Late singer’s top MTV Moments, from the VMA stage to an all-access interview. By Christina Garibaldi Whitney Houston in MTV News’ “All Access: Whitney Houston” special Photo: MTV Whitney Houston was one of the most iconic stars of all time. She commanded the stage, captivated audiences on the big screen and was celebrated around the world. Now, as her fans continue to mourn her shocking death Saturday and details continue to emerge , MTV News is celebrating the life and legacy of a true icon as we look back at Houston’s top five MTV moments. 1986: Whitney Houston Makes Video Music Awards Debut : She was just 23 years old when she performed and won at the third-ever MTV Video Music Awards in 1986 . Houston took home her first ever Moonman, winning the award for Best Female Video for her hit single “How Will I Know” . She later went on to perform a classic rendition of the song, flowing into a flawless performance of her power ballad “The Greatest Love of All,” which left the crowd in awe and on their feet. 1996: Whitney Houston Performs at the Movie Awards : By 1996, Houston already proved to the world that not only did she have one of the most remarkable voices in music, but that she could make it in Hollywood as well. Houston starred opposite Kevin Costner in box-office smash “The Bodyguard,” which won her the 1993 MTV Movie Award for Best Song from a Movie for “I Will Always Love You.” In 1996 , she returned to the Movie Awards to perform “Why Does it Hurt So Bad,” a single off the soundtrack to her second film, “Waiting to Exhale.” 1998: Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey Face-Off : Rumored rivals Houston and Mariah Carey took the stage at the 1998 Video Music Awards in the same “one-of-a-kind” dress. In a comedic stand-off, the two divas both tore away the hem of their gowns, turning their matching designs into two different stylish looks. Clearly, there was no diva competition between the two, since later that year, Carey and Houston teamed up again, this time in the studio, to record the song “When You Believe,” for the animated feature “The Prince of Egypt.” 1999: All Access: Whitney Houston : In November of 1998, Houston released her first album in eight years, My Love is Your Love. After 14 years in the business, the superstar was making a fresh start, showing off a revitalized sound, and embarking on a 70-day My Love Is Your Love World Tour. During three of those stops, she invited along MTV News’ John Norris, and gave him a rare, up-close look at the diva, in the MTV News special, “All Access: Whitney Houston.” 2000: Whitney Houston Makes Memorable Entrance at the VMAs : Now even though troubles began for Whitney Houston that year, she made an electrifying entrance that year at the 2000 Video Music Awards . After a warm introduction by Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera , Houston was given a standing ovation as she belted her way onto the stage, showing off her vocal power with an a capella snippet of “I Will Always Love You,” making it one of the most memorable entrances for a Video of the Year presenter ever. Stick with MTV News all for all the Grammy red-carpet fashion , Grammy winners and Grammy news until the hangover wears off! Share your condolences with Whitney’s family and friends on our Facebook page. Related Videos Whitney Houston: Life And Music Of An Icon Remembering An Icon: Whitney’s Top MTV Moments Related Artists Whitney Houston
‘It affects the tone overall,’ host tells MTV News on the red carpet. By Jocelyn Vena, with reporting by Sway Calloway Whitney Houston Photo: FilmMagic Whitney Houston is set to be honored at the 2012 Grammy Awards on Sunday night, when Jennifer Hudson and Chaka Kahn take the stage to pay tribute to the fallen star, who died suddenly and tragically Saturday in Los Angeles. MTV News had the pleasure of speaking to Grammys host LL Cool J on the red carpet , and he shed some light on the conversations that went down before Sunday’s big show as producers scrambled to fit a tribute to the star into the show. “We were up all night, and we just wanted to figure out [and] show Whitney Houston the love, the appreciation, the love, the respect she deserves based on her as a human being and the career that she had and give her that love and make sure that people know we care,” LL explained. “And we are connected to her in that way.” But LL noted that while Houston deserves love at the show, producers also want to make sure that every artist involved with Sunday’s broadcast gets the attention they deserve as well. “At the same time, there are so many other artists here that are nominated. This is a new Grammy experience for some of them, some are back again, and they deserve to have a good time and enjoy themselves and not be weighed down by the burden,” noting that it was “about finding a balance. I think we got it right. We’re gonna find out.” As for his own responsibilities as a host, he explained, “It affects it. It affects how I open. It affects the tone overall. We’re not gonna get here and then change the rules on the artist; we’re gonna celebrate her life… and then give them room so that they can go out there and do what they do.” Speaking about the tribute, Grammy executive producer Ken Ehrlich said in a statement, “It’s too fresh in everyone’s memory to do more at this time, but we would be remiss if we didn’t recognize Whitney’s remarkable contribution to music fans in general, and in particular her close ties with the Grammy telecast and her Grammy wins and nominations over the years.” Stick with MTV News all for all the Grammy red-carpet fashion , Grammy winners and Grammy news until the hangover wears off! Related Videos Whitney Houston: Life And Music Of An Icon Related Photos Whitney Houston: A Life In Photos Related Artists Whitney Houston
