While Kings of Leon were breaking records a few blocks south, Kelly Clarkson was attracting her own horde of die-hards to New York City’s Central Park for a performance on “Good Morning America.” The wet morning didn’t prevent fans in “I Luv Kelly Clarkson” T-shirts from forming the biggest crowd for any artist in the show’s Summer Concert Series this year.
Clarkson chased the rain away and brought in the humidity to Central Park. She told everyone that she needed a fan because she had “a little perspiration” and performed barefoot while she belted out tunes from her latest album All I Ever Wanted. Her performances were electrifying, and it was easy to see how much the very first “American Idol” has transformed into a complete rock star, jumping around — and inspiring the crowd to do that same — during her hit “If I Can’t Have You.”
Clarkson also performed her controversial hit “Already Gone,” which has come under fire for sounding a bit too much like Beyoncé’s “Halo” (both of which were written by OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder). Although the two songs sound alike when played back to back, Clarkson still owns the song, and it sounded like she may have actually tweaked the arrangement a bit. Clarkson became a star when the country voted for her on a television show, but she’s stayed a star because killer instincts and strong performances like this one.
As thousands of fans stood outside of NBC studios this morning for “Today,” it felt like a flashback to the JoBros’ appearance on the show earlier this month, but this time, “Today” hosted another set of brothers to their summer stage: crossover indie rock darlings Kings of Leon. It was the sixth early-morning concert I’ve attended this summer, and just like the others, the Kings of Leon performance was well worth the early wake-up call.
The Tennessee natives — three brothers and their cousin — attracted hordes of followers who stood in the pouring rain waiting for the show to start. Despite the wet surroundings and the family-friendly environment, guitarist Matthew Followill still made a rock star’s entrace, lazily smoking a cigarette while tuning his guitar as the brothers talked amongst themselves.
The rain finally let up right after a quick soundcheck, just in time for a dry performance. As the umbrellas came down and the tents were put up, the band ripped into their majestic hit “Use Somebody.” The band, who first gained a following in Europe and have spent a lot of time there recently, commented about how nice it was to be home and how much they were looking forward to their upcoming U.S. tour.
Following a few minutes of addressing the comparison to U2 (”Those are pretty big shoes to fill,” said singer Caleb), the band finished up the set with “Notion” and “Sex on Fire,” both from their fourth album Only By the Night (which just attained platinum status). Despite their huge success, they seemed humbled by the huge crowd and took time to thank the crowd for stopping by. That took a while, especially considering they attracted the largest crowd in the concert series’ history, with over 20,000 ticket requests. The Followills may not be as big as the Jonas Brothers, but they’ve got that leg up.
When I got the opportunity to spend an afternoon with director Tim Burton while he was interviewed by MTV News’ Josh Horowitz, I had certain expectations. After all, this ridiculously innovative filmmaker made a name for himself diving deep into the dark recesses of the imagination with eerie flicks like “Edward Scissorhands” and “Beetlejuice” along with the upcoming “Alice in Wonderland” and his latest project as a producer, “9.” So I assumed that he would be a little dark, sort of mysterious and perhaps even a bit cantankerous.
I was only partially right. Even though he’s not the most recognizable guy, he walked in wearing dark sunglasses and black clothing and I immediately could tell this is the guy behind “Corpse Bride” and “Sweeney Todd.” I grew up watching his movies, which kickstarted my own interest in film. He’s a little dark, sure, but he’s also a warm guy who talks passionately about his own work and the people who contribute to that work.
Naturally, that means Johnny Depp. Tim spoke to MTV News about his relationship with Johnny, and in the most basic of terms, they just get each other. There’s no other real explanation necessary, and I think it’s a blessing to have an artistic collaborator to whom you never need to explain anything because he or she always knows where you’re coming from.
I can guarantee that we all will be waiting patiently for the release of both “Alice In Wonderland” and “9.” The expectations for Burton are always high, but he always manages to top himself, and I’m always ready to stand in line at midnight screenings to see what’s next.
Thursday night’s “So You Think You Can Dance” results show opened with the top six dancing to “Send In The Clowns,” but the song proved to be most meaningful to 29-year-old ballerina Melissa Sandvig and contemporary dancer Ade Obayomi, who the ones eliminated from the competition by the end of the tense hour.
