Pop singer nabs the #11 spot, the highest celebrity placement in the lineup. By James Dinh Lady Gaga Photo: WireImage Lady Gaga is officially the world’s most powerful female celebrity, at least according to Forbes , which released its World’s 100 Most Powerful Women list on Thursday (August 25). Primarily dominated by politicians and CEOs, Mother Monster grabs the #11 spot on the coveted ranking, besting all other celebrity figures including friends and collaborators Oprah Winfrey and Beyonc
‘Grenade’ singer tells MTV News the King of Pop’s 1995 performance left an indelible impression on him. By Jocelyn Vena Bruno Mars Photo: MTV News Bruno Mars is looking forward to a special night at this year’s Video Music Awards , which will include a performance and competing for Moonmen in four categories, including Video of the Year for “Grenade,” but before the show kicks off on Sunday, the crooner told us he already has an all-time favorite VMA moment. “Favorite VMA memory?” he said on the set of his VMA promo , which debuted on-air this week. “I think one of the tightest performances I’ve ever seen is Michael Jackson’s VMAs. He did ‘Dangerous’ into like ‘Smooth Criminal.’ ” The 1995 VMA performance featured Jackson performing a medley of some of his most beloved tunes, including “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough,” “The Way You Make Me Feel,” “Scream,” “Beat It,” “Thriller,” “Black or White,” “Billie Jean,” “Dangerous,” “Smooth Criminal” and “You Are Not Alone,” all with Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash by his side. “He just showed why he was the King of Pop,” Bruno continued. “He’s just not human. When you were watching it, he was doing dance moves you have never seen before. He made a moment.” That performance stuck with the singer, who took Jackson’s performing philosophy to heart. “I think that’s the most important thing when you’re doing stuff like the VMAs: You get this one moment to really show everything you’ve got.” In addition to his nod for Video of the Year, Mars is also up for Best Male Video and Best Pop Video, also for “Grenade.” And he’ll compete for Best Choreography for his less-angsty “The Lazy Song.” Share your favorite VMA moments in the comments! 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 2011 Video Music Award Nominees
‘I’m pretty good at knowing what my fans want me to do,’ she says about her plans for Sunday’s Video Music Awards. By Christina Garibaldi Lady Gaga Photo: MTV News In only two years, Lady Gaga has become the face of the MTV Video Music Awards , and on Sunday, she will continue to cement her place as a VMA icon . Mother Monster will be opening this year’s big show , and viewers are sure to be both wowed and inspired. “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.” If it’s anything like Gaga’s 2009 VMA performance of “Paparazzi,” her fans will not be disappointed. “It will be a continuation of everything I’ve been doing, and it will be exactly what they want,” Gaga said of her performance. “I’m pretty good at knowing what my fans want me to do.” Gaga joins a long list of memorable VMA opening acts , including Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, and Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera joining Madonna onstage for a kiss. So, what was Gaga’s reaction to joining this legendary list? “I was just really excited and I was really happy because they asked me after I told them what I wanted to do,” Gaga said. “So it was even more exciting because I knew that it was based off the performance idea and MTV believing in me as an artist and they have, and I appreciate that, from the beginning. They always allowed me to do my version of pop music and not someone else’s.” While we won’t see what Gaga has in store until Sunday night, she said she hopes the audience is “moved.” 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 2011 VMAs: Behind The Scenes Related Photos 2011 MTV Video Music Awards Performers 2011 Video Music Award Nominees Related Artists Lady Gaga
‘Knowing Wayne, he might just stroll across the stage on a skateboard,’ Gil Smith laughs to MTV News. By Rob Markman Lil Wayne Photo: MTV Forget “How to Love,” Lil Wayne sure knows how to seize a moment. On Sunday, Weezy will hit up the VMAs in hopes of scoring a Moonman for his “6 Foot 7 Foot” video. He’ll also grace the stage for a performance , and then about an hour after the big show wraps, the Young Money CEO will release his highly anticipated Tha Carter IV album at midnight . Big night, indeed. As for rocking the VMA stage, with such an extensive catalog, Lil Tunechi could go for any number of songs. Will he croon out “How to Love,” or invite Drake onstage for their recently released C4 single “She Will” ? Maybe Wayne will do a medley that includes Rick Ross for a performance of “John” and DJ Khaled for “I’m On One.” There are so many possibilities. Weezy’s musical director Gil Smith wouldn’t confirm any specific details, but he hinted to MTV News that the multifaceted rapper might pull any combination of tricks from his sleeve. “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,” Smith 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.” Smith, who has been touring with Wayne since 2008, helps the “A Milli” MC realize his tour dreams and heads the live band on the I Am Still Music Tour . But one thing he hasn’t helped Wayne with is his skills on the skateboard. This past Sunday, the rapper took a spill while skating and had to get nine stitches. He isn’t shying away from the half-pipe, however. “Thx to u all for the concern but pls know that I will eventually take even harder falls if I wanna get better,” he tweeted a day after the accident. So maybe Wayne will dust himself off and kick-push his way across the VMA stage. “You know what? He just might. Knowing Wayne, he might just stroll across the stage on a skateboard,” Smith said with a chuckle. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he did it.” What do you hope Wayne performs at Sunday’s VMAs? Share your wish list in the comments! 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 Related Artists Lil Wayne
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
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