‘I wasn’t expecting Whitney to take the stage, but she came up,’ friend and R&B singer Kelly Price tells MTV News before Houston was found dead. By Kelley L. Carter, with reporting by Kelly Marino Whitney Houston and Kelly Price perform in Los Angeles on Thursday Photo: Gabriel Olsen/FilmMagic Saturday morning (February 11) at a pre-Grammy brunch, R&B singer Kelly Price talked up her friend and collaborator Whitney Houston , telling MTV News that reports of her friend being anything but OK were erroneous. Later that afternoon, her friend had died at age 48 . “I honestly don’t know what all the craziness is about,” Price told us at the time. “We partied so hard, we all looked a mess when we walked out of the club. But that’s a good party. You sweat. You do that.” Price was talking about another pre-Grammy event in her honor, where Houston had performed Thursday night. MTV News has obtained exclusive video from that performance, reported to be Houston’s last. “When I was approached about doing a Grammy celebration party for me, I actually said I would love to do it,” Price told MTV News about Thursday’s event. “I invited a bunch of friends, Whitney Houston among them. … All of my friends came out. They performed. They performed for free. It was an amazing night. My band was there. It ended up being an all-out jam session.” Price continued, “I wasn’t expecting Whitney to take the stage, but she came up. She got on the stage, and while I was talking to her, she grabbed the microphone and started singing. So that’s kind of cool.” Tragically, Houston was found dead later Saturday. She was reportedly found at the Beverly Hilton, where a party thrown by her mentor, Clive Davis, is planned for Saturday night. Join us for an hour-long musical tribute to Whitney Houston, Saturday night at 11:30 on MTV. Share your condolences with Whitney’s family and friends on our Facebook page . Related Videos Whitney Houston: Life And Music Of An Icon Related Photos Whitney Houston: A Life In Photos Related Artists Whitney Houston Kelly Price
Pop star also addresses rumors that Britney Spears is on MDNA in interview with Ryan Seacrest. By Jocelyn Vena Madonna performs at Super Bowl XLVI Photo: Jeff Kravitz/ FilmMagic In the days since M.I.A. hit the Super Bowl stage and threw her middle finger up in the air, Madonna has remained mum on the subject. Until now. The singer called into Ryan Seacrest ‘s radio show Friday morning and finally shared her sentiments on the rapper’s naughty hand gesture and the headlines it made in wake of the show. Sarcastically calling it “punk rock,” Madge said she didn’t realize it happened until after she walked off the stage, noting that she couldn’t keep track of everything that was happening while the performance was taking place. But, once she did find out, she wasn’t amused by her “Give Me All Your Luvin’ ” collaborator’s actions. “I was really surprised. I didn’t know anything about it. I wasn’t happy about it. I understand it’s punk rock and everything, but to me there was such a feeling of love and good energy and positivity; it seemed negative,” she said. “It’s such a teenager, irrelevant thing to do. … There was such a feeling of love and unity there. What was the point? It was just out of place.” She later added that despite the snafu she “was overwhelmed. I started crying. I felt an incredible sense of warmth, love, and support. To see an entire stadium light up like candles it was … like a religious experience.” Much like Madonna, fellow Super Bowl halftime performer Cee Lo Green had no idea that M.I.A. had given the middle finger during the show. “Honestly, I did not hear anything about it,” he continued. “There was no talk about it in the dressing room afterwards and we didn’t stay long after the performance because it was honestly a relief we had had it done. So I didn’t hear anything until I got up to do the morning show, ‘Today.’ And television is a very sensitive [thing].” With that controversy behind her, Madge is looking to the future. She’s next set to start work on her world tour and shoot her video for the second MDNA single, “Girls Gone Wild.” As for those rumors that Britney Spears is on the track she said, “No, it’s just little, ol’ me. She can come on stage and perform with me.” What did you think of M.I.A.’s Super Bowl gesture? Leave your comment below. Related Photos Super Bowl XLVI Performances: Madonna And Kelly Clarkson Infamous Middle Fingers Related Artists Madonna M.I.A.
