What Will Britney Spears Wear On Her Femme Fatale Tour?

Costume designer Zaldy Goco gave fans a sneak peek at the sparkles and studs she'll wear when tour kicks of Thursday.
By Jocelyn Vena


Britney Spears
Photo: C Flanigan/FilmMagic

It's almost here! Britney Spears launches her Femme Fatale tour on Thursday, and her team has given fans a sneak peek of the looks she'll be showing off onstage.

Costume designer Zaldy Goco spoke to "Extra" about Spears' glittering, sexy outfits for the tour, which kicks off in Sacramento, California, with equally sexy opening act Nicki Minaj. "Well, I mean the real inspiration, of course, is Britney herself. But there's a creative script done by the director, Jamie King, and it's a whole thing about the femme fatale and femme fatales throughout the ages, so we have all kinds of costumes where she's changing personas throughout the show," he shared. "Everything is very sexy; Britney's a very sexy girl."

The looks he shared include lots of sparkles and body-hugging designs, that include a pink latex jacket paired with a nude bodysuit to be featured in the second act of the show, a Marilyn Monroe-inspired white flowing dress, a few gladiator-inspired gold-mirrored options, pink-chrome-studded leather and denim, as well as a "Toxic"-inspired catsuit.

For the finale, she wears a kimono, with an anime version of herself silkscreened on one sleeve, over a sparkling, black bodysuit that has LED lights built into it. Previously teased was a giant pair of angel wings that Spears will also wear at some point during the show.

For those wondering what Spears looks like in the costumes, fansite BreatheHeavy.com got sent some snaps of the singer rocking some of the looks, including the kimono, the studded denim and a gold-mirrored bikini.

Are you excited to see these costumes in action? Tell us where you're catching Britney on tour in the comments below!

Related Videos Related Photos Related Artists

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1665783/britney-spears-femme-fatale-costumes.jhtml

Leslie Bega Leslie Bibb Lil Kim Lily Allen Lindsay Lohan Lindsay Price

'Harry Potter' World Cup: Help Decide The Best Character!

Voting opens Monday on the MTV Movies Blog to finally put this debate to rest.
By Eric Ditzian


Emma Watson, Rupert Grint and Daniel Radcliffe in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows"
Photo: Warner Bros.

Are you a Dumbledore guy or gal? Perhaps you're keen on Hermione and Harry? Or maybe you shun the high-profile faces and hold a special place in your heart for Moaning Myrtle or Nearly Headless Nick? Who truly is the greatest "Harry Potter" character of all time?

That's a debate fans have been having since J.K. Rowling published her first novel about a boy wizard in 1997 and one that continues to rage as the final film, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2," nears its July 15 debut. And you know what? It's time to finally put this fantastical argument to rest!

Get ready for MTV News' "Harry Potter" World Cup, a monthlong tournament pitting 64 "Potter" characters against one another to see which will be decided solely by online fan voting. Check out the full bracket with all the supernatural matchups, then study up and get ready to vote when the first round kicks off Monday, June 20, at MoviesBlog.MTV.com.

Check out photos of all 60 of the "Harry Potter" World Cup players.

The single-elimination tournament will proceed from round to round with the intensity of the fiercest of Quidditch matches, with some characters falling by the wayside and others continuing to fight the good fight. It's all leading up to the epic championship round. The two finalists will be announced Monday, July 11. Voting will continue through MTV News' live-stream coverage of the "Deathly Hallows, Part 2" red-carpet premiere in New York City, with the winner crowned at the end of the event.

The full Harry Potter World Cup is as follows:

» Round 1: Monday, June 20, through Sunday, June 26
» Round 2: Monday, June 27, through Thursday, June 30
» Sweet 16: Friday, July 1, through Tuesday, July 5
» Elite Eight: Wednesday, July 6, through Thursday, July 7
» Final Four: Friday, July 8, through Sunday, July 10
» Championship Round: Top two announced Monday, July 11, with voting continuing through the New York premiere of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2"

So get ready to vote at MoviesBlog.MTV.com on June 20, and be sure to utilize the Twitter hashtag #mtvpottercup to spread the word. Don't let your favorite character lose out on being named the greatest "Harry Potter" character ever. Sixty-four will compete, but only one will emerge as the Wizarding World's Champion — and it's up to you!

