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MTV Movie Awards Weekend: Are You Ready?

Get pumped up for Sunday's big show as MTV News takes you behind the scenes with your favorite celebs and Movie Awards insiders.

Behind The Scenes At The 2009 Movie Awards

Stick with us for an all-access pass to all your favorite celebs at the show.

2009 MTV Movie Awards | Most Talked-About Moments

Check out the biggest and funniest moments from the 2009 MTV Movie Awards, including Andy Samberg's naked opening bit with Justin Timberlake!

Movie Awards 2009: Red-Carpet Moments

Check out interviews with the hottest celebs from this year's red carpet!

2009 MTV Movie Awards | Red Carpet Report With Christian Siriano

Christian Siriano ('Project Runway') returns to the red carpet to interview celebrities about their impressive (and possibly not-so-impressive) fashion choices for their appearances at the 2009 MTV Movie Awards.

MTV Movie Awards Confidential

We're giving you a glimpse at this year's show, plus the most outrageous moments from years past.

MTV News RAW: No Doubt

No Doubt is back with new music, a new tour, a performance on 'Gossip Girl' and more.

By Kathleen Newman-Bremang

If you know anything about Rose McGowan, it’s probably that the actress used to date over-the-top rocker Marilyn Manson or that she’s notorious for bad-girl, vixen-esque acting roles.

So when we ran into the star at the Burberry event celebrating the opening of the British company’s new headquarters in New York and asked her who her Hollywood crush is, we kind of expected McGowan to say something that made more sense — like Johnny Depp. Or Adam Lambert even — someone with at least a little bit of edge or controversy. But no.

Instead, we got an answer no one was expecting: Cary Grant (also random) and — wait for it — Zac Efron.

Yes, Disney’s boy wonder and generally squeaky-clean teen heartthrob is Rose McGowan’s celebrity crush.

Say what? Aside from being 14 years her junior — not that he has a problem with older women — Zac just doesn’t seem like McGowan’s type.

The revelation even seemed to shock Rose herself. The look on her face after she made the confession was pretty priceless. And when I finally picked my jaw up off the floor and asked her why Efron, McGowan said, “I don’t know! Because there’s something wrong [with me].”

Hey, there’s nothing wrong with loving Zefron — he’s a big hit in the MTV Newsroom. But we have to admit, a McGowan/Efron pairing is, as one of our writers put it, a little “twisted.”

But we couldn’t let the former “Charmed” star go without asking her about her secret crush’s chances at this Sunday’s MTV Movie Awards. McGowan stood by her man when I asked if Efron will take home the trophy: “Odds are!” she yelled.

Oh Rose, you know the teen girls so well.

• It was a week devoted to heat here at RS: we launched our 2009 Hot List with a steamy Lady Gaga cover story, checked out some photos of her wild style and puzzled over her new video. Get a peek at all the people, places and things in the new issue at our Hot Hub.

• Eminem was pretty sizzling, himself, topping the charts (and breaking the year’s debut record) while starring in a hilarious clip for MTV’s Movie Awards. One of Relapse’s producers talked about Em in the studio and Detox, which Dr. Dre will tease in a Dr. Pepper ad.
• Chris Brown said a mouthful for the first time in months, telling fans, “I ain’t a monster” in an impromptu video shoot with Bow Wow. He also got served by a paparazzo and found out Rihanna will be taking the stand at his trial in June.
• We checked out what’s cooking in the studio with Linkin Park (a genre-busting album, evidently) and Kanye West provided some notes from the studio about Jay-Z’s Blueprint 3, which will be Auto-Tune free and possibly come out on a new label.
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs ruled the stage in Chicago at their gritty, glittery tour opener, and a host of bands including Kings of Leon took the stage at Washington’s Sasquatch! fest.

This morning news broke that Ozzy Osbourne is suing his former Black Sabbath bandmate Tony Iommi to reclaim a stake in the “Black Sabbath” trademark. Now the Blizzard of Ozz himself has issued a statement saying that after years of trying to “resolve the issue amicably,” the lawsuit was regretfully Ozzy’s last course of action.

