It was months in the making, and now you’ve seen it.
So what did you think of the documentary, which offered an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at the singer’s comeback surrounding the upcoming release of her Circus album?
Let us know by uploading video to YouRHere.MTV.Com or posting your comments below!
Luke Menard has a lot to be grateful for this Thanksgiving, as he is now cancer-free and feeling better than he has in years. Just after his stint on American Idol this past season, Luke went and had some tests run due to a persistent cough and a very tight feeling in his chest. Although he is faithful about working out, Luke said he was suddenly winded while walking from his house to the car. After years of being told he had allergies, the doctor ran some scans, and it was discovered that Luke had Hodgkin lymphoma. Having received twelve rounds of chemotherapy, there are no cancerous cells detected in Luke's body. Unfortunately, the hard part isn't necessarily over, as he is now set to receive radiation treatments once a day, five times a week, for the next month as a preventative measure.
While most people in the midst of chemotherapy treatments would probably slow down, this was not the case for Luke. Wanting to strike while the AI iron was hot, Luke drove to Nashville in between chemo treatments to begin working on a solo album in the Christian Contemporary genre. While his family thought he was crazy for doing this, Luke's doctor gave him the "all clear" for the Nashville trips, and so Luke continued to do so until he recorded about half of an album. Toward the end of the treatments, it simply became too difficult to manage. However, Luke is not deterred. In fact, he is hoping to move to Nashville in January or February in order to shop the album around to several labels. Interestingly enough, he worked with season six's Chris Sligh, as Chris is enjoying success in the Christian music realm himself. Luke says the album is very piano-driven and has a kind of a "British pop" feel to it.
As if his solo work wasn't impressive enough, Luke also managed to help his a capella band, Chapter 6, complete their latest album. He is doing some touring with them in the next few weeks for their Christmas shows. His long term future with the band is uncertain, however, as Luke really wants to focus on his solo album. He is also taking advantage of his free time right now to travel with his wife of four years, Lara, who is doing her tour of Christmas shows as a member of the famous Rockettes. For six years, with both of them touring, they lived to meet up in the middle in between shows.
Besides the obvious thrill that comes with being told he is cancer-free, Luke is ecstatic to have full use of his lungs. When he was first diagnosed, the fluid was being compressed in his right lung so much; the doctor said he was basically living off the use of one lung. He is now able to breathe deeply again, which is great for exercising as well as performing.
It's safe to say that it has been a bittersweet year for Luke, as he loved being on American Idol. He said that he was in awe of the professionalism of the musicians and everyone behind the scenes on the show, and that it definitely helped him to grow as a performer. He still keeps in touch with quite a few people from AI, and even got together with the Top 10 while they toured in Indianapolis near Luke's home. While he was at the show, each of the Top 10 Idols signed a guitar, and it was then auctioned off to help Luke pay for his mounting medical bills.
Of course, it was next to impossible to interview Luke Menard without asking him if he had heard the buzz surrounding the many celebs people thought he resembled. He laughed and said that he not only heard about it, but there was some mention of it in every email that he received while on the show. Who were some of the Luke doppelgangers? He heard everything from Luke Perry to Patrick Dempsey to Orlando Bloom, with Ryan Seacrest even calling him "Dawson's Creek" in reference to his resemblance to James Van Der Beek. Luke took it all in stride, of course, but what confused him is how he could look like so many different people! Good looks aside, Luke most certainly has a renewed outlook on life these days.
Luke sent us some great photos of him and some Idol friends! Check them out now. 
The 2008 Rolling Stone Hot List is here, and it’s chock full of smoking new bands, spicy new actresses and scorching trends. But who is hottest right now? It might be Twilight star Robert Pattinson, whose portrayal of “vegan” vampire Edward in the film version of the hit book series has made him an instant star among ladies young and old. Click above for a look at the fervor surrounding Pattinson at a recent event at Hot Topic, and click below for the rest of this year’s Hot List, including MGMT, Ambien tripping, the Answer and the inevitable backlash against Michael Cera.
