Music Artists, Videos and News

As the week comes to a close here in the MTV Newsroom, we’re left with a handful of questions before we slide out the door and into the weekend. Is it too late to start training for the New York Marathon? (Answer: Yes, as it’s Sunday.) Is this weekend when we roll the clocks back? (Yes, so enjoy an extra hour of sleep before running the marathon.) What’s going to be the most popular costume for Halloween? (We’ve already seen more Sookie Stackhouses than we care to count.) But most importantly: What might you have missed this week here on the Newsroom blog? Lucky for you,
we have whole cornucopia of answers ready and waiting for your clicking pleasure.

» The World Series kicked off this week, with the Phillies and the Yankees each taking a game in the Bronx. We still think the Yankees have the better playlist, but the Phils do have the power of AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck.”

» “Michael Jackson’s This Is It” premiered this week, and Adam Lambert and Paula Abdul celebrated at MTV’s red carpet premiere.

» Speaking of Lambert, he revealed the cover for his album For Your Entertainment this week, which caused Jim Cantiello to go a little bit insane and insert himself into some crazy “American Idol” album covers.

» The next day, the craziness continued.

» And obviously, with any good bout of madness, there are always outtakes and deleted scenes.

» Speaking of album covers, Rihanna unveiled hers as well. The people weighed in, but what do you think?

» Justin Bieber dropped a new single this week, and it really made us want to put on a sweater.

» Joe Jonas changed his hairstyle, and everything turned out just fine.

» Har Mar Superstar made a rare appearance in the consciousness of the public, and he brought plenty of caftans to share.

» Taylor Swift and Taylor Lautner may or may not be dating, but that’s beside the point. More importantly: Which is your favorite famous Taylor?

» Sarah McLachlan brought back Lilith Fair this week, so we brought back tape of an all-star jam of Indigo Girls “Closer to Fine.” Oh, the ’90s.

» You know who else hosted all-star jams this week? The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame anniversary concert. But despite the fact that Bruce Springsteen traded solos with Tom Morello, they weren’t as stirring as Tom Hanks’ performance of “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It).”

» Eminem, Black Thought and Mos Def traded rhymes in a freestyle cypher at the BET Awards. It wasn’t a competition, but for the record, Thought totally killed it.

» Eric Cartman (of “South Park” fame) added to his legacy of amazing musical performances with an incredibly intense rendition of Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face.”

» And finally, just in case you can’t get into a World Series game, just grab a press pass and wander onto the field. Follow Swizz Beatz for bonus points!

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“He’s kinda more concerned about getting as much music as he possibly can, so that when he’s in there, people are still satisfied musically with Lil Wayne product. That’s just the mind of a true businessman. I’ll just do what I can to keep the whole Young Money/ Cash Money team going. I just want to play my part as a team member and keep the brand strong until the boss gets home.”

-Rapper Drake, speaking to RapUp.com about Lil Wayne’s impending stay in jail. Drake, who signed to Weezy’s Young Money label over the summer, talked to the hip-hop Web site about what will become of the Young Money crew while Wayne is incarcerated. Wayne’s commitment to churning out product has already begun, as he unveils the new No Ceilings mixtape this weekend. The tape will contain even more tracks than the version that leaked earlier this week, and it seems like Wayne will be banking as much music as possible between now and when he gets locked up. In the meantime, he still has his rock-oriented Rebirth album on the release docket, as well as a Young Money crew album.

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It’s kind of hard to beat a shelf that already sags under the weight of bobbleheads of Jason Vorhees, Napoleon Dynamite, Al Franken and the 40-Year-Old Virgin (complete with realistic chest hair removal patterns). But then I feasted my eyes on the piece de resistance of completely unnecessary but must-have gross-out collectibles: The GG Allin 1991 Extra Filthy Bloody Edition bobble.

Aggronautix, the same demented people who have created wobbly-necked figurines of such similarly obscure punk rock icons as Tesco Vee of the Meatmen, Milo of the Descendents and the barely-legal Dwarves, have truly gone all out for the second edition of the Allin figure, which commemorates the scat-loving punk icon in all his messy glory.

From the bloody hematoma on his forehead to the true Manchu beard-mustache combo, bloody cuts on his body and guaranteed-to-offend tattoos, this seven-inch tall likeness of the late punker best known for using the stage as a toilet, performing naked and attacking his fans is for the hardcore only. A reissue of a 1991 bobblehead, this new, 500 numbered unit version promises “copious amounts of blood and filth.”

