MTV to fans: Is Rick Astley the 'Best Act Ever'?
MTV Europe has a surprise contender in this year's 2008 European Music Awards. Having opened up the category of "Best Act Ever" to write-in nominations, MTVE is the latest to fall victim to the now-aged "RickRoll" meme as fans selected Rick Astley to battle with Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Green Day, U2 and Tokio Hotel for this highest of award show high honors. Not only that, by allowing fans to vote on the winner, MTVE has left the door open to the same kind of trickery that restored Astley to

Project Runway: Kenley's "Classy, Expensive" Hideous Hip Hop Jeans [The Greatest Show On Earth]
newVideoPlayer("/PR_Kenley_Whine.flv", 506, 423,""); The challenge on last night's episode of Project Runway was insane: The contestants had to design outfits for each other, inspired by musical genres. Kenley's genre was pop. Suede's? Punk. Korto's was country, Leanne's was hip hop, and Jerell's was rock and roll. In the workroom, Tim Gunn approached Kenley with his trademark diplomacy, saying, "Correct me. I'm an old fart." He was concerned about her "hip hop" ensemble. Kenley quickly became a defensive

Pete Wentz Sorta Stale in Recycled Costume (E! Online)
E! Online - This is Pete Wentz copying The Jonas Brothers who copied the Beastie Boys with a fake mustache, bad wig and big, vintage glasses, because it really never gets old. At least he isn't a cop—just a doughnut delivery boy.

Perhaps you've been watching the recent ... [Nontroversies]
Perhaps you've been watching the recent semi-demi-hemi-kerfuffle involving Robin Thicke and Vibe magazine. Perhaps not. Here's the short version: Thicke wants to be on the mag's cover and was politely rebuffed. He mooned about it but seems to have accepted it, in a pouty sort of way, by claiming the mag doesn't allow whites on the cover, cheerfully ignoring the presences of Eminem, the Beastie Boys, Justin Timberlake, and others on Vibe's front. Today, Danyel Smith, Vibe's editor-in-chief, released a brief,

Tokio Hotel's Bill Kaulitz Immortalized -- In Wax -- At Madame Tussauds In Berlin
A wax figure of Tokio Hotel frontman Bill Kaulitz was unveiled at Madame Tussauds wax museum in Berlin.

Tokio Hotel's Bill Kaulitz Immortalized -- In Wax -- At Madame Tussauds In Berlin
Bill Kaulitz's signature rock-star style has been immortalized by the artists at Madame Tussauds wax museum in Berlin. On Tuesday, a figure of the Tokio Hotel lead singer made its debut. Fans turned out to get a look at Kaulitz's wax doppelganger — and some even got, er, intimate with him ... er, it. Rocking a cropped leather jacket, a chain-link-and-leather choker and black fingernails, the Kaulitz doll got plenty of love from the ladies who showed up in the band's home country to show their devoti

Franz Ferdinand Capture Just The Right Sound, Thanks To -- Gulp! -- Human Remains
'I can't think of any records with human bones,' Alex Kapranos says of band's new percussion instruments. By Chris Harris Views 47 When Franz Ferdinand frontman Alex Kapranos and guitarist Nick McCarthy walked away from an auction last year in their hometown of Glasgow, Scotland, carrying a large wooden box containing human skeletal remains recovered from a dead doctor's office, they never imagined they'd use the bones for anything more than morbid studio decorum.

Franz Ferdinand Capture Just The Right Sound, Thanks To -- Gulp! -- Human Remains
Franz Ferdinand's next album, the tentatively titled Tonight, got its signature sound from a hurled microphone and a box of human bones.

The End Of "TRL": What It Means For MTV Interns, Sbarro, And America [Butterfly Effects]
As we pointed out in our initial post about the imminent demise of MTV's daily video-countdown/celebrity-clusterfuck hour TRL, there's a sad result for teenaged New York-area fans of artists like The Jonas Brothers, Tokio Hotel, and Flo Rida (pretty sure he still has fans) who were looking for an easy reason to pick a day to cut school: They're now down at least one reason to take a mental health day, at least if they're not into the whole "making stuff up wholesale" sort of thing. But what other unintended

Bath. Yeovil, Gl*****bury!
Tour's pickin' up nice, last night was Moles in Bath, a very beautiful town and a tiny venue, Crowd was wild, I was carried overhead to the bar after the encore.Yeovil tonight, which is a first, never been before but I am aware of Yeovil Town football club. If anyone want to buy me a shirt, I'm a small.Bit of a last minute thing but we're playing Glastonbury on Friday on the Park stage at 10 o clock, between John Cale and Dizzee Rascal, which is pretty much where I think we stand musically.See some of you t

Obama Fund-raiser Brings ‘Limeys’ Franz Ferdinand to Tiny Venue
Andrew Bird and — wow! — Franz Ferdinand.Photo: Ehren Gresehover Though the election is a month away, the mood at Barack Rock — a comedy, rock, and, yes, comedy-rock benefit at the Music Hall of Williamsburg for "that one" — was more relaxed and celebratory than the tenor of the hard-fought campaign would lead anyone (or at least any Democrat with at least a four-year memory) to believe. The pupu platter of indie-rock bands —

Alex Kapranos Talks “Sinister” New Franz Ferdinand Album
When Rolling Stone checked in with Franz Ferdinand last December, the band was testing out new material at small overseas shows and heading in a direction that was more dance than rock. Now the band’s frontman, Alex Kapranos, tells us their long-awaited third album may be released in January. “The album is finished but there is a little bit of mixing left, a lot of which is being done by Mike Fraser who’s known for doing a lot of heavier rock stuff like Aerosmith and AC/DC,” Kapranos

