Obsessively blogging about pop music, pop videos, pop stars, and pop culture from inside the MTV headquarters in Times Square. We also have a slight Jonas Brothers problem. And a little fixation with Tokio Hotel.
UPDATE (9/29/2009) THE REAL-DEAL 'DO. Here's Bill Kaulitz and the boys in Madrid on September 29, 2009, and Bill's hair is freaking ENORMOUS!
Aufmerksamkeit, Tokio Hotel fans! Bill Kaulitz has new hair! Again! It's as if he and Rihanna in some kind of tacit competition to see who can change their hair with more frequency! And while I know some photos of Bill's new fauxhawk are floating around out there, Buzzworthy isn't in the habit of pilfering photos of our favorite Cherry Tree bands, so I dreamed up my own version of what Bill Kaulitz would look like with Rihanna's pseudo-fauxhawk. (I made it on Daily Makeover. Don't laugh! I paid four bucks for it!!)
Pretty hawt, no? At least it's hotter than Drew Barrymore's new two-tone hair. And somehow -- just SOMEHOW -- I bet Bill manages to pull off the fauxhawk even better than Blake Lewis does.
I've been super into Via Tania lately: the Chicago-by-way-of-Australia singer-songwriter just released her second album, Moon Sweet Moon, and it's full of dreamy-yet-substantial, bliss-and-wonder-filled tracks -- "The Beginning" is an absolute gem -- with some guilt-free disco thrown in to marvelous effect. Fans of Kate Nash, Feist, and even Kerli, start downloading.
But, most interestingly, it's obvious that Via Tania (born Tania Bowers) has been visiting Natasha Khan's Bat For Lashes School of Beauty, right down to the feathers and penchant for primary colors.
+ Watch Via Tania's "Wonder Stranger" video, and find out more about Bat For Lashes' new album, Two Suns.
Huge announcement: Big brother Pete Wentz and FNMTV are coming home for the holidays and mom is FREAKING out. As you can probably guess, the video premiere extravaganza happening December 5 is getting kicked into major overdrive to make it worthy of the most wonderful time of the year. Not only is Fall Out Boy gonna perform (*jaws drop*), but Travis McCoy of Gym Class Heroes has signed on to spin records between super exclusive premieres of Miley Cyrus’s “Fly On The Wall,” Metro Station’s “Seventeen Forever,” The Game’s “Camera Phone” and our old buddy Secondhand Serenade’s “Your Call.”
As you probably remember, California-native Secondhand Serenade (aka John Vesely aka Blake Lewis doppelganger) did a stint as a guest blogger a few months back, where he talked us through the creation of his latest album, A Twist In My Story. Well we got along so well – exchanged phone numbers and everything – that John sent us a sneak peek of his ‘FNMTV’-bound video, “Your Call,” and it is INSANE in the best way. Vesely’s sings his face off on a fantasy hillside dotted with tattoo-faced angels, and that’s only the tip of the iceberg! He was born to tell you he loves you. It's probably a good idea to let him.
Watch the sneak peak below, brace yourself for a seismic FNMTV event and, if you have any sense, bookmark this entry. Any minute now you’re gonna find yourself in a turkey coma with a hunk of November still ahead of you. Secondhand Serenade is just the thing to push you through until FNMTV returns with a vengeance, this December 5!
You probably know Blake Lewis as the spiky-haired blond guy who might've won American Idol -- you know, if it hadn't been for a little lady by the name of Jordin Sparks. But you might also (wrongly!) remember him as the man behind Secondhand Serenade: John Vesely. And if you do, we completely get where you're coming from.
Okay, granted the guys aren't exactly musical twinsies -- Vesely is all about soft, tender emo love while Lewis is all flashy, loud and "Look Ma, I can beatbox!" -- but we're willing to bet you'd have trouble differentiating between the two singer-songwriters if, say, it was kinda dark outside and you were squinting 'cause you forgot your glasses.
So marvel at the similarities between the two (The baleful stares! The side dimples! The matching "Dennis the Menace" 'dos with the asymmetrical frosted-tips!) and then prove to yourself that they are, in fact, different people, by checking out samples of each fellow's work.
Oh, and when you're watching Blake's video, you may want to keep those glasses off. Like the controversial 2012 Olympic mascot, the video is so fast and crazy and full of flashing colors it just might trigger a seizure. And no one needs that.
