Archive for November, 2011
In a shocking upset, ‘Toxic’ gets served by ‘I’m a Slave 4 U,’ while ‘Lucky’ and ‘Criminal’ shimmy into round four.
By Vaughn Trudeau Schoonmaker
Britney Spears in her “I’m a Slave 4 U” video
Photo: Jive/Zomba
Voting in round three of MTV News’ Britney Spears Tournament: 30 Videos for 30 Years has officially closed and we’re now down to the Final Four. Will “Lucky” get lucky against the naughtier “Criminal” video? Will “Hold It Against Me” get served by “I’m a Slave 4 U“? Second-round voting is now open so you can help decide.
At the end of round three, “Lucky” pushed ahead of “Till the World Ends” at the last minute, beating the newer video by less than 0.5 percent of the vote. And although “Stronger” held the lead for most of the third round, “Criminal” overpowered the 2000 video late Tuesday night.
Britney’s collaborator on “Me Against the Music,” Madonna, officially exited the tournament after the duet fell to “Hold It Against Me,” which also came as a last-minute surprise since the Brit/Madge collabo held the advantage for most of round three.
In perhaps the most competitive pairing of the third round, two of Britney’s widely celebrated videos, “Toxic” and “I’m a Slave 4 U” were pitted against each other, but sweaty Britney out-danced double-agent Britney. MTV News’ Britney video experts have already predicted that “Slave 4 U” will be the biggest threat in the Final Four.
Voting for the top four clips is open until 7 a.m. Thursday; the top two will be unveiled at 10 a.m. on Thursday morning, followed by the big reveal of the winner at 10 a.m. ET on Friday, which happens to be Britney’s 30th birthday.
Which Britney video are you rooting for? Let us know in the comments section below!
What’s your favorite Britney video? Make sure to vote at Britney30.MTV.com or the MTV Newsroom blog, and share your picks in the comments below!
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‘I am so excited to open and close the Grammy Nomination concert!’ Gaga reveals via Twitter.
By James Montgomery
Lady Gaga
Photo: Getty Images
Much like the pair of exclamation marks inexplicably attached to its title, Lady Gaga will pull double duty on Wednesday night’s (November 30) Grammy Nominations Live!! telecast, serving as both the opening and closing act.
That’s according to the Mother Monster herself, who took to her Twitter account to break the news following rehearsals, and, in the process, also revealed that one of her two performances was going to be a collaborative effort.
“I am so excited to open and close the Grammy Nomination concert tomorrow night!” Gaga wrote. “What a blast rehearsing with Jennifer [Nettles] and Kristian [Bush]. Sugarland!”
Gaga and Sugarland will share the stage with a host of other big-name acts, including Rihanna, Usher, Lupe Fiasco, Ludacris and country crooner Jason Aldean. The event will once again be hosted by LL Cool J, who this year will also take part in a special tribute to the classic hip-hop track “The Message,” joining Common and members of the Furious Five.
Of course, aside from all of the performances, the telecast also serves as the official kickoff to Grammy season, with nominees in several categories to be announced on air Wednesday night at 10 p.m. ET on CBS. Gaga is expected to be in contention for a slew of awards, including Album of the Year for Born This Way, and Record and Song of the Year for “Yoü and I.” She’ll face stiff competition from this year’s Grammy fave, Adele, not to mention fellow females Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and Nicki Minaj.
Catch the special performance — along with Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Usher, Ludacris, Sugarland and more — at 10 p.m. ET/PT tonight on CBS.
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