In the statement, Osbourne credits himself and his former band member Geezer Butler and Bill Ward for helping to resuscitate the Black Sabbath name after Iommi spent the early 1990s playing to small clubs as Black Sabbath with a revolving door of musicians. “The brand of ‘Black Sabbath’ was literally in the toilet,” Ozzy says, adding that since he, Ward and Butler all helped restore the band’s brand, they should all equally share the name.

The lawsuit comes just months after Iommi sued Live Nation for selling “Black Sabbath” branded merchandise even their contract with the guitarist had reportedly expired in 2006, which allowed Iommi to retake the trademark. According to Ozzy, it was his management team which handled the “marketing and quality control” as well as the merchandising of the Black Sabbath brand since 1997, so Iommi taking action against Live Nation and the deal Ozzy’s team worked out may have caused Osbourne to take legal action against Iommi. “The Black Sabbath legacy should live on long after we have all gone. Please do the right thing,” Ozzy says to close his statement. Read Ozzy’s entire statement to Iommi below.

“It is with great regret that I had to resort to legal action against my long term partner, Tony Iommi, but after three years of trying to resolve this issue amicably, I feel I have no other recourse. As of the mid-1990’s, after constant and numerous changes in band members, the brand of ‘Black Sabbath’ was literally in the toilet and Tony Iommi (touring under the name Black Sabbath) was reduced to performing in clubs. Since 1997 when Geezer, Bill and myself rejoined the band, Black Sabbath has returned to its former glory as we headlined sold-out arenas and amphitheatres playing to upwards of 50,000 people at each show around the world.

We worked collectively to restore credibility and bring dignity back to the name ‘Black Sabbath’ which lead to the band being inducted into the UK and US Rock & Roll Hall of Fames in 2005 and 2006, respectively. Throughout the last 12 years, it was my management representatives who oversaw the marketing and quality control of the ‘Black Sabbath’ brand through OZZFEST, touring, merchandising and album reissues. The name “Black Sabbath” now has a worldwide prestige and merchandising value that it would not have had by continuing on the road it was on prior to the 1997 reunion tour.

Tony, I am so sorry it’s had to get to this point by me having to take this action against you. I don’t have the right to speak for Geezer and Bill, but I feel that morally and ethically the trademark should be owned by the four of us equally. I hope that by me taking this first step that it will ultimately end up that way. We’ve all worked too hard and long in our careers to allow you to sell merchandise that features all our faces, old Black Sabbath album covers and band logos, and then you tell us that you own the copyright. We’re all in our 60’s now. The Black Sabbath legacy should live on long after we have all gone. Please do the right thing.”

Photo: Diamond/Getty

Andre 3000 helped T.I. say goodbye to fans before Tip headed off to prison to serve his one-year sentence for weapons charges. Plus, Sting chilled in a park with New York’s mayor, Idol’s Adam Lambert met the cast of Broadway’s Hair, Marilyn Manson and Twiggy Ramirez hit the street, Willie Nelson jammed with Paul Simon, Sheryl Crow met the Muppets and Of Montreal and Yeah Yeah Yeahs put on some killer shows. All those images and much more in our roundup of the week’s wildest rock photos:

• Random Notes: Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Bono, Adam Lambert and the Week in Rock

Photo: Denholm/WireImage

Tonight marks the end of an era as Jay Leno will host The Tonight Show for the final time. To pay tribute to Leno and his long run as the emcee of NBC’s 11:35 p.m. hour, this weekend’s Rock List is dedicated to “Tonight Songs.” Tell us your favorite songs that have the word in the title (or just “Night” if you’re stumped), and on Monday, just in time for Conan O’Brien’s debut episode as Tonight Show host (with Pearl Jam and Will Ferrell on the couch), we’ll announce the winners. Before you set your DVRs and get all teary-eyed by Jay’s goodbyes, here are our picks:

