Kings of Leon (file)

Photo: Gareth Cattermole/ Getty Images

NEW YORK — The spirit and energy of the 2009 mtvU Woodie Awards — the madcap awards show that celebrates independent music and college radio across the country — was distilled entirely in the show’s opening performance.

Once the lights dimmed at Roseland Ballroom, house DJ Diplo cranked out booty-shaking jams while the giant video screens showed Brooklyn new-wave duo Matt and Kim riding through the city on bicycles. Once they arrived, they stormed the stage and kicked into “Lessons Learned.” Flanked by eight backup singers who gradually stripped down to their underwear (in a nod to the Video Music Award-winning video for the same song), the duo jubilantly pounded out the song. Unlike this year’s VMAs, stage crashers were welcomed during Matt and Kim’s three minutes of joy, and Kim herself mounted the crowd at the end.

	Woodie Awards Show Highlights

From there, Pete Wentz — dressed casually and holding a red plastic cup (a common accessory throughout the evening) — sauntered onstage and officially kicked off the show, which airs December 4 at 10 p.m. on MTV, MTV2 and mtvU. What followed was a cavalcade of fun-loving guest appearances, energy-packed performances and plenty of enthusiastic crowd interaction.

Zooey Deschanel appeared next, running off a long and complicated story about cloning herself to find out about more bands and presenting the Breaking Woodie award to Never Shout Never. 3OH!3 turned plenty of heads when they appeared dressed in the same red-lace costume Lady Gaga wore to the VMAs, then handed the Left Field Woodie to a grateful Tech N9ne. Other winners included Hotel of the Laughing Tree (the Long Island quintet who picked up the Best Music on Campus Woodie and seemed overwhelmed by the whole fiasco), Green Day (who were absent, forcing Asher Roth to accept in their honor — which he did by leaping into the crowd while wearing a throwback basketball jersey) and Matt and Kim (who won the Best Video Woodie for “Lessons Learned”).

On the performance front, nobody could quite match the manic grandeur of Matt and Kim, but Passion Pit (who whipped the crowd into a frenzy with a ridiculous rendition of “The Reeling”) and the Clipse, (who brought out Cam’ron and Rick Ross for a chaotic but thrilling run through a handful of lightning-tongue verses) came pretty close. With all the flailing limbs and semi-nude people, it was easy to miss the easy poise of Death Cab for Cutie, who rolled through their “New Moon” soundtrack song, “Meet Me on the Equinox,” with an arena-rock grace, clearly cementing themselves as not only the night’s elder statesmen, but also the band ready for much bigger rooms than Roseland.

By the end of the evening, the crowd was soaked with sweat but still swaying and dancing and drinking. Like the best college party, it hardly mattered who won in the end (that would be Kings of Leon, who scored the night’s top honor of Woodie of the Year).

Don’t miss the 2009 mtvU Woodie Awards, airing on December 4 at 10 p.m. on MTV, MTV2 and mtvU!

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Lady Gaga in the “Video Phone” music video

Photo: Columbia/Music World

Monday night was the premiere of Lady Gaga and Beyoncé’s sexy, Hype Williams-directed “Video Phone” video, featuring the two pop stars dancing and posing pin-up style with massive toy guns and matching leotards.

The clip is charged with energy, and the cynics out there might wonder if putting two sizzling divas in a room together created any kind of rivalry. But Gaga says there was no such thing.

“What I was excited about is with B, I had no ego,” Gaga told MTV News about the collaboration. “Neither of us had an ego. It wasn’t about competition. It was about, like, ‘Man let’s give the world what they want. Let’s do a real girl-power collaboration where we support one other.’ ”

For the Day-Glo-tinged video, Gaga ditched her typical avant-garde look and styled herself more like Beyoncé. “I said, ‘I want to do you in your video, and I want to tribute you. I want to dress up like you,’ ” she recalled telling her co-star. “And Hype Williams … was so excited. He was like, ‘Gaga I want no makeup on your face.’ It was really stripped down — real Beyoncé hair, and we wore the same outfit in the video, and I [paid tribute to] her.”

