Nicki Minaj, Ke$ha, Selena Gomez also make fashion splash on red carpet, as showgirl style rules at the Las Vegas event on Sunday night. By Jocelyn Vena
Taylor Swift at the 2011 Billboard Music Awards Photo: Jordan Strauss/ Getty Images
On Sunday night, some of the biggest names in the music industry hit up the Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas and decided that sparkles and sequins make for the perfect additions to any red carpet get-up. Well, it is Sin City after all.
Taylor Swift always seems to bring some of that Nashville sparkle to any red carpet. She arrived at the show in a pale-hued, sequined Elie Saab gown. Nicki Minaj showed off her signature sense of style in her baby-blue, body-hugging spandex Mark Fast catsuit.
Selena Gomez turned up the style dial in a sexy, cut-out black Dolce & Gabbana gown that she paired with red strappy sandals with sparkly bow detailing. Like Gomez, Ke$ha opted for some cut-out detailing in her sparkly, slate-gray dress with tulle skirt. Rihanna looked white hot in her men's tailored Max Azria suit, which she kept sexy and feminine by not buttoning her shirt all the way.
Fergie went S&M chic in her little black bandage-type dress by Hervé Léger. Nicole Kidman also wore black. She paired a casual braid hairstyle with a long black gown and Keith Urban. British pop cutie Kyle Minogue looked funky in her little black lacey dress. Inside the show, Britney Spears sat in the audience wearing a skimpy black dress of her own, her hair in loose curls, with little-to-no accessories.
While some stars kept the color scheme low-key, Keri Hilson decided to stand out in her billowy little yellow dress paired with a turquoise-colored belt. Kelly Rowland showed off some of her best assets in a body-hugging, bright pink bandage dress.
The fellas also looked tight on the carpet. Joe Jonas wore all black with white sneakers, Ne-Yo paired his periwinkle suit with a Yankees cap and Justin Bieber wore black tuxedo pants with a gold-lamé tuxedo jacket.
Which stars' styles caught your eye at the Billboard Music Awards? Tell us in the comments.
Glitter-heavy pop star tells MTV News she's going for 'balls-out, irreverent rock and roll.' By James Montgomery, with reporting by Matt Elias
Ke$ha Photo: MTV News
Ke$ha's already got the face paint down pat, and, during recent live sets, she's even taken to guzzling blood out of a human heart, so it should come as no surprise that, on her upcoming album, the pop star is taking things back to the most theatrical era of rock: the prop-heavy, arena-spanning heyday of the 1970s.
Ke$h revealed her plans over the weekend in Los Angeles, on the red carpet of KIIS FM's annual Wango Tango concert, where she told MTV News that the follow-up to her breakout Animal album (and, we suppose, Cannibal too) would be heavy on hard riffs and light on pretty much everything else.
"The next album ... I've been working on writing on the road, but as far as a sound, I just know it's gonna be balls-out, irreverent rock and roll," she said. "I've been pretty much in this '70s rock and roll kick and I just want to capture some of the true essence of what rock and roll is, and that's just irreverence and sexiness and fun and not giving a f---, so we'll definitely put a bit of rock and roll in it."
So, does that mean that fans can expect the likes of Alice Cooper or Peter Frampton to show up on her new album? Perhaps. Because while Ke$ha's new album is still a ways off, she's already begun calling in favors, hoping to line up a killer collabo for the new disc.
"I'm trying, trust me," she laughed. "I really would love to connect with one of my idols, I mean, that's my dream. I'm working on it."
What do you think of Ke$ha going rock for her next album? Tell us in the comments!
'Gaga by Gaultier' will air September 12 on CW before fall previews. By Jocelyn Vena
Lady Gaga Photo: Kevin Mazur/ WireImage
Lady Gaga will sit down with Jean Paul Gaultier in the designer's Paris studio for an upcoming special set to air on the CW this September, during which she will talk about her control over her image and her beloved Little Monsters.
The channel announced that the singer and the designer will appear in the interview special, called "Gaga by Gaultier," airing on September 12 from 8 to 9:15 p.m. The program will be followed by "The CW 2011 Fall Preview Special," hosted by "Nikita" star Maggie Q and "Ringer" star Kristoffer Polaha, Reuters reports.
