Michael Jackson’s Death Tops MTV News’ ‘Top 9 Of ‘09′ Moments
Jan 1st
Chris Brown and Rihanna, Kanye West’s VMA stage rush, and President Obama’s inauguration also made the list.
By Gil Kaufman
Michael Jackson
Photo: Kevin Mazur/ WireImage
Looking back on 2009, it’s hard to believe that all the madness, sadness, scandal, success and mayhem was contained in a mere 365 days. This year we swung from the depths of grief with the death of Michael Jackson to the heights of history during President Barack Obama’s inauguration and back down to the bottom thanks to the Tiger Woods scandal and Kanye West’s VMAs bum-rush of Taylor Swift.
There were, of course, plenty of other high points, from the insanity surrounding the “Twilight Saga: New Moon” release and the breathless chatter about Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart’s alleged relationship, to the hilarity of the Eminem/Brüno incident at the MTV Movie Awards. The pulsing soundtrack to the whole maddening mess was provided, of course, by MTV News’ Woman of the Year, Lady Gaga.
We tried to be everywhere for you this year, covering all the major events and news stories, offering the first peeks at videos and listens to the hottest albums while spending way more time than we would like to think about monitoring celebrity Twitter accounts. But, after careful consideration, we’ve boiled down the “Top 9 of ‘09″ events that rocked our world this year.
Here’s the countdown:
9. Miley Cyrus Quits Twitter
Where were you when you heard the news? No, not about MJ, but the bombshell that MTV’s #5 Woman of the Year, Miley Cyrus, took leave of Twitter after months of furious updating. Her 2 million followers were stunned and complained that the micro-blogging service “sucks without Miley,” but she softened the blow somewhat by posting a YouTube video in which she rapped her reasons for leaving.
8. Brüno Lands On Eminem
Not quite as earth-shattering but equally eye-opening was the surprise crash landing gay Austrian fashion correspondent Brüno made into Eminem’s lap at the MTV Movie Awards in May. After nearly four years out of the spotlight, Eminem made his return to the limelight just in time to shake hands with Brüno’s backside in one of the most talked-about awards show moments of the year, if not all time.
7. Lady Gaga Makes Her Mark
Nobody owned the airwaves and screens in 2009 like Lady Gaga. The high-concept dancing queen had one of the year’s top-selling albums with The Fame and made a statement at every awards show on which she appeared, with high-tech costumes, theatrical performances and bizarre masks that failed to hide her sparkling persona. She saved some of the best for last with the November MTV debut of the mind-bending “Bad Romance” video, which featured razor-blade sunglasses and sparks-spewing underwear.
6. “New Moon” Fever Strikes
Aside from Gaga, the other obsession we couldn’t shake in 2009 was the breathless wait for the release of the “Twilight” sequel “New Moon.” From the slow reveal of the trailer to the details of the movie’s smash opening weekend, we took you behind the scenes for every step of the journey, though even we couldn’t unravel the truth behind the alleged relationship between co-stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart.
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MTV’S “TOP 9 OF ‘09″
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5. Tiger Woods Falls From Grace
Celebrity scandals don’t get much bigger than the Titanic Tiger Woods Meltdown. The world’s #1 golfer and the highest-paid athlete in the history of the planet saw his closely guarded, private world blown to smithereens this year when a mysterious early-morning Thanksgiving car crash opened up a clown car worth of alleged girlfriends (14 at last count) claiming that they had been intimate with the married father of two. The cavalcade included a pair of porn stars, a former Playboy model, club hostesses, swimsuit models, a pancake-house waitress, a Trashy Girls Lingerie model and a pair of cougars. Woods announced he was taking a break from golf to try to repair his marriage, which appeared headed for divorce.
4. Barack Obama Becomes President
January started off the year with a positive bang, as former Illinois Senator Barack Obama became the country’s first black president. MTV News was there on that cold winter morning when Obama took the oath of office on President Abraham Lincoln’s bible (twice, actually) and was serenaded by the likes of U2, Bruce Springsteen and Beyoncé, and we partied down that night at the Be the Change inaugural ball with Fall Out Boy, Kanye West and a special appearance by the new president himself.