• The 2008 Rolling Stone Hot List
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[Video: Eric Helton]
In Rolling Stone’s new Britney Spears cover story, Spears reveals that she thinks her ex-husband Kevin Federline is letting the kids pick up some bad habits. “Preston says the f-word now sometimes,” she says. “He doesn’t get it from us. He must get it from his daddy.” She talks more about her relationship with K-Fed (”I think I married for the wrong reasons”) in the documentary Britney: For the Record, which airs on MTV November 30th at 10 p.m. Click above to watch Spears get introspective about her marriage, and click here to see Spears rehearsing some steps and musing on the role of dance in her life.
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• Cover Story: Britney Returns
Here at Rock Daily, there’s plenty of things we’re thankful for. Chinese Democracy. The Jesus Lizard reunion. Johan Santana’s left arm. To pay homage to those pilgrims who came to America to escape oppression and slaughter turkeys, this long weekend’s Rock List is dedicated to “thankful” songs. Tell us which thankful songs you’re most thankful for, and on Monday we’ll work off all those yams we ate by counting the votes and revealing the readers’ list. Before you start feasting or battling the Black Friday shopping crowds, here are our faves:
• Led Zeppelin - “Thank You”
• Fall Out Boy - “Thnks fr th Mmrs”
• Sly & The Family Stone - “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)”
• Alanis Morissette - “Thank U”
• Talking Heads - “Thank You For Sending Me An Angel”
With all the love the New York crowd at the Highline Ballroom was giving last night, leave it to Ludacris to start off his show with “Everybody Hates Chris.” He has a big sense of humor, if you haven’t noticed. The Atlanta MC had the release party for Theater of the Mind, which culminated in a concert of collaborations and solo hits.
“Where the real Luda fans at?” he asked a little before going into “Ho,” “Splash Waterfalls” and “Yeah!” Obviously T-Pain and Ludacris’ relationship wasn’t on the rocks after Luda replaced the singer with the Blizzard Man on “Saturday Night Live.”
(More from the record release show, plus lots of photos after the jump!)
Mr. Penderazdoun came out for the remix to “I’m So Hood,” then they went to Cris’ “One More Drink.” The duo turned their onstage pairing into a trio of songs, as “Chopped & Skrewed” ended that set.
Former DTP member Shawna showed that things between her and Luda are still cool. The two officially announced their battle-of-the-sexes album will be out sometime in 2009. DJ Premier came out during “MVP” to congratulate Cris on being such a dope MC, and LL Cool J flexed his skills on “Phatty Girl.” After the Mouth of the South asked Cool J for some of that classic Uncle L, the Queens icon came with “Headsprung” and “Rock the Bells.” He even pulled photographer Johnny Nunez onstage during the performance.
(Click here to see all of our photos from the show!)
Cris’ friends kept coming out. Jadakiss showed up during the remix to “Made You Look” (No Nas, though), and the Diplomats‘ Jim Jones and Juelz Santana appeared for “Pop Champagne.”
Like he did with Cool J, Cris insisted the Harlem collective throw on some of their hits. For Luda? No problem. Jones’ “We Fly High,” was followed by Juelz’ “There It Go (The Whistle Song).” Then “I Really Mean It” came on, but no Cam’ron. Awkward. Oh well, the show continued. The Dips finished their guest stint with the “Dipset Anthem.”
Luda’s show ended with most of his friends coming back onstage and taking a bow. Everybody loves Cris.
While Twilight will still be ruling the cinemas this weekend, there are still a few Oscar-bait films getting releases over the Thanksgiving holiday. Click below for Peter Travers’ thoughts on Gus Van Sant’s Milk and Baz Luhrmann’s epic Australia. And if you’re really into suffering, stick around to watch the Rolling Stone film critic toss Transporter 3 into the scum bucket.
• Peter Travers Video Reviews: Milk, Australia and Transporter 3
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David Cook enters the Billboard charts at #3 with his self-titled debut album (19 Recordings / RCA Records) selling 279,578 units. The Rob Cavallo produced album is also the #1 CD on the digital album chart and is the best debut from an American Idol winner since 2006.
“Light On," the first single from the album, has been dominating the AOL Top 40 Songs chart at #1 for the past 6 weeks and is currently #1 on the ClearChannel On Demand Chart. It was also the #1 gainer at adult radio and debuted as the breakout track on this week’s American Top 40 with Ryan Seacrest. In late September, “Light On” premiered on AOL Music’s pop culture news site, PopEater.com, receiving over 1 million plays in less than week.