Have we mentioned that the GG figure gets a thumbs up from “The Hangover” director Todd Phillips? (Keeping in mind that his directorial debut was the Allin documentary “Hated,” so maybe he’s a bit biased.)

It’s never too early to start your holiday shopping, so grab one of these and cross mom off of your list!

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Celebrity couples are nothing new, but some are more intriguing than others. And the romances associated with the “Twilight” movies are even more fascinating, as they draw us ever closer to that fantasy world of morphing werewolves and shimmering vampires. While the world still debates whether or not Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson are actually a couple, another “Twilight”-centric romance may be bubbling up. Taylor Lautner, the muscle-bound, oft-shirtless actor who plays Jacob in “Twilight,” has been repeatedly spotted spending quality time with Kanye West’s favorite interruption target Taylor Swift. The 20-year-old country superstar has denied that the two are dating (she says they’re just “really close”), but rumors continue to build a case for their actual courtship.

But whether or not they’re dating is hardly the issue. What’s really at stake here is who the superior Taylor is. When was the last time we had two ultra-famous people named Taylor walking the Earth at the same time? Like “The Highlander,” there can be only one, so we grabbed a video camera and our trusty MTV News microphone and found some people to weigh in on who their favorite Taylor is.

The spectacularly unscientific results are in, and in what might be considered an upset, Swift walked away the winner with ȧ percent of the vote. In fact, it’s pretty clear that even though Lautner is a heartthrob, his fame is nowhere near that of Swift’s (one of the respondents who didn’t know who Lautner was thought he was a woman).

What do you think? Is Swift the superior Taylor, or are you on Team Lautner? Leave your thoughts in the comments or head over to Your.MTV.com to make your voice heard!

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By Jayson Rodriguez

Last night, deep inside the bowels of the new Yankee Stadium, Shaheem Reid and I found ourselves given free rein to roam pretty much anywhere we wanted to in the Bronx venue. During game two. Of the World Series.

Now, we’ve both been backstage at some major concerts before. Or inside recording studios when hits were being created.

But this experience was entirely different.

Two music journalists who are big (big!) sports fans with the opportunity to masquerade as baseball writers with credentials to go just about anywhere we wanted. Only the guys in the Phillies and Yankees uniforms had more access than us. (And maybe that Jay-Z fellow who performed last night before the game.)

When we walked into the stadium we were overwhelmed by the amount of people, cheers and general pandemonium that ensues during a game of this caliber.

We quickly found a staircase and traveled down to the field level and unexpectedly ran into Swizz Beatz, who told us Jay-Z and Alicia Keys were about to head onto the field. We hurried along with him and soon spotted Jay-Z’s camp. The second Swizz yelled out, “There goes Jay!” it seemed like we stumbled onto the stage like Lil Mama to witness something epic.

Jay-Z was standing behind the left field wall, which slowly opened up to let him out onto the field like he was Yankees closer Mariano Rivera.

The view we had was just like the beginning shot of his performance at the VMAs last month: A panoramic shot from behind as Jay-Z walked into the stadium with 50,000 pumped-up Yankee fans going crazy.

We swung around and walked through a back door that delivered us right into the Phillies’ bullpen, where we could see Pedro Martinez warming up. Soon, Shaheem, myself, and Jay’s team were walking along the warning track to get a closer view of the proceedings. When Sha and I hunkered down to watch, we were along the third base line flanked by Swizz to the left and Philadephia’s Jayson Werth to the right.

Needless to say, Jay-Z ripped through his Alicia Keys-assisted performance of “Empire State of Mind” as effortlessly as A.J. Burnett’s curveball confounded Ryan Howard all night.

Immediately after his performance, Jay returned back underneath the stadium and huddled with Swizz Beats for a few pictures. He spotted two-thirds of the 1515 Boys and stepped over to drop off two pounds.

With the Maybach waiting, he muttered “Let’s go,” and with the speed of Jimmy Rollins on the basepaths, Hov exited the building. Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys hopped into a golf cart and were whisked away.

Shaheem and I wondered around again before an employee offered to usher us around. A few turns here and there, a short walk down a hallway and we were back on the field again to see John Legend sing “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

Just me, Sha … and Ozzie Guillen.

Click here for photos from Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’ performance of “Empire State of Mind” at Yankee Stadium!

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