.' "

The guys will be teasing the "Tonight" video, set to debut in early 2011, with online sneak peeks. The video was shot over four days in Cabo, Mexico, and Los Angeles.

Iglesias explains that it's going to be "a little more cinematic, a little more of a long story. You get a little bit of acting on Luda's part. I was a little afraid: It's a tough song. What type of video do you make? What do you do?"

So what did they do? "It's stylized, and it's not so 'in your face,' " he explained. "I don't know how to explain it. When I saw the video, it didn't feel offensive. Although I saw the video and it's a little out there, but I loved it. It's almost like the guys' fantasy. That's what we wanted to create."

Luda is the only one doing the acting in the video, and Iglesias, who will be kicking off his 2011 live shows February 5 at Madison Square Garden, has a very good reason for that.

"I was there when he was shooting, but in this video, it wasn't about us being together in the video. I wanted to separate his part," he said. "But it was great, and I think he's one of those guys — he's so charismatic. I wanted to get a little bit of his acting skills in there because he's a great actor. I'm trying to be as laid-back as possible."

Are you a fan of "Tonight'? Give us your review in the comments below!

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Men And Women Of The Year 2010

MTV News counts down the most infuential and difference-making celebrities of the year.


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MTV News' Top Songs Of 2010

We're counting down the best of the best, with songs by Lady Gaga, Eminem and more!


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Beyonce Can't Pick Her Favorite Jay-Z Song

'I can't tell you which one is my favorite. It's just too many,' singer tells MTV News.
By Jocelyn Vena


Beyoncé arrives at her "I Am ... World Tour" DVD screening on Sunday
Photo: Jemal Countess/Getty Images

Jay-Z is letting fans into his world with two major releases this month. He just published his book, "Decoded," in which he takes a closer look at his career, and on Monday (November 22), Hova is releasing a greatest-hits album, The Hits Collection, Volume 1.

The album features Jay's most memorable tunes, including "Big Pimpin'," "Hard Knock Life," "99 Problems" and his collabo with his superstar wife, Beyoncé, "03' Bonnie & Clyde."

But when MTV News caught up with Bey Sunday at a New York screening for her DVD concert special, "I Am ... World Tour," she admitted that "Bonnie & Clyde" isn't her favorite Jay-Z track.

"God, that's not my favorite, even though I like it," she laughed. "I can't tell you which one is my favorite. It's just too many. You're putting me on the spot!"

While the pair may be releasing fresh products at the same time, the singer insists there is no competition in the Carter-Knowles household.

"No absolutely not, [there is no competition]," she told reporters at the DVD event, going on to praise "Decoded." "That book is unbelievable, and I think we're all really proud of it. And this DVD [out this] Thanksgiving — it's the holiday season of everyone's [material] coming out."

The DVD shows a new, more intimate side of the usually private Beyoncé, and Jay-Z admits that his book also sheds new light on his persona and career. "A lot of people listen to music, but they don't really listen to it," he explained. "You may know the words and you may bop your head to it, but you don't really understand what you're singing."

Open the floodgates! It's Mega-Release Week, with Kanye West, Nicki Minaj, Jay-Z, Ne-Yo, Ke$ha, My Chemical Romance and Lloyd Banks all dropping new albums. Stick with MTV News for everything you need to know about the brand-new music.

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Michael Jackson's 'Hold My Hand' And More Posthumous Music Videos

Aaliyah, Tupac Shakur, Elvis Presley and more late superstars have popped up in videos after their deaths.
By James Montgomery


Michael Jackson in the video for "Hold My Hand"
Photo: Sony Music Entertainment

On Thursday (December 9), the late, great Michael Jackson returned to the music-video world with "Hold My Hand," a clip from the upcoming Michael album, which pairs his vocals with production work from some of today's top producers.

And much like that album, the "Hold My Hand" video is very much a retrospective affair, loaded with triumphant MJ performance footage and uplifting imagery (smiling children, sunrises, bright blue skies), not to mention a whole lot of Akon. And while fans can debate whether the clip is a worthy addition to the King of Pop's massive music-video legacy, it certainly carries on the tradition of the posthumous video, a rather ignominious — and incredibly profitable — wing of the music-industry machine.

Yes, ever since Elvis Presley shuffled off this mortal coil, record labels have been churning out videos by deceased stars, for reasons that run the gamut from tribute to pure profit. Out of necessity (since the star is no longer with us), these videos are usually by-the-numbers affairs, full of stock footage and performance clips, the occasional use of animation and, of course, the odd celebrity cameo. More often than not, fans love them — which is why we keep seeing them. And since "Hold My Hand" has just been unveiled, we decided to take a look back at some of the most notable examples of stars who may no longer be with us, but continue to make music videos. Here's our Posthumous Playlist.

