Katy Perry's highly anticipated MTV Unplugged performance will be debuting on MTV and MTV.com this Monday, November 16. Rather than sleeplessly frittering away your weekend, hyperventilating and listening to "Waking Up In Vegas" on repeat, we thought it'd be a good idea to give you an Unplugged refresher course.

Here are some of the best performances of MTV's legendary live show, featuring some obscure performances and some unforgettable ones, with nary an amp in sight.

Nirvana, "Come As You Are" (1993)

For their episode of Unplugged, Nirvana revealed an aching vulnerability to their razor-sharp songs. This was an iconic performance, producing some of the most lasting, indelible imagery of Kurt Cobain.

Paramore, "That's What You Get" (2009)

Audience interaction is one of the best parts of these intimate Unplugged performances. In the case of Paramore, it's more about audience participation, as the crowd helps out Hayley Williams with the "whoa-oh's" of "That's What You Get."

Alicia Keys, "Unbreakable" (2005)

Unplugged puts the artist and their artistry at the forefront. In this 2005 performance, Alicia Keys shows the extent of her capabilities as a performer with a gorgeous rendition of "Unbreakable."

+ Watch more performances after the jump.

Read more...

+ We're having (slightly nightmarish) flashbacks to our uber-Christian, ultra-conservative childhood after stumbling upon this gem, a duet with gospel group Mary Mary and R&B songmaster Ne-Yo. (Rap-Up)

+ Celebrity Twitter fights are fun for the whole family, especially when they're brought to you by parenting gurus Travis Barker and Shanna Moakler. (Evil Beet Gossip)

+ If you haven't seen the VMA promos that MTV has been running for this year (the full-length West Side Story-themed ones that feature Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Cobra Starship, Leighton Meester, and Russell Brand all singing their own verses...) then stop what you're doing right now (unless you're searching YouTube looking for fan vids of Britney's performance last night at MSG like we've been doing all morning) and WATCH the full length version here!

+ Oh -- and how cute are Katy and Taylor having dinner together the other night in England?? (Socialite Life)

+ It was just announced today that Paula Abdul's first post-Idol gig will be hosting VH1 Divas later this month, which will star Adele, Kelly Clarkson, Leona Lewis and more. (Pop on the Pop)

+ And in case you missed yesterday's totally fun NYC scavenger hunt hosted by Britney via Twitter, check this out! (Perez Hilton)

+ File this one away in the "Whitney, what were you thinking?" category: Until the August 31 street release date, Whitney Houston is leaking her entire brand-new CD on, QVC.com??????

+ *Um, how about Joe Jackson being all crazy on Larry King Live, saying to those who accused him of beating Michael Jackson that "you know what this beat started -- beat started in the slavery days." WTF DOES THAT MEAN? I don't even know, but read on for more... (Bossip)

+ Britney ain't no joke, people. She has the most singles of any artist on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40 Chart for this decade. Girl may be a crazy Jew-in-training, but she's on top. (BritneySpears.com)

+ Kelly Clarkson announced fall dates for her All I Ever Wanted tour, which kicks off October 2nd in Connecticut. Will TOTES DEF be going to the show at Hammerstein Ballroom in NYC. It's ALL I EVER WANTED!! (KellyClarkson.com)

+ I think my head is about to pop off. In separate news, VH1 just announced they're bringing back their Divas Live franchise with four HUGE talents: Kelly Clarkson (duh), Leona Lewis, Adele, and Miley Cyrus. Oh. My. God. (VH1)

+ Tuesday LOLz courtesy of Lady Gaga (who else??): here she is in a Kermit the Frog outfit on German television. It just doesn't get any better than this. (PopCrunch)

+ In case you missed this duet between Cyndi Lauper and Lil' Kim (RUH?), here you go. Don't say we didn't warn you. (Popnography)

Your idea of summer music is less booty jams and bikinis and more sitting in your AC-ed, shag-carpeted bedroom making mixes on your iMac? There's an "MTV Unplugged" for that.

After Adele reindoctrinated the heritage MTV live performance series, Silversun Pickups brought the fuzzy, foggy, hazy sound of Silverlake summer heat to "MTV Unplugged," for you stay-indoors-and-listen-to-indie-rock types.

Watch their six-song "MTV Unplugged" set, including "Well Thought Out Twinkles," "Panic Switch," "Lazy Eye," "Catch and Release," "Kissing Families" and "Getting Old Is Growing Old," off Carnavas and their 2009 album, Swoon.

+ After the jump, watch Silversun Pickup talk Bjork and Oasis...

Read more...

+ It's a big day in blogland today, particularly for Miley Cyrus. First, she's been Tweeting a trail of tears all over the place about her alleged breakup with boyfriend Justin Gaston after recently leaving town to go shoot a movie in the South. (Twitter)

+ Then, her EX-ex-boyfriend Nick Jonas confirmed that he and Miley did indeed record an alternate version of a song originally sung by The Jonas Brothers. (Twist)

+ ...though it seems that Nick might have a had a little more to do with the split than they're letting on, as reports surface that the former couple were recently seen goofing around on the set of a music video, and also "writing" a song together in a dark movie theater. Hmms.... (E! Online)

+ If you can believe it, soul goddess Adele (also aMAYzing as MTV's first artist in the resurrected Unplugged series) actually canceled her first tour -- for booze and a boy. (ICYDK)

+ Oh yeah. Adam Lambert is gay. (MTV News)

+ And he had a mancrush on Kris Allen. (MTV News)

+ Photoshop moment of the day: Beyonce hustling hard in these Japanese water ads. (Bossip)

+ If Simon Cowell has his way, Zac Efron will play the lead role in the remake of Saturday Night Fever. How anyone could think John Travolta's performance could be matched, we will NEVER know. (Limelife)

Somebody, please pause this day. It's not supposed to be Monday yet. Didn't Sunday feel awfully short? Doesn't today feel violently early? It does. But don't freak out. I've got the cure, right here.

