Very impressive, Demi Lovato. With this artist’s September 20 album release date approaching, the 19-year old has unveiled the official tracklist for “Unbroken,” giving fans a look at all the major talent with whom she’s collaborated. We already know about Timbaland and Ryan Tedder – who compares Lovato to Kelly Clarkson – but check out all the names below. Demi Lovato on America’s Got Talent ALL NIGHT LONG – FEATURING MISSY ELLIOTT AND TIMBALAND WHO’S THAT BOY – FEATURING DEV YOU’RE MY ONLY SHORTY – FEATURING IYAZ TOGETHER – FEATURING JASON DERULO LIGHTWEIGHT UNBROKEN FIX A HEART HOLD UP MISTAKE GIVE YOUR HEART A BREAK SKYSCRAPER IN REAL LIFE MY LOVE IS LIKE A STAR FOR THE LOVE OF A DAUGHTER SKYSCRAPER (WIZZ DUMB REMIX)
Watch the Throne stays at #1, despite 59 percent drop in sales. By Aly Semigran Jay-Z and Kanye West Photo: Getty Images After an impressive debut week on the Billboard 200 chart, Kanye West and Jay-Z ‘s collaborative effort Watch the Throne, will once again sit at the top. Adding to the 436,000 copies they sold last week, the hip-hop dynamos moved another 177,000 this week, bringing their current total to 613,000, according to Nielsen SoundScan figures. While the Throne won’t get bragging rights to 2011’s biggest first-week seller on the Billboard charts (that honor still belongs to Lady Gaga), they successfully beat Coldplay’s Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends record for one-week sales on iTunes. And needless to say, they’ve claimed the #1 spot on iTunes once again. Though the second week of Watch the Throne saw a 59 percent drop in sales, it was enough to hold off chart newcomers. None of the week’s debuts saw six-digit sales, and only two will crack the top 10: Life at Best from country’s Eli Young Band at #6 (35,000) and the latest “Twilight” soundtrack favorite Blue October , Any Man in America at #8 (27,000). Other notable newcomers include rockers Breaking Benjamin ‘s Shallow Bay: The Best of Breaking Benjamin at #22 (14,000) and actor Jeff Bridges ‘ self-titled record, which places at #25 (13,000). The rest of this week’s top 10: Adele ‘s 21, (#2, 80,000), Now That’s What I Call Music 39 (#3, 63,000), Luke Bryan ‘s Tailgates & Tanlines (#4, 53,000), Jason Aldean ‘s My Kinda Party (#5, 37,000), Eric Church ‘s Chief (#7, 31,000), Beyonc
‘There is only one exciting artist, and her name is Lady Gaga,’ Gene Simmons tells MTV News before Sunday’s VMAs. By Rob Markman Lady Gaga Photo: Getty Images LOS ANGELES — Gene Simmons refuses to hold his tongue. On Tuesday, MTV News asked the Kiss frontman who he’s most looking forward to seeing at the 2011 VMAs , and he pretty much denounced all of this year’s nominees, except for one. “There is only one exciting artist, and her name is Lady Gaga,” Simmons told us when we caught up with him in Los Angeles on the red carpet celebrating the Blu-ray release of the 1983 Al Pacino classic, “Scarface.” “Everybody else is exactly the same. Every rapper is the same as every other rapper; every rocker is the same as every other rocker. Uniqueness is the only important thing, and Gaga is the real thing.” The outspoken icon gave Justin Bieber his just due, though he compared him to other teen idols like 1970s sensation David Cassidy. “I mean, he’s terrific, but I’ve seen him before,” Simmons said of Bieber. Without naming names, Simmons was pretty sour on all current musicians, contemporary rock and roll artists, in particular. “I think rock sucks at the moment. Artists look like delivery boys; they look like they could use a bath,” he said. “There’s no respect for the stage — the stage is holy ground. I don’t care what you do. You don’t have to spit fire or drool blood but when you get on that stage, you should give people bang for their buck.” It isn’t just present-day rockers Simmons took issue with, however. He wouldn’t validate anyone pre-1980. “From 1958 to 1980 — that’s about 30 years — you can name a thousand major artists: Elvis, the Beatles, Hendrix, on and on and on. From 1980 till today, name me an artist that’s going to last the test of time,” he challenged us. “Good luck with that, by the way.” What do you think of the Kiss rocker’s statements? Sound off in our comments section! The 28th annual MTV Video Music Awards will air live Sunday, August 28, from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles at 9 p.m. ET/PT, following the Selena Gomez-hosted pre-show at 8. See the list of nominees, revisit last year’s highlights and vote for Best New Artist by visiting VMA.MTV.com . Related Videos 2011 VMAs: Behind The Scenes Related Photos 2011 Video Music Award Nominees 2011 MTV Video Music Awards Performers Related Artists Lady Gaga