Gaga recently shared that her highly anticipated video for "You and I" will drop as her 1,000th tweet. As of press time, Gaga had written 991 tweets, making her nine away from the video's premiere.
The video was shot in Nebraska, and Gaga shared that it's about the lengths one goes to when he or she is in love. "It was actually kind of perfect the way it worked out 'cause the premise of the video is that I've walked all the way from New York City to Nebraska to get him back," she said. "I'm walking with no luggage and no nothing, and it's just me and my ankles are bleeding a little bit and there's grass stuck in my shoes and I've got this outfit on and it's real sort of New York clothing and I'm sprinting.
"And the [video is about the] idea that when you're away from someone you love, it's torture," she continued. "I knew I wanted the video to be about me sprinting back and walking hundreds of thousands of miles to get him back."
What do you expect Lady Gaga and Jean Paul Gaultier to talk about in their CW special? Share your predictions below!
Mother Monster's HBO special will vie for honors at September 18 awards show. By James Montgomery
Lady Gaga Photo: Jason Merritt/Getty Images
It's time to break the meat dress out of deep storage, or perhaps polish up the space egg, because Lady Gaga has another awards show to attend.
On Thursday morning (July 14), her "Monster Ball Tour at Madison Square Garden" HBO special picked up five Primetime Emmy Award nominations, top-lined by a nod for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special. In that category, Gaga will face off against the annual Kennedy Center Honors telecast and a trio of rather, uh, unique challengers: Carrie Fisher, Bette Midler and Pee-Wee Herman, each of whom earned noms for their respective HBO specials.
The "Monster Ball" special also earned a nomination for Outstanding Directing (Gaga's creative director, Laurieann Gibson, picked up the nod), and three technical noms: Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video Control for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special; Outstanding Lighting Design/ Lighting Direction for a Variety, Music or Comedy Special; and Outstanding Picture Editing for a Special. In each of those categories, Gaga will take on the usual spate of awards telecasts (the 83rd Academy Awards, the 53rd Grammy Awards, etc.), not to mention comedians Ricky Gervais and Louis C.K., each of whom earned nods for their comedy specials.
Elsewhere, Gaga's favorite show, "Glee," was among the most-nominated programs, landing a nod for Outstanding Comedy Series. Stars Jane Lynch and Chris Colfer also earned nominations, as did guest stars Kristin Chenoweth, Dot-Marie Jones and Gwyneth Paltrow.
The 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards will air live from Los Angeles on Sunday, September 18, at 8 p.m. ET on Fox.
Will you be rooting for Gaga on Emmy night? Tell us in the comments!
ATL Rapper chick Diamond, former Crime Mob chick, took a little vacay down in South Beach yesterday. She and a friend were spotted chillin' in the ocean with Diamond showing off her cute bod in a black and red bikini.
Pics inside...
Diamond--real name Brittany Carpenter--called was spotted by the paps in South Beach yesterday. I guess she's had a rough year of car repossessions and breakups (Lil Scrappy & Soulja Boy) so why not take a chill in the MIA.
Alrighty then. She's part of the self proclaimed "Bad B*tch Clique" of ATL chicks--with Rasheeda, Tiny, Toya, and Kandi Burruss--who hit up parties and remix tracks. Fun times I'm sure.
The Sundance Film Festival loves a double dipper. This year, the festival went crazy for two young actresses who had two movies screening—Elizabeth Olsen, who has the distinct advantage of being the younger sister of Mary-Kate and Ashley, and an unknown by the name of Brit Marling. Folks liked 27-year-old Brit in "Sound of My Voice," a futuristic indie thriller about a religious cult. But they loved in her "Another Earth," a flick with an unusual concept—as a 17-year-old astrophysics students drives home from a party celebrating her admission to MIT, she looks out her car window, angling to see a newly discovered planet that has become visible in the horizon and crashes headfirst into another car, killing the wife and son of the family in it. Four years later, out of jail, she sets out to find the man whose life she ruined (Hey Ethan from "Lost"!) and befriends him, as scientists discover that this new planet is actually an exact doppelganger of Earth. It sounds heavy, but it manages to be totally restrained at the same time. In the movie, Brit gives an amazing performance, both weighty and subtle at the same time. Whispers began that she could be this year's Jennifer Lawrence and end up with an Oscar nomination for Best Actress.
