Before Jennifer Lawrence introduces the first-look footage on Sunday, we have a taste for the Tributes. By Eric Ditzian Jennifer Lawrence in “The Hunger Games” Photo: Lionsgate The 2011 MTV Video Music Awards are all about the ladies: Gaga, Adele, Beyonc
The up-and-coming California band will make sure you know who they are after Sunday night’s show. By James Montgomery Young the Giant Photo: MTV News Young the Giant know you’ve probably got a few questions in the lead up to their performance on this Sunday’s MTV Video Music Awards . Like, for example, who the heck are they? “Yeah,” frontman Sameer Gadhia laughed. “You might not know who we are, but we’re in Hollywood already preparing [for the show], and we’re very, very excited to play for you guys.” So, yes, while the California quintet are relative unknowns — though, chances are, you’ve heard their hits “My Body” and “Cough Syrup” on rock radio — all that will likely change following Young the Giant’s VMA performance . Which, sort of makes them this year’s version of Florence and the Machine, who rode their bombastic performance at the 2010 show to stateside success. “We’re definitely in the Florence slot,” Gadhia said. “We consider it a real honor.” But that brings us to another question: Just what will that performance entail? Well, from the sound of things, it could be one for the ages … the Mesozoic ages. “For our VMA performance, [guitarist] Jacob [Tilley] is actually at work, breeding pterodactyls, and he’s prepared for just this one event,” Gadhia smiled. “We’re going to be flying in on pterodactyls. They’re going to do an air show; they’re going to drop us in, fireworks, we’re going to have Jimi Hendrix performing, it’s going to be amazing.” Seriously. And while we suspect Gadhia was joking (especially since Tilley added “We’re not really doing any gimmicks, it’s just us doing what we do: playing live with lots of energy,”) there’s no debating the fact that their VMA performance is a very big deal for Young the Giant. And for proof, all you have to do is check their schedule, which, until very recently, included high-profile slots at the U.K.’s Reading and Leeds Festivals. “We canceled Reading and Leeds because of the VMAS,” Gadhia said. “I mean, we always watched them, ever since we were little … and we’re from Los Angeles, so we figured it would be a great opportunity. Hopefully people in the U.K. will forgive us. I know some people are already annoyed.” 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 MTV Video Music Awards Performers Related Artists Young The Giant
‘That cat was disgusting. It would only poop in drains,’ Best New Artist nominee recalls of her pet as a teenager. By Kara Warner Kreayshawn Photo: MTV News This week’s new episode of “When I Was 17” is full of VMA Best New Artist nominees. Tune in to MTV on Saturday at 11 a.m. to hear stories of awkward teen memories from Big Sean , Tyler, the Creator and Kreayshawn. It wasn’t so long ago that 21-year-old hip-hop “it” girl Kreayshawn was 17 and starting out on her own. “When I was 17, I had saved up a little bit of money, and I got my first apartment,” Kreayshawn recalled. “Everyone knows I’m a cat person, so my friends surprised me with a cat. “This cat was definitely slow,” she continued. “It would crawl into the blinds, curl itself into the blinds and just sit there. Maybe it was trying to kill itself?” According to the “Gucci Gucci” rapper, the cat’s questionable behavior didn’t end there. “That cat was disgusting. It would only poop in drains,” she revealed, adding that it made taking showers particularly precarious and smelly. “You’d be taking a shower and the water would start backing up,” she said. “Even worse you’d have to dig it out from the drain. It was so gross.” With the days of questionable cat behavior and clogged drains behind her, for now, and on a cleaner and much more glamorous note, Kreayshawn will be bringing her outgoing personality and sass to the VMA red carpet as a host for MTV.com . “I’m super excited to be the red-carpet host at this year’s VMAs,” Kreayshawn said. “I can harass celebrities about what they’re wearing, what they ate before they got to the carpet, all sorts of funny stuff.” “When I Was 17” — this week featuring VMA nominees Big Sean, Tyler, the Creator and Kreayshawn — airs Saturday at 11 a.m. on MTV. The 28th annual MTV Video Music Awards will air live Sunday from 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 Preview: Tyler, The Creator, Big Sean And Kreayshawn On ‘When I Was 17’ 2011 VMAs: Behind The Scenes Related Photos 2011 Video Music Award Nominees Related Artists Kreayshawn
