Sean Kingston’s going back to school tomorrow on the premiere of MADE: Hip Hop Dance Battle, but he’s not going to Kingston. He’s going to Connecticut, where three of Coventry High School’s least hip-hop-inclined students will vie for the title of hottest hip-hop dancer, shedding the title of Girl In School With Absolutely No Friends And No One To Sit With At Lunch (Abby), Total Redneck (that’d be Pat), and Massive Bee-hotch (hey, Megan!).

The coaches: Ernest “E-Knock” Phillips of Status Quo, Suzette Sagisi, and Marcos Aguirre of Boston’s Wrush Dance Crew and So You Think You Can Dance.

The judges: Tina Landon, Fonzworth Bentley, and… Sean Kingston, who’ll also perform “Fire Burning.”

The challenge: Abby, Pat, and Megan will perform live in front of their ENTIRE SCHOOL… for a chance at…

The prize: $5,000!!!

The time: Saturday, June 27 at 12p ET on MTV.

Watch Sean Kingston’s exclusive “Beautiful Girls” performance, and, after the jump, watch a drama-filled sneak peek of tomorrow’s episode of Made: Hip Hop Dance Battle.

Read more…

Who saw It’s On With Alexa Chung yesterday? Everybody here sure did. It’s kind of getting to be this crazy phenomenon at the office. Every day at noon, the nail-biting, hair-pulling and obscenities (not to mention the “work”) stop and Alexa’s stylie little face beams out from every single cubicle TV. This probably sounds like some hackneyed sales pitch, but I swear it’s true!

Yesterday, when she showed all those internet clips of people falling and nailing their crotches on pylons, etc, etc, you could hear people shouting “OOF!” all down the hall. Even the old guys were cracking up! Anyway, just thought you might like to know about that. I’ve never seen such an uproar around here.

I chimed in on the yelling (the uhhh… Chung Chatter? :-/) yesterday when Phoenix showed up to play “1901.” Did you notice who the drummer was?! Dude. Trick question. It was not a drummer at all. It was a ghetto-blaster! Man are the French cool.

It was interesting to hear that big gussied-up single all stripped-down and acoustic. The “Eh-eh-eh-eh-eh” bit has a totally different vibe without all the airy production. But I digress. The point is, what a performance! Watch as those mega-talented Frenchies do their thing for Alexa Chung in the sci-fi talking-picture-rectangle below. Just hit play. Easy.

Hustle & Flow director Craig Brewer’s $5 Cover may be over, but all of Memphis’ best sex, fights and rock n’ roll are all still waiting for you on MTV.com. Best rap, too! Resident rhymer Al Kapone and his super-talented son Young AJ make sure of that with blues-driven bangers like “Gettin’ Mine” and “We On Deck.”

Also on display are the monstrous homegrown talents of Amy LaVere, Snowglobe, Two Way Radio, River City Tanlines, Muck Sticky, Valerie June and Jack Oblivian. LaVere plays husky gothic folk dirges firmly rooted in her bluesy backyard. Snowglobe is a deadly hooky cross between Built To Spill and Belle And Sebastian, while Two Way Radio plays it sweet and twee with upbeat pop ditties. Muck Sticky’s a rap clown, Valerie June is the twangiest little sweetheart you ever heard and River City Tanlines and Jack Oblivian growl like the world is ending.

Course I’m leaving one key player out. That’s Lucero. The band fronted by $5 Cover’s romantic leading man, Ben Nichols, is about as wildly freewheeling and charismatic as anything I’ve ever heard. An old personal favorite of mine, Bruce Springsteen’s gravelly working class folk blues meet Lynyrd Skynyrd’s country-fried, AM radio rock-crunch in every Lucero song. Man does listening to that band make me feel good.