Aaliyah
She died tragically in a 2001 plane crash, but her videos kept showing up on MTV. "I Care 4 U" was a collection of clips from the Japanese anime "Macross Pluss II," which feature her as a ghostly figure. "Miss You" was a tribute vid, starting with a heartfelt monologue by DMX and featuring cameos by the likes of Missy Elliott, Lil' Kim and Toni Braxton. "Don't Know What to Tell Ya" is a combination of footage from her old videos and newly animated bits, which reimagine Aaliyah as a superhero in a skintight getup.

Elvis Presley
He died in 1977 but found chart success once again in 2002, when a remixed version of his song "A Little Less Conversation" was featured in a Nike World Cup commercial. A video, featuring performance footage of the King playing on a TV monitor (and a bunch of hyperactive dancers and models re-enacting his famous "Jailhouse Rock" video) was quickly assembled to capitalize. It was appropriately massive.

John Lennon
Murdered outside his New York City home in 1980, Lennon's (then) just-released Double Fantasy quickly rose to #1 on the album charts and even won the Grammy for Album of the Year. The follow-up, Milk and Honey, was also a hit and featured the single "Nobody Told Me," which came with a posthumous video, complete with photos of Lennon as a child, his iconic wire-frame specs and even some of his illustrations.

Nirvana
After the death of Kurt Cobain, there was no shortage of Nirvana sundry released, though the video for "You Know You're Right" — one of the last songs he recorded with the band — is the true standout, full of performance clips and backstage footage that capture the grunge icon at his most powerful, moody and, strangely enough, happy.

The Notorious B.I.G.
He was killed in 1997, but his talent — and the prodigious amount of pre-recorded material he left behind — survives to this day. There truly is no shortage of posthumous Biggie videos, though the most notable are probably the flossy, glossy "Mo' Money, Mo' Problems," Spike Jonze's riotous "Sky's the Limit" (which stars nothing but children) and "Notorious Thugz," a team up with Bone Thugs-N-Harmony that features his ghost rapping inside a studio.

Sublime
Frontman Bradley Nowell died just before the release of the trio's breakout self-titled album, and so — mostly out of necessity — Nowell (and his beloved dog, Lou) continued to turn up in the band's videos, including "What I Got," "Santeria" and "Wrong Way."

TLC
Just before the release of their 2002 album 3D, founding member Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes was killed in a car accident in Honduras. The group's two remaining members pressed on, releasing a series of videos that paid tribute to their late friend. In the video for "Girl Talk," they wear outfits emblazoned with her name, and she shows up in animated form too. "Turntable" is a more traditional posthumous clip, made up of performance footage of the trio taken from their live shows and videos.

Tupac Shakur
Unlike most late stars, Tupac left behind so much material that he never really left. The vaults were mined for more than a decade following his 1996 death, to the point where some believe he may actually still be with us. Not surprisingly, there are no shortage of posthumous music videos out there, including "I Wonder If Heaven Got a Ghetto," which picks up after he was shot (and was filmed from his "point of view"); "Changes," a solemn tribute clip made up of news footage, scenes from his videos and movies and still photos; and "Until the End of Time," a more sparse affair, featuring clips of him onstage and in the studio.

What is your favorite posthumous clip? Let us know in the comments.

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Michael Jackson Asked Album-Cover Artist To Paint Him Before He Died

Kadir Nelson only spoke to Jackson once before the singer's death.
By Gil Kaufman


Kadir Nelson
Photo: MTV News

When it came to putting together Michael, the first posthumous album of material from late King of Pop Michael Jackson, everyone was working with half a playbook. The producers of the singer's first studio album since 2001 had to figure out what the notoriously detail-oriented Jackson would want them to do with the grab bag of songs he was working on at the time of his death.

Even the artist behind the album's iconic cover, a Renaissance-painting-like mash-up of iconic images from throughout Jackson's career, was forced to go on his understanding of what Michael would have approved of.

That artist, Kadir Nelson, sat down with MTV News last week to walk us through the thicket of images on the cover and explain how he came to create the visual summary of the pop icon's solo career.

Nelson said the ball started rolling in 2003, when Michael was working on songs for his Number Ones collection at Marvin's Room, the legendary Los Angeles recording studio founded by R&B great Marvin Gaye in 1975. Jackson saw a pair of paintings Nelson had made chronicling Gaye's life and fell in love with the images.

"As a result of seeing it, he called me one afternoon and he said, 'I really like your Marvin Gaye painting ... I want one, about me ... but I want it bigger.' Because Michael liked things to be big," Nelson said. But, as with so many projects begun by Jackson, after Nelson followed the singer's advice and read the autobiography "Moonwalker" and did some research on the painting that was to hang in Michael's home, other things came up and the project fell through the cracks.