Check out everything we've got on "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

Related Photos

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1665923/harry-potter-world-cup.jhtml

Kelly Ripa Kelly Rowland Kerry Suseck Kim Kardashian Kim Smith Kim Yoon jin

My Morning Jacket 'Sad' Over Scrapped 'Muppets' Tour

MMJ were tapped to tour as real-life Electric Mayhem band, a dream trek that was cut at the last minute.
By James Montgomery


My Morning Jacket's Patrick Hallahan and Tommy Blankenship
Photo: MTV News

My Morning Jacket embarked on a rather remarkable run of shows late last year, beginning with a five-night stand at New York's Terminal 5, where they played their entire studio discography. That momentum continued with a spate of festival gigs, most notably a triumphant mainstage set earlier this month at Bonnaroo in Manchester, Tennessee.

But for all of their onstage success, it's the one tour they didn't embark on that haunts them to this day ... a planned series of shows where they would have doubled as Dr. Teeth's backing band, Electric Mayhem.

For those not in the know, Mayhem is, of course, the rock band made famous on "The Muppet Show," a ragtag bunch of musicians — lippy Janice on lead guitar, Sgt. Floyd Pepper on bass, the mysterious Zoot on sax, and noted smasher Animal behind the drum kit — fronted by the irrepressible Dr. Teeth (who, it should be noted, is probably not an actual M.D.). And in the lead-up to MMJ's new Circuital album, the band was in very real negotiations with the folks at the Walt Disney Company (who acquired rights to the Muppet brand in 2004) to record new music for Electric Mayhem, with a full-blown tour to follow.

"It all started when we were working on a Muppets project. ... We were going to be the band behind the Electric Mayhem band," bassist "Two Tone" Tommy Blankenship told MTV News. "And so we had started demoing songs at [frontman] Jim [James'] house; two of them ended up on the record, that were kind of Muppet-y, a little wacky. 'Wonderful,' 'Out of My System' and 'Friends Again.' But then that project fell through. And, man, that was a shame."

Of course, My Morning Jacket eventually compartmentalized their disappointment, and finished Circuital instead. And though they're currently on the road in support of the album (and will be for the foreseeable future), they'll truly never forgive Disney for killing the tour of their dreams.

"It's so sad though ... they were going to release an Electric Mayhem album, and they wanted us to be the band, and then we would go on tour, and they would have all these animatronic Muppets, and we would, like, be behind the stage playing," drummer Patrick Hallahan explained. "As much as I love Disney's history, cutting that project — and it doesn't have to be us, it could've been any band — that visual would've been amazing."

Should Disney revive MMJ's Electric Mayhem tour dream? Tell us in the comments!

Related Artists

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1666057/my-morning-jacket-muppets-tour.jhtml

Lisa Snowdon Liz Phair Lokelani McMichael Lori Heuring Lorri Bagley Lucy Liu

Michael Jackson Doctor Conrad Murray's Trial To Be Televised

Judge rules that camera will be allowed in the courtroom for manslaughter case.
By Gil Kaufman


Conrad Murray
Photo: AFP/ Getty Images

For what promises to be one of the most bizarre and riveting legal proceedings in years, a Los Angeles judge ruled on Monday that a television camera will be allowed in the courtroom when Michael Jackson's doctor goes on trial for involuntary manslaughter.

Reuters reported that Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor, approved the presence of a camera in the trial of Dr. Conrad Murray as long as it does not interfere with the proceedings in the closely watched case.

The judge asked for the "absolute least-intrusive placement" of a TV camera in the courtroom, but blocked cameras from documenting jury selection.

Pastor also announced that he would bump up the opening date of the trail by four days to March 24, at which point jury selection will begin. Murray, who faces up to four years in prison if convicted, has pleaded not guilty to the charges, and the trial is expected to last around six weeks.

Cardiologist Murray was hired to be Jackson's personal physician in the run-up to the King of Pop's planned 50-date comeback series of shows at London's O2 arena in the summer of 2009. The doctor told police that he provided Jackson, 50, with sedatives and the surgical anesthetic propofol in order to combat the singer's chronic insomnia. He said he did so on the morning of June 25, 2009, when Jackson died of what a coroner deemed acute propofol poisoning.

TMZ reported on Tuesday (February 8) that Murray's lawyers plan to argue that Jackson was already in weak health before he died and that it's unfair to blame propofol for his passing. Unnamed sources close to the case told the gossip site that at the time of his death, Jackson's body was already failing him in part because concert promoter AEG Live had "driven [him] over the edge" with a rigorous rehearsal schedule for the shows.

Murray's lawyers reportedly plan to call witnesses to say that Jackson was not showing up for rehearsals and when he did he showed "clear signs" of frail health. They also reportedly plan to argue that it was Jackson who administered the final, fatal dose of propofol to himself while Murray was out of the room.

