‘This was an amazing journey that really pushed me,’ says Bono, who was in the bottom two with Hope Solo. By Kelley L. Carter Chaz Bono and Lacey Schwimmer on “Dancing With The Stars” week six Photo: ABC The bottom-two scorers on the leaderboard were also the bottom two overall on Tuesday night’s “Dancing With the Stars” elimination show. Hope Solo and Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Chaz Bono and Lacey Schwimmer left the judges feeling underwhelmed after their performances on Monday night, and viewers must have agreed. In the end, it was Bono who got the boot. On Monday night, the activist tangoed to a track from “Phantom of the Opera,” and he had hoped that his newfound confidence would continue in that night’s performance. It failed to impress the judges, and backstage, he said his feelings were hurt by the comments given to him by judge Bruno Tonioli, who described him as a penguin. The judges also commented that they thought it was the most aggressive they’ve seen him but thought he needed to be pushed a little further if he wanted to last longer in the competition. “It was like watching a cute little penguin trying to be a big menacing bird of prey. This is the truth: It has to be menacing. Dark. Dangerous. Naughty. The tango wants to be driven continuously. It is hard. It’s very difficult. To me, this character didn’t fit you,” Tonioli told him Monday night. Bono, the son of Cher and Sonny Bono and the competition’s first transgender contestant, said he had no regrets about coming on the show. “I took so much away from this. This was an amazing journey that really pushed me and showed me that I could do so much more than I ever thought I could,” he said. “I came on this show because I wanted to show America a different kind of man. If there was somebody like me on TV when I was growing up, my whole life would have been different. And so I dedicated everything I did to all the people out there like me and especially to kids and teens who are struggling. You can have a wonderful, great life and be successful and happy.” Were you sad to see Chaz go? Let us know in the comments.
Top 32 contestants vie for spots in the top 16. By Adam Graham Paula Abdul with guest judge Pharrell on the “X Factor” on Sunday Photo: FOX The second half of the final 32 “X Factor” acts performed in front of the judges at their respective homes on Sunday’s episode, vying for spots in the top 16. Those 16 will compete in the show’s live episodes and ultimately battle it out for a $5 million recording contract. The judges were joined by celebrity consultants for this round. Rihanna partnered with L.A. Reid at his home in the Hamptons to evaluate the boys; Pharrell Williams helped Paula Abdul critique the groups in Santa Barbara, California; and Enrique Iglesias assisted Nicole Scherzinger while she evaluated the over-30s at her home in Malibu, California. Over in France, Simon Cowell was joined by a team of industry professionals to assess the girls after his original co-judging choice, Mariah Carey, was detained due to a hurricane. First up for the girls was early favorite Jazzlyn Little, who, despite her imminent stage fright, made a lasting impression early on with her rendition of Mary J. Blige’s “I’m Goin’ Down.” Her nerves seemed to have gotten the better of her again prior to performing, though she pulled through on a stepped-up version of Gloria Gaynor’s disco classic “I Will Survive.” Impressed, Cowell said the 16-year-old “put herself back in the frame,” though vocal coach Savan Kotecha was rougher, dismissing the performance as “a little high school talent show.” Rachel Crow is too young to even enter a high school talent show, yet the 13-year-old sang a resonant version of the Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way” on Cowell’s back patio. Cowell called it “unbelievable” and sent Crow off with a “well done, you,” which had the spiral-haired teenager beaming. Tiah Tolliver, the 20-year-old Washington singer for whom Cowell has fought hard in the competition, put a showy spin on Blackstreet’s “No Diggity,” which seemed to divide Cowell’s aides, though Cowell argued yet again, “I always thought she fits in this show.” But he didn’t have to do any convincing of the merit of 19-year-old Melanie Amaro, whose take on Michael Jackson’s “Will You Be There” caused Cowell to mock-faint on his patio couch. There was no mock-fainting going on with Rihanna, but she was clearly intrigued by Chris Rene, the garbage collector and recovering addict who performed “Everyday People” for her and L.A. Reid at Reid’s picturesque estate. “He has something very special. I want to know more about him,” Rihanna told Reid, helping confirm Rene’s status as one of the show’s early frontrunners. Ri-Ri