But it actually isn't even Brit's acting skills that have me thoroughly fascinated with her. It's her unusual biography. See, in a parallel life, Brit is an investment banker.
Nicki Minaj, Ke$ha, Selena Gomez also make fashion splash on red carpet, as showgirl style rules at the Las Vegas event on Sunday night. By Jocelyn Vena
Taylor Swift at the 2011 Billboard Music Awards Photo: Jordan Strauss/ Getty Images
On Sunday night, some of the biggest names in the music industry hit up the Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas and decided that sparkles and sequins make for the perfect additions to any red carpet get-up. Well, it is Sin City after all.
Taylor Swift always seems to bring some of that Nashville sparkle to any red carpet. She arrived at the show in a pale-hued, sequined Elie Saab gown. Nicki Minaj showed off her signature sense of style in her baby-blue, body-hugging spandex Mark Fast catsuit.
Selena Gomez turned up the style dial in a sexy, cut-out black Dolce & Gabbana gown that she paired with red strappy sandals with sparkly bow detailing. Like Gomez, Ke$ha opted for some cut-out detailing in her sparkly, slate-gray dress with tulle skirt. Rihanna looked white hot in her men's tailored Max Azria suit, which she kept sexy and feminine by not buttoning her shirt all the way.
Fergie went S&M chic in her little black bandage-type dress by Hervé Léger. Nicole Kidman also wore black. She paired a casual braid hairstyle with a long black gown and Keith Urban. British pop cutie Kyle Minogue looked funky in her little black lacey dress. Inside the show, Britney Spears sat in the audience wearing a skimpy black dress of her own, her hair in loose curls, with little-to-no accessories.
While some stars kept the color scheme low-key, Keri Hilson decided to stand out in her billowy little yellow dress paired with a turquoise-colored belt. Kelly Rowland showed off some of her best assets in a body-hugging, bright pink bandage dress.
The fellas also looked tight on the carpet. Joe Jonas wore all black with white sneakers, Ne-Yo paired his periwinkle suit with a Yankees cap and Justin Bieber wore black tuxedo pants with a gold-lamé tuxedo jacket.
Which stars' styles caught your eye at the Billboard Music Awards? Tell us in the comments.
'I think she has a distinct sound when she raps,' Spears says of Femme Fatale Tour opening act. By Christina Garibaldi
Britney Spears Photo: MTV News
When the news that Britney Spears was taking MC Nicki Minaj on the road with her hit, fans — and Brit herself — couldn't have been more excited. The Femme Fatale Tour is now in full swing, with both women bringing their A-game to each performance. And along the way, it seems as if these two have sparked a friendship.
"I think she's great," Spears told MTV News of Minaj. "She's a great artist in every way and I'm really happy for her."
Minaj, who is nominated for three Video Music Awards, brings her own flair to the girl-power tour, adding her eccentric style, her fiery wigs and, of course, her signature beats.
"I think she has a distinct sound when she raps," Spears said. "It really stands out and sets her apart from everyone else. I'm happy she's able to be on tour with me because that's just amazing."
Last month, we caught up with Minaj just before she hit the road with the pop veteran, and she was ready to take that distinct sound to a whole new fanbase.
"I'm just trying to put more theater on that stage. So much to me is music, but it's also about putting on a show, so that's my goal: to truly put on a show and incorporate theater and dance," Minaj said.
And if you're lucky, you might just catch Spears and Minaj teaming up for a special performance of the remix for "Till the World Ends."
"At the end of the show, the last song she comes on every once in awhile," Spears said of Minaj joining her onstage. "Not every show, but it's usually special when she does it."
Will you see Britney and Nicki on tour this summer? Let us know in the comments.