Here’s where I rant.
As adorable and likeable as the guy is, Broadway-loving Evan does not deserve to advance to the finals. Sorry, Evan fans! He has failed to live up to his promise week to week, even when dancing in his genre. The fact that the judges have started to inexplicably pimp him (after bashing him throughout the first half of the season) makes me resent his presence even more. Evan’s got a massive number of fans who think he can do no wrong (how else to explain his staying power?), which scares me. To think that he could beat out a well-rounded, spectacular dancer like Brandon or Kayla? Hell to the no!
As far as the ladies go, I’m still not over Janette’s elimination from last week. (I know, I need therapy.) I was almost as sad to see Melissa go this week. She was this season’s real underdog, and her arc on the show proved that you can teach an old dog new tricks. (She also has a sparkling personality and drop-dead gorgeous looks, which didn’t hurt.)
When I look at the two eliminated contestants, I think about all the memorable routines they’ve danced this season: “Romeo and Juliet,” “The Age of Aquarius,” “Breast Cancer” and Ade’s gravity-defying flips. Now compare that track record with Evan, whose highlights can be whittled down to maybe one or two solos and a killer story about his brother from the audition episodes. Gah!
Okay, enough ranting. Let’s dish about the rest of the hour…
Aside from the results, Thursday night’s “So You Think You Can Dance” brought back last season’s dancers to perform the four Emmy-nominated routines. What a treat to see last year’s faves return! Will now has dreads, Joshua shaved his head, Katee is smokin’ hot and Jessica was better than I remembered. For me, the biggest disappointment was watching Chelsea and Mark reprise one of my fave SYTYCD routines, “Bleeding Love.” Having committed the dance to memory by watching it online about 5,000 times since last summer, I was distracted by any and every miniscule alteration. To me, the two dancers just weren’t “down in the floor” enough. When they performed in competition last year, they glided from move to move. Thursday night, it looked more like they were bopping around.
The highlight of the show, however, was from “America’s Best Dance Crew” superstars the Jabbawockeez! Their razor-sharp “Freak A Zoid” routine was a stellar example of why “So You Think You Can Dance” needs to do a better job casting hip-hop dancers next season.
What did you think? Did the correct two go home? And do you think Ade’s leaked nude photos (which were not mentioned during the broadcast) were a factor in his elimination this week? And who do you think is the one to beat going into next week’s finals?
Eminem’s beef with Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon escalated earlier today when his latest dis track “The Warning” was unleashed on the masses. The bile-filled rant was recorded in response to Carey’s “Obsessed,” which most people believed was about the rapper even though both her and husband Cannon have categorically denied that that song and video are aimed at the man born Marshall Mathers. “The Warning” represents a return to beef for Eminem, which was a cornerstone of his early career. In spite of (or perhaps because of) his staggering success, the early part of his career always saw him involved in some public feud or another, be it with the Insane Clow Posse, Christina Aguilera, Ja Rule, Benzino or Everlast.
But in 2004, Eminem very publicly decided that he was going to put beef to rest for good. In an interview with MTV News’ Sway, Em discussed the nature of his feuds and how easily they escalated. “We started inheriting each other’s beef,” he told Sway. “50 inherited mine, so now he can’t be on the cover of The Source magazine ’cause I got this beef over here. He’s being attacked by Ja. Ja is saying things about me, then all of a sudden comes out and says a line about my daughter — and when it got to that level, that’s when it got crazy to me. That’s when it got crazy. But ‘Toy Soldiers’ is a song saying how serious the beef can get, and people can die over this sh–.” Indeed, the track and video “Like Toy Soldiers” (from 2004’s Encore) attempts to put everything to rest and allow for all parties to walk away with dignity.
But now Eminem is back on the offensive, taking down Carey and Cannon on the Relapse track “Bagpipes From Baghdad” and now with “The Warning.” It seems as though he’s reversed his stance from a few years back. “You know, we’re not really looking to start no beef,” he told Sway. “We’re usually not the beef-starters, despite the little stabs taken at pop singers and all that stuff. That’s not real beef; that’s ha-ha-ha funny.” It seemed like this particular feud started out in the “ha-ha-ha” mode, and considering the savagery of “The Warning,” let’s hope it remains that way.