was also intrigued by 20-year-old Marcus Canty, who sang K-Ci & JoJo’s “All My Life” directly to her, though she said she was unconvinced of his potential star power. Rihanna was less impressed with Brennin Hunt, the 26-year-old with the soap-star good looks, whom she called “corny” and said he gave off a ” ’90s boy band” vibe following his performance of Corinne Bailey Rae’s “Like a Star.” She liked 30-year-old country singer Tim Cifers, who performed a twangy version of Luther Vandross’ touching “Dance With My Father,” though L.A. Reid was disappointed by him. “I wanted so much more from him,” he said. In the over-30 group, Josh Krajcik — whom producers somewhat hilariously insist on referring to as a “burrito maker” — caused Iglesias and Scherzinger to debate his potential star power. The husky singer “is not your typical star,” Iglesias said, and Scherzinger agreed he’s “a little rough around the edges.” But both seemed pleased with his version of “The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face,” and the “burrito maker” seems poised to live another day in the competition. Meanwhile, 42-year-old wedding DJ Tiger Budbill seemed to be making a direct plea to the judges with his version of Solomon Burke’s “Don’t Give Up on Me,” which hit home but also had Scherzinger questioning his marketability. (Didn’t she notice his name is Tiger Budbill ? What more do you need?) Christa Collins, meanwhile, a former child star who claimed to be the prototype for Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, sang an awkward version of Radiohead’s “No Surprises” that left Scherzinger wanting more “pain” and “emotion” from her. And from Scherzinger’s perspective, nerves got the best of 60-year-old LeRoy Bell during his rendition of “Make You Feel My Love,” which could hurt his chances going forward. In the groups category, the standouts were the Stereo Hoggz, the Houston group whom Pharrell praised as mixing Motown soul with Ginuwine swagger, and Intensity, the group of 10 outcast solo artists who were put together as a group by the judges. They performed an exciting mash-up of the Ting Tings’ “That’s Not My Name” and Hall & Oates’ “You Make My Dreams Come True.” On Tuesday’s “X Factor,” the top 16 acts will be chosen, leaving the other half to pack their bags and say goodbye. Who do you think should make the top 16? Let us know in the comments! Related Videos MTV News Extended Play: ‘X Factor’ Judges Simon Cowell, L.A. Reid
Nas teamed up with Ross to bring us a single from the soundtrack to the crime comedy Tower Heist co-starring Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy. Maybach Music is out to annihilate the competition! With a roster including Wale, Meek Mill, ATL’s own Pill and “Boss” Rick Ross taking over the game shouldn’t be too hard.Ross’ album God Forgives.I Don’t which has already shown us a promising array of music with the first two singles will be in stores soon. This Salaam Remi production featuring ‘”The Biggest Boss” goes ultra hard! Rick Ross Ft. Nicki Minaj “You The Boss” [NEW MUSIC] Rick Ross “I Love My B*****s” [NEW MUSIC]
So… did your favorite make the cut? The X Factor unveiled its top 32 contestants last night, throwing in the one twist that really does make this competition different from American Idol : There are four groups of eight, each to be mentored by one of the judges. Before we get to the remaining hopefuls, though, it’s worth taking a moment to watch Stacy Francis audition during Bootcamp, announcing that her father has just passed away before going into a rendition of “Summertime.” Stacy Francis – Summertime Powerful stuff. Now, on to the groups and the judge assigned to each: THE GIRLS (Simon Cowell) Caitlin Koch Tora Woloshin Simone Battle Drew Ryniewicz Rachel Crow Jazlyn Little Melanie Amaro Tiah Tolliver THE BOYS (L.A. Reid) Brennin Hunt Brian Bradley Skyelor Anderson Nick Voss Tim Cifers Phillip Lomax Marcus Canty Chris Rene GROUPS (Paula Abdul) Stereo Hogzz 2Squared 4 Shore The Brewer Boys Illusion Confusion The Anser OVER 30s (Nicole Scherzinger) Elaine Gibbs Tiger Budbill Leroy Bell James Kenney Josh Krajcik Krista Collins Dexter Haygood Stacy Francis