Then, following Jackson's death in June 2009, his longtime friend and now estate co-executor John McClain rang Nelson up and said the gig was back on. "[He said], 'It's time for you to do that painting that Michael wanted you to do,' " Nelson recalled. " 'Don't ask any questions, just do the painting and we'll figure out what to do with it later.' "

The resulting image plays into Jackson's lifelong belief that bigger is better, with a regal Michael staring out in the central image while wearing a prince's Victorian blouse with a high, ruffled collar, a silver-gloved hand placed over his heart and a jewel-encrusted crown hovering over his head. Around that central image are painted nods to everything from such classic videos as "Beat It" and "Thriller" and a spaceship from one of his favorite movies, "E.T." and MTV's Moonman, a reference to the fact that Jackson's videos helped make the channel the force it is today.

The sadness of Jackson's death made Nelson a bit hesitant at first, but he said he realized he was getting a rare second chance to follow through on the abandoned project, so he was quick to say yes. "I did it because I felt that it would be a very important document ... and a tribute to Michael's life," he said of the finished work, titled "The King of Pop."

He described it as a "panoramic celebration of Michael's life, music and career" and said he strode to make it as perfect as possible to match the level of perfection Jackson insisted on in his music and art. "I felt that I owed it to him, to his family, to his fans, to do the best job possible."

Though Nelson only spoke to Jackson that one time in 2003 over the phone, he worked with the singer's brother, Jackie Jackson, on the image over a five month period at the studio where the Michael album was being completed and said that Jackie gave some insight into his sibling's thoughts. When the final image was produced, MJ's brothers Jackie and Marlon Jackson and McClain gave it a thumbs-up and said he did a good job.

Like the video for the first single, the Mark Pellington-directed "Hold My Hand," it's an artistic leap that attempts to tap into Jackson's elusive magic, but Nelson feels like he succeeded.

He considers the final product — his biggest-ever canvas at more than 9 feet wide by 4.5 feet tall — his Sistine Chapel. And like Michelangelo's signature work, Nelson labored long and hard on the painting, putting hours in from August 2009 until January 2010 and then again on and off until October.

What do you think of the finished product? Share your reviews in the comments!

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AMA 2010 Performance Highlights


Taylor Swift performs at the 2010 American Music Awards
Photo: Jeff Kravitz/ Film Magic

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Lady Gaga Dishes On Born This Way During London Show

During her concert on Friday, the pop star said her upcoming album 'doesn't have a bunch of rock ballads,' confirmed that it will feature 'You and I.'
By James Dinh


Lady Gaga (file)
Photo: Derek Storm/ Splash News

Throughout the year, Lady Gaga has not only talked up her forthcoming album, Born This Way, but she's also previewed a few new tracks that may or may not appear on the release. On songs like "You and I" and "Living on the Radio," Gaga strays from her usual dance-hit formula to explore a more Elton John-esque sound. However, during her recent Monster Ball Tour stop at London's O2 Arena on Friday, the pop star told the roaring audience that the project won't be full of too many piano-driven ballads.

After asking concertgoers if they wanted to hear a new song, Mother Monster said, "Want to hear 'You and I'? This one is going to be on Born This Way. It's one of my favorites. The album doesn't have a bunch of rock ballads or anything, but this is one of them."

Following her chit-chat with the audience, Gaga launched into tune, which finds the singer recalling a reunion with a lover.

"There's something, something about this place/ Something about lonely nights and my lipstick on your face/ Something, something about my cool Nebraska guy/ Yeah something about/ Baby you and I," she sang while pounding away on her piano.

In the midst of her "You and I" performance, the songbird took time to give herself props for the originality and creativity she puts into her material.

"Now I don't know if you know this, but for those of you who don't know, I write all my own music," she announced. "Every single lyric, melody and note was created by me. I am not manufactured. I'm a bad cat and coming for you 'cause I believe in you and I."

Later on in the song, she added, "It's not that I don't like to be humble, it's just that pop music has a pretty bad rap," before indulging in some of her usual impulsive piano antics.

Gaga's Little Monsters can expect to hear even more new tunes as early as February. Just a few weeks ago, she told fan site Lady-Gaga.net that the lead single from Born This Way will be released that month, while comparing the album to "bad kids going to church, having fun on a high level."

What kind of tracks are you looking forward to hear on Born This Way? Share your thoughts in the comments!

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Ke$ha Proclaims 'We R Who We R' At AMAs

Ke$ha destroys hate with her American Music Awards performance.
By Jocelyn Vena


Ke$ha performs at the 2010 American Music Awards
Photo: Christopher Polk/ Getty Images

Whirring sirens and post-apocalyptic stage design certainly set the tone for Ke$ha's energetic American Music Awards performance on Sunday (November 21). Surrounded by keyboards, Ke$ha kicked it all off in a glowing robot helmet and began her Animal track, "Take It Off."