Beastie Boys, Santogold, Tenacious D: Beastie Boys anounce Get Out and Vote tour
The Beastie Boys have announced three shows in the build up to November’s presidential election. The shows, which are been collectively billed as Get Out and Vote Tour, are designed to encourage people to go to the polls on November 4. Adam Yauch has already stressed his public support for Barack Obama, saying: “When I hear Obama speak he just seems really sincere and he just seems like somebody who actually has his heart and his motivation in the right place.” The Get Out and Vote Tour f

Youssou NDour Doc Coming to America; Oscilloscope Gets U.S. Rights - indieWIRE
Chai Vasarhelyi's doc about Senegalese musician Youssou NDour and his struggle to release his controversial "Egypt" album has been acquired by Beastie Boy Adam Yauch's Oscilloscope Pictures. Fresh from the Telluride and Toronto film festivals where the documentary debuted in conjunction with live concert events, "Youssou NDour: I Bring What I Love" will be released in theaters early next summer. Chai Vasarhelyi's doc about Senegalese musician Youssou NDour and his struggle to release his controversial "Egy

METALLICA's HAMMETT, TRUJILLO Interviewed By France's GUITAR PART Magazine; Video Available
France's Guitar Part magazine conducted separate interviews with METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo on August 14, 2008 at the Rock en France festival at Grand d'Arras in Arras, France. Watch the 10-and-a-half-minute report below. On October 16, METALLICA will take the stage when the annual "Los Premios MTV Latinoamérica 2008" take over Guadalajara, Mexico. The awards, which will be held inside the Auditorio Telmex, will air live at 9 p.m. ET, only on MTV Tr3´s. According to MTV

Los Premios Update: Cafe Tacuba, Bostich + Fussible, And Kudai Performing Live!
Oye, we are less than two weeks away from celebrating Los Premios awards! We are getting this fiesta started RIGHT by announcing a new set of performers… Los Premios fifth-time nominee Cafe Tacuba is set to blast us off with a special performance along with electronic rebels Bostich + Fussible, and Chilean pop group Kudai. The “Sino” roqueros are sure to spark extra attention on-stage, especially when they are up for the coveted lengua award for “Video of the Year,” “A

Microsoft (Still) Thinks Boy Bands Are Hilarious! [Old Jokes]
Parody is a tricky form. Do it just right, and you're a keen cultural observer with a razor sharp critical eye. But get it wrong and you look pathetically out of touch. Not surprisingly, Microsoft has gone the latter route, coming up with a fake boy band called 4 Softies and a Pizza Guy (what?) to promote Windows 7. They even have a silly music video! It looks like a rejected MadTV segment from 1999! According to their MySpace, We are a group of guys that wanted to take our natural singin

Franz Ferdinand: Franz Ferdinand @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
Photo gallery of Franz Ferdinand at Music Hall of Williamsburg (October 8, 2008).

The Dirty Heads' Full-Length Debut 'Any Port In A Storm' Out Sept. 23
SoCal's reggae and hip-hop influenced alt-rockers The Dirty Heads are set to release their debut album Any Port In A Storm on September 23rd via Executive Music Group (Universal). Featuring one of the last recorded performances of the late keyboardist Billy Preston, best known for his work with The Beatles, the album blends The Dirty Heads' distinctive brand of reggae, hiphop and folk-influenced party music. Produced by Sugar Ray drummer Stan Frazier and Steve Fox (Ashlee Simpson), and mixed by legendary

Rick Astley-Tokio Hotel Battle To Engulf The Internet In Flames, Clicking [Everybody's A Winner]
Earlier this week, MTV Europe announced the nominations for the European Music Awards, and I got halfway through a post about the nods before I got completely, utterly bored. Duffy's Rockferry as a potential Album Of The Year? A shoehorned-in nod for the huge-in-Europe 30 Seconds To Mars? Well, apparently I wasn't the only person on the Internet to be a bit underwhelmed by the nods, because in an effort to rally the troops via the employment of a meme that died six months ago, MTV has decided that Rick Astl

Talk Talk: Samuel L. Jackson, Michael C. Hall, Natalie Cole
Filed under: Late Night, TV Royalty, Programming, Celebrities, Talk Show, Reality-FreeHere's who's on the late night talk shows tonight. Charlie Rose: a discussion about Wall Street The Daily Show: Barton Gellman The Colbert Report: Peter Gomes The Late Show with David Letterman: Richard Simmons and Mary-Louise Parker (repeat) Jay Leno: Kate Hudson, Michael C. Hall, and Eric Hutchison Jimmy Kimmel Live: Kobe Bryant and Tokio Hotel (repeat) Tavis Smiley: Natalie Cole La

tokio hotel - bill kaulitz’s waxy molestation
good morning! i know german band Tokio Hotel has a super zealous and dedicated fan base but it looks like some fans were going a bit overboard at madame tussauds wax musuem over in berlin where the band's androgynous & oddly beautiful lead singer bill kaulitz's waxy twin was unveiled (i'd love to see what he actually looks like without all that make up and hair) just look at the one girl below grabbing his crotch (although there's nothing there - i highly doubt wax figures have 'private parts') as far a

tokio hotel - bill kaulitz’s waxy molestation
good morning! i know german band Tokio Hotel has a super zealous and dedicated fan base but it looks like some fans were going a bit overboard at madame tussauds wax musuem over in berlin where the band's androgynous & oddly beautiful lead singer bill kaulitz's waxy twin was unveiled (i'd love to see what he actually looks like without all that make up and hair) just look at the one girl below grabbing his crotch (although there's nothing there - i highly doubt wax figures have 'private parts') as far a