Today Adele kicks off the reincarnation of MTV Unplugged with a performance that temporarily stops time. Her slow-burning soulful style -- the seductive offspring of Etta James and Lauryn Hill -- saturates the intimate space with emotion so deepdown, it could be 100 years old. What a perfect soundtrack for a reincarnation.

If you still haven't listened to Adele, her MTV Unplugged performance is a fantastic introduction. If you're an old fan, this is essential viewing. Watch Adele perform "Chasing Pavements," "Hometown Glory," "Cold Shoulder," and others, with exclusive interview clips interspersed.

+ Exclusive Adele Unplugged Photos

(Credit: Scott Gries)

Are you old enough to remember what a game-changer it was when Nirvana played Unplugged? I am. I swear to you I took s--- from my mother for four years after that, for wearing this moth-eaten mohair cardigan (just like Kurt's!) I found at Salvation Army (after months of looking!). "Daniel!" She'd squawk. "Some poor old lady died in that thing! Pleeease let me throw it out?" No mom. No way.

Watching Pearl Jam Unplugged, I didn't take my shirt off and write "PRO-CHOICE" all over my bare body, even though Eddie did. And I didn't break down and cry in public after Lauryn Hill's performance. But I'll admit that I was tempted on both occasions.

I've seen a few preliminary clips of the new season of MTV Unplugged, and I can promise you that its emotional pull is still very much intact. The series launches Monday with a smoking set by Adele. Have you heard this bad mother belt it yet? Oh my god. She can sing like you wouldn't believe. She gives her smoky set of old soul torch songs the acoustic treatment in a performance that's actually kind of reminiscent of Lauryn Hill's!

Because I know I'm totally incapable of waiting until Monday, I'm gonna go ahead and pop a playlist of classic Unplugged performances in the bottom of this post. Relive the show's finest moments and come back Monday to see it reborn!

+ Exclusive photos of Adele's Unplugged performance

+ Classic MTV Unplugged photo flipbook

The thought of going to prom with David Archuleta is so unbelievably, arrestingly adorable that it's probably best not to even entertain those dreamy Mcdreams, because it's just fertile ground for getting absolutely, Archudorably carried away.

I mean Archie -- who's never been to an actual prom but has been to a Senior Ball -- would wear the CUTEST tie and possibly something red (because David looks THE CUTEST in red, no? And purple! And scarves! Arghh!), and we'd maybe dance to "I Will Always Love You," or something by McFly, or Demi, or Pink, or Jason Mraz or we could even dance to his duet with Miley. Would that be weird? And OMG, Archie would ramble and be like "haha" all the time, and it'd be pretty much the best night ever.

But, since my big dream date with David Archuleta hasn't happened yet, I'll just have to settle for this prom interview with David. (Mentally, I'm substituting myself in every time I refer to "your date.") And now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to water my corsage and brush my David Archuleta Build-A-Bear's hair. "Haha!"

+ Read Buzzworthy's exclusive prom interview with David Archuleta after the jump, and get more prom stories!

Read more...

The coffeehouse meets the beach in the easygoing music of boho California-free-spirit Angel Taylor. The closest I can come to classifying her summery sonic melting pot is "the female Jack Johnson," but even that falls woefully short. Her bouncy blend of sleepy reggae, upbeat soul and acoustic pop evokes everything from Third Eye Blind to Sheryl Crow to "Somewhere Over The Rainbow," without actually sounding like any of them. Who do you think she sounds like?

Angel's debut album, Love Travels, got a boost from iTunes, when they named her "Make Me Believe" their single of the week. And it's a fitting match. The breezy go-to track would be right at home in an iPod commercial. The song's success won her opening slots on tour with Adele, Brett Dennen, Brandi Carlile and Gavin DeGraw, among others. Are you impressed yet?

To seal the deal, fall into "Make Me Believe" or any of Angel Taylor's other delicately-plucked perfume daydreams, and keep an eye out for this gently rising talent.

Did you see these two do "Fifteen" the other night? Puh-lease. Time to update Wikipedia's "precious" entry. But it didn't end there! To really drive their newly-minted BFF-ness home, Miley and Taylor spent Grammy night together, drooling over boys backstage (and, presumably, adjusting each other's curlers between sticker book updates and brownies 0_o so fun!).

We have it on good authority from Rolling Stone that Taylor and Miley were swapping notes with Katy Perry about the unbearable hotness of Kings Of Leon bassist Jared Followill. In Miley's own words, as spoken to Rolling Stone, "I'm not usually one to freak, but me and Taylor last night were like, 'Holy smoke!'" Who hasn't said that before? Right? Holy smoke. And they're not the only ones. Have you seen dude's baby blues? There's a whole world of chicks out there who are completely gone on Jared and his brothers, all of whom (according to Katy Perry) regrettably have super hot girlfriends. Hey! Interesting that that's what Katy picked up on... True to form, Perry. I applaud you.

Anyway, if you're looking for something to make small talk about next time you run into Miley and Taylor together at the scrapbooking outlet store, you can perv on Jared extensively on a wide variety of fansites (Google it, baby). You can also perv on him live all spring, because the alt-country rockin' Kings Of Leon are hitting the road with The Walkmen and they're playing pretty much everywhere. Keep your eyes peeled for two besties doing Miss Mary Mack down in front. And now, watch Kings Of Leon's "The Bucket," because it f-in' rules.