Soon she was surrounded by dancers, some of whom broke through mirrors to join the singer on the stage as she transitioned into her Cannibal track "We R Who We R." For the performance, Ke$ha let her hair down and graced the stage in a mirrored bodysuit and leather jacket. She danced and gyrated her way through the track off her latest release, out this week.

When she wasn't dancing, she played a white guitar as confetti fell from the ceiling toward the song's synth filled and Auto-Tuned finale. As the song wrapped, she turned the guitar around and revealed that it said "hate" with a slash through it. She destroyed the guitar as sparks flew from behind her.

"This year has been carnivorous and life-changing. I have my rowdy, gorgeous fans to thank for taking me on the ride of a lifetime," she said in a statement. "My only goal with this record is to keep them dancing," she said of the new album. "The songs on Cannibal were made to inspire people to ignore any hate or judgment and be themselves unapologetically. It's the perfect companion to Animal and I hope you guys like it. And if you don't like it -- bite me."

What did you think of Ke$ha's AMA Performance?

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Michael Jackson Album-Cover Artist Explains Hidden Meanings In His Work

Kadir Nelson leads MTV News through his tribute to the King of Pop.
By James Montgomery


Kadir Nelson
Photo: MTV News

It is a testament to the legendary life of Michael Jackson that no matter how big a canvas artist Kadir Nelson used to tell MJ's story — and at 9 feet wide and 4.5 feet tall, he used a pretty big one — he kept running out of room. It seems that Jackson's reign as the King of Pop was just too lengthy, his list of achievements too large and his life too all-encompassing to be summed up in even the most massive of murals.

"Michael's life was so huge I couldn't get it all into the painting," Nelson told MTV News. "So I would take images from throughout his life that were milestones ... images that would resonate with his fans. And even doing that was a challenge."

Still, Nelson gave it his best effort, and the result was "The King of Pop," his epic tribute to Jackson's life, which struck such a chord with the late icon's estate (and his label, Sony Music) that it was chosen as the cover for the just-released Michael album. But what fans see on that album is just a fraction of Nelson's original work.

" 'The King of Pop' is the life story of Michael Jackson, so what you see on the album cover is the centerpiece of the mural; Michael is wearing his famous bejeweled glove, and he's wearing a golden suit of armor, and he has this collar around his neck, like what you would see in a French painting of King Philip," Nelson explained. "The theme for this painting is 'royalty' and 'pop,' because Michael was the King of Pop. So you have Michael being crowned by two Cupids, he has his birthstones in his crown. He's wearing a soft, velvet drapery over his armor, because Michael had a very soft heart. Also, his hand is placed over his heart, because he had a big heart, and he put that big heart into everything he did."

And radiating from that royal image is Jackson's life story, which begins with images of his childhood in Gary, Indiana, extends upward to a gallery of his musical influences (Barry Gordy, Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson and Marvin Gaye, to name just a few), and then explodes with the launch of his solo career, starting with his star-making turn at the "Motown 25" television special (where he unveiled his "moonwalk" dance) and rolling right along to his Thriller heyday. There are also portions of the painting dedicated to his Bad, Dangerous and HIStory albums, and images of his children, the omnipresent media that followed him everywhere, and the women with whom he shared close relationships (Liz Taylor, Lisa Marie Presley and Madonna).

There are also, as Nelson explained, coded images hidden throughout the painting, everything from bubbles (blown by his pet chimpanzee, of course), an apple (because, as the painter explained, "kids would call [Jackson] 'Applehead' on his Neverland Ranch"), Peter Pan soaring off into the Northern Lights (meant to symbolize Jackson's ascension after his death) and, perhaps the most striking image of all, a golden throne atop a mountain: Jackson's throne, never to be occupied again.

"It's empty," Nelson explained, "because no one will ever sit in it now that he's gone."

What do you think of the Michael cover? Share your thoughts in the comments!

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G. Dep Confesses To Murder

Former Bad Boy MC and Diddy protégé admits to shooting a man 17 years ago.
By Paul Cantor


G. Dep
Photo: Denise Truscello/WireImage

Former Bad Boy MC G. Dep admitted this week to fatally shooting a man nearly 20 years ago.

The New York Post reports that on Wednesday, the 36-year-old rapper, born Trevell Coleman, walked into the 25th precinct in Harlem and confessed to killing a man way back in 1993.

"I shot and killed someone 17 years ago," he reportedly told an officer at the precinct.

According to the Post report, Dep told police that he was riding a bike when he approached his victim, 32-year-old John Henkel, on Park Avenue and East 114th street near the James Weldon Johnson housing projects. Dep, just 18 years old at the time, was planning to rob Henkel, but when he resisted, shot him three times in the chest with a .40-caliber hand gun. He then fled from the crime scene and threw the gun into the East River. Henkel was pronounced dead at St. Luke's hospital.