The ClearChannel premiere of the Wayne Isham directed “Light On” video became their best performing video premiere ahead of Linkin’ Park, The Eagles and Ne-Yo.
The American Idol single “The Time Of My Life” (which is featured as a bonus track on David Cook) has reached platinum status with over 1 million tracks sold.
The still-humble David sat down with us to talk about his surreal existence since his season seven win--watch the video now. 
This week’s featured artist on the Breaking blog is the Knux, a pair of whip-smart brothers from New Orleans whose eclectic debut Remind Me In Three Days… bonds Native Tongues wordplay to rootsy funk and far-flung samples. Click below for more on the Knux, including the video for their hot single “Cappuccino.”
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Guns N’ Roses are threatening Dr. Pepper with legal action over what the band calls “a complete fiasco” of a publicity stunt. Dr. Pepper promised every person in America a free can of soda if Guns N’ Roses released Chinese Democracy this year; on November 23rd, the day Democracy was released, fans were told they could get a coupon for a free can at its website. According Axl Rose’s lawyer Alan S. Gutman, things went terribly wrong: Yesterday he sent a letter to Dr. Pepper CEO Larry Young saying that the soda company’s website crashed and that “the redemption scheme your company clumsily implemented for this offer was an unmitigated disaster which defrauded consumers and, in the eyes of vocal fans, ‘ruined’ the day of Chinese Democracy’s release”. The band is seeking a public apology via ads in newspapers, plus more time for people to claim their free soda and monetary damages. In the words of the letter: “Now it’s time to clean up the mess.” The letter continues, “As we all now know, Dr. Pepper created an expansive and highly-publicized advertising campaign based solely on the exploitation of my cleints’ legendary reputation. In and of itself this campaign brazenly violated our clients’ rights in numerous respects. Unfortunately, Dr. Pepper has now magnified the damage this campaign has caused through its appalling failure to make good on a promise it made to the American public.”
Other highlights from the letter: “Our clients are outrated at your treatment of their fans and the American public in general. After it became clear that Chinese Democracy would be released in 2008, Dr. Pepper executive Tony Jacobs proudly proclaimed that Dr. Pepper would make good on its promise to give a free soda to everyone in America. It turned out that Dr. Pepper did not define ‘everyone in America’ the same way as ‘everyone in America’ defined ‘everyone in America.’” It concludes, “Had you wished to engage in a commercial tie-in with our clients, you should have negotiated a legitimate arrangement instead of hijacking their rights without payment. Rest assured, this misappropriation will not be free.”
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• Album Review: Guns N’ Roses, Chinese Democracy
Who: The Knux, a pair of brothers from New Orleans' Ninth Ward who show their band geek chops on their debut Remind Me in Three Days....
Sounds Like: With influences as far ranging as Led Zeppelin and the Cash Money crew, the Knux mix experimental Native Tongues rap with live instruments and the sample savviness of Portishead to form supercatchy tunes with densely referential lyrics. "I can't listen to new hip-hop — it's too fucking clean," Alvin "Rah Almillio" Lindsey says. "We want to be extra-grimy, extra-raw. That's why we compare ourselves to the Strokes."
Vital Stats: 
Like pretty much every other industry during a recession (except maybe the alcohol and fast food sectors), terrestrial radio is seeing record declines in 2008, with the entire industry having its worst year financially since 1954. Revenues are off seven percent from last year’s numbers, and 2008 marks the eighth consecutive struggling year for the industry. To put things in perspective, things haven’t been this bad since the main attraction beaming to antennas was The Lone Ranger and Joseph McCarthy’s hearings against supposed Communists and the Dodgers were still in Brooklyn. Things are somewhat more optimistic in the small markets, where radio has seen their revenues grow by 0.6% over the last 20 months. In the bigger markets, however, the market has lost 4 percent of revenue monthly. One can’t fully blame satellite radio for the downturn, as SiriusXM has its own struggles as its stock currently hovers at the 17 cents mark at press time.
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All Tomorrow’s Parties continues to make the impossible happen, first getting My Bloody Valentine to come together and now, the Jesus Lizard. The Chicago noise rockers will reunite after a decade-long absence for next year’s ATP: The Fans Strike Back festival in England on May 8-10. The concert, featuring all of the band’s original members, comes ten years and two months after the band’s last gig together in Umea, Sweden on March 27, 1999. The Fans Strike Back lineup will also include Devo, Spiritualized, a reunited Sleep and the Young Marble Giants’ performing their entire Colossal Youth. ATP made some more news by announcing that next year’s New York festival, to be held September 11-13, will include Animal Collective, Panda Bear and Deerhunter side project Atlas Sound.