Gaga, whose own gothic-pop aesthetic has grown more elaborate as her popularity has risen, said she wanted to honor B for creating her own style. “I wanted to [work with her] because this was an era for her in her career where she defined herself aesthetically,” she said. “And that should be applauded that a woman did that. She’s so great at what she does.”

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Beyoncé in the “Video Phone” video

Photo: Columbia/Music World

When one imagines a collaboration between Beyoncé, Lady Gaga and Hype Williams, the mind reels with visions of outlandish costumes, hip-displacing dance moves, DayGlo flames, fish-eye lenses … the list goes on and on.

Thus, it’s a little surprising that the just-released clip for Beyoncé’s “Video Phone” has nary a flame or fish-eye shot (there are, of course, plenty of outlandish costumes). However, don’t make the mistake of thinking this video is by any means straightforward — it’s plenty WTF!

Opening with a tracking shot that pays homage to Quentin Tarantino’s 1992 flick “Reservoir Dogs” (and features Beyoncé wearing a Zorro mask) and closing with her firing an assault rifle while seated atop a motorcycle, it’s a decidedly weird trip, a cartoonish fantasy brought to life. There’s an extended sequence where Beyoncé dresses up as ’50s pinup Bettie Page, and other parts where she handles more firearms than a Guns & Ammo editor. There are eyeball-popping colors and head-spinning edits, too.

But weirdest of all is Gaga’s cameo — mostly because it’s shockingly normal. She’s not wearing some gravity-defying outfit or hairstyle: She sings a verse, fires a sidearm and then works her way through a chair-dance routine with B (which, it should be noted, is pretty great). And then she disappears.

(Gaga said last month that she told Beyoncé, “I don’t want to show up in some frickin’ hair bow and be fashion Gaga in your video.’ I said, ‘I want to do you,’ ” which offers some explanation.)

It’s definitely not the Gaga we’re used to seeing, but her appearance isn’t exactly run-of-the-mill, either. And neither is this video, for that matter. Especially not when you’re watching Beyoncé snap her gum and shake her hips and grope an AK-47 while the screen pops from electric green to Kool-Aid red.

If only all videos were this “normal” …

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Lady Gaga onstage at the MOCA 30th Anniversary gala on Saturday

Photo: John Shearer/ Getty Images

On Saturday night in Los Angeles, Lady Gaga brought her music and sense of style to the art world when she performed at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art’s 30th Anniversary gala. The singer performed the ballad “Speechless,” from her forthcoming album The Fame Monster, side by side with dancers from Russia’s Bolshoi Ballet.

Other A-listers on hand to celebrate the museum’s anniversary included Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale, James Franco, and Jessica Biel.
According The Wall Street Journal, Gaga played a piano designed by artist Damien Hirst while the dancers wore outfits designed by architect Frank Gehry, fashion designer Miuccia Prada and filmmaker Baz Luhrmann. The performance art piece was conceived by artist Francesco Vezzoli. Gaga wore a silvery gray ball gown with what appeared to be a papier-mâché headpiece.

“To have all of these very amazing art lovers — a very high-brow art community — to be engaged in the commercial community and blend the two together … having my fans watch the video and be exposed to a level of art and a level of install that they may have never seen before, it’s so beautiful,” Gaga said about being part of the star-studded event.

Speaking to the press with her friend and photographer David LaChapelle at her side, Gaga continued, “The true mark of collaboration is a genuine union and a back and forth and a trajectory and something that’s symbiotic,” she explained. “And that’s what happens when you don’t stifle the creativity of others. That’s when the lie becomes the truth.”

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Lil Wayne in his “Got Money” music video

Photo: Universal Motown Records

There will be no recession in record stores over the holidays. In fact, with major releases from some of the biggest names in music slated to hit stores over the next six weeks, this shopping season is packed with one of the biggest bumper crop of anticipated releases in years.