‘For me, it’s Kanye and Jay-Z,’ the filmmaker tells MTV News of his picks for MTV’s ‘Hottest MCs in the Game.’ By Rob Markman, with reporting by Josh Horowitz Spike Lee Photo: MTV News Filmmaker Spike Lee is on fire. While out at the Sundance Film Festival in Park city, Utah, in January, Spike showed his latest film, “Red Hook Summer,” and then he and actors Toni Lysaith and Jules Brown discussed a different type of heat: MTV’s upcoming “Hottest MCs in the Game” roundtable debate. At first, Lee tried to dodge the question, deferring to the flick’s young castmembers. “You’re asking the wrong person,” he playfully told MTV News’ Josh Horowitz. Lysaith happily chimed in. The cheery actress who plays Chazz Morningstar quickly ran down a list of rap’s heaviest hitters for her “Hottest” picks. “I personally like Drake and Jay-Z and Kanye West; that’s just me,” she said. “Red Hook Summer” stars Jules Brown, who plays Flik Royale, a 13-year-old boy from Atlanta who moves into a Brooklyn housing project and struggles to adjust to his new surroundings. The new star fittingly looked at the new generation of rappers to top the “Hottest” list. “Wiz Khalifa, Big Sean and Curren$y,” he confidently nominated. Spike, on the other hand, went with some old favorites, two of the game’s most consistent hit makers: the Throne. “For me, it’s Kanye and Jay-Z,” he said, as if there was ever any doubt. Lee is such a fan that he even attended Hov and Yeezy’s final stop on their Watch the Throne Tour in December. “Last Night I Saw Final Show Of U.S. Leg of Watch The Throne Tour at Staples Center in LA.Jay and Kanye Killed It To Death,” he tweeted . Who should be crowned the “Hottest MC in the Game”? Leave your comment below! Tune in to MTV2 on Sunday, February 19, at 10 p.m. ET/PT to catch ” MTV2 Presents: Yo! MTV Raps Classic Cuts ,” then watch “Hottest MCs in the Game VII” immediately after at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT before capping the night off with ” Sucker Free Certified ” at 11 p.m. ET/PT. Related Videos Hottest MCs In The Game VII Is Coming Related Artists Jay-Z Kanye West
Director Gary Ross tells MTV News the first-person perspective will be shown ‘cinematically,’ not through voice-over. By Kara Warner, with reporting by Josh Horowitz Gary Ross Photo: MTV News For our fellow “Hunger Games” fans who are following each and every detail released about the upcoming big-screen adaptation, one of the key questions is how the filmmakers will address the fact that a large amount of the story is told via Katniss’ inner monologue. Will we be hearing Jennifer Lawrence narrate throughout the film via voice-over or will we see the action from multiple characters’ perspectives? Today is our lucky day, because we have an answer straight from director Gary Ross himself, who told MTV News recently that after much careful consideration he is not using any voice-over. “I’m not using voice-over for her. This thing is all from Katniss’ perspective,” he said of the story. “It is a first-person point of view. How do we put the viewer immediately and urgently in that experience they had when they read the book and they’re in Katniss Everdeen’s shoes? A lot of that is done cinematically. I spent a lot of time wondering and thinking about at the beginning of this process, ‘What does it really mean to be in the character’s point of view cinematically?’ I looked at a lot of really interesting references for that, but it comes down to: You don’t know more than the character knows.” Ross said we will be experiencing everything from Katniss’ perspective; we just won’t be hearing her talk us through it. “You wonder about what she’s wondering about, you worry about what she’s worrying about,” he explained. “You don’t know things she doesn’t know, and as such, you wander and experience things through her eyes, so that’s the first job: How do we make people feel they’re walking in Katniss’ shoes and encountering the same obstacles and challenges she is?” he said. “A lot is