Related Photos Related Artists

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1657464/conrad-murray-trial.jhtml

Katherine Heigl Katie Cassidy Katie Holmes Katy Perry Keira Knightley Kelly Brook

'Glee' Season Finale Exclusive: Listen To 'Yeah!' Here

An a cappella girl group covers Usher's hit for Nationals in next week's episode.
By Aly Semigran


Usher
Photo: Christopher Polk/ Getty Images

During this week's episode of "Glee", the gang from New Directions took a big risk when they decided they would compete in Nationals by singing their own original songs. Well, the stakes just got a little higher.

MTV News has an exclusive first listen to one of the rival groups who will go up against the McKinley High glee club in New York City during next Tuesday's (May 24) big season two finale. In the upcoming episode, an all-female a cappella group sings Usher's 2004 club and radio smash "Yeah!," which may have the Nationals judges saying just that.

Singers replace synthesizers for the four-note melody that repeats throughout the song, and lead vocalists RaVaughn Brown and Missi Hale match the high energy that Usher, Lil Jon and Ludacris brought to the track.

Granted, a few things have been tweaked in the version for the tween-friendly show, including the length (the original is over four minutes long, while the "Glee" version comes in at three and a half minutes) and the tune's instructions to "Take that and rewind it back ... got the rhythm make ya booty go."

Also, instead of Ludacris' verse, "We want a lady in the street/ And a freak in the bed," one girl sings, "You know you want a kiss on the lips, old red." The line, "Ludacris fill cups like double D's" has also been cut from the song.

But, it's not all PG. At one point in the girls' rendition of the track, they page homage to Lil Jon's crunk hit "Get Low," singing, "From the windows to the walls" and even Mystikal's booty-happy single "Shake Ya Ass," when they urge, "Show me whatcha' workin' with."

At the 2005 Grammy Awards, the power trio of Usher, Lil Jon and Ludacris won the Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Yeah!" But, will the song bring the same sort of fortune to this girl group at Nationals? Or will the glory all belong to New Directions this time? Gleeks will still have to wait a few more days to find out.

The "Glee" season finale airs Tuesday at 9 p.m. on Fox, while "Glee": The Music, Volume 6, including the three new original songs "Light Up the World," "Pretending" and "As Long as You're There," will be available on Monday.

What do you think of this a cappella group's version of "Yeah!"? Let us know in the comments section below!

Related Artists

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1664208/glee-season-finale-usher-yeah.jhtml

Katie Cassidy Katie Holmes Katy Perry Keira Knightley Kelly Brook Kelly Carlson

Usher, Ke$ha And More Help Dance Music Go Pop In 2010

But is it here to stay? Our music-industry experts weigh in.
By Akshay Bhansali


Ke$ha
Photo: Andreas Rentz/ Getty Images

In 2010, pop princesses, R&B icons and chart-dominating newcomers all danced to the same beat. Not only did dance music go pop, but pop music caught the club-music bug.

Between Katy Perry's "Firework," Ke$ha's "We R Who We R," Rihanna's "Only Girl (In the World)," Enrique Iglesias' "I Like It," Usher's "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love" and "OMG" and countless other singles, established artists definitely looked to dance beats for surefire hits. And two of this year's biggest success stories in music were Jason Derülo and Taio Cruz; could there be a soul left in this country who hasn't heard "Dynamite" or "In My Head"?

The love went both ways, with dance music's biggest stars finding mainstream success this year. Dance-music maestro deadmau5 took up house-artist duties at this year's VMAs, and Swedish House Mafia and Usher teamed up for a medley of their gems at the American Music Awards.

So how did this happen? We caught up with some music-industry experts to get their takes.

"You definitely saw tempos go up this year," Jon Caramanica of The New York Times told MTV News. "And I think what you had are a lot of producers who are really familiar with nightclub stuff. They are familiar with Europe. Things are happening on a more global scale now."

"I think everything from Europe, and sometimes even Asia, it comes to America, and we just adopt things a little bit slower," said Jared Eng of JustJared.com. "I think it was just a change. People like different types of music at different times. And dance was of this moment."

Noah Callahan of Complex magazine added: "I think 2010 saw the merging of the pop and dance genres. Pop artists realized that there were best practices that could be borrowed from dance music. And, ultimately, [all] pop music that has been made in the past 20 years had ended up being remixed for the club by dance artists. I think they basically just cut out the middleman and went straight there."

Dance music being introduced into the hip-hop and R&B realms was particularly notable this year.

