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Michael Jackson Immortal Tour: How They Uphold The Legacy

Posted on April 5, 2012 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

MTV News gets a behind-the-scenes look at the Cirque Du Soleil tribute to the King of Pop. By Uptin Saiidi A scene from Cirque Du Soleil’s Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour Photo: Cirque-Jackson NEWARK — Since its opening, Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour by Cirque Du Soleil has honored the King of Pop through music, dance and acrobatics 117 times. Night after night, artists celebrate the life of the late Michael Jackson, but how do they take his iconic legacy and put it into a production? When the tour came to New York City this week, MTV News went behind the scenes to talk with the creative forces and performers to find out. The artists (all 65 of them) had limited time to train and learn choreography — an especially difficult feat when it’s honoring MJ’s signature moves. It was a kind of pressure that creative director Tara Young certainly learned to channel into a positive force. “I think it is a pressure for sure; something I share with the whole building here is that we have nothing to prove, only to share,” Young told MTV News. “We have an opportunity to share what Michael would have wanted to share and the pressure is only there to achieve excellence.” For Felix Cane, a two-time world champion pole dancer who does a captivating performance to “Danger,” it was all about using that pressure to help the audience to remember the pop icon. “You are sharing this passion with them, and this love of MJ. There’s times in the show when some people and I, myself, might have shed a few tears.” That pressure never felt as great as when the Jackson family sat in the front row at a show in Montreal, an experience Young described as “inspiring.” When asked what MJ would think if he were sitting there with them, Young smiled, “He would feel such a sense of pride of what he has given us to work with. It evokes emotions in people that they didn’t even know were going to come out.” I think everyone feels inspired, which evokes a certain feeling of change,” Young added. “You feel a sadness too because he is not with us anymore, and that is an emotion that is wonderful too actually … just to honor him.” The tour will continue in North America through the summer, before heading to Europe this fall. Have you seen Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour? What did you think? Leave your comment below! Related Artists Michael Jackson

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Chase & Status ‘Over The Moon’ With Album’s Success

Posted on April 4, 2012 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

British duo released their sophomore album, No More Idols, in the U.S. this week. By Akshay Bhansali Will Kennard and Saul Milton of Chase & Status Photo: Gareth Cattermole/ Getty Images If a jam-packed show at Miami’s Ultra Music Festival , production collaborations with Rihanna and a sold-out U.S. tour are any indication, America is thirsting for British EDM duo Chase & Status. Saul “Chase” Milton and Will “Status” Kennard released their second album, No More Idols, in the U.S. this week via Casablanca Records. The album, released in Europe in January 2011, is certified platinum in the U.K., with more than 500,000 units sold. “We’ve been over the moon with the success of No More Idols, ” Kennard told MTV News recently. “It was beyond belief for us, really, and true, tunes have been floating around here for a while, but it’s getting a proper release.” Kennard described the “proper release” as a “big, full package” with plenty of remixes, including efforts by Feed Me, Nero and Dillon Francis. The deluxe edition will include a DVD and exclusive content from their 2011 No More Idols Tour. No More Idols runs a gamut of EDM , with a bit of grime, dubstep, drum n’ bass, rock and more. It houses hit U.K. singles in “End Credits” featuring vocalist/actor/friend Plan B, rock-ish hit “Hypest Hype” featuring Tempa T, and the cinematically exquisite “Blind Faith” featuring Liam Bailey, among others. The hit album has galvanized quite a following Stateside, and Kennard said he and Milton are grateful for the unexpected attention. “It’s an exciting time for electronic dance music, and we are just proud to be a part of it,” Kennard said. “We did the tour last year, and we thought it was going to be a wash out, really, because you’re a million miles away from home. The record didn’t get picked up by radio. So on and so forth. And then you go and do these clubs and these shows, and they are sold out full to the brim with people knowing all the words and everything. And it’s a great feeling, man.” Chase & Status plan to bring their live show — often accompanied by drummer Andy Gangadeen, James Brown and vocal collaborators Rage, Tempa T, and Liam Bailey — to Indio, California’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Save for a few festival gigs, the duo now mean to hunker down in their lab and hope to complete their third album by year’s end. They are still in the early stages, tinkering around with sounds, but they say inspiration is all around them. “You can’t ignore what Skrillex has done,” Milton revealed. “We are good friends with Sonny. He’s a class act, but musically he’s just done something really incredible and just run with it. Nero as well . Odd Future, we are massive fans of what they do.” “I love Die Antwoord ,” Kennard added. “Love what they are doing. A$AP Rocky is really cool. Kill the Noise. … There is so much exciting, inspiring stuff.” What do you think of Chase & Status’ No More Idols ? Leave your comment below! Related Artists Chase & Status

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98 Degrees Reuniting: Which Other Boy Bands Should Follow Suit?