• Neil Young – “Tonight’s the Night”
• Kiss – “Tomorrow and Tonight”
• Bob Dylan – “Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You”
• TV on the Radio – “Tonight”
• The Misfits – “Night of the Living Dead”

This somehow flew under Rock Daily’s radar, but this week’s Flashback takes us all the way back to two months ago, when some YouTuber named >AvoidantConsumer had the ingenious idea to make Hot Breakthrough band Phoenix’s incredibly catchy new single “Lisztomania” even more infectious by creating a “Brat Pack Mashup” for its video, pairing the track with dance scenes from 80s movies. (HT to Swide for the head’s up.)

Scenes from The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink and Footloose match up so perfectly with the Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix track, it’s hard to believe the band didn’t attempt to soundtrack John Hughes flicks in the studio a la Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon and The Wizard of Oz. AvoidantConsumer did such a good job, the band even posted on their official MySpace page and, according to Swide, Phoenix have gone on record saying the unofficial Brat Pack version is “our best video.”

Bonus Flashback: To keep with the 80s’ movie greatness, here’s Q-Feel’s “Dancing In Heaven (Orbital Bebop),” from the 1985 Sarah Jessica Parker film Girls Just Want To Have Fun:

“Stop leaking my motherfucking videos,” Rolling Stone Hot Issue queen Lady Gaga yelled from her Twitter after her newest video for “Paparazzi” found its way onto blogs earlier than expected. Given the “November Rain”-esque scale of Gaga’s epic new eight-minute-long short film, the “Paparazzi” video warranted more than just a simple leak; it deserved a red carpet.

The film casts Gaga as a starlet in the midst of a tumultuous, abusive love affair with her star boyfriend, played by Generation Kill breakout star and True Blood vampire lord Alexander Skarsgard. After a sumptuously shot make-out scene complete with Swedish dialogue, Gaga is thrown off a ledge by her boyfriend as the paparazzi lens click away during an homage to Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo. And only then does Gaga launch into her newest The Fame hit. Somehow, Gaga survives her fall but her career falters, so begins her fast track back to fame by performing dance routines while wheelchair-bound and operating crutches.

The clip gets sort of stomach turning with the disturbing quick cuts to dead models, but Gaga is a full-time human fashion show and the video is so brimming with cinematic style that it’s hard to take your eyes off it, though it will likely be labeled as a little self-indulgent. The short film ends with Gaga poisoning Skarsgard and reclaiming her popularity on the front page of the tabloids, getting arrested and acquitted and finally using her mugshot portrait like a photo shoot.

Of course, what else would expect from Lady Gaga, the Hot Diva in our brand-new Hot Issue, on newsstands now. Check out all the heat in our Hot Hub — videos, a rundown of all our hotness and more.

Photo: Michael Ochs Archive/Getty

Nearly 25 years after his tragic death, a live recording of folk legend Tim Buckley will finally reach fans’ ears when Live at the Folklore Center, NYC - March 6th, 1967 is released on August 25th on NYC’s Tompkins Square label. Buckley’s performance at the Folklore Center — a gig attended by only 35 people that was thankfully recorded by folk impresario Izzy Young — will be presented in its original running order. The set will also include an unpublished interview with Buckley by Young.

Featuring mostly tracks off Buckley’s 1966 self-titled debut and his 1967 follow-up Goodbye and Hello, the live recording also contains six Buckley compositions that have never before been released on any studio or live album: “Just Please Leave Me,” “What Do You Do (He Never Saw You),” “Carnival Song,” “Cripples Cry,” “Country Boy” and “I Can’t Leave You Loving Me.”

After releasing nine albums ranging from folk to avant-garde over the course of nine years, Buckley died of a heroin overdose in 1975 at the age of 28. Buckley’s son Jeff went on to become an acclaimed singer-songwriter in his own right, releasing the classic album Grace in 1994. Like his father, Jeff Buckley died too young, passing away the age of 30 after an accidental drowning on May 29th, 1997, 12 years ago today. (Look back at artists who died young.) A collection of Jeff Buckley’s live work, titled Grace Around the World will also be released soon.