Tragic clip tugs at heartstrings with depictions of abuse, molestation and prostitution. By Rob Markman Lil Wayne Photo: Getty Images If fans already thought that Lil Wayne put his emotions on display on “How to Love,” off Tha Carter IV, wait until they get a load of the video, which premieres online on Wednesday (August 24). The Chris Robinson-directed clip is filled with drama and social commentary, telling the story of a beautiful young woman who stumbles into every imaginable pitfall. The video opens in an abortion clinic, where a woman lies in a gown on the operating table. Suddenly she changes her mind and flies off the table and through the clinic’s hall, choosing to keep her child. Shortly after that, the song’s acoustic guitar licks drop in and we see a shirtless Wayne alone in a dimly lit hallway, singing, “You had a lot of crooks try to steal your heart, never really had luck, could never figure out how to love.” It is then that the distressed woman’s story begins to unspool. We first see her being abused by her boyfriend, thrown to the ground in her bedroom while her infant, sitting in a car seat nearby, cries. Fast-forward a few years later, and the mother is in a prison visiting room, talking to her incarcerated boyfriend through a glass panel while her daughter, now a toddler, sits in her lap. “How to Love” producer Detail warned that the single’s video would “shock” us. A boyfriend in prison is just the tip of the iceberg. Things get disturbing in a flashback scene that reveals the woman was molested as a child. The scene starts just as Tunechi belts out, “When you were just a youngin, your looks were so precious.” Cash Money and company clearly pulled no punches. We see the pre-teen sitting in pigtails as her father (or father figure) approaches her unfastening his belt, putting his fingers to his lips, messaging for her to keep quiet as she tries to fight him off. In the following sequences, it is hinted that she eventually gave birth to her molester’s baby. The message is deep, and in the video Wayne plays second fiddle, not letting his performance shots get in the way of Robinson’s story-telling. Together they illustrate a domino effect. Forget going from bad to worse: During the course of the five-minute clip things go from tragic to abysmal. The young woman’s eventual career as a stripper begets prostitution, and it is her life as a prostitute that ultimately leads to a death sentence. At approximately the three-minute mark the music cuts out and we see the principal character in a doctor’s office similar to the one shown in the first scene, only this time she isn’t able to run from the results. “Your blood results came back positive,” the doctor tells her. When she asks, “Positive for what?,” he replies, “HIV.” Maybe the message is dramatically overdone, but with the clip Wayne — who will be performing at the Video Music Awards and dropping his album at midnight afterwards — sparks discussion much like TLC did with their cautionary 1995 video for “Waterfalls.” There is hope, however; in a rewind sequence the victim’s life is redone. In an alternate reality, the abuse that she faced is erased. There is no molestation, no beatings, no prison visits, stripping or exchanging sex for money. Instead she graduates high school, is married in a church and winds up in the same doctor’s office, this time finding out that she is pregnant. She reacts with a joyous sigh, turns to her mother and says, “Thank you, just thank you for being there for me and teaching me how to love.” It wasn’t just the guitar strings that Weezy plucked at with this single; he was clearly tugging at the heartstrings as well. The 28th annual MTV Video Music Awards will air live Sunday, August 28, from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles at 9 p.m. ET/PT, following the Selena Gomez-hosted pre-show at 8. See the list of nominees, revisit last year’s highlights and vote for Best New Artist by visiting VMA.MTV.com . Related Artists Lil Wayne
Joe Jonas, Miguel, Chiddy Bang and Wallpaper also set to hit the stage for performances, including a live stream before Sunday’s big show. By Jocelyn Vena Gabe Saporta Photo: Roger Kisby/Getty Images Sure, the big show happens on Sunday night, but before the 2011 Video Music Awards kick off officially, MTV is throwing two star-studded concerts to get the party started. On Friday, Swizz Beatz , Chiddy Bang and Wallpaper will perform at the Taco Bell Presents the MTV2 VMA Concert, with Jessie J — our 2011 VMA House Artist — hosting the event. If you aren’t lucky enough to be in attendance at the Los Angeles show, you can still check out footage from the event. MTV2’s “Sucker Free” will be filming on site with guests Swizz Beatz and Chiddy Bang, and the episode is set to air Sunday at 11 a.m., with a special encore airing at 11 p.m. ET, right after the VMAs. Then on Saturday, Cobra Starship , Joe Jonas and Miguel are set to perform at mtvU’s VMA Concert to Benefit Lifebeat – Music Fights HIV. Cobra Starship, along with special guest Sabi, will perform their track “You Make Me Feel” during the black carpet VMA Pre-Show . Can’t make it to the mtvU Lifebeat show? Not a problem. MTV.com, in partnership with the Capital One Journey Card, is exclusively presenting live-stream performances by Joe Jonas and Miguel beginning at 9:30 p.m. PT on Saturday. During the show, fans can use their Facebook and Twitter accounts to chat about it. And after the show, select full length