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Photo: Getty
For years, James Taylor has been covering many of his favorite songs from the 1950s and 1960s during soundchecks before his concerts. This past September, he released some of them on Covers, a collection of twelve classic tracks he recorded at his Massachusetts studio. He recently sat down with Rolling Stone to discuss some of his favorites songs on the set, from Leonard Cohen to Elvis Presley to the Drifters.
Leonard Cohen - “Suzanne”
“Leonard predates me a little bit, but not by much. The first time I heard any of his songs was Judy Collins’ version of ‘Suzanne’ on her In My Life album. I loved her version and it had a huge affect on me and informed my writing. He’s an important writer. I love that line ‘The sun pours down like honey.’ I recently ended up playing ‘Suzanne’ over and over. I’d play it at sound checks, I’d play it in hotel rooms, I’d just play it when I picked up a guitar.”
Elvis Presley - “Hound Dog”
“Elvis was one of my first exposures to rock n’ roll. But Big Mama Thornton’s version has a much…I just love the groove on it. It is completely live as we recorded it, probably our third take. It’s one of those instances where everything just falls into place It’s my favorite track on the album. We put it right after ‘Suzanne’ because we wanted palates to be clear for ‘Hound Dog.’”
Buddy Holly - “Not Fade Away”
“That’s one of a series of up-tempo rabble-rowsing cover tunes we play live just to get the crowd on their feet and to keep them on their feet as an encore. We played it in several different versions over the years, so that had evolved as an arrangement and by the time we got in it was one of the songs we knew we wanted to cut. Buddy Holly was a big influence on me.”
The Drifters - “On Boadway”
“It’s about somebody trying to hang on in New York. I had the experience myself of being in a band in New York City in 1966-67, and eventually we dropped off the face of the planet. The band just died of starvation and lack of interest. I had that experience and of struggling to make it in New York, and I lived right off of upper Broadway and this song resonated with me for sure. I’ve played it in various bands, but in the beginning I played that song a lot and I really felt it.”
Junior Walker - “Road Runner”
“The reason this one made it onto the album was partially because I got a chance to play harmonica on it, and I don’t often play harp. The other reason was it was such a great track: the horn parts on this particular version are amazing. It was amazing that these players could actually, as the song was being run down, come up with a horn part for this. I think it’s a valid alternative to Junior Walker’s. Not as good, but good.”
“The Spinners - “Sadie”
“Spinners have that great sophisticated Philadelphia sound. They’ve definitely got that groove, but they’ve got a level of harmonic and musical sophistication in the arrangement of the track that was the earmark of the Philadelphia sound. From the beginning, I have been fascinated with choral things; I’ve written a number of song that involve choruses. So I’m always fascinated to work on harmonies and vocal parts, and it’s not just a coincidence or a mistake that I travel with four singers: I really love that choral thing, and always have. It’s not one of the Spinners’ biggest hits, and I think it’s great that people get a chance to hear it.”
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• The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time: James Taylor, by David Crosby
Photo: Hogan/Getty
Oasis will be spending the holidays on the road with Ryan Adams, promoting their best album in a decade Dig Out Your Soul. The tour kicks off on December 3rd in Oakland, California, and Rock Daily caught up with Noel Gallagher to talk about the upcoming trek. “Oasis is a band that you either get it or you don’t,” explains the guitarist and songwriter. “Everybody knows who we are. You have to see us in league with the Rolling Stones now. Everybody’s heard of the Stones, everybody knows what they sound like, everybody knows what they do.” His goals for this tour are modest: when asked what he wants to achieve, he merely said, “Five million dollars.” Click below for more with Noel Gallagher, including his thoughts on his on-stage attack in Toronto and how he handles drugs.
• Noel Gallagher: “You Have To See Us in a League With the Rolling Stones”
• Liam Gallagher on the Beatles and the Death of the Rock Star
• Noel Gallagher Suffers Fractured Rib, Ligament Damage Following On Stage Attack
By Jocelyn Vena
In footage from Britney Spears‘ recent Rolling Stone photo shoot, the singer gets down in a sparkly gold bodysuit and platforms. She dances to songs like the Black Eyed Peas’ “My Humps.” It looks like the pop star is having a grand old time doing what she does best: being a pop star.