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

O-Town, ‘NSYNC make our list of boy bands that should get back together. By Jocelyn Vena 98 Degrees in 1999 Photo: Jeff Kravitz/ Getty Images It’s about to get 98 Degrees and hotter in the boy-band bonanza. Nick Lachey’s old group is rumored to be getting back together to launch a summer tour. Sources tell Rumorfix that the band, which has been on a decade-long hiatus, is about to announce a 15-city trek set to take place in July and August. A formal announcement should be made in the next week. One source told the site that the tour would serve as a thank-you to the band’s fans. Rumors of a reunion kicked off on Wednesday, when the band’s website got a face-lift that includes a spanking new logo and a Twitter feed with the guys’ official pages scrolling through the homepage. A rep for the band had not responded to MTV News’ request for comment by press time. Given all the love boy bands are getting these days ( see One Direction and the Wanted ), there are still some that might want to capitalize on the mania sweeping the world. Here are MTV News’ picks for the groups we’d love to see get back together. O-Town O-Town was the product of the reality show “Making the Band.” Once managed by imprisoned boy-band impresario Lou Pearlman, the guys managed to put their reality-show pedigree behind them and launched a short-lived, successful run that included hits like the chart-topping “Liquid Dreams.” ‘NSYNC This would be the gold-star reunion. ‘NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys were the two boy bands of the late-’90s revival that reached mega heights of fame and success. Several albums into their career, there appeared to be no stopping Justin Timberlake and the boys. But in 2002, they went on a “temporary hiatus” and have never looked back. Westlife Westlife plan to break up later this year after they wrap up their 2012 tour. But now seems like the right time to keep it going a little bit longer. Given America’s love for boy bands that hail from the U.K., Westlife, who found fame under the guidance of Simon Cowell and serenaded ladies with tracks like “Swear It Again,” might just want to stick around and ride out this latest wave of boy-band love. Which boy band would you love to see get back together? Tell us in the comments!

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Snooki Cleavage Pic: The Perks of Pregnancy

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

She recently Tweeted her engagement photo . Now Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi is showing off the perks of her pregnancy on Twitter. Sort of literally. The Jersey Shore train wreck, 24, may have just shed some weight, but now that she’s wild child, she’s proud of what she’s gained elsewhere. We are talking about in the chestal region: “I got swagger with my pregnant self,” Polizzi Tweeted, showing some serious cleavage peeking out of her neon yellow top in what would actually be sort of a hot photo if we weren’t talking about Snooki. So it goes. Snooki and Jionni LaValle officially announced their pregnancy in March, more than a month after tabloids got wind of it and it was all but confirmed anyway. While there’s no word on what her co-stars, like one-time hookup Vinny Guadagnino , think of her body, they think she’ll be a great mom … what about you? Will Snooki be a good mom?

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Aerosmith Announces Summer Tour, New Album

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Steven Tyler stole the spotlight for a few moments on American Idol last night, announcing that he and Aerosmith will be hitting the tour this summer for the band’s first tour since 2009. “We’re calling the tour the Global Warming Tour,” Tyler said like only he can. “Because of the fire. Yo tengo el fuego.” Earlier in the day, Tyler gathered at the Grove in Los Angeles – along with bandmate Joe Perry – and also revealed that the legendary group will release a new album – its first in eight years – some time later this year. “We’ve been underground for four months, doing what we do best,” said Tyler, adding that they’re two songs away from completion on the CD. But back to the tour: it will kick off on June 16 in Minneapolis, Cheap Trick will open and tickets go on sale tomorrow. Sounds like Amazing news to us! We aren’t Cryin upon hearing it! And we Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing when it comes to Aerosmith! (Sorry.)

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‘American Idol’ Conundrum: Why Are Heejun And DeAndre Still In?

