"Gossip Girl" star Leighton Meester has become the latest actress to unleash a song on the masses in an attempt at a crossover. The track, "Somebody to Love," features a guest spot from Robin Thicke and is the first single from Meester's forthcoming debut full-length album. It's bright, shiny dance beat (produced by Mike Caren and Oligee and written by Usher collaborator Rico Love) borrows heavily from classic Madonna tracks and provides a good base for Meester's shape-shifting voice. The track is also miles away from the type of music that "Gossip Girl" castmate Taylor Momsen has been producing with her band Pretty Reckless.
We know what we think, but what do the people thing? We decided to hit the street outside of MTV News headquarters, play the tune for some folks and get their initial reaction to it. It's a chilly day in Times Square today, but did Meester's "Somebody to Love" help provide some warmth?
The delightfully unscientific results are in, and the majority have sided with Meester and "Somebody to Love." 72 percent of the people we talked to in Times Square said that they were on board with it, citing the propulsive beat and the subtly catchy melody. Even the 28 percent who didn't like the track wanted to let Meester down easily. "I like the song, but she's better as an actress," said one respondent.
What do you think? Does "Somebody to Love" deserve heavy rotation or the old heave-ho? Leave your thoughts in the comments or head over to Your.MTV.com to make your voice heard!
Perhaps the most hotly-anticipated aspect of "Michael Jackson's This Is It," the forthcoming film that documents the rehearsals for the late superstar's planned residency at London's O2 Arena, is the unveiling of a never-before-heard song from Jackson's apparently deep vault. The song, "This Is It," made its way online today (it premiered over at Jackson's official Web site), and it's a vintage midtempo Jackson ballad that features his iconic voice and an ambling melody that recalls his hit "Heal the World." (That association may not be too far off, as the song may have come from the sessions for Jackson's 1991 album Dangerous.)
But does the song live up to Jackson's towering legacy? There's only one way to find out, which is why we took the elevator down 29 floors, walked out the front door and headed into New York City's Times Square to get some immediate reactions from some fans on the street.
The hilariously unscientific results are in, and the crowd has given an overwhelming thumbs up to "This Is It," with 87 percent of the people interviewed endorsing the song. Many seemed to be excited just to hear Michael's voice again, though more than one noted that they were really attracted to the positive nature of the lyrics. Of the minority who didn't like the tune, most had issues with the tempo.
What do you think: Does "This Is It" a worthy addition to Jackson's songbook or should it have stayed in the vault? Leave your thoughts in the comments below or head over to Your.MTV.com to make your voice heard!
Despite all the fireworks on last night's episode of "Dancing with the Stars," Miley Cyrus still grabbed the biggest headlines of the night with the short preview of the "Party in the U.S.A." video. This morning, the entire clip premiered, and it features Cyrus in short shorts and cowboy boots hanging on the back of a pickup truck and singing in front of an American flag (in a scene that reminded MTV News' Jim Cantiello of the opening scene of the 1970 biopic "Patton"). The buzz surrounding the video — the first from Cyrus' new EP Time of Our Lives — was mostly about Cyrus' sexier approach to presenting herself on video.
But we never really know what the general public is thinking until we ask them, which is why we grabbed our trusty cameras, took the elevator to the lobby and headed out into Times Square to play the video for fans and get their reactions to Cyrus' latest video. Is it a winner, or is it just too much?
The painfully unscientific results are in, and it looks like "Party in the U.S.A." has people sharply divided, with 71 percent of those polled coming down on the side of "Not feeling it." Most people found the clip to be "too sexy" and several aren't buying her transition from Disney diva to actual diva. Still, a handful of people did enjoy the video's energy and thought that the added bit of sexiness was a healthy progression for Cyrus.
What do you think? Does "Party in the U.S.A." rock or should it be rejected? Leave your thoughts in the comments or head over to Your.MTV.com to make your voice heard!