Laurieann Gibson calls opening performance an opportunity to ‘create a new understanding of music.’ By Kelley L. Carter, with reporting by Christina Garibaldi Lady Gaga Photo: Getty Images So much for giving up the goods. We really tried to get Laurieann Gibson, Lady Gaga’s creative director , to spill her guts about what Mother Monster has planned for her VMA performance on Sunday, but she’s keeping things under wraps — in the best way possible. She jokingly said a few censored (and, considering how much she’s bleeped in the embedded video, obscene) things about what viewers will see. Long story short: She’s not telling. But Gibson did say of Gaga’s opening performance, “I hope that people take the fearlessness away. The notion that you don’t have to follow what is popular and that you can constantly take the opportunity and create a new understanding of music and performing. “It could mean standing under one spotlight,” she continued. “It could mean tons of camels and belly-dancing girls. I don’t know. One is not necessarily better than the other. But it is about the artist. It’s about ‘Who’s the artist?’ So in that one moment, you have to take it and give it all you can.” Gibson is just following suit on the secrecy front: When Gaga talked to MTV News last week, she said she wants to surprise her fans at the VMAs. “I’m really very honored and excited to open the show,” Lady Gaga told MTV News. “But I won’t reveal anything; I want it to be a surprise.” From what Gaga and Gibson revealed, the performance sounds like it will be avant garde, much like her 2009 VMA set, when Gaga took the stage for a blood-soaked “Paparazzi” performance . “It will be a continuation of everything I’ve been doing, and it will be exactly what they want,” Gaga said. “I’m pretty good at knowing what my fans want me to do.” 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
Presenter Kim Kardashian has a VMA seat, but where’s hubby Kris Humphries? By Jocelyn Vena, with reporting by Jim Cantiello Kim Kardashian’s seat at the 2011 Video Music Awards Photo: John Shearer/ MTV It’s that time of year again, everyone. The seating cards are being placed inside the Nokia Theatre in sunny Los Angeles as producers work to put the finishing touches on Sunday’s 2011 Video Music Awards . So what types of match-ups have they thought up this year? MTV News’ Jim Cantiello investigated and found out some tasty tidbits. “Tony Bennett: This guy is a baller, and whoever is behind him is going to have the craziest contact high,” he teased of the 85-year-old crooner, who will pay tribute to the late Amy Winehouse at Sunday’s show. So who snagged that seat? Wiz Khalifa, naturally. Kim Kardashian will also be in the house as a presenter, but Jim wondered: “Where’s her husband at? Her husband doesn’t get a seat card. You thought when you marry Kim Kardashian you’d instantly get more famous. Dude, you’re still not famous enough to get your own card at the VMAs,” Jim warned the newlywed. His advice? “#DealWithIt.” “This is going to be a very rowdy section at the VMAs Sunday night,” Jim said as he made his way through the theater. “This is the land of Odd Future. Now, there are like 100 members of Odd Future. I’m only seeing three cards. So sorry, Hodgy, you’re not invited this year.” When Jim noticed there were some potato sacks lying around, he had a thought: “Here at the VMAs, we are prepared for anything in the audience, so if Lady Gaga wants to have a potato-sack race with Lil Wayne, we got them covered.” Of course, Justin Bieber and girlfriend Selena Gomez are seated next to each other. Jim, however, knows how to make it even more adorable. “The only thing that would make this cuter is if Maru the cat was trying to get in between them,” he suggested. Perhaps the section of the room fans will be most excited to see contains two of pop’s ruling divas. “I’m in section Queen B at the VMAs,” he said. So what does that mean? Beyonc
Christina Aguilera is positively furious, and for very good reason. Earlier in the week, the website MediaTakeOut published a picture of the singer’s son and wrote the headline: “CHILD ABUSE???? CHRISTINA AGUILERA’S SON IS PHOTO’D WITH A BLACK EYE!!!” Aguilera, who remained above the fray when called out by Kelly Osbourne , didn’t sit idly by in the face of such an accusation and called upon her lawyer to issue a statement. Wrote Eric Greenspan to the site in question: “Christina is a wonderful mother and was not present in the park when Max fell and hurt himself… To imply that she had something to do with this incident, without any investigation on your part whatsoever, is reckless and unconscionable.” The attorney then threatened a lawsuit and concluded: “HAVE YOU NO SHAME!!!!” MediaTakeOut has since changed the headline. Idiots. [Photo: WENN.com]
MTV has given fans their very first look at Jennifer Lawrence in the role of Katniss Everdeen. Their first first, very brief look, that is. With The Hunger Games set to release its first official trailer at this Sunday’s Video Music Awards, the film has provided us with a teaser for that teaser, really nothing more than a video of the famous mockingjay pin on fire… until the very end, when we see Katniss glance up, presumably somewhere in the arena. The Hunger Games Teaser Of course, Entertainment Weekly has provided us with a still shot of Lawrence in this beloved role. Check out that magazine shot now ! The Hunger Games comes out on March 23.