Unlike past years, when hyped albums by Madonna, Eminem, U2 and other megastars were the focus of shoppers’ action, this year’s offerings span a wide variety of new stars (the “American Idol” triumvirate of Kris Allen, Adam Lambert and Allison Iraheta), reissues by Beyoncé and Lady Gaga, a greatest-hits collection from Britney Spears and highly anticipated albums from Rihanna, 50 Cent and Shakira. (All dates are subject to change.)

November 17
First out the gate are a number of albums that have been kicking around for so long, some people began to wonder if they would ever hit shelves. Chief among them is 50 Cent’s Before I Self-Destruct, a disc that has been pushed around for nearly a year as the G-Unit boss made room for his capo, Eminem, to release Relapse. Kid Sister will also finally get a street date for her long-simmering Ultraviolet album, which has been in the offing even longer than 50’s disc.

“Idol” winner Kris Allen will come out of the gate with his self-titled debut, which will vie for attention with the debut from Diddy pal Justin Bieber (My World), John Mayer’s Battle Studies and “MTV Unplugged” disc from Katy Perry. Also, look for the Fall Out Boy greatest-hits album, Believers Never Die

November 23
Thanksgiving week will blow things out even more, as turkey-stuffed shoppers will be able to choose from two Beyoncé albums: a live disc called I Am … Yours: An Intimate Performance at Wynn Las Vegas, as well as a deluxe edition of her I Am … Sasha Fierce album. She’ll be fighting for attention with a deluxe edition of Britney Spears’ The Singles Collection, two versions of Lady Gaga’s The Fame Monster reissue, Shakira’s She Wolf and Rihanna’s Rated R.

A couple of divas could spoil things for the array of superstars, as “Britain’s Got Talent” breakout Susan Boyle drops her first effort, I Dreamed a Dream, and “Idol” glam rocker Adam Lambert offers up his bedazzled For Your Entertainment. Also set for release is Pricele$$ from Cash Money boss Birdman and the self-titled debut from BlakRoc, anchored by blues duo the Black Keys and featuring cameos from Mos Def, Q-Tip, RZA, ODB, Raekwon, Ludacris and Jim Jones (which actually drops on the 27th, which they’ve dubbed “Blak Friday”).

December 1
The ranks thin a bit by December, which brings the debut album from “Idol” firebrand Allison Iraheta, Just Like You, as well as the first CD from “Dollhouse” singer and Internet sensation Priscilla Renea, Jukebox.

December 8
Things get a bit nutty again the following week, with a pileup of big names, led by Chris Brown with Graffiti, the 20-year-old singer’s first release since his guilty plea in June for assaulting former girlfriend Rihanna in February. The hip-hop-heavy week will also see the long-delayed Till the Casket Drops from the Clipse, Gucci Mane’s The State vs. Radric Davis, and Snoop Dogg’s Malice N Wonderland.

Super-producer Timbaland will host the usual array of A-list talent for his Timbaland Presents Shock Value 2, while 30 Seconds to Mars emerge from a year of label drama withThis Is War, indie faves Animal Collective offer up the Fall Be Kind EP, rapper Redman will also stuff some stockings with a little something called Reggie Noble 9 1/2, Ludacris will release a greatest-hits album and smoothie Robin Thicke will provide some Sex Therapy.

December 15
There are only a handful of big names on the roster for December 15, but they’re major ones, led by Lil Wayne’s long-delayed Rebirth, the soon-to-be-incarcerated rapper’s so-called “rock” album, which will be packaged with the debut from his Young Money crew. Alicia Keys will return with The Element of Freedom.

December 22
And, as befits a true diva, Mary J. Blige has the lane all to herself December 22, when she drops Stronger.

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Lady Gaga in the “Bad Romance” video

Photo: Interscope/Universal

The wait is over! On Tuesday (November 10), after 24 hours spent frantically refreshing LadyGaga.com for its scheduled Monday premiere, fans were finally treated to the premiere of Gaga’s much-discussed “Bad Romance” video. And needless to say, it was worth the wait.