It seems like the music world is only just recovering from the MTV Video Music Awards, but it's already time to move on to the next huge event on the calendar. Tonight, VH1 brings back "Divas," which will air live from the Brooklyn Academy of Music in Brooklyn, New York, tonight at 9 p.m. ET. The show will feature performances from next-gen divas Leona Lewis, Adele, Jennifer Hudson, Miley Cyrus, Jordin Sparks and Kelly Clarkson. But the entire show may be hijacked by host Paula Abdul, who will be taking part in her first television show since her departure from "American Idol." In the show's history, "Divas" has featured just about every huge female name in music, from Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Tina Turner, Cher, Whitney Houston, Mary J. Blige and Beyoncé. But just about every year has one dominant diva, a single lady who sets herself apart from the rest of the pack. Who will stand slightly taller at tonight's show? Will Jennifer Hudson reign supreme or will Kelly Clarkson declare herself queen? Will Miley Cyrus elevate herself to diva status or will Jordin Sparks rise above?
Because there are so many diva experts in the MTV Newsroom, we decided to pass the microphone around the office and get everybody's thoughts on who their favorite diva is.
The fantastically unscientific results are in, and Clarkson narrowly gets the nod with 29 percent, but she has Miley Cyrus nipping at her heels with 26 percent. But looking down the list, there's also a healthy contingent who think Abdul could steal the whole show.
On last night's premiere of "The Jay Leno Show," the host welcomed Kanye West to the stage for a three minute chat about his storming the stage at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday. West was already scheduled for the show as its first musical guest (later, he joined Jay-Z and Rihanna for a blistering blast of "Run This Town"), but Leno made it sound like West wanted to take some time to talk about Sunday night's incident. While he never actually said the words "I'm sorry," he did acknowledge the rudeness of his actions and seemed to have some genuine remorse over what happened. He even hinted that he might need to take some time off to re-evaluate some things in his life. This was the third of a total of four apologies, but the Jay Leno visit was the most public and talked-about.
Just about everybody has voiced an opinion in one way or another, but we wanted to know what was on the minds of the public. So we hit the streets and talked to a random sampling of fans to find out whether or not they believed West's apology.
The hilariously unscientific results are in, and it appears as though West's road to redemption runs straight uphill. 68 percent of the people we spoke to said they weren't buying West's apology, with most of those suggesting that while he may have meant it, that doesn't mean he wouldn't do it again. West still has his supporters, though, and the 32 percent of people who responded to our question said that they would still support West despite his unfortunate actions at the VMAs.
This morning, Adam Lambert tweeted that his eagerly anticipated debut album would be out on November 24. The album — which includes production work from Lady Gaga producer RedOne and Green Day sonic mastermind Rob Cavallo — creates an interesting four-way battle between four former "Idol" contestants, as Carrie Underwood, Kris Allen and Jason Castro will all be putting out records on the same day. Allen of course won this past season's competition, while Underwood has arguably been the most successful "American Idol" victor. And Castro was the laid-back, dreadlocked charmer who shrugged and smirked his way through the show's seventh season. Each album should satisfy a different demographic, but it should be an interesting referendum on which "Idol" has the most staying power.
But which one will people actually buy? We hit the street to ask fans in Times Square which album they would go for first.
The hilariously unscientific results are in, and it's Carrie Underwood by a mile. The country star took home 61 percent of the vote, with many people endorsing the quality of her voice and her crossover status. Lambert came took second place with 23 percent, with many people choosing his style as the thing that would push him over the top. Allen and Castro brought up the rear with eight percent each. There really should be a lot more interest in Allen's album, as he is the most recent winner, but the success of Underwood is a good sign.
Any time Madonna releases a new video, it becomes something of a cultural event. After all, she's produced dozens upon dozens of clips in her career, and many of them are some of the most iconic in the history of the video. (It's no wonder she's scored herself a ton of MTV Video Music Awards.) Her latest clip, "Celebration," is a minimalist affair featuring Madonna, a bunch of dancing superfans and daughter Lourdes shaking, writhing, popping and locking to the track's glam-disco pulse. It's not as otherworldly as "Bedtime Story" or "Human Nature," but it brilliantly distills everything that has made us love Madonna for the past 25 years.