"[I'm] focused on music again, about to start working on a new album and get back out there again," he said during the chat at his house in Miami. "I'm excited about the project. It's going to be really dope."
Given the intensity of his accident and the recovery process, Kingston has a whole new perspective on songwriting. "I haven't lost no memory; I think I'm even better at writing and stuff," he said. "Being in the hospital, having all this time off, I've been writing and coming up with different ideas. I'm ready to go."
Kingston is best known for his reggae-infused pop tracks like "Beautiful Girls" and "Take You There," and his still-in-the-works new album will certainly touch on the sound that catapulted him to stardom. "I'm going back in with my producer J.R. [Rotem], who did really big records for me. I'm going back to the whole reggae, island-pop thing. I'm going back to my roots," he said.
"I think it's definitely going to open up a lot of people, because now I got a story to tell," he later said. "The world needs to know what I'm coming with, 'cause I'm coming with straight heat. I've been down. I've been in the house coming up with ideas. My producer J.R., he's a hitmaker. It's gonna be my third album, I'm older now. It's gonna be crazy."
While in the hospital, Kingston had his jaw wired shut for a time. It was a situation Kanye West once found himself in that sparked his first hit "Through the Wire." Kingston certainly wouldn't rule out writing a song about his recovery — or working with 'Ye, for that matter.
"Oh man, he's in my top five rappers," he said. "I met him twice, and he's a great person. He's definitely talented. I'm actually waiting for him and the Jay-Z album [Watch the Throne] to drop. I'd be more than excited to collaborate with him."
Kingston — the Jamaican-American singer who broke onto the scene with the "Stand by Me"-sampling song "Beautiful Girls" and scored another hit with the Justin Bieber collabo "Eenie Meenie" last year — was rushed to the hospital May 29 after a jet-ski crash. He explained to Sway that he was going about 35 miles an hour when he miscalculated how high the tide had risen and collided with a bridge.
What are you expecting from new Sean Kingston music? Let us know in the comments!
The Bajan beauty, who was recently romantically linked to Drake, was spotted enjoying some “hot and heavy” dancing with her former flame – who she dated in 2006 before shooting to fame as a singer – at the Kadooment Day festival in her home nation of Barbados. A friend said: “Negus has hardly left her [...]
Gaga sang 'Edge of Glory' and talked about her difficult early years. By Gil Kaufman
Lady Gaga visits SiriusXM July 18, 2011 Photo: Maro Hagopian/SiriusXM
For months, Sirius radio host Howard Stern has been bellyaching about how Lady Gaga seemed to be talking to everyone except him. So, when the singer stopped in to chat on Monday morning (July 18), the notorious radio host made sure to make the most of it, indulging in one of his show's longest celebrity chats in recent memory, a nearly 90-minute ramble in which he got Gaga to talk about fame, fashion, sex, drugs and rock and roll.
For the most part, the interview hit many of the highlights of Gaga's now-legendary rise to superstardom: her childhood fascination with piano, the first song she ever wrote, her move to Manhattan as a teenager and the one-year ultimatum her dad gave her after she dropped out of college. But she also revealed a bit more about her offstage self and the inspirations behind some of her most beloved tunes.
"I really don't give a f--- about money at all," Gaga said when Stern tried to get the singer to dish on how much money her album sales and tours have grossed. In fact, she said she still lives in a tiny Brooklyn apartment and has only bought two things with her newfound riches: heart surgery and a car for her dad. "The Monster Ball was really expensive and the next show will be really expensive and I will pay for it," she said of the 2012 extravaganza that she's planning.
There was, however, one topic even the famously prying Stern couldn't goad Gaga could into talking about: her love life.
"What boyfriend? ... Who's Jean Luc?" she joked when Stern asked about what her closest friends call her offstage. (Even her parents call her Gaga at this point, she said, especially when they're mad at her.) "It's hard to find a boyfriend who doesn't mind a good tuck," she added, throwing more fuel on the fire of the absurdly tenacious Internet rumors about her gender.
"My first love is music," she explained, though when Stern asked whether she had been intimate with anyone recently, she laughed, "I got laid last night ... the guys who are here are my best friends in the whole world. You're talking about Luc Carl; he's been my best friend since I was 19."