The crime took place in the 23rd precinct, so investigators from that station house were contacted. William Dunn, a detective at the 23rd precinct, reportedly reviewed the case, which had gone cold, and found that the rapper's story went hand-in-hand with what was on file.

G. Dep was charged with murder for the 1993 shooting, and is being held without bail.

A police source, in an attempt to explain why Dep would suddenly confess to the crime, said "It was just eating away at him."

"My client is presumed innocent, and the case is going to grand jury," said G-Dep's lawyer, Michael Alperstein.

G. Dep came to hip-hop's attention in 1998 with a guest appearance on "The Mall," from Gang Starr's Moment of Truth LP. He signed to Diddy's Bad Boy Records the same year, and released his debut LP, Child of the Ghetto, in 2001. Despite two well-regarded singles, "Let's Get It" and "Special Delivery," the album was heavily bootlegged and failed to move many units. He later split with Bad Boy Records, and in 2004 dropped a mixtape, The Deputy: The Sheriff Is Back in Town Volume 1. But since 2003, he's racked up 25 arrests for crimes ranging from drugs to burglary to grand larceny.

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Lady Gaga, Katy Perry React To 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Repeal

Ellen DeGeneres, Pink and more celebrate historic Senate vote on Twitter.
By Mawuse Ziegbe


Members of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network join Lady Gaga at the 2010 MTV VMAs
Photo: Getty Images

The armed forces' controversial "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy will soon be history.

On Saturday (December 18), the Senate voted to repeal the 17-year-old measure that bars openly gay men and women from serving in the military. The bill passed by a 65-31 margin, according to CNN, which included eight republicans and one independent who joined the Democrat-backed initiative. President Obama will sign the bill into law next week.

"Today, the Senate has taken an historic step toward ending a policy that undermines our national security while violating the very ideals that our brave men and women in uniform risk their lives to defend. By ending 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' no longer will our nation be denied the service of thousands of patriotic Americans forced to leave the military, despite years of exemplary performance, because they happen to be gay. And no longer will many thousands more be asked to live a lie in order to serve the country they love," the president said in a statement. Calls to dismantle the policy ramped up this year with stars such as Lady Gaga decrying the measure and demonstrations cropping up around the nation. On Wednesday, the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who had been crusading to end the policy, tweeted to Gaga after the vote, "We did it! #DADT is a thing of the past."

Gaga, who arrived at the 2010 MTV VMAs with openly gay service members who had been discharged or left the military due to the policy, made viral videos and spoke at a September rally calling for the end of DADT, tweeted about her emotional reaction to the vote.

"Can't hold back the tears+pride. We did it!i Our voice was heard + today the Senate REPEALED DADT. A triumph for equality after 17 YEARS," she wrote.

Openly gay talk-show queen Ellen DeGeneres tweeted, "Thank you Senators for pushing us one step closer towards full equality."

Katy Perry showed her support for the repeal of DADT by responding to a missive that fellow songstress Pink retweeted.

"SUPPORTING ALL OUR TROOPS!" Perry added to Pink's retweet, "RT @Pink: Congrats 2 US!!! REPEAL of DADT & 17 years of allowing Human Rights Violations. There's hope after all!"

Former army lieutenant and gay-rights activist Dan Choi, who has called for an end to the policy since he was discharged from service after publicly coming out in 2009, also gave his take on the vote.

"Thank you, Democrats, for your leadership," he tweeted. "There: I said it. Also, thank you 8 Republicans. You're on the right side of history."

MTV News also caught up with student Bridget Todd, who once questioned President Obama about DADT during the commander-in-chief's "A Conversation with President Obama" forum in October. Although Todd said she was skeptical of the president's commitment to ending the policy after the Obama administration asked for stay blocking a judge's ruling that the measure is unconstitutional, she said the Senate vote has restored some of her faith in the U.S. leader.

"I think it's fantastic. I'm over the moon about it," Todd said. "It's sort of strange that it's 2010 and we're dealing with this so I'm happy that it's done, I'm happy that it's gonna be over with.

"I think I said that he displayed an alleged commitment to gay equality," she continued. "I think that this sort of proves that perhaps he is actually committed to these issues. They're not just sort of political talking points that you use to get elected — that this is something that he is willing to make happen."

What do you think about the Senate voting to repeal DADT? Let us know in the comments!

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Photos | MTV News' 2009 Women Of The Year

MTV News' 2009 Women Of The Year

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Photos | MTV News' 2009 Women Of The Year: #4 Beyonce

MTV News' 2009 Women Of The Year: #4 Beyonce

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Beyonce Says She Wants To 'Make My Own Genre Of Music'

Singer is in the studio working on Sasha Fierce follow-up.
By Gil Kaufman


Beyoncé
Photo: Getty Images

Beyoncé doesn't have that much left to prove in her career. She's a megaplatinum artist, an accomplished actress, half of one of the most successful musical couples in history and a fashion icon.