‘At one point in time, we were a family,’ Freeway tells ‘RapFix Live’ of Jay-Z/Damon Dash era. By Rob Markman, with reporting by Sway Calloway Freeway and Sway Photo: MTV News Roc-A-Fella Records was once one of the most storied labels and rap crews in the business. Under the guidance of Jay-Z, Damon Dash and Kareem “Burke” Biggs, artists like Kanye West , Beanie Sigel , Cam’ron, Memphis Bleek and Freeway were able to carve out careers for themselves that would carry on even after the label disbanded. On Wednesday’s “RapFix Live” with host Sway, Free discussed the last days of the Roc, the separation that existed between the record label’s subdivisions and how he was able to bounce back. “At one point in time we were a family. The whole thing about Roc-A-Fella that they pride themselves on is the family structure,” Freeway said of the label that was composed of a number of sub-crews like the Diplomats, State Property and Bleek’s Get Low clique. Free then went on to describe how the once-united crews came to be divided. By 2005, the Jay-Z/Dame Dash feud was dominating headlines, but for Free, the reality didn’t set in until after he dropped his 2007 sophomore album. “It definitely was a point in time when I was like, ‘Oh sh–, what am I gonna do?’ ” the bearded MC recalled, saying that it was former Roc-A-Fella A&R Lenny Santiago who broke the news to him and State Property. “I think it was the time when it was really over and everybody got dropped, after [’07’s] Free at Last, probably like a couple of months after that, that’s when we realized. Lenny S. came to Philly to talk to us. “He was like, ‘Look, man, it’s gonna be some changes again; everything ain’t how it was,’ basically, ‘It’s over.’ ” Without a hint of bitterness in his voice, the street-hardened MC described his mind-set. “What I did is go back to what I normally do,” he told Sway. According to Philly Freezer, when he first appeared on Jay-Z’s “1-900-Hustler” in 2000, he wasn’t actually signed to Roc-A-Fella: His deal came after a series of radio freestyles and battles in which Free proved himself. So when his deal with the legendary label dissolved, he went back to what he knew, grinding on the underground level. Free’s 2010 Stimulus Package, produced with Jake One, helped cement his status as a formidable MC and should nicely set up his Diamond in the Rough LP coming later this year. To let Freeway tell it, the transition from being under the Roc umbrella was relatively easy. “When the whole breakup came, I just went back to what I know,” he said. “It was actually better for me because I already had a name established from the Roc-A-Fella brand.” Related Videos Freeway On ‘RapFix Live’ Related Artists Freeway
With 12.1 million viewers, Simon Cowell’s show pulls half ‘American Idol’ season 10 premiere audience. By Gil Kaufman Simon Cowell on “The X Factor” Photo: FOX Simon Cowell has been talking all week about how he’d like his new reality singing show to bury the competition, which, in his case is his old reality singing stomping grounds, “American Idol.” Well, “The X Factor” is going to have to do a lot better than it did during its Wednesday night debut if it’s going to reach the “Idol” critical mass. According to overnight ratings, not only did “Factor” pull about half of the typical “Idol” market share, it wasn’t even the highest-rated show that aired last night. According to Nielsen, “Factor” pulled in 12.1 million viewers for its heavily hyped two-hour debut, with a 4.4/12 rating in the prized 18 to 49 demographic, which was far below the numbers for the night’s ratings champ, Emmy-winning sitcom “Modern Family,” which boasted 14.3 million viewers and a 6.0/15 for its season premiere. In fact, “Factor” was only the fourth most-watched show of the night. The Hollywood Reporter noted that overall “Factor” averaged an 8.7 rating, which was half of the 16.4 rating “Idol” pulled in earlier this year in its season 10 premiere, which drew 26.1 million eyeballs in January. The trade magazine called it a “quiet start” for a show with the richest prize on TV — a $5 million recording contract — and which the mag reported cost the Fox network $250 million to obtain the U.S. rights from NBC. That’s on top of the untold millions Fox spent promoting the show all summer and what we can only assume is Cowell’s hefty producer/judging fee. Before the “Factor” debut, Cowell told the Reporter he would view anything less than 20 million viewers for the first show as a “disappointment.” As with “Idol,” it’s likely the ratings for “X Factor” will grow as the season progresses and the competition becomes more intense among contestants to whom viewers have become attached. And judging from the first episode, while the show certainly has some glaring similarities to “Idol,” there are enough novel touches — a wider age range of contestants, singing groups and a live audience at auditions — that like the hit singing competition “The Voice,” Cowell’s latest might find its footing and end up with solid, but perhaps not record-shattering ratings. Or, it could be that no matter how much we love to hate Cowell, America doesn’t have enough room in its heart for three celebrity-packed singing shows . Only time will tell. Get your “Idol” fix on MTV News’ “American Idol” page , where you’ll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions.