performances will be available on-demand at vma.mtv.com . “MTV supports so many great causes, and we’re beyond grateful that they’ve made Lifebeat a part of VMA weekend again this year,” Lifebeat Executive Director Ben Wymer said in statement. “We’re looking forward to an amazing event and raising lots of funds for HIV/AIDS prevention and support.” The 28th annual MTV Video Music Awards will air live Sunday, August 28, from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles at 9 p.m. ET/PT, following the Selena Gomez-hosted pre-show at 8. See the list of nominees, revisit last year’s highlights and vote for Best New Artist by visiting VMA.MTV.com . Related Photos 2011 MTV Video Music Awards Performers 2011 Video Music Award Nominees Related Artists Cobra Starship Swizz Beatz
Joe Jonas, Miguel, Chiddy Bang and Wallpaper also set to hit the stage for performances, including a live stream before Sunday’s big show. By Jocelyn Vena Gabe Saporta Photo: Roger Kisby/Getty Images Sure, the big show happens on Sunday night, but before the 2011 Video Music Awards kick off officially, MTV is throwing two star-studded concerts to get the party started. On Friday, Swizz Beatz , Chiddy Bang and Wallpaper will perform at the Taco Bell Presents the MTV2 VMA Concert, with Jessie J — our 2011 VMA House Artist — hosting the event. If you aren’t lucky enough to be in attendance at the Los Angeles show, you can still check out footage from the event. MTV2’s “Sucker Free” will be filming on site with guests Swizz Beatz and Chiddy Bang, and the episode is set to air Sunday at 11 a.m., with a special encore airing at 11 p.m. ET, right after the VMAs. Then on Saturday, Cobra Starship , Joe Jonas and Miguel are set to perform at mtvU’s VMA Concert to Benefit Lifebeat – Music Fights HIV. Cobra Starship, along with special guest Sabi, will perform their track “You Make Me Feel” during the black carpet VMA Pre-Show . Can’t make it to the mtvU Lifebeat show? Not a problem. MTV.com, in partnership with the Capital One Journey Card, is exclusively presenting live-stream performances by Joe Jonas and Miguel beginning at 9:30 p.m. PT on Saturday. During the show, fans can use their Facebook and Twitter accounts to chat about it. And after the show, select full length performances will be available on-demand at vma.mtv.com . “MTV supports so many great causes, and we’re beyond grateful that they’ve made Lifebeat a part of VMA weekend again this year,” Lifebeat Executive Director Ben Wymer said in statement. “We’re looking forward to an amazing event and raising lots of funds for HIV/AIDS prevention and support.” The 28th annual MTV Video Music Awards will air live Sunday, August 28, from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles at 9 p.m. ET/PT, following the Selena Gomez-hosted pre-show at 8. See the list of nominees, revisit last year’s highlights and vote for Best New Artist by visiting VMA.MTV.com . Related Photos 2011 MTV Video Music Awards Performers 2011 Video Music Award Nominees Related Artists Cobra Starship Swizz Beatz
Bigger Than the Sound guesses who will take home Sunday’s biggest Moonmen. By James Montgomery Katy Perry Photo: Graham Denholm/ Getty Images The 2011 MTV Video Music Awards will air live on MTV this Sunday at 9 p.m. ET, but if you’re a Katy Perry fan, well, you probably knew that already. After all, the California Gurl is the most-nominated artist at this year’s VMAs, leading the pack with an eye-opening 10 nods, including Best Female Video, Best Pop Video and the biggie, Video of the Year. Following closely behind her are the likes of Adele, Kanye West and Bruno Mars, but really, all eyes will be on Perry. Will she take home her first-ever Moonman? Will she sweep the night’s major categories? And, most importantly of all, what color will her hair be? Of course, KP’s not the only story line heading into Sunday’s show: Can Gaga win the only major award she’s up for? Can Tyler, the Creator shock the world? Luckily, I’m here to provide answers. Much like I’ve done in previous years (and mostly because I have a rather insatiable gambling addiction), I’m throwing on the old prognostication cap and trying my hand at picking the winners in all the major VMA categories. Of course, while I can’t guarantee my accuracy, I can promise you that I spent, like, 25 minutes on this, which is a pretty thorough investment. Oh, and for the record, I’m going with “puce” for Katy’s hair color. The rest of my picks right now: Best Male Video
