(Credit: Andy Ryan)

Did you see The Hills last night? Holy ship. Is there a better show? I know this is neither the time nor the place, but I'm pretty sure Spencer Pratt is the most interesting person who has ever been alive. No offense, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, but homeboy went to therapy and became a different person. A sensitive person who is also a rapper. WHAT THE HELL?

Not only that, but as a barely-recovering Laguna Beach junkie, I am SO psyched for the return of Kristin Cavallari. Did you see her go straight for Justin Bobby?? What I wouldn't give to go to bed tonight and wake up in next year so all of my unanswered Hills questions would be answered already!

But enough about my "problem." Aside from Spencer's emergence from his cocoon of cruelty as a gentle butterfly, last night's big story was Lauren Conrad's departure. What was originally her spin-off, officially entered a new life of its own as she rode away from K-Cav and the Speidi extravaganza alone.

To mark the beginning of a whole new era, Hills producers brought in a whole new voice. They very wisely landed on young buck Tamar Kaprelian, whose fresh and honest single "New Day" has enough emotion in every note to knock the grass off The Hills. Look out, "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield! It's a new day.

In the great tradition of reality TV, I'm gonna let Tamar Kaprelian introduce herself. Here are a couple highlights from her hand-written bio:

I am 22. Songwriting is the most sacred thing in my life. Classic Disney films influenced me as a kid, but my true love of music came about when I discovered Billy Joel and Paul McCartney. In love I fell.

My music chronicles my life, my relationships, my basket-case-ness, and my utter determination and drive to create an album that is real and true to me both personally and artistically.

I hope you enjoy my little musical offerings and songs.

Peace & love.

What a sweetheart, eh? Plays a mean piano, too. Keep an eye out for Tamar Kaprelian and catch her first single "New Day" in The Hills' Season 5 finale, starting tonight!

+ TONS More Brilliant Hills Coverage On Remote Control Blog

+ Our girl Lauren Conrad seems to be throwing in the towel on a lot of things lately. First, she's phoning in her final season of The Hills, and now it seems that her clothing line is on permanent hiatus. Maybe she'll finally start getting the rest she needs and get rid of that perma-rasp she's got going on. (Socialite Life)

+ Speaking of The Hills, the trailer for new movie Sorority Row starring "World's Hottest Woman With One Lip" Audrina Patridge just came out and it looks pretty creepy and surprisingly cool (mostly because Carrie Fisher is in it). (The Evil Beet)

+ If it's true that Katy Perry is dating Josh Groban, then there's still hope for every single weird-looking guy who can sing.  (MTV UK)

+ We just snorted in our fried rice after seeing this picture of Joe Jonas trying to give himself crow's feet. You think his apology will need to be Miley-sized, or can we just let people live? (ICYDK)

+ Natasha Bedingfield got married over the weekend to some businessman, cuing the inevitable shift from "you-go-girl" power pop songs to sappy, LeAnn Rimes mush. Word of warning, Tashers. Stay away from Lifetime movies and Western Sizzler.  (Seriously? OMG! WTF?)

+ Whatever tannin Valentino is dipping his jowls in, we need to get our hands on it pronto. That's Italian for "free," for all you uneducated people out there. (Popbytes)

+ This side-by-side vid of some dumb Fox News anchor being made fun of in Britney Spears' If You Seek Amy video is bringing us the lolz today. Something about this lady is just not right! (Pop Crunch)

You probably know Natasha Bedingfield as the bubbly Brit behind "Unwritten." But as we've already told you, she's not always about chick empowerment and "liv[ing] your life with arms open." Turns out, when Natasha's not out encouraging Hills gals to feel the rain on their skin (or whatever), she's busy questioning the very meaning of life -- and trying to make sense of a world where most of us can only dream of happy endings.