done cinematically and a lot is having someone as good as Jen Lawrence.” The “Pleasantville” and “Seabiscuit” helmer was cagey when asked about the specific look and style of the film but did promise they did everything they could to make things as realistic and believable as possible. “I don’t want to start giving specific scenes away, I know you understand that. I will say movies can do a lot in imagery where you can assimilate at lot of the world there pretty quickly,” he said when asked how much backstory he felt he needed to include or whether he’ll just jump right into the story at the start of the film. “The trick there is to make the world as real and as specific as it was when you read the book, be very precise about the production design and what this world looks like, and I think we’ve created a pretty vivid world.” Check out everything we’ve got on “The Hunger Games.” For young Hollywood news, fashion and “Twilight” updates around the clock, visit HollywoodCrush.MTV.com . Related Videos MTV Rough Cut: ‘Hunger Games’ Director Gary Ross Related Photos The Hunger Games
‘Leave her alone!’ Adriana Lima says to MTV News after model’s comments got her in hot water with Patriots fans. By Christina Garibaldi Tom Brady comforts his wife Gisele Bundchen after the Patriot’s Super Bowl loss Photo: Getty Images NEW YORK — Losing isn’t pretty, just ask Gisele Bundchen . After her husband, Tom Brady, and his New England Patriots lost the Super Bowl to the New York Giants on Sunday night, the supermodel had a few choice words for the quarterback’s teammates — and it was all captured on camera. “My husband cannot f—ing throw the ball and catch the ball at the same time,” she said, expressing her feelings about the disappointing loss. “I can’t believe they dropped the ball so many times.” Bundchen has since been heavily criticized for the comments. While some fans argue that the supermodel was only defending her husband, others took issue with her placing the blame on Brady’s teammates. But there’s one camp that definitely has Bundchen’s back: the Victoria’s Secret Angels. MTV News caught up with some of the ladies on Wednesday (February 8) at the Victoria’s Secret Kiss and Tell Valentine’s Day Event, and they had a lot to say about the onetime Angel. “I think that everybody was getting so into the game, and I think that it’s her husband and she just really cared about it,” Lindsay Ellingson said. “I don’t think she meant anything bad by what she said and she was just so passionate, I don’t blame her. [She was] standing up for her man.” Although model Doutzen Kroes she didn’t know exactly what was said on Super Bowl night, she argued that Bundchen was justified. “I don’t know the whole deal about it,” Kroes said, “[But] I think you always have to stand up for your husband, you’re a team. And you know if she did that, I would’ve done the same.” Fellow Brazilian Adriana Lima , who had her own Super Bowl highlights with two prime-time commercials, quickly came to the defense of her friend, saying, “Leave her alone!” Do you feel Gisele was justified in defending Tom Brady? Let us know in the comments! Related Videos Super Bowl 46: Movie Spots Related Photos Super Bowl XLVI Performances: Madonna And Kelly Clarkson
Got a case of the mid-week doldrums? We feel you. It’s been what you call a “slow news day” here at Skin Central- we were reduced to reporting on Snooki earlier today, which was frankly kind of depressing. But you know what always perks us up? Kelly Brook in her panties. I mean, maybe your thing is Miranda Kerr in her panties or Jessica Pare in a corset with no bra or Emma Stone in a bikini- we’re not here to judge. But when the stars are on vacation and the theaters are packed with rom-coms, Kelly is our happy place. We showed you part of this racktacular set Kelly shot for New Look lingerie last month , but now our partners in peep at Egotastic! have dug up more of the pics. Tomorrow’s Thursday, guys. We’ll get there together. More after the jump!