Mars, who is performing at Sunday’s show, throws an old-school house party in the clip. By Jocelyn Vena Bruno Mars in his 2011 VMA promo Photo: MTV In Bruno Mars ‘ VMA promo, he hangs out with some fresh-looking hipsters while spinning tunes from folks like Ginuwine and Michael Jackson. The clip captures the joie de vivre of a good old-fashioned house party attended by fashionable folks who love to dance. “I think what you’re going to see is a little of my personality, a lot of my influences and a lot of people having a good time,” he told MTV News on the set. “I think that this year’s VMAs is a celebration and a party, and MTV did a great job of putting this commercial together.” In between takes, the party never stopped. Extras and dancers milled around, grooving to the tunes blasting throughout the NYC soundstage. Bruno chilled with everyone, making small talk with his fellow partygoers when the cameras weren’t rolling. The commercial itself is chockfull of great tunes, and when Mars was shooting the promo, he displayed his skills on the piano. So what tunes make Bruno Mars’ party set list? “This is my party; I’m DJing. I’m playing music that I grew up listening to,” he said. “I grew up listening to oldies, and so every time I hear, like, Little Richard or James Brown, the Police, it does something to me. It gets me in the party mood, and I’m just hoping to bring it to this party.” Not only is he set to perform at the VMAs — airing live Sunday at 9 p.m. from L.A. — he’s up for four Moonmen, including Video of the Year , Best Male Video and Best Pop Video for “Grenade.” “I grew up watching VMAs. I know every performance,” Mars said. “Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been watching MTV VMAs, and when we got the phone call saying that my video was up for Video of the Year — that’s the big-boy award.” Mars would be tickled to win Best Choreography for his feel-good track “The Lazy Song.” “You know what I’m excited for?” he said. “As much as I put blood, sweat and tears into ‘Grenade,’ I’m excited for ‘The Lazy Song,’ Best Choreography.” The 28th annual MTV Video Music Awards will air live Sunday, August 28, from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles at 9 p.m. ET/PT, following the Selena Gomez-hosted pre-show at 8. See the list of nominees, revisit last year’s highlights and vote for Best New Artist by visiting VMA.MTV.com . Related Videos VMA 2011: First Look Related Photos VMA 2011: Behind The Scenes At The Promo Shoot Related Artists Bruno Mars
‘Seeing them together performing was so cool live,’ director Colin Tilley says of clip featuring Busta Rhymes and Lil Wayne. By Jocelyn Vena Chris Brown in the “Look at Me Now” video Photo: Jive Chris Brown’s eye-catching clip for “Look at Me Now” is up for two Video Music Awards this year. It’s battling it out for Best Collaboration thanks to assists by Lil Wayne and Busta Rhymes, as well as Best Hip-Hop Video . The video’s neon-colored visuals came courtesy of director Colin Tilley, who has worked with Brown on five other music videos. When MTV News sat down with Tilley to take us through the clip frame by frame in anticipation of Sunday’s 2011 Video Music Awards, he explained that the video, much like the song, was a collaboration that was as fun to watch on set as it is for fans to watch the finished product. The visuals include lots of graffiti artwork, some of which was created by Brown himself. “Chris actually did a lot of pieces, like custom pieces, before we even did the video,” Tilley recalled. “We came in there a day early and he did some really cool custom pieces.” The one non-graffiti piece that really stands out in the video is the cage that Brown hangs out in. It went through some changes before it became the tricked-out version that appears in the video. “The birdcage, it started off more like a ‘Thunderdome’-type thing, but once we got the gold cage and we put the speakers and the gold mask, it just kind of created this really awesome thing,” he said. “This dance routine was crazy,” he continued about the next scene. “When I was cutting the video, I was having a hard time trying to get as much dance as possible … it was so good from start to finish. It was well-choreographed.” The real focus of the video is the stars themselves, who impressed Tilley. “We have Busta, Lil Wayne and Chris Brown together, all on top of an ambulance, with just so much stuff going on around them,” he said. “The ambulance’s roof actually caved in after the shoot was over.” Busta and Brown had a certain magic in their scenes. “Seeing them together performing was so cool live,” he said. “Busta Rhymes, seeing him perform this for the first time, I was shocked — he literally does not breathe [as he raps].” “Lil Wayne, of course, we had him perform in front of the DeLorean,” Tilley added. “We just put all these other things around him portraying that energy … when he steps on set, his energy is so crazy.” All in all, the video was really about these three guys coming together and getting crazy in the clip. “It was an amazing collaboration,” he said. “They were all really cool. They were down to make something amazing, and seeing them work together was really cool. I think everything was so on point with us.” The 28th annual MTV Video Music Awards will air live on Sunday, August 28, from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles at 9 p.m. ET/PT. See the list of nominees, revisit last year’s highlights and vote for Best New Artist at VMA.MTV.com . Related Videos Frame By Frame: VMA 2011 Nominee Edition Related Photos 2011 Video Music Award Nominees 2011 MTV Video Music Awards Performers Related Artists Chris Brown