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

‘DeAndre is a hot dude who appeals to the female demographic,’ ‘Idol’ blogger explains, while Han is backed by Vote for the Worst website. By Gil Kaufman Heejun Han and DeAndre Brackensick Photo: Getty Images There’s almost always a singer on each season of “American Idol” who makes it way deeper into the competition than expected. But season 11 of the show has seen two unlikely finalists — Heejun Han and DeAndre Brackensick — stumble into the top 9 and onto this summer’s cast tour despite a string of, respectively, jokey and lackluster performances that have drawn assorted raspberries from the judges and outright derision at times from music-industry icon and show mentor Jimmy Iovine. Their resilience got MTV News wondering if perhaps they have a special magic that some of the other eliminated finalists haven’t discovered yet. We spoke to some of our favorite “Idol” experts to take a look at the dynamic duo’s social-network presence to try to figure out how they’ve done it. For Brackensick, it doesn’t appear to be thanks to Twitter , where he had just 31,660 followers (dubbed “DreDreamers”) as of Tuesday evening and spent most of his time thanking fans for their support or complaining about poor WiFi at the “Idol” mansion. “DeAndre is a hot dude who appeals to the female demographic,” said leading “Idol” blogger MJ Santilli of MJsbigblog about the strange allure of the singer with a sky-high voice and hair-commercial-ready curls. “He’s sung well enough to give the impression that he’s got potential. The ‘Master Blaster’ performance — which Jimmy and the judges loved — was enough to keep him going for a week or two more, but if he doesn’t step it up, he’s going out mid-pack, too.” Heejun’s following on Twitter was a heftier 86,663 on Tuesday, putting him near the top of the social-networking heap among his fellow finalists. Not surprisingly for the yuk-loving singer, his interactions with fans are much sillier and more playful than most of the others, with a loose vibe that matches his onscreen persona, including lots of candid photos and suggestions that fans adopt the nickname “Hanimals.” He also has the dubious distinction of being the subject of this year’s target on the Vote for the Worst website. “Finally, the man we were waiting for comes out to play,” the site said in a banner promoting the vote. “Welcome to VFTW, Heejun. We love you. Here are lots of votes.” “Idol” expert Jim Cantiello said he gets Heejun’s appeal. OK, he doesn’t get it get it, but he can see how Han attracts attention by being a spectacle while everyone else is singing ballads — all the time. “His silliness supplies good .gifs for tumblr and easy fodder to tweet about,” said the former MTV “Idol in 60 Seconds” host. “Trust me, just like Sanjaya, the first time he has a performance that provides zero water-cooler talk, he’ll be dropped. Or as soon as it seems like powerhouse singers are in jeopardy, casual ‘Idol’ fans won’t be as quick to call in a vote for the clown.” Cantiello suspects Han has another thing going for him as well, whether it was all part of his devious plan or not. “Heejun’s got the whole bromance thing with Phil Phillips going on,” Cantiello said of the buddy-comedy vibe between the joker and one of this year’s leading male contenders. “So some of Phil’s fans are automatically into Heejun, and they’ll vote him through to keep seeing them be silly on TV together.” MJ agreed that Heejun is just good TV. Not only did he bring some unneeded extra drama to the Hollywood rounds by sparring with annoying Richie “Cowboy” Law, he’s shown his vulnerable and sensitive side as well. “Up until now, viewers wanted him on their TVs and most definitely wanted him on the tour, where he is likely going to be super-entertaining,” she said. “But now that he’s beginning to knock off vocally gifted finalists like Erika [Van Pelt], watch the backlash begin. I don’t think he’s got more than a couple of weeks left in the competition.” How do the seven other finalists match up on the Twitter tote board? Pint-sized cute Hollie Cavanagh actually comes in below Brackensick with 30,792 “Holliepops,” while faux-hawk flying singer Colton Dixon has one of the highest Twitter tallies at 92,458, putting him just ahead of foot-stomping Dave Matthews-alike Phillip Phillips , with 90,116 followers. Solidly in the middle of the pack is leading female contender Jessica Sanchez with 69,825 followers, while country girl Skylar Laine rounds out the bottom with 33,122 “Skoutlaws,” just ahead of gritty Elise Testone (23,969) and R&B crooner Joshua Ledet (23,618). Why do you think Heejun and DeAndre have survived this long? Let us know in comments below! Get your “Idol” fix on MTV News’ “American Idol” page , where you’ll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions.