Directed by Francis Lawrence — who’s helmed clips for the likes of Britney, Justin, Gwen and Shakira, not to mention the post-apocalyptic Will Smith vehicle “I Am Legend” — and featuring countless costume changes (and one unearthly pair of Alexander McQueen heels), partial nudity, and choreography that runs the gamut from spooky to sexy, “Bad Romance” is very much an event, the kind of video you just don’t see very often anymore — and that goes double for the anticipation surrounding it.

“Romance” was supposed to premiere Monday on Gaga.com, and (we can attest) the influx of traffic ground the site to a halt. A brief snippet of the clip — which premiered on a German TV show — became a YouTube sensation, Perez Hilton wrote about it, people Googled it like crazy … “Bad Romance” was a hit even before it debuted, a testament to Gaga’s global popularity and the power of her unique brand of art-pop.

So what’s so great about this video? Well, of course there’s the costuming and the choreography, the sly nods to Anubis Airlines from “True Blood” (check the coffins Gaga and Co. emerge from), but aside from that, there are the scenes where we get to see the real Gaga: stripped of her makeup (and her clothes), she sings directly to the camera, a single tear trickling down her face. It’s a disarming moment, a glimpse at the woman shed of her outer layers … a Gaga we rarely get to see.

There’s also the plot of the video, which — and perhaps I’m reading too much into this — appears to be hugely symbolic. The clip opens with Gaga surrounded by the characters from her previous videos (her sunglasses, the diamond-encrusted head pieces, Lava, the Great Dane let’s call it the Fame version of herself. That Gaga is quickly kidnapped, poisoned with vodka (shout out to the folks at Nemiroff!) and transformed into something new: the super-sexy, somewhat spooky Fame Monster version, which we’ll see on her upcoming tour and hear on the updated version of her album, The Fame Monster, which hits stores on November 23. The message is clear: the old Gaga is over, here’s the brand-new Gaga: the one who seems to delight in pushing the boundaries and exploring all manner of sexual proclivities.

While Gaga herself didn’t reveal much about the video’s concept when she spoke with MTV News last week, she did say that the razor-blade glasses were intended to project a “tough female spirit,” and she raved about Lawrence: “I knew he could execute the video in a way that I could give him all my weirdest, most psychotic ideas, but it would come across to and be relevant to the public.”

It’s a testament to her brilliance as an artist that Gaga is using the “Bad Romance” video as the jump-off point for the next leg of her career. These days, it seems like pop stars all too rarely put this much thought into their vision and their products.

Wherever she goes from here, we can look back on this clip as the moment where it all changed. Perhaps that’s a tad by hyperbolic, but you can’t blame me for getting caught up in the moment: They don’t make ‘em like this anymore, and I’m not just talking about the video.

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Beyoncé accepts an award at the EMAs

Photo: Jeff Kravitz/ Getty Images

Bowler caps, bow ties, corsets, crystals, “boobie thingies” — no, these are not the remnants of last weekend’s Halloween rave but rather the accoutrements returning host
Katy Perry flounced around in at this year’s MTV Europe Music Awards. Together with the theme “Katy Kat Club,” the Sally Bowles-inspired garb was only appropriate as the 16th annual EMAs returned to its inaugural location of Berlin, just days before the 20th anniversary of when the Berlin wall came tumbling down.

Jay-Z,
Beyoncé, U2, Tokio Hotel, Leona Lewis, David Hasselhoff, Juliette Lewis, Shakira, the Jonas Brothers and Tokio Hotel were just some of the stars that turned up on the red carpet to commence the largest awards show in MTV Europe’s history. A staggering 17,000 audience members congregated at Berlin’s O2 Arena and Brandenburg Gate, while an estimated 2 billion people tuned in from home.