But that's just what MTV thinks. What's more important is what the people think, which is why we took the elevator down to the lobby and hit the streets to talk to some fans about Madonna and the new video. We simply wanted to know: Do you dig it?
The riotously unscientific results are in, and it's another victory for the Material Girl, as 71 percent of the people we talked to gave the video for "Celebration" the thumbs up. Most of the respondents got into the dance moves and the general fun tone of the video, and more than a few tipped their hats to Madge for being able to adjust to cultural shifts and maintain her relevancy after so many years. However, of the 29 percent who weren't feeling the video, most of them cited Madonna's age as a reason for disliking the new project.
What do you think: Is "Celebration" another winner or is Madonna past her prime? Leave your thoughts in the comments or head over to Your.MTV.com to make your voice heard!
By Ben Hockin
Heidi Montag made headlines and turned heads by appearing on the cover of Playboy's September issue. When you saw the "Hills" star wearing that white bikini and covered in dirt, you couldn’t help but think, "Wow!" Well, good news for all you Heidi fans: Montag recently told MTV News she would consider posing for Playboy again.
There was some discussion around the office about whether she should pose again. To end the bickering, we took to the streets to see what the people of Times Square thought.
What our informal poll discovered is that if Heidi poses again, there would be very few complaints: 90 percent of our interviewees said Heidi should appear in Playboy again. Only 10 percent said she should not appear again. (One of those nay voters was a guy — who would have ever guessed?)
Would you want to see Heidi Montag in another issue of Playboy? Let us know below.
By Adam Murphy
Lock your doors. Board up your windows. Flee for the countryside. THE VOLTURI ARE NEARLY UPON US! With the film adaptation of "New Moon" nigh at hand, these elite Italian vampires are literally salivating with anticipation, awaiting fresh necks to feed on.
And you'd better not scuff their Gucci loafers.
In honor of their impending arrival, we went out to New York’s Times Square today to put our finger to the pulse of the people. The Volturi: Awesomely dangerous? Dangerously awesome? Or just plain evil? Here's what Times Square had to say:
Recently we've been developing an even less scientific way of calculating poll statistics, of which today's Oh Snap! Poll is a shining example. Sixty percent of respondents say "Nuh-uh!" to the Volturi, citing lack of virtue, untrustworthiness and overall sucky-ness (sorry). One girl said, "In 'New Moon,' the Volturi are gonna be mad stupid." Mad stupid indeed! The 40 percent in favor of the Volturi cite their awesomeness, how awesome they are and also being really awesome.
What do you think? On a scale of zero to awesome, how awesome are the Volturi?
The performance bill for the 2009 Video Music Awards continues to grow with A-list stars committing to the show. Today, three more live acts were announced for the show, which airs live from New York City's Radio City Music Hall on Sunday, September 13. On that day, MTV.com will premiere Death Cab for Cutie's "Meet Me On The Equinox," the first single off the upcoming soundtrack to "New Moon." Wale was also added to the VMA bill. He'll serve as the head of the house band, picking up where Travis Barker and DJ AM did last year. But the really big news is that Beyoncé, who has nine nominations at this year's show, will perform her newest single "Sweet Dreams" on stage at Radio City Music Hall. Her appearance at the show sets up an interesting dynamic between her and Lady Gaga, another subscriber to the sort of costume-heavy futurist pop that Beyoncé so adores. Certainly Beyoncé has the experience, but Gaga — who also has nine nominations — has a knack for stealing shows.
We could debate this in the MTV Newsroom all day, but we wanted to know what the public thought. So we took a trip downstairs and pointed our MTV News cameras at some fans in Times Square to ask them whether Beyoncé or Lady Gaga would have the better performance at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.
The fantastically unscientific results have come back in favor of Beyoncé. In fact, 69 percent of those people we asked sided with Ms. Knowles, citing her experience, her style and her performance ability.
What do you think: Will Beyoncé get the crowd to put its hands up, or will they be more mesmerized by Lady Gaga's "Poker Face"? Leave your thoughts in the comments or head over to Your.MTV.com to make your voice heard!