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.
Introduced by David Cross -- one of the many bearded bros at the Woodie Awards -- Death Cab plows through the song as if it'd been a staple of their live sets for years. I wonder if guitarist Chris Walla was thinking about his favorite Twilight character (Bella's dad!) while he was jamming away there.
Watch the 2009 mtvU Woodies Friday, December 4, at 10 p.m. ET on mtvU, MTV, MTV2, and Palladia.
It should come as no great shock that Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" video was a massive undertaking. Directed by uber-stylish feature film director Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend, Constantine), the video has the high-end production value of a blockbuster movie.
In this behind-the-scenes look at the making of Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance," you'll see just how significant an endeavor the whole thing was. Francis Lawrence talks about CGI diamonds raining on Gaga, while dancers praise Gaga's relentless work ethic. And the swarthy, gold-face-masked Russian gangster at the center of the video gives some insight into his "character."
It's a fascinating look at what is, arguably, the video of the year.
It's been a minute (a few minutes, really) since we had a Kid Sister video to enjoy. The Chicago MC broke out two years ago with the Kanye West-assisted "Pro Nails," with a video directed Zombieland auteur Rueben Fleischer.
Now, with her album Ultraviolet finally on shelves and in stores, Kid Sis is back on disc, wax, tape, and, for our purposes here, on screen.
"Right Hand Hi" is a fab piece of J.J. Fad electro-hop, with a half-dozen hooks crammed into a tight, burst of a jam. The video has some flashing lights, some flashy choreography, and a projected Kid Sister doing her thing on building walls.
How do you cure a broken heart? Well, according to this brand new Alicia Keys video for her song, "Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart" -- from her upcoming The Element of Freedom album -- you help the less fortunate.
In this Syndrome-directed clip, Keys takes on a rather messianic/martyr pose, healing wounded puppies andzooming around NYC on a motorcycle that shoots out purple, Tron-like exhaust from its pipes.
Can Super Alicia (who can fly in this video, BTW) cure her own relationship woes in the same fashion that she heals ailing canines? You'll have to watch to find out.
Is Justin Bieber the new Robert Pattinson? I mean, sure he's shorter, younger, smiles way more, seems 100,000 times more fun, pretty much OWNS Twitter, and he's far better at music. But, like R Pattz, Justin Bieber not only has impressive hair, but he's a TOTAL ladykiller. Girls twice, even three times Justin Bieber's age are like SCREAMING their makeup off for The Biebs.
Watch him perform "One Less Lonely Girl" from today's episode of It's On With Alexa Chung, and see why Justin Bieber is basically Robert Pattinson, minus the British accent and brooding.
Huffington Post just posted footage of Lady Gaga performing at an NYU talent show back in 2005. In the video, Lady Gaga looks much like she did when she appeared on MTV's Boiling Points around the same time. There are no disco sticks, no bloody costumes, no "Bad Romance" creepy crawly models, not even a wig. Just Stefani Germanotta, a piano, and a powerful set of pipes. She wasn't Lady Gaga yet, but clearly she had the fame inside her. Tellingly, the pre-Gaga Lady Gaga sang out, "I'm gonna change the world with my lips."
The bearded men of Death Cab For Cutie were lucky enough to have the first single from the New Moon soundtrack with "Meet Me On The Equinox." And aside from making them extremely popular with the Twi-hard crowd, it's automatically immersed them in Twilight lore and philosophy.
Chris declares his preference for Bella's unassuming dad out of all the Twilight characters, while Nick drops some knowledge on Twilight's larger appeal, relating it to the current political climate and consumerism.
Nick Harmer then opens a HUGE can of worms by openly speculating on the chances of a Twilight musical. (As opposed to Twilight the Musical, the YouTube parody.) Wonder if Death Cab would be up for scoring that?
Look who's definitely back in the house. Snoop D-O-Double-G returns with a sneak peek at his new video, "I Wanna Rock," from his upcoming album, Malice, due December 8th.
Snoop has apparently been watching some America's Best Dance Crew or Step Up with his brood (featured in the too-short-lived Snoop Dogg's Father Hood show). This clip features some nice dance-off footage to compliment the "Thriller"-synths and "Drop It Like It's Hot"-esque beat (courtesy of Scoop DeVille).
Watch for Snoop's "I Wanna Rock" video, coming soon.
Though Lady Gaga herself wasn't at the 2009 mtvU Woodies, she did receive a picture-perfect homage when 30h!3's Nat and Sean, who presented a Woodie Award while dressed up like Lady Gaga at the VMAs.
Nat wore Gaga's red lace outfit, completely with red lace mask and red crown (maybe he watched the make-your-own Lady Gaga red outfit video and DIY'ed it?), while Sean got the frilly, feathery white birds nest. Nat shouted out something about wearing soiled panties on your face, and then hilariously teetered off the stage in wobbly Gaga heels.
+ Check out more photos from the 2009 mtvU Woodies, and relive Lady Gaga in the original outfits at the 2009 VMAs after the jump. And don't miss the 2009 mtvU Woodies on Friday, December 4, at 10 p.m. ET on mtvU, MTV, MTV2, and Palladia.
Made up of a series of manic, breakneck dolly shots that match the manic, breakneck pace of the track, Vampire Weekend's "Cousins" is the perfect marriage of music video and song. It's primitive, punk, and a total gas.