3. Kanye West Interrupts Taylor Swift Onstage
It should go without saying, but it’s never a good thing when the president calls you a “jackass.” Yet that was Kanye West’s fate after the rapper bum-rushed country cutie Taylor Swift at the MTV Video Music Awards with the now infamous rant, “Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time!” The tipsy MC was asked to leave the event shortly thereafter, and despite a number of public and private apologies, he became the butt of innumerable jokes, parodies and skits at awards shows and on late-night talk programs. Following the deluge of bad press, MTV News’ #7 Man of the Year took a breather from the spotlight, while our #2 Woman of the Year cemented her status as one of the year’s breakout stars with her top-selling Fearless album and a slew of artist-of-the-year awards.
2. Chris Brown Assaults Rihanna
They were the glamorous R&B couple who seemed to have it all: love, success, beauty and talent. But in February, it all came crashing down when singer Chris Brown brutally assaulted former girlfriend Rihanna in a rented Lamborghini on the eve of the Grammy Awards. Brown avoided trial by pleading guilty to felony assault and was sentenced to 180 days of labor service and five years’ probation, while Rihanna went into seclusion after graphic photos of her battered face were published. Both singers released new albums in late 2009, with Rihanna having modest success, while Brown appeared to be struggling to regain his pre-arrest footing.
1. Michael Jackson Dies
There are few moments in life when you can remember exactly where you were when you heard the news. Michael Jackson’s death on June 25 was one of them. MTV News’ Man of the Year was on the cusp of what might have been the comeback of the century when he died of cardiac arrest at age 50 in a rented Los Angeles mansion after taking a lethal dose of a surgical anesthetic. The world grieved, celebrated his storied career and watched teary eyed as his 11-year-old daughter bid an emotional farewell at his memorial ceremony. Fans didn’t forget the King of Pop, flocking to screenings of a documentary, “Michael Jackson’s This Is It,” cobbled together from his final rehearsals, which grossed more than $100 million internationally on its opening weekend.
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Loading ...MTV News’ Top 9 Of ‘09
Jan 1st
A look back on all the madness, sadness, scandal, success and mayhem of 2009.
Photo: Tim Whitby/Getty Images
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Lady Gaga, ‘New Moon,’ Obama Rocked Our 2009
Jan 1st
A disco queen, a vampire tale and an American story were this year’s supernova-like phenomena.
By Gil Kaufman
Lady Gaga
Photo: Jeff Kravitz/ FilmMagic
Despite our best efforts, we here at MTV News are creatures of many and varied obsessions, and 2009 offered plenty of fuel for our fanatical fires. Over the past 364 days, we’ve feverishly monitored Twitter feeds to find out about everything from the latest Tiger Woods girlfriend count to the breaking updates on Michael Jackson’s death and what Disney movie an under-the-weather Miley Cyrus is watching at any given moment.
Those diversions were all well and good, but there were three supernova-like phenomena that sapped most of our attention this year, each one offering a unique snapshot of what makes America the pop-culture epicenter of the planet.
This was the year that the nonsense word “gaga” became more than just a bit of baby-talk, when a “new moon” was not just something to stare at on a cold winter’s night and, perhaps most importantly, a calendar cycle that began with the inauguration of an American president unlike any this country has seen before.
“New Moon”
It’s hard to put into words just how jacked up we were for the sequel to the first “Twilight” movie. We obsessed over the various trailers for the vampire-vs.-werewolf flick, dissected every frame, and asked Twi-Hards what they thought. We would not let it go when it came to searching for definitive proof that Robsten (stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart) were indeed an item, and then we got all distracted by the many, many, many shirtless photos of new breakout hunk Taylor Lautner.
And that’s all before the movie actually hit screens in November and smashed records with a $142 million opening weekend. And, of course, we’re going to do it all over again this year in the ramp-up to “Eclipse.”
Lady Gaga
When January dawned, if you were aware of MTV’s Woman of the Year, Lady Gaga, at all, it was likely because you spent a lot of time in dank dance clubs and had started hearing her first single “Just Dance.”
But within months, the most outrageous pop star since Madonna had us all transfixed with her signature mix of dark disco, futuristic fashion and provocative stage shows. Gaga became an instant global celebrity seemingly overnight, but it’s hard to remember someone who has taken to the spotlight as quickly and as effectively as the former bar singer born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta.
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MTV’S “TOP 9 OF ‘09″
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She wowed us with her virtual death at the VMAs, did it again at the AMAs with a bizarre, bottle-smashing piece of performance art and raised more than eyebrows with the provocative video for the first single from her recent The Fame Monster EP, “Bad Romance.”