It was a night contrasted by both the old and new, bad jokes on the German language and crackling political overtones. Veteran act Green Day opened up the show with a blistering two-song performance that had lead singer Billie Joe pogoing his way through the crowd and ending in shooting flames and fireworks as “Minority” slowed to its last four-note chord. (Proving why the group was once synonymous with teenage angst, Joe later returned to the stage after winning for Best Rock with these wise words: “Great that we got the best co– band — I mean, rock band. Pardon my German.”)

A slithering and glittering Katy Perry then took the stage, bellowing out “Herzlich wilkommen meine damen und herren!” and performed a raw-vocal medley that included the Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling” and Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face.” Curiously, Perry then ribbed Lady Gaga later during the show when she emerged from a set design involving a giant ruby-red shoe. “They say that if a guy has big shoes, then he has … the funny thing is, I think this belongs to Lady Gaga!”

The first award of the night went to U2 for Best Live Act. Taking the stage, Bono introduced the Edge, who in an emotional speech expressed how the recording of “One” in Berlin — inspired by Germany’s then-recent reunification and symbol as the new Europe — “brought the band together.” More East/West references abounded. Upon winning the award for Best Urban, Jay-Z, donning sunglasses and a black leather jacket, succinctly said, “The will come a day when the only walls that come down are just music,” then said something about the Jonas Brothers.

Both Lady Gaga (Best New Act) and Eminem (Best Male) accepted their awards remotely through televised acceptance speeches.

	EMA 2009 Show Highlights

And what is an awards show in Germany without the Hoff? Clad in a dazzling chrome silver dinner jacket, David Hasselhoff returned the country’s seemingly undying love for him by flashing his select knowledge of the native language. “Yo! Twenty years! Alles klar! I am not responsible for the wall falling down,” the former “Baywatch” actor announced with an apparent slur. “Wie gehts? Alles klar! Gut!”

But it was three-time winner Beyoncé (Best Song, “Halo”; Best Female; Best Video, “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)”) who had the best line of the night. Having performed earlier in a silken red set straight out of a Daphne du Maurier novel, the visibly weary singer simply said upon receiving her final award: “There is one person I want to thank, and that is Jay — for putting a ring on it!” then shot her fist into the air to loud cheers. “You go, B!” Katy Perry shouted from the sidelines.

Despite other spirited performances from Jay-Z, Shakira and overwhelmingly popular local androgynoids Tokio Hotel, the true stage spectacle of the night came from Leona Lewis. What started off as a rather standard rendition of “Happy,” set against a starry background, experienced a jaw-dropping special effect as a green vortex whirred around the singer then dramatically vanished into glittering stardust.

In the much-publicized highlight of the evening, Dublin rockers U2 performed a free 20-minute set in front of the historic Brandenburg Gate for the rabid 10,000 fans who had secured a spot online. Shot several hours earlier and beamed into the arena, the concert moved the audience even remotely as the giant pillars were emblazoned with the words “One Love” and “Freedom.” “Happy birthday, Berlin!” frontman Bono crowed during a performance of “One,” his voice both soaring and sage.

U2 returned to the big screen to close out the show, this time with Jay-Z freestyling over a performance of “Sunday Bloody Sunday.” Jay-Z rapped in the lyrics from Bob Marley’s “Get Up, Stand Up.” The gates behind them lit up in the holiday colors of green and red, like an early present. Bono leaned in to hold to Jay-Z’s hand as the duo raised them up triumphantly in the air.

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Lady Gaga

Photo: MTV News

Lady Gaga and Beyoncé have apparently found a quite a kinship in one another and have become good friends quickly. While it might seem that the two superstars would be worlds apart it terms of image, sound and vibe, but at the end of the day there’s no question that they’re two of the hardest working women in pop music today.

And perhaps those personality traits made it easy for the two of them to bond and collaborate with one another. Since the 2009 Video Music Awards, where both women won awards, their paths have been crossing quite frequently — and they’ve worked together on two projects so far.