But on the follow-up to her smash 2008 Grammy-winning album I Am ... Sasha Fierce, the singer is aiming to carve an entirely new lane for herself.

"I love to dance, I love to sing, and I'm actually in the studio now writing songs and producing," the singer told "Entertainment Tonight" from the set of a new commercial she's filming for Vizio televisions. "I have a lot of live instruments that I'm putting into the tracks to try to change the sound and make my own genre of music." The commercial will debut on Thanksgiving day, just after the singer rocks prime-time TV with an ABC Thanksgiving special entitled "I Am ... World Tour."

Among the producers and songwriters working with Beyoncé on the new, as-yet-untitled album is Ne-Yo, who helped write one of the 29-year-old singer's biggest hits, "Irreplaceable."

Ne-Yo told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Beyoncé's fourth solo effort is "coming along nicely. I can't speak too much on it, but it's another direction for her, and she's carving out her own niche. ... In a minute nobody will be in Beyoncé's lane. They really can't get in her lane now, but they really can't get in her lane after this album."

In the meantime, producer Jim Jonsin, who produced her song "Sweet Dreams," has also said he has some new directions in mind for Beyoncé. "I'd like to take it even more Depeche Mode-ish, like '80s electro with just some hard drums," he told Rap-Up TV. "I'd love to go there."

That fits with what songwriter Sean "The Pen" Garrett recently told Entertainment Weekly. Garrett, who was behind such hits as "Video Phone," "Diva" and "Upgrade U," said that he was slated to hit the studio with Beyoncé in September and that the results would be hard-hitting.

"I think we are doing a lot of uptempo records for this one," he said. "She's in such a good place right now in life that she is interested in making party music, definitely."

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Prince Brings The Party To New Jersey Concert

The Purple One delighted the Izod Center crowd at his Welcome 2 America Tour stop on Friday with a career-spanning set and some special guests.
By Hillary Crosley


Prince (file)
Photo: Jens Dige/Scanpix/AFP Photo

What man can make three-inch gold heels and a glittering top work? Only Prince, of course.

On Friday, the Purple One performed at New Jersey's Izod Center for his Welcome 2 America Tour before a packed crowd, seated well into the nose-bleeds. Drawing from his early catalogue, the icon began the show with a medley of "Let's Go Crazy" and "Delirious."

Working a stage shaped like the symbol he was "formerly known as," Prince strutted in a black suit detailed with gold trim while sporting his signature short haircut. His band included three background singers -- dressed in everything from feathers to polka dots -- a female bassist, two keyboardists and a drummer.

Maintaining the energy, the Minneapolis native kicked off "1999" with a question, "What'd y'all come to do . party?" Then, with a spotlight focused on him alone, Prince squealed a slow rendition of "Little Red Corvette" that sped up during each chorus only to smooth out again when it returned to the verses. Taking his jacket off, he threw the garment on the ground to reveal a bejeweled scarf slung around his neck as the fans screamed and the Grammy award winner disappeared below the stage.

In the following act, Prince, now wearing a mustard-colored silk pantsuit with a ruffled top, returned to the stage alongside ballerina . Copeland is the first African American female soloist in the American Ballet Theatre. As she twirled around the stage, the two created a sensual high-art version of "The Beautiful Ones," where each danced atop the stage's purple piano.

During "Controversy," famed funk saxophonist took the stage for a worthy solo as Prince directed the audience.

"I don't care what they told, wave your phones side to side!" he said, just before asking the crowd, "What shall we do? Can I do some for me?"

Breaking into "Take Me With You," as confetti began to pour from the ceiling and onto the stage, the singer and his band moved seamlessly into "Guitar," from Prince's 2007 LP, Planet Earth. The lights then dimmed and became purple as the band strummed the introduction to perhaps the biggest song of the artist's career, "Purple Rain." Walking around the stage, the petite performer encouraged his New York and New Jersey fans to sing the cut's bridge before he belted out the lyrics himself. As the song came to an end, Prince disappeared below the stage once again.

Talented drummer Sheila E then arose, flanked by a drum kit, as the Izod Center shook with applause. The "Krush Groove" star, sporting a sequin tank top, pants and over-the-knee boots, banged out her 1984 hit, "The Glamorous Life," before Prince joined in for their duet "Love Bizarre." To the delight of Sheila's enthusiasts, who were standing in their seats with excitement, she performed an impromptu drum solo and then Prince invited audience members to the stage for the Morris Day & the Time cuts "Jungle Love" and "The Bird." Waving goodbye, Prince, Sheila and the band disappeared backstage.

But the crowd would not accept their departure.