And the inspiration for the shoot was simple: stripped-down Marilyn Monroe — not glossy, sexy Marilyn Monroe. “We wanted her to be natural. Almost as a reference was Marilyn Monroe in the Actors Studio,” Jodi Peckman, the magazine’s director of photography, explained to MTV News. “We just let her under the beautiful light and let her be herself. We kept it simple.”
The theme for the shoot, which accompanies a cover story on Britney’s return, was no theme at all. Peckman wanted to show everyone the natural Spears. No costumes, no sets, no drama. “She’s still a young girl, but she looks more mature. There’s something about her. She’s a mom now, and she’s been through a lot, and maybe just her motherly aura comes through.”
She added, “She’s so great that she can do high-concept and stripped-down. She really gives it to the cameras. … We just wanted to make her look like a beautiful woman.”
Check out what else the RS director of photography had to say about Britney here.
Photo: Getty
The Big News: Beyoncé and her alter ego Sasha Fierce were victorious in a competitive, debut-heavy sales week as Mrs. Jay-Z and her double-disc I Am…Sasha Fierce sold 482,000 copies, roughly 160,000 more than the number two album, Nickelback’s Dark Horse. For Beyonce, it was her third consecutive chart-topping album. While American Idol winner David Cook didn’t debut as high as runner-up David Archuleta — Cook slotted at three this week while Archie placed two last week — Cook’s self-titled outsold Archuleta’s self-titled by about 100,000 copies in a first week comparison, raking in 279,000 units. Last week’s topper Taylor Swift and her Fearless dropped to four and Il Divo’s Promise checked in at five.
Debuts: Outside the major releases, Dido and her Safe Trip Home landed at 13, Mudvayne’s New Game grabbed 15 and Sammy Hagar’s Cosmic Universal Fashion came in at 94. Further down the charts, Phish’s live album At The Roxy sold 4,800 copies to take 148 and the Doors’ Live at the Matrix limped onto the charts at 191.
Last Week’s Heroes: It was a quick cameo in the Top 10 for David Archuleta as the tweens saw their boy hero plummet from two to 11 after only one week, thanks in part to a 64% sales dive from his debut week. T-Pain’s Thr33 Ringz had a similar fall, dropping from four to 12. With the heated sales battle between Guns N’ Roses, Kanye West, the Killers and Ludacris taking place now in record stores, expect next week’s numbers to be a shootout.
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By Jocelyn Vena
Lately, there’s been a mess of speculation that Mariah Carey and hubby Nick Cannon are expecting a little bundle of joy. And Mariah’s appearance on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” which airs today, is only raising the alert level on the baby-bump watch.
When asked by the talk-show host if she is pregnant, the singer gave this response, “No, that’s OK [to ask],” E! Online reported. So, the wily Ellen instead offered the pop star a glass, saying, “You don’t have to answer that. Let’s just toast with champagne.”
Mariah then gave her a whole slew of excuses, other than being pregnant, for not drinking the bubbly. “It’s just fattening!” she said. “This is peer pressure! … It’s too early for me. I only drink after 3 p.m.”
You can’t blame Ellen for trying. “No, let’s toast to you not being pregnant,” she ventured. Mariah, who only pretended to sip her champagne, wasn’t down for that sort of toast either. “I can’t believe her,” Mariah said. “Why would we toast to that? How about to the future? For both of our futures, who knows what they hold.”
Ellen again insisted that Carey was pregnant, but Mimi still resisted: “I didn’t say that. No, no, no. My mother would be at home, like, on the computer, like, ‘What are you talking about?’ We will let you know when we’re going to have a family.”
Will she really? Let us know what you think!
Photo: Getty
MTV will celebrate the Januay 20th inauguration of new President Barack Obama with “Be the Change Inaugural Ball” celebrating young voter turnout and volunteer services. The ball will take place at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center and feature “leading artists, celebrities and government officials” who will be named soon. The ball will be simulcast live across all the MTV platforms. “Over the last year and culminating in this election, we have seen a groundswell of engagement and a refreshed spirit of activism from young people,” MTV general manager Stephen Friedman said. “We want to celebrate young people across the nation who are answering the call and working to make changes in their communities and beyond.”
