(All photos: credit, Cody Smyth)

It’d be easy to say that just because Seattle band the Myriad is this week’s Artist of the Week simply because they won the MTV2 2007 Dew Circuit Breakout competition. It’d be easy, but it’d also be wrong. Their talent, which they’ve been honing as a band since 2002, is what edged out 4,000 hopefuls and earned them the #1 spot in the contest, which searches to find the best breakout bands and acts, like DCB alum Taking Back Sunday, Yellowcard and Hawthorne Heights. That talent, plus their ability to attract and connect with fans via their moody, effortlessly melodic, atmospheric rock is also what nabbed them a spot as MTV’s Artist of the Week.

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The other day, while heading out of Camp Buzzworthy to grab a Coke Zero at our local Duane Reade (and by the way, absolutely no one paid us to blog about Coke Zero — beside the iPod, it is unequivocally the greatest invention of the millennium… also of note: the “egg and muffin” maker), we first ran into Jabbawockeez, who were in town for the MTV upfronts (basically a huge business meeting full of celebs). They were easy to spot because they were wearing jerseys that say “Jabbawockeez.”

Next, we encountered the 20-some-foot likeness of the new (old) New Kids on the Block, who are hangin’ tough on a billboard in the heart of Times Square. So, we quickly took a shot while doing that thing where you try to look overly casual and act like you’re doing whatever you’re actually doing, but by doing so you end up being totally obvious about what you’re trying too hard to look like you’re not doing.

Regardless, the new New Kids aren’t releasing their new album until later this summer (Boston.com has info on a few of the tracks), but bloggers like Dave over at Popdose already predicts that their new single, “Summertime” — which they’ll be performing live on the Today show on Friday, May 16 — will be a “super blockbuster summer hit.” And speaking of blogging, the New Kids themselves have been getting all Web 2.0 (ok, more like 1.5, but still…) over on their official site.

Anyway, dudes are looking and sounding pretty alright for being out of the game for so long. But still, all of you old-school fans who swore you’d be loving NKOTB forever: do you still really mean it two decades later?

PS: If anyone wants to send us free Coke Zero, we wouldn’t be mad at you.

Apparently Shia LaBeouf narrowly missed a near tragic career killer: turns out “the Motherf—king LaBeouf” wanted to be a rapper. Fortunately the Clark Gable lookalike realized he sucked, and his own good instincts precluded him from crip walking his way to Bad Idea Jeans.

LeB, starring in the next Indiana Jones flick will get you the guest spot on Saturday Night Live — which he’s hosting tomorrow. Rapping like Kevin Federline will not. Dotspotter has the story.

Poor Tokyo Police Club. Unlike 50 Cent, they don’t sell like Eminem, nor do they get any groupie love. And despite the connection to law enforcement suggested by their name, the Toronto indie band stays on the good side of the law and favors scruffy thrift store gear over bulletproof vests and ice, also unlike 50. They do, however, share a knack for namechecking themselves. But they’re getting lots of our love for their frenetic, swirling, sweetly nasal brand of college-kid indie rock. (Think the Thermals, but not as sweaty.)

Watch Tokyo Police Clubs’ new “Discover & Download” interview below, watch their latest video, “Tessellate,” download the track here, and we’re also throwing in the “Cheer It On” video — a Buzzworthy fave.

In person, Tally Hall — much like their new “Good Day” video — changes channels, thoughts and topics quicker than they change keys, styles and genres in their songs, which put the “power” in “power-pop.” (Think Queen, Ben Folds Five, They Might Be Giants and OK Go, but more formally dressed.)

In short, interviewing Tally Hall was not unlike herding singing cats. Good thing they (the band, not the cats) kept their personas straight by wearing their trademark color-coordinated ties, so we could tell them apart as they changed gears. (Chattiest: Joe, red tie.) Also, good thing “cat herding” is basically part of our job description.

Watch our exclusive Tally Hall interview below, and check out their “Good Day” video and exclusive Tally Hall photos.

You either loathe M.I.A.’s breakdancer-meets-beach-bum style, or you want to raid her closet. Lucky for those in the latter style set, the Sri Lankan-Brit singer is launching her own clothing line so that you too can dress like a sunshower-drenched human highlighter/ L Train commuter.

M.IA., who’s modeled for Marc Jacobs, told WWD that the collection of boldly colored, graphic-printed bomber jackets, t-shirts and leggings will be bright enough so that “if you lose it or someone steals it, you can see it from miles away and you can be like, ‘Oy! Give me my shirt back!’” So perhaps she sensed your larcenous envy.

For those of you more inclined to dress like your favorite gossip blogger, Perez Hilton is about to launch his own line of hoodies, accessories and flip-flops, which will be sold primarily at… Hot Topic.

+ Bonus: M.I.A. photos and our her most stylish videos:

When did Phantom Planet turn into Razorlight? Since celebrity drummer Jason “Hollywood” Schwartzman jumped ship to start his own Coconut Records, Phantom Planet V2 extracted the “California” sound out of their past life, and now they’re hitting their stride with a bit of Brit rock strut. Which isn’t a bad thing, but it’s unexpected from a band most associated with the long national pop culture addiction that was The O.C., which has since been replaced by Gossip Girl. (Appropriately enough, by the way, “Do the Panic” was featured on an episode of Gossip Girl. Josh Schwartz, you done did it again!)

For their new video, “Do the Panic,” off their brand-new album, Raise the Dead,
they’ve traded in the fuzzy freewheeling and gone for a the darker environs of a house that could easily double as the Addams Family’s upstate retreat. And just like the Addams Family, it’s all about spooky dichotomy: disembodied limbs, gloom and doom, sturm und drang, but the song is actually pretty damned upbeat. Meet contradiction, reanimated appendages, and darker, not-quite-so-sunny pop.

+ Relevant video involving disembodied limbs and loss of control: Albert Hammond, Jr., ‘101′

It’s been two days since Tokio Hotel performed on TRL, but we’ve still barely recovered from the impact of all that fandamonium, all those wayward hormones, the emotional upheaval, and the errant hairspray.

However, despite a raging case of tinnitus, we did manage to pull together another behind-the-scenes video of Tokio Hotel from their TRL performance.

See what happened before Tokio Hotel’s U.S. television debut, and follow them offstage after the show.

Plus: See what the Buzzworthy cam caught Tokio Hotel doing backstage before their TRL performance in this behind-the-scenes clip, and watch the entire full-length performance here.

Quelle timing! Mariah just got married AND dropped a brand-new video, “Bye Bye.” But with all the hype and official documents and WTF-inducing aspects of the entire stunt real, actual wedding, it’s easy to forget that this is a song about death. Bummer.

The video features a photo montage of Mimi with music’s fallen heroes — Luther Vandross, Pavarotti, O.D.B. — plus late family, friends and her dog, Jack, (sad!), interspersed with shots of Mariah in a bikini (slinky!), and fake-paparazzi footage of Nick Cannon and Mariah, which led to their actual whirlwind wedding in the Bahamas. (Confusing! Happy!)

Sorry, Jason Castro. Your Care Bear stare, P.O.D.-lite dreads, creepy Donny Osmond smile, paper-thin voice and lido-deck steez were simply not enough to keep you in the running to be America’s Next Karaoke Idol. Your leaving means David Archuleta’s odds of winning just went from probable to eye-rollingly obvious. Archuleta — and his fleet of Blythe-like dolls — is, after all, the Obama of this year’s Idol.

But, you don’t have to take my word for it. Watch Jim Cantiello’s 60-second take of last night’s American Idol ep.