Check out "Soulmate," the gritty new single off Natasha's (deceptively cheery-sounding) album, Pocket Full Of Sunshine, and hear the universal call of loneliness. Oh, and know this: if you can't identify with the sadsy, angst-ridden lyrics ("somebody tell me why I'm on my own / when there's a soulmate for everyone"), chances are we already hate you.

You're hot, you're cold, you're engaged? You're not engaged, you're fighting err dey, totally on the outs, completely over. Katy Perry and Travis, you were super cute together, but like Nelly Furtado lamented, all good things must come to an end. Especially when they're bad.

And really, nothing says "sorry you things ended poorly -- and loudly -- for you" like a schizophrenic handbag... like KidRobot's Love/ Hate tote ($148, available 1/25 at KidRobot.com). It's got "Love" on one side, for your "up" days, "Hate," obviously, for those pesky "You're-the-worst-boyfriend-in-the-world-you-never-listen-to-me-you-probably-never-loved-me-you-have-five-minutes-to-get-the-hell-out-oh-s-----I-think-the-cops-are-here-who-f---ing-called-the-cops-f----you-f----this-I-want-out-I-want-you-out-I-mean-it!" rough patches.  Awww!

And so, appropriately, Natasha Bedingfield's "Single" and old-school Destiny's Child, "Independent Women Part 1," a video that's older than I am. Almost.

(Credit: Gregg Delman)

We already told you we've been down with Brandy since the days when she was sittin' up in her room, dating B-baller Kobe Bryant and challenging Monica to an angry duet-slash-duel over some playa who was probably out two-timing (three-timing?) them both. And while we seriously regret our self-imposed Brandy hiatus, we've since reformed our ways by giving her new album, Human, a listen -- and FYI, we love, love, LOVED it.

Turns out, Brandy's still got the same ability to rock a mic, the same wispy, little-girl voice and the same ability to get her sticky-as-superglue songs stuck in our head all frickin' day. Head over to MTV.com's The Leak to check out the record Brandy calls "my most personal album to date," and keep your ears peeled for already-released singles like "Right Here (Departed)" and hot new tracks like "Fall," (a collab with Natasha Bedingfield!)

Also? We STILL can't believe Audrina Patridge slipped out in the middle of Brandy's studio sesh on The Hills this season! Hmm, it's almost like she was too busy thinking about Justin Bobby (a.k.a. her commitment-phobic sometimes-boyfriend) to pay attention to "Long Distance" (a.k.a. Brandy's song about totally impossible relationships). Crazy, huh??

You probably still remember Miranda Cosgrove as "The Class Factotum" (otherwise known as a "Teacher's Pet") in the 2003 Jack Black film School of Rock. And while we enjoyed watching her show off her prissy side -- especially the part where her character refuses to play a "groupie" because, as she puts it, "They're sluts! They sleep with the band!" -- we're happy to see her make the smooth transition from child actor to, well, teenage actor... who also sings.

Five years later, 15-year-old Miranda (who somehow skipped over that whole "awkward adolescent" phase) proves she's still at the head of the class by nabbing the title role in the hit Nickelodeon series, iCarly. Check out her new video, "Leave It All To Me," which is also the iCarly theme song, and click here to see photos from her June 11th appearance on MTV's Spankin' New Music Week.

++Can't get enough Miranda? Pick up the newly released iCarly soundtrack, featuring more songs from Cosgrove, plus hits from fellow Nick alums (The Naked Brothers Band and Drake Bell) and artists like Sean Kingston, Avril Lavigne and Natasha Bedingfield.

Estonian breakthrough artist Kerli tells her coming-of-age story in a bizarro Alice in Wonderland-reminiscent funhouse of horrors, where "creepy" prevails. We can handle sexy-sinister, but we almost had to draw the line at the singing doll. But both the artist and her video, "Walking on Air," are fresh out the gate, so we'll give this dark horse a shot.

The 21-year-old singer-songwriter -- who reminds us of a cross between Cascada and Miley Cyrus' distant European cousin -- won second-place in the 2004 Euroalaul competition (you know… that Euroalaul competition), repped Estonia in the Eurovision Song Contest, cites only Björk as her musical influence, and impressed L.A. Reid enough to nail an on-the-spot record deal. Perhaps she reminded him of Pink.