Speaking of feeling good, plenty of that happens on $5 Cover, too. Boasting some of the steamiest bedroom scenes on MTV today (watch yourself, Kristin Cavallari), $5 Cover matches every tearful heartbreak with a frenzied bump and grind. And that’s just when the cast isn’t busy beating the hell out of each other at Memphis’ best roller derbies, juke joints and blues halls. Long and short of it is, $5 Cover packs more authentic Southern soul action into every episode than KFC’s got in a whole world of biscuits.

I’m gonna post the undeniably seductive episode 10 below, to give you a taste of what you been missin’. Once you’re hooked, head back to $5 Cover HQ where you can watch the whole series for free! Get to it.

Eminem ripped last night’s show wide open with a medley that included “We Made You,” and “Crack A Bottle,” (which, come to think of it, was not the only “crack” that Eminem got into last night). Squinting ferociously out from under the brim of a low-slung baseball cap, Eminem dropped in on last night’s MTV Movie Awards (before Brüno dropped in on him) to show the world just what a career relapse looks like.

Stuntin’ out in front of a jumping brass band, the slimmed-down Shady (who announced his weight as 175) made it hard to believe he’d ever been gone. Watch his performance below, and catch an encore of Brüno’s crotch-first crash-landing, after the jump!

Read more…

(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

(Credit: John Shearer - Wire Image)

Last night was a really big deal for Kings Of Leon, but it’s hard to imagine them stressing it too hard. They always play it so cool. But nervous or not, Tennessee’s Followill brothers (and cousin) had one of the biggest rapt audiences of their young lives last night, and they flat-out killed it on whoa-oh anthem, “Use Somebody.”

The Only By The Night single won the boys plenty of new admirers last night, but they already had some high-profile fans in the audience. Zac Efron (who won Best Male Performance for High School Musical 3: Senior Year) and Robert Pattinson (who won pretty much everything else) to name two! The show’s studliest guests (although those Followills give ‘em a run for their money!) both have their iPods loaded up with Kings Of Leon.

And as we’ve told you before, Miley Cyrus (who fist-bumped God for making “The Climb” Best Song) and Taylor Swift (who popped up in the Twilight segment of Andy Samberg’s intro) have big crushes on KOL bassist Jared Followill. So, it’s no surprise that the 2009 MTV Movie Awards gave Kings Of Leon a very warm welcome, and kept clapping well into the commercial break!

Watch their full performance of “Use Somebody,” below, and see what Hollywood’s all worked up about.

+ Kings Of Leon Rehearsal Photos
+ 2009 MTV Movie Awards Performance Photos
+ Bonus Kings Of Leon Photo Album!

The season finale of $5 Cover has finally arrived and it is a DOOZY. Not only is it the sexiest, most criminal episode ever, but it spotlights the chaotic love lives of Memphis’s studliest leading men, Ben Nichols and Wally (aka Saki Manousakis).

Ben is the gravel-throated lead singer of Lucero, and he is the consummate bad boy. He’s $5 Cover’s Justin Bobby, if you will. Tattooed and unattainable, the Memphis heatmaker breaks hearts in every city he visits. Chief among those hearts is Clare Grant’s, and it takes a serious beating in the season finale.

Wally is a floppy-haired sweetheart with a baby face and a magnetically easygoing disposition. Though he’s clearly had his eye on Amy LaVere from day one, he’s made the rounds among Memphis’s smitten art set. In the season finale, an act of deviant heroism thrusts this creative videographer into the arms of his dream girl. It also gives him a chance to show off his kissing skills.

Watch the steamy season finale of $5 Cover, premiering tonight at midnight, and decide whether you’d rather shack up with bad boy Ben or puppy dog Wally!

+ Meet Ben Nichols in the $5 Cover: Amplified profile below!

If you’re like Kim Scott, you prefer Eminem in short, repetitive doses. At least that’s why I assume she married and divorced him so many times. Anything more than a blip would have been too much. Well, Kim… Boy have I got a video collection for you!