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Photo: Getty
For the 2008 version of the Rolling Stone “Hot Issue,” Britney Spears found her way onto the cover of the magazine for the seventh time on the heels of her new album Circus and her seemingly unlikely comeback. Click above to go behind the scenes at Britney’s cover shoot and to hear Rolling Stone’s Jodi Peckman discuss the ideas behind the cover.
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Photo: Durand/Getty
Of the 50 to 60 songs U2 penned for their new album, none of the tracks the band wrote while under the guidance of producer Rick Rubin will make the final track list, according to the Edge. “We actually laid all that stuff to one side. Really out of deference to Rick and that set of songs we just said, ‘OK, that’s that,’ and we drew a line,” said the guitarist. “So none of the Rick material went into this project. Everything has been written subsequently. He gave us great advice as much as anything.” The band ended up working with the The Joshua Tree production team of Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois. As for the rumored album title No Line on the Horizon, Edge says “It’s an image, Bono tells me. It’s like when you’re moving forward, but you’re not exactly sure what you’re heading towards — that moment where the sea and the sky blend into one. It’s an image of infinity, I suppose — a kind of Zen image.” U2’s new album is due out early 2009.
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By Dan “Monty” Montalto
Long before either album leaked in its final retail form, many of us here in the newsroom were asking the same question: Who will win this week’s epic showdown between Kanye West and Guns N’ Roses (a.k.a. Axl Rose and a bunch of new guys)?
In this corner, we have Kanye West with 808s & Heartbreak, which comes just 14 months after Graduation bested 50 Cent’s Curtis on the charts. He managed to put together 808s in a year marked by lots of touring and lots and lots of appearances at awards shows (seriously, does this guy ever NOT get invited?). Not only has 808s been on repeat in the newsroom all week, but we’ve been recounting some of our early Kanye memories right here on the blog.
And in the other corner, we have a comeback (of sorts). Fourteen years in the making and at a estimated cost of more than $13 million, Axl finally decided that Chinese Democracy was ready to be unleashed upon the world. The frontman isn’t doing interviews, has not announced a tour and has not released a video, and the album is only available at Best Buy. Yet, for the past two weeks, Chinese Democracy has piqued our interest so much that at any given moment, someone in the newsroom was either listening to it or could be heard defending it against detractors.
So, are fans ready to embrace Kanye as a rapper who no longer raps? Or, as 50 Cent predicted, will fans find themselves unable to forgive Kanye for giving up rapping for singing?
And will Guns fans old and new show up to buy the first album of new GN’R material in more than 17 years? Or have years of unfulfilled promises, canceled tours and a revolving cast of band members taken their toll?
In the video below, we hit the streets to find out if people think Kanye or GN’R will come out on top, but now we want to know what YOU think. Hit us up with a video.
Britney Spears' Best MTV News Moments
Check out these clips before watching the Britney documentary "For the Record," which premieres Sunday at 10 p.m. ET on MTV.
Related ArtistsMTV News Gives Thanks For Actors And Musicians Of 2008
We are as grateful for Britney, Lil Wayne, vampires and the Joker as we are for turkey and stuffing this Thanksgiving.
Season seven's David Hernandez has taken full advantage of the exposure he received on American Idol in order to catapult his career. He is not only embarking on a holiday tour with fellow AI alums Diana DeGarmo, Kimberley Locke, and Chikezie, but he has also recently solidified a great contact in the industry to help him on his album. Actor and singer Eric West, who was named as one of US Weekly's "One's To Watch" and IMDB.com's "Top Fresh Faces," is expanding his already impressive resume by assisting David with his debut CD. The as-yet-untitled album is scheduled to drop next year.