The track list for Live at the Folklore Center, NYC - March 6th, 1967:

1. “Song for Jainie”
2. “I Never Asked to Be Your Mountain”
3. “Wings”
4. “Phantasmagoria in Two”
5. “Just Please Leave Me”
6. “Dolphins”
7. “I Can’t See You”
8. “Troubadour”
9. “Aren’t You The Girl”
10. “What Do You Do (He Never Saw You)”
11.  “No Man Can Find The War”
12. “Carnival Song”
13. “Cripples Cry”
14. “If the Rain Comes”
15. “Country Boy”
16. “I Can’t Leave You Loving Me”

When Jay Leno hands the keys to “The Tonight Show,” the late night vehicle that’s been his home for the past 17 years, over to Conan O’Brien tonight, he’s not going to toss in any sage wisdom along with them.

“I don’t need to give Conan advice,” Leno told Neil Strauss for our latest issue, on newsstands now. “Conan’s very good at what he does. Conan was a writer before he was a performer. So when he started the show, his performing skills weren’t particularly honed, but the writing was sharp. He was saying clever things; he just hadn’t learned how to say them in the physically funniest way yet. His show has been number one [in its time slot] for the past 15 years. So I’m sure he’ll make that transition fine.”

Friday night marks Leno’s departure from “The Tonight Show,” as he passes the torch to O’Brien (the new “Tonight” host is even Leno’s last scheduled guest). The transition has been a lengthy one — Conan’s move to 11:30 was first announced five years ago. “Here at NBC, they have this thing that they like you to leave before you peak out and you’re over the top. And that’s what they wanted to do with me,” Leno says. “I said, ‘Guys, whatever you want to do.’ I’ve never been one of these guys that breaks up with a girl and goes, ‘But why? If I do this, will you go out with me?’ I’m more like, ‘Babe, if you don’t want to see me, I’m gone. It’s over. Thank you.’

But as his “Tonight” departure approached, Leno tells Rolling Stone that he realized he still enjoyed his gig (and NBC, of course, still enjoyed his ratings pull). After exploring a nightly 8 pm slot, Leno and NBC considered something a little later. “I realized there hasn’t really been a successful 10:00 show launched in probably five or six or seven years,” Leno says. “CSI and Law & Order – those are all good shows, and they do very well, but any new ones that come in just fall by the wayside. And 10 seemed to be turning into the new 11:30. Even people in their 20s go, ‘Oh, man, I can’t stay up till 12 anymore. I gotta get up. I carpool, and I’m working two jobs.’ So I said, ‘Well, how about 10? We’ll try and do something different from what ‘The Tonight Show’ is. Whatever you want to pay me is fine.’”

Leno is cautiously optimistic about his primetime chances. Other observers are less generous — Sumner Redstone, whose Viacom owns “CSI” home CBS, went as far as to say that the crime drama would “beat the hell” out of Leno.

“Oh, that’s fine. I’m going to go with that one,” Leno says. “They will win. Hopefully we’ll catch them on the reruns. It’s like a Cadillac costs more than a Volkswagen, but if you sell enough Volkswagens, you succeed because of volume.”

To read Neil Strauss’ Rolling Stone interview with Jay Leno, check out our latest issue, on newsstands now.

By Eric Ditzian

With all this gossip about Susan Boyle’s purported meltdown and speculation that she almost quit the show and is now holed up in a safe house away from the prying eyes of the paparazzi, it’s easy to forget one little thing: She hasn’t won anything yet.

The “Britain’s Got Talent” finale isn’t set to take place until tomorrow night, at which point nine other contestants will be singing, dancing and otherwise competing with Boyle for the crown and the chance to perform in front of the queen. With that in mind, MTV News took a look at the remaining field to give our take on who’s favored to triumph:

Susan Boyle
Who else in the competition has become a household name? Who else has been trailed relentlessly by tabloid hounds? Who else was granted an audience with Her Holiness Oprah Winfrey? Of course, all this exposure could lead to a Boyle backlash. And there’s no doubting that Susan’s performance of “Memory” last weekend was, at least initially, shaky. But come on — front-runners always win, right Adam Lambert? Maybe not. Still, all Boyle needs to do is step out onto the stage and do what she does best, what made her a household name to begin with: sing.