Arjan Writes astutely describes her as "Björk meet Evanescence meets atmospheric electro pop." We think: Avril, but sadder! Or... Natasha Bedingfield in reverse! Though with her pierced-and-tatted appearance, plus traces of Garbage, we can't get away from the image of an updated version of the girl on that iconic Godsmack album cover.

(Was that you, Jennie Garth?)

Watch Kerli's new "Walking on Air" video, and check out more videos after the jump...

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After releasing her debut album, Don't Look Away, to little fanfare, Kate Voegele gave her career a much needed boost by appearing on One Tree Hill ... particularly because she played a keyboardist in a band fronted by Kevin Federline while the whole three-ring circus of a pre-medicated Britney Spears was in full swing. And when K-Fed's stint ended, Kate slipped into a recurring role that allowed her to showcase some of her songs.

It's been a year since her album was released, and it looks like things are finally picking up for Miss Kate -- she just released her first official single, "Only Fooling Myself," and she's currently on the road with Hanson and will jump on tour with Natasha Bedingfield at the end of May.

We sat down with the singer/songwriter to get the inside scoop on working with Britney's ex and the story behind her new video. Read what she had to say and then check out some exclusive pics here.

Buzzworthy: Being on One Tree Hill really breathed life into your debut album...

Kate Voegele: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I knew that going on One Tree Hill was going to be an incredible vehicle for the record. What is amazing about it is that my role on the show is, you know, basically playing a musician, and all the songs she plays are off my record. You never know how people are going to respond, but they have received it so well and it's translated into ticket sales and record sales. It's been more than I ever hoped it would be.

BW: What was it like working with Kevin Federline?

KV: I was secretly pumped 'cause I, like, live for good stories and for experiences that I can laugh about for the rest of time. I had a feeling this was going to be one of them, you know? So, it was great. He really surprised me because he was a really down-to-earth guy. He was really easy to make conversation with and he was cool with everybody -- there wasn't any ego or anything there. That's refreshing because, I mean, the dude is, like, all over the place in the press and whatever. He's a great guy and we all had fun together. It was cool.

Read more...

It is our official opinion that there simply isn't enough Euro-trance in our lives today. What better way to chronicle the rise and fall of a relationship than a club anthem that both clocks in at like 150bpm and lends itself perfectly to a ringtone, belted by a blonde bombshell who looks vaguely like she could be related to Natasha Bedingfield and/or Heidi Montag?

That song is "What Hurts the Most" by Cascada, which is actually not the name of aforementioned blonde (that's Natalie Horler) but the name of a British club-music threesome, because that name is too intense for just one person.

Extra credit points awarded to the smeared-mascara raccoon eyes at approximately -02:54. And if you're a country fan, you probably already know that the song sounds sorta twangy not just because Brooke Hogan totally wishes that she wrote it but because it was originally a country single; Rascal Flatts covered it in 2006 and nabbed not one but TWO Grammys for it.

Much as we <3 The Hills, there's more to Natasha Bedingfield than just "that 'feel-the-rain-on-your-lips' song" ("Unwritten," for the record). Basically, Natasha Bedingfield's like if Alanis Morissette were less of bummer and more blue-eyed-soul AND grew up in London AND hadn't done that uncomfortable video where she got naked and yodeled about India. Except more R&B (three arguments: she and her brother Daniel were in an R&B group back in the day; her collaboration with Sean Kingston on "Love Like This"; her new track, "Angel" sounds like Rihanna), more upbeat and not overly cheesy, despite the very bright title of her new album, Pocketful of Sunshine.

Anyway you can listen to every track off her new album before you rush out and buy it next week.

+ Listen to Pocketful of Sunshine on "The Leak," and then die of cuteness over the dancing stereos in her "These Words" video.