In case you haven’t heard, Eminem is this week’s Featured Artist on MTV. To mark the occasion, the 2009 MTV Movie Awards performer is releasing an exclusive five minute mini-movie of a return visit to his high school (a sort of Relapse, if you will). You better believe we’ll be posting that one here.

But the movie’s not ready to go, yet. So, to kick things off, we’re rolling out a set of exclusive live videos that would make Kim’s head spin. They feature Eminem just how she likes him — performing “We Made You” and “3AM” in ten exceedingly digestible 30-second clips!

Watch “We Made You” and “3AM” below, get stoked for his Movie Awards performance May 31 and stay tuned for Eminem’s trip back to high school, appearing here, the second it comes in!

$5 Cover’s two leading ladies (no offense, Kate Crowder, you’re very cute) are smoking hotties on opposite ends of the spectrum. Memphis’s leading men can’t seem to decide which one to love, and so they often opt for both. You can imagine what a mess that gets to be!

Former Playboy model Clare Grant stirs up trouble everywhere she goes, and it’s easy to see why (i.e. if you hate full-frontal nudity, definitely don’t Google her!). The smoldering blonde is just crazy, dirty hot. Plain and simple.

Amy LaVere appeals to another side of the brain. Although her looks easily match Clare’s, she’s more subtle about showing them off. An easygoing girl-next-door, you can learn all you need to know about the natural beauty in one kind smile. She’s also a super-talented musician with a seductively husky voice. Her alluring sensuality is on display in every soulful song.

So, what’ll it be gentlemen? And you, ladies? Would you rather have the smokin’ bad apple on your arm, or the sweet, Southern good ol’ gal. If you had your pick of Clare Grant and Amy LaVere, which way would you go? Go beyond the headshots above and get to know Clare and Amy in the $5 Cover video profiles below.

Once your all-consuming crushes have set in, be sure to catch both Amy and Clare in action every week on $5 Cover! Stay tuned to Buzzworthy for a closer look at Memphis’s leading men, coming soon.

+ $5 Cover: Spotlight On Clare Grant

+ $5 Cover: Spotlight On Amy LaVere

In case you somehow still need more reasons to tune into the Internet’s best new show, I’ve compiled $5 Cover’s steamiest scenes to give you a taste of just how far director Craig Brewer is willing to push the envelope. Clearly we’re too classy enough (right, Tila?!) to broadcast all-out porn, but the Hustle & Flow director so expertly wields the power of suggestion, that at times it’s even hotter than the real thing.

1. A New Drummer: Bass Master
$5 Cover’s very first scene catches blues whisperer Amy LaVere in the act, doing a fearsome sans-pants tango with her stand-up bass. Scene 1! Memphis doesn’t waste any time.

2. A New Drummer: Bed-Hopping
Minutes after Amy’s private band practice sesh comes to an end, we meet her buddy Clare Grant, who’s also lost her pants. But Clare’s not wrestling an instrument. She’s rolling around with Amy’s boyfriend. Well, that is, until Amy walks in.

3. Head Change: Clare & Present Danger
After a spirited parking lot pep talk, Memphis rap clown Muck Sticky and kinky Clare take to the stage with an act that includes semi-nude S&M antics. Blame it on the Memphis heat!

4. Memphis Drama: Valerie’s Secret
Valerie June is as cool and mellow as $5 Cover characters come. The drawling, dreadlocked singer-songwriter provides frequent easygoing comic relief. But there’s no relief from Valerie’s breakfast attire in Episode 3, which leaves nothing to the imagination!

5: Things to come…
Believe it or not, $5 Cover’s steamiest clips are still yet to come! The new episodes premiering on MTV every Friday include new lovers, a heartbreak, a heart attack and a very physical reunion between Clare Grant and Lucero singer Ben Nichols. If you think your heart rate’s up for all that action, check out new episodes of $5 Cover, and get more behind-the-scenes looks at $5 Cover on the $5 Cover blog.