There are no new ideas in Hollywood, hence a Bourne franchise reboot whose first trailer — just released via Apple — borrows somewhat heavily from the opening titles of Psycho . (At least they’re both Universal films, right? Score one for synergy!) But that’s immaterial here after a certain point, probably around the time when Stacy Keach is all WHO IS HE? or when a house blows up or simply when Jeremy Renner’s Aaron Cross is revealed in all his rifle-toting, tree-hopping glory. Who can resist? Anyway, the whole gang’s here: Joan Allen, David Strathairn and Albert Finney from the original series; Keach, Rachel Weisz and Edward Norton from the new generation… everyone but Matt Damon, I guess. Oh, and who’s missing the nauseating promise of more shaky-cam stylings from director Paul Greengrass, replaced here by Bourne screenwriting vet Tony Gilroy? Good, me neither. VERDICT : Sold! [via Apple ] Follow S.T. VanAirsdale on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Between the rise of digital media and the shortcuts many theaters have taken to alleviate waning profits – forgoing film rigs for digital projectors , replacing projectionists with button-pushers, lowering projection-bulb levels to cut replacement costs – many filmmakers are concerned about the state of their industry. Visual effects veteran and filmmaker Douglas Trumbull ( 2001: A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters, The Tree of Life ), for one, is doing something about it: He hopes to bring back the spectacle of the theater-going experience – and revitalize the industry in the process — with a project he’s shooting at 120 frames per second, in 3-D, to be projected at seven times the luminosity often seen in theaters today. Trumbull rocked the visual effects community with his big ideas for change while accepting the Georges Méliès Award at the annual Visual Effects Society Awards last night in Beverly Hills. Named after the cinema pioneer whose groundbreaking work in motion-picture art was celebrated in Martin Scorsese’s Oscar-nominated Hugo (which, incidentally, took home top honors for Supporting Visual Effects), the Méliès Award “honors a special individual who has pioneered a significant and lasting contribution to the art and science of the visual effects industry.” Trumbull, who collaborated with Steven Spielberg on Close Encounters of the Third Kind , Ridley Scott on Blade Runner , and most recently contributed mesmerizing effects to Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life , pointed to his work on Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey as the kind of moviegoing experience he hopes to recreate with his 120 FPS, 3-D project. The key, however, and the element that makes many a filmmaker cringe when their product is released into the world, is the substandard light level at which many theaters project 3-D films, which Trumbull argues diminishes the power of a movie and the often amazing visual effects work that created it. While the industry standard recommended luminosity for a projected film is 16 foot-lamberts for 2-D projection, many theaters wind up projecting 3-D at much dimmer levels , as low as four foot-lamberts, and Trumbull suggests this has led to diminishing appeal for moviegoers. Trumbull has nearly twice the ideal standard — 30 foot-lamberts — in mind for his new project. Add in the 120 fps frame rate Trumbull is working with and that’s one helluva recipe for mind-blowing visual presentation; standard films use a frame rate of 24 frames per second, but a few filmmakers have recently begun exploring filming at a higher than standard rate for increased picture clarity and smoothness, especially with 3-D. Peter Jackson is currently filming The Hobbit at 48 fps ; James Cameron was considering either 48 fps or 60 fps for his Avatar sequels, explaining the choice thusly: “The 3D shows you a window into reality; the higher frame rate takes the glass out of the window. In fact, it is just reality.” So just imagine Trumbull’s movie projected in 3-D, brighter and more detailed at 30 foot-lamberts and 120 frames per second. If Cameron and Jackson think 48 fps and 60 fps will bring us this much closer to a perception of true reality at the movie theater, what will the Trumbull experience do to the way we see movies? From Trumbull’s VES Awards speech: “I am horrified when I go to a movie theater