Gaga stressed that Carl is still her best friend, sidestepping the boyfriend issue once again — and that he's going to launch a Sirius satellite radio show soon.
One of the stories Stern was predictably fascinated with was the fact that Gaga's first piano teacher was a stripper who danced at one of the radio host's favorite New York gentleman's clubs, Scores, leading him to wonder if he'd ever gotten a lap dance from Gaga's instructor.
Back in the day, in fact, before she was famous, Gaga said she used to dance on fire escapes and pretend she was a star, an image she re-created for her "The Edge of Glory" video. But those pre-fame days were also difficult, as she toiled at waitressing jobs and turned to drugs when she felt lonely, something she now really regrets. "To any little sweethearts that are listening ... don't touch [cocaine], it's the devil."
Though she's best known for writing her own songs, Gaga discussed the two tracks she's written for Britney Spears, "Quicksand" (which appeared on the Circus album), and "Telephone," which Spears recorded, but never released. Asked if it bummed her out that "Telephone" was rejected by Spears, Gaga said, "Hell no! Frickin' Britney Spears sang my record! I was doing back flips and ordering drinks!"
After describing how she came up with "Born This Way" while in the shower, Gaga pulled out her BlackBerry and played a number of early demos of her songs, including the first, vocals-only take on "Highway Unicorn," her first pass on the chorus to "Judas" and a snippet of a bouncy new song she wasn't ready to unleash yet. She also described how "Marry the Night" was inspired by the moment when she decided that she was not willing to become another one of those California club people after spending some time on the Left Coast early in her career trying to fit in. " 'No thanks ... see you later, it's been nice in the sun,' and I went back to New York and I married the night," she said of why she would never move to Cali, preferring the divey, shots-and-pool-table bars in her native city.
"Do I feel like a powerful person in show business? Yeah," she said when Stern wondered if she will use her newfound powers in the industry for good or evil.
The appearance also featured a performance of "Glory," with Gaga prefacing with a story about how it was inspired by her grandfather's passing, the first death of a close family member she'd ever experienced. "When my grandma was saying goodbye [to my grandfather], there was something so intense that happened for me that I saw ... as sad as the moment was, they both were acknowledging that they had really won in life because they had each other," she said of the 60-year marriage of her grandparents.
On the day her grandpa died, Gaga said she and her father sat down at the piano in their home and traded shots of tequila and she told her pops, "Grandpa's about to cross over into his glorious moment. It's hard now because he's on the edge." Right then, Gaga said she began playing piano and the song just tumbled out of her. She recorded it and played the emerging tune for her grandfather that day over the phone, and she's convinced he could hear it. He passed just hours later.
"It's about also knowing in your heart that you may never reach that glorious moment until you die, so live life on the edge — halfway between heaven and hell — and let's all dance in the middle in purgatory," she said before playing an affecting solo piano version of the tune.
And, in honor of Stern's notoriously luxurious locks, she also performed the Born This Way tune "Hair," explaining that it was inspired by her rebellious teenage Grateful Dead phase, when her mother would sneak in and chop off her gross, dread-y hair in her sleep to keep her looking neat and clean.
Legendary singer's impact continues to blossom in the two years since his death; MTV News breaks down the figures. By Gil Kaufman
Michael Jackson Photo: Kevin Mazur/ WireImage
Like Elvis, Bob Marley, Notorious B.I.G. and Frank Sinatra before him, Michael Jackson's influence has continued, and grown, since his untimely death on June 25, 2009.
On the second anniversary of the King of Pop's passing, MTV News took a look at the enduring appeal of MJ's music, videos and imagery, which continue to fascinate and attract fans across the globe thanks to a series of posthumous albums, a movie, video games and two upcoming Cirque du Soleil live shows.
$72 million: According to Box Office Mojo, Jackson's posthumous concert film, "This Is It," has grossed more than $72 million to date domestically and $189 million in foreign markets for a worldwide take over more than $261 million. It ranks as the #2 music documentary of all-time behind Justin Bieber's "Never Say Never." The film has also generated nearly $45 million in DVD sales in the U.S.