Wooed by applause and cheers, Prince returned for an encore and ran through "If I Was Your Girlfriend," "Insatiable" and "Scandalous" before finally wishing everyone a good night.

Have you caught or are you planning to attend any of Prince's Welcome 2 America shows? Tell us in the comments.

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Christian Bale Calls Real-Life 'Fighter' Family 'Passionate'

'Everyone was like, 'Who knows what's going to happen?' ' he tells MTV News of having Dicky Eklund and his relatives on set.
By Kara Warner, with reporting by Josh Horowitz


Christian Bale
Photo: MTV News

For Christian Bale, one of the highlights of making "The Fighter," a performance for which he was recently nominated for a Golden Globe in the Best Supporting Actor category, was meeting and getting to know the real-life inspiration for his character: Dicky Eklund. Bale said he and Eklund became buddies over the course of filming — during which Bale learned to speak "Dickenese," Eklund's unique manner of speaking — which proved useful when it came to translating the half-brothers' story to the big screen.

"[We said] 'Look, there's no story here unless we show the dregs. You've got to show the lows.' " Bale recalled telling Dicky and his brother Micky Ward, the inspiration behind Mark Wahlberg's character. "It's the roller coaster of their life that makes it a fascinating story. Each one individually doesn't make a movie, but you combine the two brothers, and there's a fascinating movie."

The "Dark Knight" star added that in showcasing so much of the life of these two men, there were creative liberties taken for time's sake, which didn't always go over well with Eklund.

"We [had] to show that side of it, and also condensing a life into two hours, you're taking some license," Bale explained. "Initially, there were a lot of problems. Dicky would be saying, 'That's not how it went down. I said this not that' and 'He wasn't there at that point. He was over here.'

"[We told him] 'Right, but we've had to kind of blend these two scenes, because otherwise this movie is going to be years long.' " Bale recalled. "So he came to understand that, but there were a couple of moments where I had to say, 'Dicky, don't go punch [director] David [O. Russell] now. Don't go punch him. It's all right, count to 10, let's figure it out.' And I'm sure David and Mark had to stop him from punching me and stuff."

Bale described the initial meetings with all of Eklund and Ward's family members — including Ward's feisty wife Charlene (played by Amy Adams in the film) — as a trip.

"Charlene was there with her sisters," Bale recalled, "and everyone was like, 'Who knows what's going to happen?' ... They're a passionate family."

Check out everything we've got on "The Fighter."

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

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Michael Jackson Asked Album-Cover Artist To Paint Him Before He Died

Kadir Nelson only spoke to Jackson once before the singer's death.
By Gil Kaufman


Kadir Nelson
Photo: MTV News

When it came to putting together Michael, the first posthumous album of material from late King of Pop Michael Jackson, everyone was working with half a playbook. The producers of the singer's first studio album since 2001 had to figure out what the notoriously detail-oriented Jackson would want them to do with the grab bag of songs he was working on at the time of his death.

Even the artist behind the album's iconic cover, a Renaissance-painting-like mash-up of iconic images from throughout Jackson's career, was forced to go on his understanding of what Michael would have approved of.

That artist, Kadir Nelson, sat down with MTV News last week to walk us through the thicket of images on the cover and explain how he came to create the visual summary of the pop icon's solo career.

Nelson said the ball started rolling in 2003, when Michael was working on songs for his Number Ones collection at Marvin's Room, the legendary Los Angeles recording studio founded by R&B great Marvin Gaye in 1975. Jackson saw a pair of paintings Nelson had made chronicling Gaye's life and fell in love with the images.

"As a result of seeing it, he called me one afternoon and he said, 'I really like your Marvin Gaye painting ... I want one, about me ... but I want it bigger.' Because Michael liked things to be big," Nelson said. But, as with so many projects begun by Jackson, after Nelson followed the singer's advice and read the autobiography "Moonwalker" and did some research on the painting that was to hang in Michael's home, other things came up and the project fell through the cracks.

Then, following Jackson's death in June 2009, his longtime friend and now estate co-executor John McClain rang Nelson up and said the gig was back on. "[He said], 'It's time for you to do that painting that Michael wanted you to do,' " Nelson recalled. " 'Don't ask any questions, just do the painting and we'll figure out what to do with it later.' "

The resulting image plays into Jackson's lifelong belief that bigger is better, with a regal Michael staring out in the central image while wearing a prince's Victorian blouse with a high, ruffled collar, a silver-gloved hand placed over his heart and a jewel-encrusted crown hovering over his head. Around that central image are painted nods to everything from such classic videos as "Beat It" and "Thriller" and a spaceship from one of his favorite movies, "E.T." and MTV's Moonman, a reference to the fact that Jackson's videos helped make the channel the force it is today.