The first to appear will be Beyoncé’s clip for “Video Phone.” Not many details have emerged about the Hype Williams-helmed video, which was shot in Brooklyn, New York, last month.

The pair also collaborated on a new song, “Telephone,” that will appear on the forthcoming deluxe reissue of Gaga’s debut LP, dubbed The Fame Monster, which includes eight new songs and is slated for release on November 23 (Gaga’s Monster Ball Tour launches in Montreal four days later).

Gaga had nothing but praise for B when she sat down with MTV News for a long interview on Tuesday.

“You know she is such a beautiful person, and I gotta tell you, I just adore her,” she said. “I had kind of lost faith a little bit in meeting artists in the business — and then I met Beyoncé.”

She also spoke briefly about how much fun the two of them have together. “She is a real, real woman,” Gaga said. “I have never laughed so hard on a video set in my life. We had the best time doing ‘Video Phone.’ ”

MTV News will have lots more from our sitdown with Lady Gaga in the coming days!

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Rihanna

Photo: Scott Gries/ Getty Images

Rihanna will be performing at this year’s American Music Awards,
joining previously announced acts like Eminem, Jay-Z, Adam Lambert, Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson, Daughtry, Jennifer Lopez, Alicia Keys and the Black Eyed Peas, MTV News has confirmed.

	2009 American Music Award Nominees

The show airs on Sunday, November 22, the day before Rihanna releases her new album, Rated R. At press time there was no word on what song she will perform, but she’s already dropped two singles from the album — the eerie ballad “Russian Roulette”
and the midtempo “Wait Your Turn” — and the Young Jeezy collaboration “Hard” has already hit radio.

It will be the third time she’s performed on the show. In 2007, she sang her Ne-Yo duet, “Hate That I Love You,” and her breakthrough hit, “Umbrella.” In 2008, she sang “Rehab.” Rihanna has won three American Music Awards in the past.

The awards show will feature an array of nominees determined by data from Nielsen SoundScan radio and retail figures, with Taylor Swift in the lead with six nominations, followed by the late Michael Jackson and Eminem at five apiece. Though Jackson had not released new material for nearly a decade at the time of his passing, his nominations are based on the strong sales of his catalog albums following his death.

Other multiple-category nominees include Lady Gaga, T.I., Kings of Leon, Beyoncé and the Peas, who all have three. For the third year, winners will be determined by online voting.

Rihanna will appear on “Good Morning America” on Thursday and “20/20″ Friday night. She’s also set to visit MTV’s “It’s On With Alexa Chung” on Monday.

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Lady Gaga at MTV’s New York studios Tuesday


Photo: James Dinh/ MTV News

Lady Gaga made music history when she became the first artist in the 17-year existence of the Billboard Pop Songs chart to nab four #1 singles off a debut album. The Fame has spawned chart-toppers with “Just Dance,” “Poker Face,” “LoveGame” and, most recently, “Paparazzi,” a song she performed to acclaim at this year’s MTV Video Music Awards.

The superstar found out about the Billboard news in the aftermath of her father’s open-heart surgery, she revealed to MTV News. The record-setting performance left her in tears.

“Obviously, I cried like a baby when they told me that that happened,” Gaga said. “It was even more exciting because my dad had just recovered from his surgery, so it was kind of like this amazing moment that I got to share.”

Gaga gave credit to her fans for supporting her music and understanding the connection of it to her essential self. “I just love my fans and they come before anything,” she said. “Extraneous relationships, they come and go, but your fans — they love that part of you that not everyone can understand. The misconception that the music and the work is separate from me as a human being is so misinformed and wrong. I am my work. I am every breathing moment of my life.”

A crucial part of that life — one she admitted she only truly learned to value during time spent traveling and performing around the world over the past year — is her family. For that reason, she was especially happy to be able to share the Billboard development with her father. “You can make as many records as you will and write as many albums as you will and do as many tours as you will — but you only get one set of parents,” she said.

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