Chances for Victory: 4.5 out of 5

Shaheen Jafargholi
The dimpled 12-year-old who lives with his mom and his cat got off to a rough start during his first performance, when judge Simon Cowell cut him off just a few lines into his cover of Amy Winehouse’s “Valerie.” Good thing he did, because Shaheen then busted into a super-soulful rendition of Michael Jackson’s “Who’s Lovin’ You” and rocketed into the top tier of “BGT” contenders. For his semifinal performance, Shaheen again chose a song that didn’t seem to suit a preteen boy: “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” from the musical “Dreamgirls.” But the kid has got a serious set of pipes on him, and he’ll sound great singing the freaking phone book.

Chances for Victory: 3 out of 5

Stavros Flatley
File this one under total head-scratcher. A shirtless middle-age man with a potbelly and his pudgy young son pulling off muscle-man stances onstage? The father/son duo locking arms and performing an absurd variation on “Riverdance”? I must be missing something that the rest of Britain isn’t, because the comedic dance troupe won the “public vote” over Shaheen. I guess I’ll defer to Cowell on this one: “I should hate you, because it’s sort of rubbish but brilliant.”

Chances for Victory: 2.5 out of 5

Aidan Davis
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves: The 11-year-old hip-hop dancer still needs to triumph in tonight’ semifinal to earn a slot in tomorrow’s competition. But watch him pop, lock and moonwalk — the Brit’s got talent! Last year a teenage dancing phenom named George Sampson took the “BGT” crown, so it’s anybody’s guess if a been-there, done-that suspicion will hurt Davis’ chances. If you ask me, though, Davis has more style and more grace than Sampson ever had.

Chances for Victory: 1.5 out of 5

Flawless
During their first performance, this group of North London dancers professed a desire to “chase the dream, not the competition,” and then proceeded to flip, kick and twist their way into the finals. Some of their extraordinary moves simply defy description. No doubt they’re more talented than Davis, but they’re missing the 11-year-old’s “aw, shucks” cuteness factor.

Chances for Victory: 1 out of 5

After being found guilty at his second trial for the February 2003 murder of actress Lana Clarkson, legendary producer Phil Spector was sentenced to 19 years to life in prison today by Judge Larry Fidler, the Los Angeles Times reports. The conviction carried a minimum 15 years-to-life sentence, plus an additional four years for criminal use of a firearm. For Spector, the Clarkson family and the Los Angeles District Attorney Office, the sentencing marked the end of a legal drama that stretched six years and two trials.

(The Rise & Fall of Phil Spector: Photos from his famed studio sessions.)

After a hung jury and a mistrial marked the end of Spector’s first murder trial in September 2007, the second trial resulted in Spector being found guilty of second-degree murder in April 2009. Spector was immediately taken into custody as he awaited today’s sentencing. Spector, the mastermind behind the famed “Wall of Sound” recording technique heard on the Ronettes’ “Be My Baby,” was the producer for such classic albums as the Beatles’ Let It Be, John Lennon’s Imagine, George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass and the Ramones’ End of the Century, as well as countless chart-topping singles.

Spector, who also had a sordid history of threatening lovers and musical colleagues with firearms, took actress Lana Clarkson, who was working as a hostess at L.A.’s House of Blues, back to his home on the night of February 3rd, 2003. Clarkson was killed that night of a gunshot wound to the head, and while Spector supposedly told his chauffeur “I think I killed somebody” immediately after the shooting, the producer claimed his innocence while pleading not guilty to murder charges. Spector’s defense team argued that Clarkson was depressed about her struggling career and used Spector’s gun to kill herself. However, the prosecution found enough evidence to convince the jury that Spector was guilty of the murder of Clarkson.