"I think David Guetta kind of at the end of last year and the beginning of this year spearheaded it," said freelance writer Julianne Escobedo Shepherd. "He produced a lot of tracks. I think as trends go, people revile 'unst-unst.' But it's just coming back around. Big-room techno was a way for people to get decadent in a year that no one could get decadent."

"You have someone like will.i.am, who's like, 'Well, I spent all this time in Ibiza, and this is what they are doing,' and he wants to find a way to bring that into his music," Caramanica said of the Black Eyed Peas mastermind. "R&B especially became dance music. And especially with your Jason Derülos, Taio Cruzes. Guys like that would have literally been blocked at the border two years ago. That would not have made it through customs. And now all of a sudden they have #1 songs. I think will.i.am had a lot to do with that last year."

Elliott Wilson of RapRadar.com added: "It's actually even affected hip-hop. I was talking to Q-Tip, and his next record, I feel like that's gonna kind of go in that vein. I know that was also Jay-Z's thought process with Blueprint 3 at first, that he wanted to make a little bit more of a world music [vibe], a little more dancey. I think the kids today want to go to the clubs. They wanna have a good time. They wanna dance. So I think the artists of today are trying to kind of feed that audience."

"I think it's caught on this year because the people who've done it have been successful," offered Clover Hope of Vibe magazine. "Like 'OMG,' with usher, he didn't have success until he made a dance record. He had 'There Goes My Baby' and these really, like, adult-contemporary records that didn't really catch on. And then once you see that everybody is doing it and that people are liking it, they are like, 'OK, let me just try this out.' It's like Auto-Tune. Like, 'Let me see what I sound like on a record by David Guetta.' They end up liking it and doing more of it."

So does the club-music trend have staying power. According to our tastemakers, not so much.

"I do think it's a blip," Caramanica said. "I don't think that's gonna be something that lasts in America. I think this is gonna be a moment we'll all look back on and go, 'Wasn't that weird when Jason Derülo and Taio Cruz had #1 records?"

"At some point, these R&B artists will get kind of sick of it and be like, 'Let me go back to my soul background,' " Hope said. "When you actually have to say something, dance doesn't really lend itself to substance. And I think that R&B artists, they really want to talk about love and in a deep way, and to do that, you need to do, like, a soul or a traditional R&B record. I want to say that it's kind of a fad."

"I think music is very cyclical," Eng offered. "So I think dance music might be here for a little bit, but I'm sure it will phase out at some point."

Wilson called dance music "the sound of today. I think that people want more aggressive, faster beats, and I think that that probably has legs until at least next summer."

What do you think? Is dance music here to stay? Let us know in the comments!

Related Videos Related Artists

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1655031/usher-keha-more-help-dance-music-go-pop-2010.jhtml

Kelly Ripa Kelly Rowland Kerry Suseck Kim Kardashian Kim Smith Kim Yoon jin

Green Lantern' Special-Effects Wiz Took 'Artistic License

Ryan Reynolds, director Martin Campbell and designer Neville Page explain creatures' creation to MTV News.
By Kara Warner


Ryan Reynolds in "Green Lantern"
Photo: Warner Bros.

Nowadays, it seems moviegoers don't see anything that isn't at least partially CGI-enhanced — especially when talking about summer blockbusters and comic book movies. Not that we're complaining. A movie like "Green Lantern," which opened Friday (June 17), wouldn't be possible without a heavy assist from computer-graphics specialists and visual-effects teams.

When MTV News caught up with the film's star, Ryan Reynolds, director Martin Campbell and creature designer Neville Page at the premiere this week, we asked them about the challenges involved in acting and working with so many non-existing environments.

"I had pretty strong visual cues to work with," Reynolds said. He explained that he was mostly working with actual people, actors who wore green-screen suits and were later replaced or enhanced with CGI in postproduction.

Campbell said that although a lot of the time the actors were playing off "tennis balls on C-stands," they all learned to work from nothing. "You're sitting in a blue cave for god knows how long, and after a while, it's fine," he said. "You sort of adjust to it, you get used to it like anything else, it becomes the norm.

Regarding the specifics of the film's visual and CG-related feats, Page admitted that the alien characters, Tomar-Re and Kilowog (voiced by Geoffrey Rush and Michael Clarke Duncan), proved to be particularly difficult.

"As soon as I saw the comic book design of it ... I thought, 'How are we gonna get a chicken guy to work realistically next to Ryan Reynolds and not have people laugh?' " Page said of designing Tomar-Re.

"Kilowog was a similar character," he added. "Obviously, we're mindful — very mindful — of the fanbase and their expectation of what they are hoping to see," he explained, mentioning details like body-part proportions and skin texture. "But at the same time, you have to take artistic license to bring these things to true, CG, cinematic life," he said.