Kim Kardashian predicts Katy Perry will win Video of the Year at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, airing Sunday at 9 p.m. ET/PT. By Kara Warner Bruno Mars Photo: MTV All of the categories for the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards are competitive, but none more so than the eclectic group vying for Sunday night’s biggest prize: Video of the Year. The 2011 nominees for Video of the Year are: Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep,” Related Videos 2011 VMAs: Behind The Scenes VMA 2011: Video of the Year Nominees Related Photos 2011 Video Music Award Nominees Related Artists Bruno Mars Beastie Boys Adele Katy Perry
‘He’s releasing song after song after song,’ musical director Gil Smith tells MTV News of evolving I Am Still Music Tour. By Rob Markman Lil Wayne Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images Lil Wayne is constantly evolving. From a 12-year-old kiddie MC, to the self-proclaimed “best rapper alive” to rock star and now R&B singer, Weezy has kept things interesting during the course of his 14-year career. His I Am Still Music Tour has been just as prolific, thanks to the mass amount of music he’s been releasing. And with his ninth solo album, Tha Carter IV, dropping at midnight after Sunday’s VMAs — where Wayne will also perform — concertgoers can expect some changes to the set list. “I think just in terms of the tour, we’ve been adding songs here and there,” Wayne’s musical director Gil Smith told MTV News. “You gotta understand with Wayne, there is so much music. I mean, we can talk about Tha Carter IV, and then we can sit down and have a different conversation about Sorry 4 the Wait, which was a whole different thing that he put out. So it’s so much music. Even when we’re on the road, he’s releasing song after song after song, so we got to kind of find ways to incorporate that as we go along.” When he and his Young Money compadres opened the tour in May in Providence Rhode Island, Wayne hadn’t yet released his fan-dedicated tape Sorry 4 the Wait, and Tha Carter IV was in release-date limbo. During the course of the concert run, which was extended through September, Wayne released the mixtape and a number of C4 singles. Smith said that by the time the tour wraps, the first show will be much different from the last. It’s not just the music, either. “It’s changed quite a bit. Now he’s skating around the stage, he has a skateboard trainer who’s out there with him,” Smith said. “He’s really into skateboarding, and he’s also into singing for the ladies. There’s a section of the tour that’s dedicated to that, and that’s how we kind of incorporated ‘How to Love,’ along with some other favorites.” Wayne will grace the stage this Sunday at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, and while Smith wouldn’t reveal what the YMCMB star has planned , he said fans can expect a Weezy they’ve never seen. “We’ve been brainstorming and taking from things that we put together on the road, so I think they can just expect a new-and-improved Wayne, a different Wayne,” he said. “You know, he always comes different: One day he’s a rock star, one day he’s a skater; he’s singing R&B. I think we can expect a little bit of everything in this performance.” The 28th annual MTV Video Music Awards will air live Sunday from 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 Lil Wayne Brings ‘I Am Still Music’ Tour Home To New Orleans Related Artists Lil Wayne
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