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‘American Idol’ Castoff Erika Van Pelt ‘Went Crazy’ With New Look

Posted on March 27, 2012 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

‘It helped me come out of my shell a little bit more,’ singer tells MTV News of Tommy Hilfiger-assisted makeover. By Christina Garibaldi Erika Van Pelt Photo: MTV News “American Idol” contestant Erika Van Pelt may have disagreed with the judges’ critiques of her rendition of Billy Joel’s “New York State of Mind,” but with the help of famed designer Tommy Hilfiger, she may have stolen the show when she drastically changed up her hairstyle from mid-length blond to a short black cut. But unfortunately for Van Pelt, it wasn’t enough to save her from elimination from the show. Even though Van Pelt won’t be rocking out on the “Idol” stage anymore, she has no regrets about her makeover. “I love it, and it’s funny ’cause everyone was so shocked,” Van Pelt told MTV News on Monday. “I’ve gotten good responses, but they’re like, ‘Wow you really did that? You’d be bold enough and audacious enough to do that?’ But the funny thing is people don’t know I do this at home. I’ve been doing this my entire life.” And it seems that she’s not the only one who is enjoying her new look, which she said she was planning for quite some time. “My friends, my family, my fanbase were really digging it,” she said. “It helped me come out of my shell a little bit more. When Tommy Hilfiger came on as an image consultant, we started to talk about it. I had already had it in my mind that I wanted to do something drastic with it. I didn’t know what, so when I got the green light, I went crazy.” Van Pelt, who will stay with the shorter hairstyle but might change the color, is now looking forward to hitting the road for the “Idol” tour. But after that, she is ready to branch out on her own. “After the tour is done, I honestly want to get right to work,” she said. “I want to work on my first album, I want to do a ton of writing, I even want to get involved in acting and musical theater. I would love to be involved maybe on Broadway. I’m just a hard worker and I don’t care, 12-, 16-hour days, I’ll put the work in this. It’s what I want to do.” During her time on “Idol,” Van Pelt drew comparisons to Pink, Kelly Clarkson and Janis Joplin, but it’s British songstress Jessie J who the singer truly admires. “I’ve been listening to a lot of Jessie J. She’s totally amazing,” the singer revealed. “She’s got millions of fans and I still think she’s underrated — amazing vocals and she’s fearless. She doesn’t make any excuses for who she is … she’s just totally 100 percent herself.” The two singers have more in common than you might think. “Actually, for a while I had the shoulder-length dark hair with the straight-across bangs,” Van Pelt said. “That was before I started listening to Jessie J, and then I saw her and I was like, ‘Whoa!’ ” What do you think of Erika’s new look? Let us know in the comments. Get your “Idol” fix on MTV News’ “American Idol” page , where you’ll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions.

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Drake Taps J. Cole, Waka Flocka For Club Paradise Tour

Posted on March 22, 2012 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

‘You’ve got every artist you wait to hear in the club on one bill,’ Drake says of run that will also include Meek Mill, 2 Chainz. By Rob Markman Drake Photo: MTV News Drake has been cooped up inside for far too long, and now the Young Money standout is ready to breathe some fresh air into his Club Paradise Tour . On Thursday morning (March 22), Drizzy announced a 27-city amphitheater run that will begin on May 7 at the Sleep Train Pavilion in Concord, California. “I feel like this tour is coming at the perfect time,” Drake said in a press release issued to MTV News. “It’s taking place in the season that we all wait for, we’re outdoors and you’ve got every single artist you wait to hear in the club on one bill … that’s Club Paradise.” will ride out with Drake as an opening act, and Waka Flocka Flame, Meek Mill, 2 Chainz and French Montana will all support unspecified dates. On the first leg of his tour, Mr. OVO sold out a string of U.S. college dates with Kendrick Lamar and A$AP Rocky before taking the show across the pond to a number of European venues like London’s O2 Arena and the Oslo Spektrum in Norway. This time out, the “Take Care” rapper will hit a number of outdoor venues like the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Aaron’s Amphitheatre in Atlanta and the Jones Beach Theater in Long Island, New York. Drake will also rock the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, and the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee, before wrapping up the run at Boston’s Comcast Center. Tickets for the Club Paradise amphitheatre run will go on sale March 23 on Live Nation’s website . These are the dates for the Club Paradise Tour:

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Mumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe Talk ‘Big Easy Express’ Documentary