Related Stories:

• Phil Spector Found Guilty In Murder Retrial, Faces At Least 18 Years In Prison
• Rock Daily’s Full Phil Spector Trial Coverage

The Beastie Boys, “So Watcha Want” [Live on Jimmy Fallon]
S-M loves that Beastie Boys have now officially evolved into everybody’s cool uncles. Look at Adam Yauch’s trenchcoat! He looks like Mark Wahlberg playing Columbo!

A Tribe Called Quest, Final show in 1991 [Live]
The second track on this brilliant bootleg of the final Tribe Called Quest show is called “Busta’s Lament.” You know what our lament is? hat last Busta Rhymes album. This mix is proof that there was a time when you didn’t have to go underground to find great hip-hop.

The National, “The Runaway” [New Song Live]
“We don’t bleed if we don’t fight” goes a verse on the hypnotic, riveting new National song, deftly summing up all the reasons S-M never took up boxing.

Michael Jackson, “Bad” [Mowgli Remix]
This is fine and all, but now we wanna hear Mowgli give the same sped-up breathless treatment to Weird Al’s “Fat.” Then we’ll be impressed.

Marina & the Diamonds, “Dollars to Pounds” [The Shoes Remix]
You know what we at S-M say about this trend of ethereal female vocalists cooing over neon synthesizers? Keep ‘em coming. In this track, Marina insists “I am not a robot,” but her herky-jerk delivery and chopped-up cadence beg to differ.

Like the battle between Rock Band and Guitar Hero, the competition is heating up between upcoming music video games DJ Hero and Scratch: The Ultimate DJ to stake dominance in the genre. Today, DJ Hero made a major move by hooking up with a pair of the biggest rappers around, Jay-Z and Eminem, to release exclusive content for their game, due out this autumn (That is, if DJ Hero can brush off that lawsuit Scratch filed against them.)

Under the deal, DJ Hero will collaborate the rappers on a special branded version of the game that will include an advanced version of the game’s turntable controller, a performance-ready DJ stand, and two exclusive CD compilations featuring greatest hits and new mixes from each artist. The CDs mark the first time an artist has released an album of music exclusively for these music video games. Additionally, both Em and Jigga will provide “fresh mixes” and other downloadable content later in the year.

“A DJ has the ability to use music to control people’s emotions and is responsible for the entire vibe of a room, a club or a party,” Jay-Z said in a statement. “DJ Hero is the first videogame that allows everyone to enjoy the unique experience of creating that environment.” DJ Hero is one of many games Activision is pumping out by year’s end, including Guitar Hero 5, Guitar Hero: Van Halen and Band Hero.

So far, Scratch has announced it will feature tracks by Kanye West, Beastie Boys, OutKast, Dr. Dre and Run-DMC, while DJ Hero will reportedly boast over 100 master recordings broken down into two-song mixes. An added bonus of DJ Hero is that gamers can hook up their Guitar Hero guitar for exclusive DJ/guitar mixes, with Nirvana, Tears for Fears and David Bowie among the artists than will get mashed-up, according to the game’s official website.

Related Stories:

“Scratch: The Ultimate DJ” Starts a Legal Beef With “DJ Hero”

Mix Up Kanye West, Beastie Boys, Run-DMC Tracks on “Scratch: The Ultimate DJ”

“Guitar Hero 5″ Exclusive: 10 Bands in September 1st Game

By Kathleen Newman-Bremang

Susan Boyle may be having a rough time dealing with her instant fame lately, but we’ve got something that is sure to cheer up everyone’s favorite Scottish sweetheart. Harry Connick Jr is the latest celeb to catch Susan Boyle fever. Yes, the jazz crooner (or Grace’s husband on “Will & Grace,” if you prefer) told MTV News that he’s a fan of the “Britain’s Got Talent” contestant.

When we caught up with Connick last night at an event honoring British brand Burberry, the star told us he’s watched the instant Internet star online.