Although she's still the youngest-ever person to win the American Idol crown, Jordin Sparks is no longer the innocent 17-year-old she once was. Now, a seasoned 19, Sparks has no problem speaking her mind -- whether it's to shoot down rumors that her vocal chords are shot -- or to defend the Jonas Brothers' taste in ringwear. Which is why it's only fitting that older, wiser and wavier-haired Sparks has just put out a new version of her very first breakout hit, "Tattoo."
And this time around, the Idol phenom's doing it all differently. Gone are the bright, lemon-yellow jackets, the painted-on smiles and the impulsive merry go-round dance parties of yesteryear. The new Jordin may be ready to move on, but she's not slap-happy about it. Which (kinda) explains why she's slinking around a dark, hipstery loft, hugging her own reflection and ignoring the inked-up randoms curled up on her sheepskin rug.
So show your love for both Jordins (and for spontaneously appearing/disappearing Henna tats!) by checking out this darkier, sexier version of "Tattoo." Then take another look at the original to relive the cheesy amazingness of the gratuitous Blake Lewis cameo.
Everyone knows what last season's American Idol winner (a.k.a. David Cook's predecessor, Jordin Sparks) has been up to this past year or so. But while Jordin's kept herself busy staving off rumors of a career-ending vocal cord injury -- and teaming up with Chris Brown for the asphyxiating slow jam, "No Air" -- what has 2007's Idol runner-up Blake Lewis been doing since the show?
Well, besides clearing up false reports that he was dropped by his record label, Blake "The Beatboxer" Lewis has evidently been working hard to perfect his acting skills. Check out this funny (but arguably NSFW) clip, in which he puts his "#2 status" to excellent use.
+ Blake Lewis wants everyone to know that he did NOT get dropped by his record label. He just didn't renew his contract with Arista. Or, for that matter, anywhere. Kidding! For what it's worth, The Human Beatbox swears he's not American "idle," and says he's "working with 19 Recordings" and gearing up for a hot summer tour. (MTV)
+ Apparently, neither Prince nor his crack legal team has heard the phrase "imitation is the highest form of flattery." (Wired)
+ Michael Jackson emerges from his reclusive, animal-infested hideaway long enough to give Ne-Yo his seal of approval. (MTV)
+ Jennifer Lopez gets slapped with a lawsuit from a flight attendant who claims she was bitten by JLo's pooch. (Popsugar)
+ Paris Hilton has announced that she will be writing the theme song for her upcoming MTV reality show! Fortunately for us, her boyfriend Benji Madden has agreed to help. (E! Online)
We've been looking for an excuse to bust out the phrase "soulful beatboxer" ever since Blake Lewis's record label gave him the boot. Thankfully James Lidell affords us that opportunity and relieves us of our guilt.
The Super Collider singer -- who sings like Jason Mraz, dresses like Beck, and looks like a cross between Jason Schwartzman and Dan from The Hills After Show -- has been on fire as of late, both on stage (where he accidentally set one of his speakers aflame) and off, where Grey's Anatomy and the ad execs over at Target catapulted his music into the mainstream.
Check out "Another Day," (off his album, Jim) to see Jamie Lidell in fake glasses (and a hairpiece!), impersonating a sleazy door-to-door salesman. The only problem? We actually like what he's selling. Also, are those JabbaWockeeZ?
+ Plus, check out Jamie Lidell's live performance of "Game for Fools."
+ Amy Winehouse's pack-a-day habit may have caused her career to go up in smoke. The singer's dad claims Winehouse has contracted Emphysema. (MTV)
+ Surprisingly, the synergistic higher-ups over at the Fox network are championing the relationship between two former American Idol stars. (E! Online)
+ Meanwhile, those kind folks over at Arista Records have already dropped Idol runner-up Blake "The Beatboxer" Lewis from their label. (Idolator)
+ Before he made it big with Vampire Weekend, Ezra Koenig was an 8th grade English teacher. The VW frontman's former students reminisce about how they "Punk'd" their professor. (MTV)
Secondhand Serenade is not a band of many men but the work of just one man -- John Vesely, pictured above, who looks quite a bit like Blake Lewis but sounds nothing like him at all (and really, one Blake Lewis is enough... cue ranting, Idol-obsessed pro-Blake comments... now-ish).
Anyway, John's music -- hyper-emotional, acutely aware, and often focused on screwed-up relationships; think a little bit OneRepublic meets a little bit more Plain White T's meets even more Five For Fighting -- is perfect for highlighting the screwed-up relationships, on shows like Newport Harbor, which is exactly where Secondhand songs have been featured.