Posted on March 22, 2012 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Film captures bands’ 2011 Railroad Revival Tour of the Southwest. By James Montgomery, with reporting by Chris Kim Marcus Mumford Photo: Gus Stewart/ Getty Images Last year, Mumford & Sons , Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros and Old Crow Medicine Show joined forces for the Railroad Revival Tour, a trek that took them through the American Southwest on a journey that was nearly as long as the names of the band names involved. Director Emmett Malloy rode along with them, capturing each show and every magical moment aboard the rails … and now, he’s brought it all together in a brand-new documentary, “Big Easy Express,” which premiered during the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas. And at the premiere, MTV News caught up with three of the stars — Mumford’s Ben Lovett, Edward Sharpe’s Alex Ebert and Old Crow’s Gill Landry — to talk about making the film, which, from the sound of things, wasn’t really much work at all. “We weren’t trying to make some ‘great film’ or anything. It didn’t feel like that, we were just enjoying this experience that was laid out, and doing gigs and traveling in a bizarre way between the two,” Landry said. “And the great thing about Emmett, and this documentary, was that it didn’t invade any of that, it didn’t feel forced or staged. So, no, we weren’t scrubbing up on our documentary history beforehand.” “It was like the biggest party you’ve ever been to,” Landry laughed. “It lasted for a week, and you just couldn’t afford to throw another one afterwards.” Though you get the feeling everyone involved would’ve liked to try, because just hearing the three reminisce on the tour, you can tell that it was one they’ll remember for a long time. Not just for the musical moments, but for everything that happened between the shows too. “It was about the joy of music, the joy of camaraderie,” Landry said. “We’re each, individually, quite different bands, we don’t play the same music, we come from different places — England, Los Angeles, Nashville — but we all came together and just played … played our hearts out. It was really amazing.” “It came at quite an interesting time. We’ve all gone on to making records pretty soon after the tour,” Ebert said. “So, I think it’s impossible to deny the influence both of the spirit and the music that we had on that trip … something happened.” And to that end, even though there’s still no theatrical premiere for “Big Easy Express” (a publicist told MTV News it’ll hit theaters nationally later this year), all three bands are beginning to make plans for a sequel … to the tour, at least. “I think twinkling in the back of everyone’s mind is maybe doing something again,” Sharpe said. “We’ve talked about weird ways to top that or have a different experience … a zeppelin or a riverboat … I think a zeppelin’s more realistic.” Related Artists Mumford & Sons

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Does Britney Spears Have ‘The X Factor’?

Posted on March 9, 2012 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

MTV News takes a look at the pros and cons of bringing Spears onboard as a judge for the reality singing competition. By John Mitchell Britney Spears Photo: MTV News The news that Britney Spears is reportedly in final negotiations to join “The X Factor” has set the MTV Newsroom on fire. Opinion on whether the pop star is a good fit for the reality singing competition has been sharply divided, so we decided to take on the topic the way we’re sure Simon Cowell did before making Spears a reported $10 million offer: a good, old-fashioned pros and cons list. Pro: She’ll attract viewers The debut season of “The X Factor” performed well below expectations. Its heavily hyped premiere pulled in 12.1 million total viewers and a meager 4.4/12 rating in the advertiser-coveted 18 to 49 demographic. That’s about half of what the 2011 season of “American Idol” averaged (“Idol” is having its own ratings woes this season), and it didn’t even win the night: Emmy-winning sitcom “Modern Family” drew 14.3 million viewers and a 6.0/15 for its season premiere. The poor ratings precipitated the overhaul that saw judges Paula Abdul and Nicole Scherzinger and host Steve Jones fired from the show. There’s no question that Spears would bring viewers to “The X Factor.” She enjoys a large and devout fanbase who will basically follow her just about anywhere. And beyond her own fans, Spears’ celebrity would also likely draw attention from the general public, who will tune in simply to see how she does. Con: She’s become nervous on camera Though she can still wow a crowd live in concert, as evidenced by last year’s successful tour behind her hit album Femme Fatale, Spears has become increasingly tentative during interviews. She rarely grants on-camera sit-downs, and when she does, she seems nervous and uncomfortable. To be a strong judge or mentor on a reality show, you have to be very comfortable on camera. Part of what made Jennifer Lopez click last season on “Idol” was the she came across as confident, direct and often empathetic. She even broke down in tears after sending home contestant Chris Medina , whose fianc

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