and I see any of our movies projected on four foot-lamberts or less. This is bad. The mission that I’ve been on ever since I’ve had the really great pleasure and responsibility to work with Stanley Kubrick on 2001 was that that movie was shot and projected in Cinerama, on giant 90-foot-wide screens — which are unheard of today except in a few IMAX theaters — and it was an experience that went beyond normal cinematic conventions. It took you on an adventure to outer space, and it was a first-person experience, not necessarily a third-person experience. It didn’t have much in the way of drama, conflict, suspense, or action in the normal sense, but Kubrick wanted to get out of the way and let you go on this trip in outer space, and was enabled by this amazing giant screen movie process… and a lot of special effects. So I’m looking forward to a time that I think is achievable in the very near future with this mission that I’m personally on right now. I feel that I have to direct a film the way I want to see a film be made and to be seen. I’m experimenting right now, amazingly, at 120 frames a second in 3-D on giant screens, 30 foot-lamberts after polarization. And I have to tell you that the illusion is like a window unto reality. So it’s not just like going to a movie, it’s like going to a live Broadway show. It’s like Cirque du Soleil, a spectacle. It has potential to unleash the power of all of the work that you all do, to deliver to the audience incredible… if you’re going to spend $100, $150, $250 million on a movie that’s being throttled through a very narrow bandwidth of a 4:2:2 digital cinema package to go to a theater to get projected in four foot-lamberts, I think it’s unacceptable. So my job is to try to fix that for you. I don’t find anybody else working on it, strangely enough; Michael Bay talks about his frustrations with the brightness of his movies, as do other movie directors. I’m hoping I can make some progress and I’m hoping I can make a movie that actually demonstrates how this all works.” Meanwhile, Trumbull also has designs on improving the industry for the artists themselves — not the celebrity actors who already earn big bucks and hog the spotlight, or even the directors themselves, but the below-the-line talent, the technical artists who create movie magic by building the worlds that actors play in. “We are the most important players in the whole movie industry.,” Trumbull told the hundreds of Visual Effects Society members in attendance. “You guys do all the heavy lifting.” The biggest problem for technical artists, he said, is that they’re not compensated well enough for their contributions, especially since their CG work and effects arguably make possible the tentpoles and billion-dollar franchises that keep the studio system afloat. “We don’t get to participate in the profits, and this is a very big problem,” he declared. “I was very lucky in the early days when I was working with Steven Spielberg on Close Encounters ; I was able at that moment in history to negotiate a piece of the net profits on Close Encounters . I’m looking forward to a time in the hopeful near future where you will all receive residual checks for the work you do.” And Trumbull is willing to put his money where his mouth is; uniting both of his big ideas, he promised profit share for any VFX artists who come work on his movie. “If we want to bring people back into theaters and show them all the work that you did,” he said, “we’ve got to make the screens bigger, we’ve got to make theaters more spectacular, we’ve got to have showmanship in theaters like they did in the old days. We’ve got to bring people back in theaters because what you can get out of a movie theater is so different, so better, and so spectacular that you couldn’t possibly get it on your iPad.” Impressed as the VES Awards crowd seemed with Trumbull’s potential game-changer and his rousing cry for artist recognition, at least one effects professional I spoke with seemed skeptical of his plan. It’d be too risky and, he thought, too costly, to jump in with the visionary, profit-sharing or no. That said, Trumbull said he’s determined to see his 120 fps/3-D experiment come to life to show the world his vision for film’s potential. “Even if I can only show it in one movie theater, I will be happy to do that.” Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