The sadness of Jackson's death made Nelson a bit hesitant at first, but he said he realized he was getting a rare second chance to follow through on the abandoned project, so he was quick to say yes. "I did it because I felt that it would be a very important document ... and a tribute to Michael's life," he said of the finished work, titled "The King of Pop."

He described it as a "panoramic celebration of Michael's life, music and career" and said he strode to make it as perfect as possible to match the level of perfection Jackson insisted on in his music and art. "I felt that I owed it to him, to his family, to his fans, to do the best job possible."

Though Nelson only spoke to Jackson that one time in 2003 over the phone, he worked with the singer's brother, Jackie Jackson, on the image over a five month period at the studio where the Michael album was being completed and said that Jackie gave some insight into his sibling's thoughts. When the final image was produced, MJ's brothers Jackie and Marlon Jackson and McClain gave it a thumbs-up and said he did a good job.

Like the video for the first single, the Mark Pellington-directed "Hold My Hand," it's an artistic leap that attempts to tap into Jackson's elusive magic, but Nelson feels like he succeeded.

He considers the final product — his biggest-ever canvas at more than 9 feet wide by 4.5 feet tall — his Sistine Chapel. And like Michelangelo's signature work, Nelson labored long and hard on the painting, putting hours in from August 2009 until January 2010 and then again on and off until October.

What do you think of the finished product? Share your reviews in the comments!

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Photos | 2010 American Music Awards Red Carpet

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Sunday, December 19, 2010

'Tron Legacy' And Jeff Bridges: Behind Film's Most Challenging Effect

Visual-effects supervisor Eric Barba reveals how his team pulled off 61-year old Bridges' stunning 3-D reverse-aging.
By Eric Ditzian


Jeff Bridges in "Tron Legacy"
Photo: Disney

For the last few days, MTV News has been taking you inside some of the coolest aspects of "Tron Legacy," from the creative process behind Daft Punk's violins-meet-synthesizers soundtrack to the generation of the film's neon-pulsing motorcycles and warships. Now we're going to take you behind the creation of the film's single-most jaw-dropping visual effect: turning Jeff Bridges from 60-something Oscar-winner into the Bridges of 1984's "Against All Odds."

We caught up with visual-effects supervisor Eric Barba, the driving force behind the CG work on "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," for which technicians both aged Brad Pitt into an old man and turned back time to capture the actor's 20-something look. What they managed to accomplish was nothing short of astounding, and Barba won an Oscar for his efforts.

But what Barba and director Joseph Kosinski set out to create for "Tron Legacy" was something far different — and far more challenging. "It's the hardest thing that's ever been done in visual effects," Barba explained.

See, the film stars two different versions of Bridges' character Kevin Flynn. One is the Flynn who's been trapped inside a computer-generated world for 20 years and who looks exactly like a 60-something Bridges. The other is Clu, a digital manifestation who does not age and thus still looks about 35 years old. To create Clu, Barba's team essentially had to wrap a CG mask around Bridges' face, making him look young again.

What made that task harder than the one in "Benjamin Button" was that, for "Tron," Barba had to do everything in 3-D. "What scared us with Jeff was that we're at the beginning of this technology," he said. "People were very happy with the way Benjamin came across. But there's leeway because we've never seen Brad Pitt as an old man. This was 10 times harder. We all know what Jeff Bridges looks like at 35. Right off the bat, we were setting ourselves up for other people's expectations."

To begin, the filmmakers brought in makeup-effects master Rick Baker ("Men in Black") to build a likeness of a young Bridges' head that would serve as a basis for their CG work. But that likeness soon had to be thrown away, after filmmakers decided they wanted an even younger version of the actor. There was no time to build another head, so Barba's team had to re-sculpt everything in the computer. Then in came Bridges himself.

"We had to derive the face from Jeff's performance, so we built this four-camera, head-mounted system that Jeff would wear on set with the other actors," Barba said. "We'd take the data from those four cameras and triangulate each point and get a floating, 3-D point cloud of his face. We ran that through sophisticated software we wrote and it rebuilt his performance on the younger visage."

Yet that was just the beginning. The effects team also had to mirror the particular movements of Bridges' face — muscles, skin, expressions and the like — so that the CG face would approach a photo-realistic representation rather than dipping into the much-dreaded "uncanny valley" in which CG creations fail to look appropriately human.

Early viewers have been split over the success of Clu: Some have applauded the work, while others have argued the character has not escaped that digital valley. The filmmakers knew exactly what they were getting themselves into when they started out, and Barba remains ecstatic over what they were able to accomplish.

"We knew Clu would be a much, much more difficult challenge then Benjamin," he said. "But hey, someone's got to take those chances and those risks and go for it. We thought this was a great project to do that."

Are you going to check out "Tron Legacy"? Tell us in the comments!

Check out everything we've got on "Tron Legacy."

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

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