16: In May, Jackson lodged his first #1 on the Billboard magazine Dance/ Club Play Songs chart in 16 years with the latest single from his posthumous Michael album, "Hollywood Tonight."
2: Number of posthumous albums that have been released since Michael's death in June 2009. Last year's Michael has sold just over 510,000 copies to date, while the This Is It collection has moved nearly 1 million copies to date in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan.
15,000: The number of videos submitted by fans since March for the crowdsourced video for "Behind the Mask." After they were edited down by a five-person team over two months, the resulting clip used submissions from more than 1,600 participants from 103 countries.
$1 billion: That gaudy figure is the reported amount the Jackson estate had generated by last June on the first anniversary of the singer's death. According to Billboard, the revenue was generated by a combination of music sales ($429 million), film/TV revenue ($392 million), music publishing ($130 million), licensing ($35 million) and a $31 million recording contract. (A spokesperson for Jackson's estate declined to provide updated figures for this story.)
$310 million: The amount of gross earnings reported by the executors of the estate in a December 2010 court filing detailing the progress made in paying off the $400 million in debt run up by the spendthrift singer during his lifetime.
16.1 million: MJ was always a big singles artist. Yes, Thriller is one of the best-selling albums of all time, but even in death, fans can't resist cherry-picking some of Michael's best songs. That explains why he's sold more than 16 million digital tracks since June 28, 2009, the first sales week following his passing, according to Nielsen SoundScan. To put that in perspective, from the time Nielsen began counting digital tracks in 2004 until the week before Jackson's death, the singer had sold just over 8.1 million digital tracks, a figure that has doubled in just the past two years.
2013: The projected launch for a second, non-touring Cirque show celebrating Jackson. The yet-untitled show is slated to open in the spring of 2013 at a new theater being built at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.
$25 million to $50 million: That's how much Jackson's estate takes in on an annual basis thanks to his stake in the half-million-song Sony/ATV catalog, which includes titles by Elvis, Lady Gaga, Eminem, Beyoncé and Bob Dylan.
Share your memories of Michael Jackson in the comments.
Rupert Wyatt doesn't share Franco's concern that 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' will suffer because of his involvement. By Eric Ditzian
Freida Pinto and James Franco in "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" Photo: Twentieth Century Fox Film
James Franco is worried. Is the what's-that-dude's-deal backlash going to follow him into the multiplex?
There's the Oscar debacle and the dozen or so degrees he's pursuing and the "Three's Company" performance-art installation and any number of other accomplishments and interests that get on some people's nerves, and Franco is fearful his newest movie, "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," is going to suffer because of it all.
"Critics will be out to kill this movie and blame me for it just because they are out to kill me," he said in a July Playboy interview. "Last year people were pretty nice. This is the year when people are going to have fun going after me."
One person who isn't concerned is "Apes" director Rupert Wyatt. "I think people are going to see this film, hopefully, for the film," the British filmmaker told MTV News at San Diego Comic-Con. "Those that will go see this film for James Franco will still see the film for James Franco. I totally understand where he's coming from. Obviously he took a bit of a knock with the Oscars, but at the end of the day, he's an actor and that's his job."
Likely helping matters, from critical reviews to box-office pop, is that "Apes" is a first-rate piece of popcorn entertainment. And, honestly, we're kind of surprised to say that. But after checking out an early screening, we can say the story is engrossing, the CG apes look amazing, and Andy Serkis, as the lead ape, delivers one heck of an emotional performance. Seriously! The humans, even Franco himself, take a backseat to Serkis' motion-captured performance as Caesar, the super-smart simian who leads his fellow creatures in their San Francisco-trashing uprising.
For his part, Serkis credits his co-star with helping create a believable relationship between Caesar and Franco's kindhearted but misguided scientist. "It was amazing working with him," Serkis told us. "It really is a testament if they can truly believe the person opposite them — who is wearing a performance-capture suit with a head-mounted camera — actually go full-on and have a relationship with them. It's all about believability. All credit to him that he bought into the whole process."