Check out everything we've got on "Green Lantern."

For breaking news and previews of the latest comic book movies — updated around the clock — visit SplashPage.MTV.com.

Related Videos Related Photos

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1666001/green-lantern-special-effects-vfx.jhtml

Leonor Varela Leslie Bega Leslie Bibb Lil Kim Lily Allen Lindsay Lohan

No hay más Led Zeppelin

A pesar de lo dicho ayer, Peter Mensch, manager del guitarrista Jimmy Page, se retractó totalmente en eso que la banda buscaría un reemplazo al ultragenial Robert Plant para seguir rockeando y toureándola por el mundo tras su show de 2007 en el O2 Arena de Londres por el poder de la música más sexual de la historia. No habrá más Led Zeppelin, no hay planes de que lo haya.

Mensch comentó: "Led Zeppelin se acabó. Si no los vieron en el 2007, se los perdieron. Probaron reemplazantes a Robert Plant, pero nada funcionó. Se acabó. No hay planes para continuar. Francamente, ojalá todos dejaran de hablar al respecto."

Los fans no están nada contentos, especialmente los británicos, considerando los precios delirantes de las entradas del show reunión.

¿Y a ti? ¿Qué te parece todo esto?

Related Artists

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1602369/.jhtml

Lindsay Lohan Lindsay Price Lisa Marie Lisa Snowdon Liz Phair Lokelani McMichael

Ryan Dunn Remembered By 'Jackass' Co-Stars, Fans

'Ryan will be missed and remembered by us all,' the 'Jackass' crew says in a statement.
By James Montgomery


Ryan Dunn and Bam Margera in 2008
Photo: Jordan Strauss/ WireImage

As news of "Jackass" star Ryan Dunn's death began to circulate on Monday (June 20), those who knew him best paid tribute to their fallen friend and struggled to come to terms with the loss of a man whose antics touched the lives of many.

In a message posted on the website of Dickhouse Entertainment (the producers of the wildly popular "Jackass" series and shows like "Rob & Big" and "Wildboyz"), Dunn was remembered by Johnny Knoxville, director Jeff Tremaine and "the entire 'Jackass' family" as a "brother," though the pain of his death was understandably evident.

"I don't really know what to say right now everybody, because the sadness is overwhelming, but today we lost one of our own. Our brother Ryan Dunn has passed. He died in a car wreck in West Goshen, Pennsylvania this morning at 3 a.m. Goddamn, that's tough to write," the statement read. "Our hearts go out to his family and his beloved Angie. Ryan will be missed and remembered by us all. Thanks for the kind words of support everybody."

See photos of Ryan Dunn throughout his career.

Knoxville also added in a tweet, "RIP Ryan, I love you buddy." And two of his "Jackass" co-stars, Jason "Wee-man" Acuna and Dave England, followed suit, writing, respectively, "You were always a happy kick-ass dude" and "I love you Ryan. I'm gonna miss you bad."

Other stars who knew the 34-year-old daredevil also paid tribute, including director Sofia Coppola, who was once married to "Jackass" co-creator Spike Jonze; fellow reality-TV star Tom Green; and Good Charlotte's Benji and Joel Madden. "Just heard that Ryan Dunn from Jackass died last night in a car wreck. Rest In Peace Ryan," tweeted Green. "R.I.P Ryan Dunn. Very sad news," write Joel Madden.

Remember Ryan Dunn with us on our Facebook page.

Friend and motocross racer Carey Hart remembered Dunn, writing, "You were an amazing guy and you were cut way too short.

"Enjoyed the times we had," Hart continued. "My heart goes out to his family and friends."

Dunn's fans also expressed their sadness on MTV.com, filling our site with messages like, "We will never forget all the laughs you gave us" and "Rest in peace, bro. You're pranking God now, that lucky bastard."

Van Toffler, president of MTV Networks Music/Film Group, also reflected on the loss. "We are devastated by the tragic loss of Ryan Dunn — a beloved member of the MTV family for more than a decade," Toffler said in a statement. "He made us all laugh and had the tireless enthusiastic approach to life of your favorite middle school friend. Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with Ryan's family and friends. The Jackass brotherhood will never be the same."

Share your memories of Dunn in the comments below.

Related Videos Related Photos

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1666070/ryan-dunn-dead-dies-car-crash.jhtml

Lisa Snowdon Liz Phair Lokelani McMichael Lori Heuring Lorri Bagley Lucy Liu