“I just heard her sing that one song,” he said. “Somebody sent me a link to her on YouTube singing it, and she was great.”

Connick confessed that he hasn’t been keeping up with Boyle’s every move like the rest of America (and, of course, Britain), but he seemed pretty impressed.

“I haven’t been following the whole story, so I don’t know much about her, but she sounds great!” he gushed.

Before we had the chance to find out if there will be a Harry/Susan duet in the near future, the star was whisked off by his publicist. So, it was short was sweet but if you’re watching this, Susan, cheer up! Not everyone can say they have an Emmy- and Grammy-winning actor/musician as a fan. Plus, Harry’s pretty dreamy in person. We’re sure his smile could calm even Boyle’s nerves.

By Eric Ditzian

Susan! Susan, are you OK? Everyone seems so worried about you. The Associated Press tells me that “Britain and the YouTube-watching world is fretting over the pressure being piled” on you and your lovely voice. “God knows how poor Susan is feeling,” wrote “Britain’s Got Talent” judge Piers Morgan in a fit of high-horse condescension. Now I hear you’ve been shunted off to a “safe house” just days before you’re set to take the stage for your final performance.

But I’m not worried about Susan Boyle. I know the Scottish singer is going to be fine. Why? Because I’m not buying any of this Susan Boyle meltdown mumbo-jumbo. Tabloid reports of an expletive-laced tirade need to be taken with a grain of salt. Folks like Morgan who purport to speak on her behalf need to be ignored. And wouldn’t you hole up in a safe, quiet space before the biggest night of your life? All this noise surrounding Boyle is just par for the celebrity course, whether we’re talking about overnight sensations or longtime Hollywood starlets.

But it’s not just my inherent media skepticism that has me thinking Boyle’s going to be OK for her final performance, and beyond. It’s statements like this one, aired during last weekend’s semi-final show: “All my life, I’ve always striven to prove myself, that I can be accepted, that I’m not the worthless person that people think I am, that I do have something to offer,” she said.

Boyle apparently has spent her entire life being ignored, rejected, laughed at — and so is well practiced. The only difference now is that the contempt is coming from around the world, not just from folks in her town. She’ll adjust. She may not win “BGT,” but she’s likely to have a successful career in the years to come. That’s what happens when you become a household name. Just wait for the debut album, the memoir, the TV movie. If anything, YouTube-watching world, we should be jealous, not worried. Because Susan Boyle is going to be just fine.

“This album will be the death of me,” groans Killswitch Engage frontman Howard Jones as he sinks into a couch. The Massachusetts-based metal band has just finished work on its fourth album, and Jones is feeling a bit worked-over. “There was nothing comfortable about it for any of us,” he says of making the record, most of which took place in Atlanta under the watchful eye of superproducer Brendan O’Brien (Bruce Springsteen, AC/DC, Pearl Jam), marking the first time Killswitch guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz has stepped aside for an outside producer.

On first listen, things kick off in the established Killswitch fashion, as power-riffing guitars race alongside galloping drums, but once Jones’ voice joins the mix, it’s evident where his strain comes from. O’Brien has pushed Jones farther than he’s gone before vocally, especially in the clean singing department: every song sounds like he’s swinging for the fences to get just the right epic chorus and turn the songs into sing-along anthems. But this time around, things are a little less upbeat.

“We’re known for being a pretty positive band — we’re almost a self-help band,” Jones says. “I feel like Tony Robbins or something. We’re known for anthems, but this time I really tried to write from a different place. I’ve got enough to draw on to write some stuff that can be dark. Maybe there’s still a hint of positivity in it, but there are some songs on there that are not positive at all.”

Jones says that the album — which will be self-titled and released on June 30th — will continue Killswitch’s reputation as a stepping stone for listeners who are just starting to explore the heavier side of things. The band has made a trademark out of mixing its abrasiveness with large doses of melody, as well as for Jones’ clean lyrical enunciation, even while screaming.