Check the schedule below to see if David and the "Idols In Concert Tour" will be coming to a city near you:
November 28, 2008 - Milwaukee Theatre; Milwaukee, WI
November 29, 2008 - Byham Theatre; Pittsburgh, PA
November 30, 2008 - Lycian Centre; Sugar Loaf, NY
December 1, 2008 - Plaza Theatre; El Paso, TX
December 3, 2008 - State Theatre; Easton, PA
December 4, 2008 - Bergen PAC; Englewood, NJ
December 5-6, 2008 - Classic Center; Athens, GA
December 7, 2008 - Eichelberger PAC; Hanover, PA
December 10, 2008 - Salem Civic Center; Salem, VA
December 11, 2008 - Mitchell Center; Mobile, AL
December 12, 2008 - Coral Springs Center for the Arts; Coral Springs, FL
December 16, 2008 - Tennessee Williams Theatre; Key West, FL
December 17, 2008 - Kravis Center; West Palm Beach, FL
December 18, 2008 - Mahaffey Theater; St. Petersburg, FL
December 19, 2008 - University of Akron; Akron, OH
December 20, 2008 - River Center Adler; Davenport, IA
December 21, 2008 - Genesee Theatre; Waukegan, IL By Elena Torres
Luis Guzmán is weird. 
Yeah, I said it. I think he’s a weirdo. I don’t just call anybody weird. That’s not what Luis will tell you, but he is a special breed. Luis will tell you that I call everybody weird, no matter what, all the time. I’m getting ahead of myself, I should explain the story.
All of this goes back to last weekend, when I interviewed the Puerto Rico native at a press junket for his upcoming film “Nothing Like the Holidays.” In the movie, Luis plays that quintessential “weird cousin.” We all have one — the cousin who always has some shady business hookup, has always been single and never quits hanging out. That’s Luis in the movie, and really, who better to play the role? I know I’m being pretty harsh, but part of me is still bitter about my run-in with Mr. Guzmán.
When I told Luis I thought his character was weird (which he is!), he got really offended, and since we had an interview scheduled with him at our studio in a few days, he told me to wait until Monday, when he was really going to give me a piece of his mind.
He wasn’t kidding. Luis let me have it, and the worst part is, it’s all on video!
It turned out OK, though. As soon as his interview was done, Luis and I buried the hatchet. Then I made him take a picture with me, just so I could prove that I went head-to-head with one of the funniest comedians in film today, which is pretty cool.
The new DVD documentary Tantrums and Tiaras (out today) offers an all-access pass behind the scenes of Elton John’s 1995 world tour. Directed by his parter David Furnish, Tantrums and Tiaras follows John around the world during his trek for the multi-platinum Made in England and shows him as both a professional perfectionist and a goofy jokester both on stage and off. Click above for highlights from the DVD, including live footage of “I’m Still Standing.”
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Photo: Vasquez/Getty
Nearly a decade after suing Napster for posting their music online, Metallica are contemplating the possibility of an Internet release for their next album. “We’re free of our record contract,” Lars Ulrich tells Rolling Stone. “We have that element of complete freedom with the next record, so we can do whatever we want. We could do an Internet thing or even put it on Andy Greene’s record label.” (I, for one, think that’s a great idea). They’re in no rush to head back into the studio however. “I wouldn’t hold my breath for another Metallica record,” Ulrich says. “I’m still decompressing and coming down from the whole experience of the last one, but if we spit one out every four or five years that’s not so bad.” In the meantime, Lars and the band are reveling in the reaction to Death Magnetic and their ongoing American arena tour. “There’s a tremendous amount of goodwill for Metallica right now,” Ulrich says. “Not only from the fans, but from our peers and from the critics and from everybody, so it’s just a good time to be out amongst it.”
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The moment where the MP3 has supplanted the CD as the music industry’s centerpiece may have finally arrived, at least at Atlantic Records, where the company reported that digital sales accounted for 51% of its revenues. Atlantic is the first label to reveal that their digital sector — comprised of song downloads, ringtones and the like — outsold their physical CDs. “We’re like a college basketball team on an 18-2 run,” Atlantic’s chairman Craig Kallman said in an awkward, failed sports analogy. All told, Atlantic’s parent company Warner Music Group saw their digital revenues rise by 39% to $639 million in the previous fiscal year. Making Atlantic’s digital achievement even more stunning is the fact that their biggest album of the last year and a half, Kid Rock’s Rock N’ Roll Jesus, wasn’t available via top digital retailer iTunes and was only recently available on Rhapsody. So does this mean that record labels are finally adapting to the ever-changing industry? “I think we’ve figured it out,” said Julie Greenwald, president of Atlantic Records. “It used to be that you could connect five dots and sell a million records. Now there are 20 dots you can connect to sell a million records.”
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