In between, she went from opening for the Pussycat Dolls to collaborating with fellow buzz act Wale, reaching out to her fervent gay following often, hooking up with Beyoncé, getting props from Madonna and ending the year with the over-the-top Monster Ball tour.
Add in a hookup with Adam Lambert, a visit with the queen of England and a Billboard record for becoming the first artist in the 17-year history of the Pop Songs chart to land four #1 singles from a debut, and you have a pretty good year for Ms. Gaga.
Barack Obama
It’s hard to put into words the emotion that bubbled up from the streets of Washington, D.C., in January on the morning of President Obama’s inauguration. Families, black and white, braved the frigid temperatures, the intense security gauntlet and a massive million-plus-strong throng of supporters to witness history being made as the nation’s first black president took the oath of office.
The party began the day before with the massive “We Are One” concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial featuring Bruce Springsteen, Beyoncé, Mary J. Blige, Will.I.Am, Shakira, Usher and Stevie Wonder and was capped by the former Illinois senator’s rousing address to a nation in the midst of a historic financial meltdown.
The celebrations continued into the night, including MTV’s own “Be the Change” youth inaugural ball with Fall Out Boy, Kanye West and a special appearance by the new president. Once the confetti had been swept up, Obama got to work trying to patch up relations with the Muslim world, worked overtime to bail out banks and re-energize the U.S. economy, won the Nobel Peace Prize and pushed hard to pass his signature health care legislation, promising coverage to 30 million more Americans.
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...MTV News’ Top 9 Of ‘09
Jan 1st
A look back on all the madness, sadness, scandal, success and mayhem of 2009.
Photo: Tim Whitby/Getty Images
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...MTV News’ Top 9 Of ‘09
Jan 1st
A look back on all the madness, sadness, scandal, success and mayhem of 2009.
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...MTV News’ Top 9 Of ‘09
Jan 1st
A look back on all the madness, sadness, scandal, success and mayhem of 2009.
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Michael Jackson’s Death Tops MTV News’ ‘Top 9 Of ‘09′ Moments
Jan 1st
Chris Brown and Rihanna, Kanye West’s VMA stage rush, and President Obama’s inauguration also made the list.
By Gil Kaufman
Michael Jackson
Photo: Kevin Mazur/ WireImage
Looking back on 2009, it’s hard to believe that all the madness, sadness, scandal, success and mayhem was contained in a mere 365 days. This year we swung from the depths of grief with the death of Michael Jackson to the heights of history during President Barack Obama’s inauguration and back down to the bottom thanks to the Tiger Woods scandal and Kanye West’s VMAs bum-rush of Taylor Swift.
There were, of course, plenty of other high points, from the insanity surrounding the “Twilight Saga: New Moon” release and the breathless chatter about Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart’s alleged relationship, to the hilarity of the Eminem/Brüno incident at the MTV Movie Awards. The pulsing soundtrack to the whole maddening mess was provided, of course, by MTV News’ Woman of the Year, Lady Gaga.
We tried to be everywhere for you this year, covering all the major events and news stories, offering the first peeks at videos and listens to the hottest albums while spending way more time than we would like to think about monitoring celebrity Twitter accounts. But, after careful consideration, we’ve boiled down the “Top 9 of ‘09″ events that rocked our world this year.
Here’s the countdown:
9. Miley Cyrus Quits Twitter
Where were you when you heard the news? No, not about MJ, but the bombshell that MTV’s #5 Woman of the Year, Miley Cyrus, took leave of Twitter after months of furious updating. Her 2 million followers were stunned and complained that the micro-blogging service “sucks without Miley,” but she softened the blow somewhat by posting a YouTube video in which she rapped her reasons for leaving.
8. Brüno Lands On Eminem
Not quite as earth-shattering but equally eye-opening was the surprise crash landing gay Austrian fashion correspondent Brüno made into Eminem’s lap at the MTV Movie Awards in May. After nearly four years out of the spotlight, Eminem made his return to the limelight just in time to shake hands with Brüno’s backside in one of the most talked-about awards show moments of the year, if not all time.
7. Lady Gaga Makes Her Mark
Nobody owned the airwaves and screens in 2009 like Lady Gaga. The high-concept dancing queen had one of the year’s top-selling albums with The Fame and made a statement at every awards show on which she appeared, with high-tech costumes, theatrical performances and bizarre masks that failed to hide her sparkling persona. She saved some of the best for last with the November MTV debut of the mind-bending “Bad Romance” video, which featured razor-blade sunglasses and sparks-spewing underwear.