The 2011 Miss Universe has been decided recently in Sao Paulo to be Miss Angola Leila Lopes who was chosen to be the hottest over the competition Continue reading →
In a STUNNING twist that makes absolutely no difference except to Erica and Blake, Bachelor Pad made its pairings officially “couple” up on Monday night. As a result, Blake found himself further ostracized from the house. By the end, the two castoffs from The Bachelor and Bachelorette were fighting not to be castoffs again, while a new love connection began to blossom. Read about it below in THG’s official +/- Bachelor Pad recap: Blake, awkwardly, must pair with Erica because he has no choice. She feels he should express a little bit more excitement. “I’m a lot smarter than Holly is,” Erica says. “And in my opinion I am a lot prettier.” No and no. Minus 8 . Venerable BP host-pimp Chris Harrison told the partners to “get to know” each other before the competition. Advantage … who the heck knows! Plus 3 . Vienna Girardi and Kasey Kahl, as always, are overconfident. And moronic. Minus 12 . In the game, men and women answer questions about each other and then must predict what answer their partners gave. Kasey predicts that Vienna’s exes would most miss her teeth. She said boobs. Obviously, guys. Plus 6 . Mike says it would take three dates before Holly will sleep with a guy, when he – who was once engaged to Holly – needed 32. Good work, man! Minus 9 . Speaking of Mike, the show should start using images of baby animals being kicked around or something, because it would be comparably sad. Minus 5 . Kirk and Ella may not be a couple, but they play a cute one on TV! Plus 10 . Michelle Money and Graham Bunn devise a plan by which they will use standard answers to particular types of questions (i.e. ones with numerical answers). This hilariously leads to Michelle guessing Graham lost his v-card at age 7. Plus 20 . Plus 5 more because unlike Ames and Jackie , they’re still together! Michelle and Graham get half-naked in a hot tub for a private screening of What’s Your Number? Romance and product placement, together at last! Plus 5 . Blake: “Kasey and Vienna burst in, and Vienna’s saying, ‘He ripped a ring off my finger because I wouldn’t have sex with him!’ And I just said, ‘I need to go in this room, because I don’t know what to say.'” Ditto. Minus 17 . “You never said no, you said yes,” Kasey says. “Just like you told Wes. Just like you told David Good.” Wow. Vienna is totes the Bachelor Pad bicycle. Plus 8 . Minus 13 for the brief night-vision shot of those two “cuddling.” “I’m totally going to seduce him on this date. That way he’ll forget about her.” – Erica, who is as delusional about her own looks as she is Blake. Minus 11 . Erica offers to help Blake “relieve any tension.” Subtle. Plus 7 . Man, that date was painful to watch, but Plus 6 because it was clearly worse for Blake to actually be on it. He looked beyond scared / mortified by the end. “I feel like you painted yourself into this corner and you assumed that I would hop right on there.” – Blake. LOL . Plus 2 . “You’ll be known as the guy that hooked up with the craziest f—ing girl in the whole entire world… and tried to get with a girl who has a boyfriend. That’s weird.” – Erica. Touche! Plus 8 . For reasons unknown to humankind, they give the “safety roses” to Kasey and Vienna. Honestly. Worst. Strategy. Ever. But it did almost work, so Minus only 4 . Vienna wants Ella out because … she’s the anti-Vienna? Minus 3 . It was close, but Holly cast the deciding vote to evict Blake and Erica, sparing Ella, who’s probably the nicest and prettiest girl in the house. Amen. Plus 9 . EPISODE TOTAL: +7. SEASON TOTAL: +52. GONE : Erica Rose, Blake Julian, many brain cells.
You can win 2 tickets for MTV EMA 2011 and meet Justin Bieber. Click here www.koiniclub.com and ‘Join Competition’ http://www.youtube.com/v/VdMTJ7LEXOU?f=videos&app=youtube_gdata See the original post: Win 2 tickets to MTV EMA and meet JUSTIN BIEBER .
In newly-released excerpts from an Out Magazine interview, Adam Levine took American Idol to task this week, claiming the competition forces its gay contestants to hide their sexuality . Asked about that accusation, Idol / So You Think You Can Dance producer Nigel Lythoe essentially told Entertainment Weekly : HUH?!? Indirectly or intentionally, Adam Lambert and Adam Levine continue to cross paths. “To be frank, I didn’t understand why we’re talking about contestants being gay or not gay,” Lythoe said . “I don’t go into my dentist and say, “Are you gay?” I don’t say to contestants on So You Think You Can Dance , “Are you gay?” What does it got to do with me? What does it got to do with anybody? When does privacy stop in this country? “If somebody wants to say they’re gay, it’s up to them. You don’t expect us to turn around and say, “Are you gay?” Why would we do that? – “By the way, he’s a Catholic and he supports Obama and here’s his sexuality” – what does that have anything to do with singing talent? Maybe it does for Adam Levine, but not for me.” But what about Adam Lambert ? “He must have come out before being on Idol , he just didn’t talk about it on Idol ,” the producer said. “And why should he? Is every actor going on television going to say, “I’m only playing the part of a straight man, I’m really gay”? There’s no reason that I would see why anybody that goes on television should start coming out with who they are, what they are, what they’re sexuality is, who they’re going to vote for or what their religion is.”