“With the amount of melody that’s in Killswitch, it just makes sense to try to enunciate and be clear, and a lot of people pick up on that, people who don’t normally listen to heavier music,” he says. “In a lot of ways, we can be a cool gateway band into heavier stuff. You’ll start listening to us, and a few months later, you could be listening to Nile or Decapitated.”

Killswitch Engage will appear on the main stage of the Rockstar Mayhem Festival this summer alongside Slayer and Marilyn Manson.

Photo: Walter/WireImage

Lawyers representing Ozzy Osbourne have filed a lawsuit with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office against the heavy metal icon’s Black Sabbath bandmate, Tony Iommi, claiming the man responsible for some of the genre’s most memorable riffs illegally assumed sole ownership of the Black Sabbath name.

According to the New York Post, Osbourne’s suit seeks a 50 percent stake in the “Black Sabbath” trademark. Furthermore, the filing claims Osbourne is entitled to a portion of the profits Iommi has generated through use of the band name, and suggests it was Osbourne’s “signature lead vocals” that helped propel the band’s “extraordinary success.” The suit also points out that Sabbath’s popularity took a nosedive during Ozzy’s absence during 1980 and 1996, when former Rainbow vocalist Ronnie James Dio took over behind the mike stand.

The suit follows one filed by Iommi in December 2008 against Live Nation. In that filing, Iommi claims the concert giant sold merchandise bearing the band’s logo, despite the 2006 expiration of a merchandising deal, reportedly worth nearly $80 million. Soon after that agreement concluded, Iommi reclaimed the band’s trademark.

Iommi’s suit argues Live Nation continued to sell more than 100 items of merchandise featuring the band’s likeness, name and logo, despite the receipt of cease-and-desist orders from the guitarist’s camp. Iommi’s suit seeks damages in the amount of three times the profits from the merchandise sales, plus a halt to the Black Sabbath product sales.

In a recent interview with Decibel magazine, both Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler said that working with Dio was actually much easier than working with Ozzy. “Ronnie’s a songwriter in his own right — he’s got tons of ideas,” Butler said. “Whereas Ozzy … in the old days, he’d come up with a vocal line and I’d write the lyrics. Ronnie is 100 percent involved in both the musical side and the vocal side, and he writes his own lyrics as well.”

Akon spoke about the dangers of gun violence and made reference to his fallen protégé Dolla at a meeting with students in Poughkeepsie, New York, yesterday, the Poughkeepsie Journal reports. The event was part of Akon’s community service sentence that he received after throwing a fan off the stage at a 2007 concert, but it couldn’t come at a more prevalent time: Eleven days ago, Dolla, an Atlanta rapper who was signed to Akon’s Konvict Music label, was shot and killed outside a Los Angeles shopping mall.

“He was a great kid, he didn’t deserve it,” Akon said of the 21-year-old Dolla, who was in Los Angeles to work on his first album A Dolla & A Dream. “The reason he got shot was probably the most miscellaneous thing ever. It’s to a point now where we’re always trying to find ways to deal with our issues, deal with all these main challenges which is very hard, especially when we’re surrounded by an environment that don’t really have morals.” Akon, who has been accused of embellishing his own criminal past, also called the murder “a very senseless crime.”

A man named Aubrey Berry was arrested soon after Dolla’s murder and charged with two counts of assault with a firearm and one count of murder. Berry faces life in prison if convicted. As Rock Daily reported last week, Berry’s lawyer Howard K. Price claims his client acted in self-defense, stating, “If somebody has a reasonable perception that he is in danger of bodily injury or death, he has a right to defend himself.” Price added that his client thought Dolla was reaching for a handgun when Berry fired at the rapper. However, no other weapons were found at the crime scene.

Related Stories:

• Dolla Slaying Suspect Lawyer Says Client Acted In Self Defense
• Dolla’s Family Release Statement, Plan Public Memorial Service
• Atlanta Rapper Dolla Shot Dead Outside Los Angeles Mall

Photo: WireImage

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