6. “New Moon” Fever Strikes
Aside from Gaga, the other obsession we couldn’t shake in 2009 was the breathless wait for the release of the “Twilight” sequel “New Moon.” From the slow reveal of the trailer to the details of the movie’s smash opening weekend, we took you behind the scenes for every step of the journey, though even we couldn’t unravel the truth behind the alleged relationship between co-stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart.
|
MTV’S “TOP 9 OF ‘09″
|
 |
5. Tiger Woods Falls From Grace
Celebrity scandals don’t get much bigger than the Titanic Tiger Woods Meltdown. The world’s #1 golfer and the highest-paid athlete in the history of the planet saw his closely guarded, private world blown to smithereens this year when a mysterious early-morning Thanksgiving car crash opened up a clown car worth of alleged girlfriends (14 at last count) claiming that they had been intimate with the married father of two. The cavalcade included a pair of porn stars, a former Playboy model, club hostesses, swimsuit models, a pancake-house waitress, a Trashy Girls Lingerie model and a pair of cougars. Woods announced he was taking a break from golf to try to repair his marriage, which appeared headed for divorce.
4. Barack Obama Becomes President
January started off the year with a positive bang, as former Illinois Senator Barack Obama became the country’s first black president. MTV News was there on that cold winter morning when Obama took the oath of office on President Abraham Lincoln’s bible (twice, actually) and was serenaded by the likes of U2, Bruce Springsteen and Beyoncé, and we partied down that night at the Be the Change inaugural ball with Fall Out Boy, Kanye West and a special appearance by the new president himself.
3. Kanye West Interrupts Taylor Swift Onstage
It should go without saying, but it’s never a good thing when the president calls you a “jackass.” Yet that was Kanye West’s fate after the rapper bum-rushed country cutie Taylor Swift at the MTV Video Music Awards with the now infamous rant, “Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time!” The tipsy MC was asked to leave the event shortly thereafter, and despite a number of public and private apologies, he became the butt of innumerable jokes, parodies and skits at awards shows and on late-night talk programs. Following the deluge of bad press, MTV News’ #7 Man of the Year took a breather from the spotlight, while our #2 Woman of the Year cemented her status as one of the year’s breakout stars with her top-selling Fearless album and a slew of artist-of-the-year awards.
2. Chris Brown Assaults Rihanna
They were the glamorous R&B couple who seemed to have it all: love, success, beauty and talent. But in February, it all came crashing down when singer Chris Brown brutally assaulted former girlfriend Rihanna in a rented Lamborghini on the eve of the Grammy Awards. Brown avoided trial by pleading guilty to felony assault and was sentenced to 180 days of labor service and five years’ probation, while Rihanna went into seclusion after graphic photos of her battered face were published. Both singers released new albums in late 2009, with Rihanna having modest success, while Brown appeared to be struggling to regain his pre-arrest footing.
1. Michael Jackson Dies
There are few moments in life when you can remember exactly where you were when you heard the news. Michael Jackson’s death on June 25 was one of them. MTV News’ Man of the Year was on the cusp of what might have been the comeback of the century when he died of cardiac arrest at age 50 in a rented Los Angeles mansion after taking a lethal dose of a surgical anesthetic. The world grieved, celebrated his storied career and watched teary eyed as his 11-year-old daughter bid an emotional farewell at his memorial ceremony. Fans didn’t forget the King of Pop, flocking to screenings of a documentary, “Michael Jackson’s This Is It,” cobbled together from his final rehearsals, which grossed more than $100 million internationally on its opening weekend.
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Drake Calls ‘Light Up,’ His Collabo With Jay-Z, ‘Phenomenal’
Dec 31st
‘When I heard that beat … it was like, ‘Man, this is a moment,’ ‘ Drake tells MTV News of the Thank Me Later track.
By Jayson Rodriguez, with reporting by Steven Roberts
Drake
Photo: Steven Roberts/ MTV News
It’s done. Drake’s collaboration with Jay-Z, “Light Up,” is finally finished. The Toronto lyricist had been hopeful all year that he and Hov could connect in the studio.
“Everybody is looking for this one joint with me and Jay, so that needs to happen,” Drake told MTV News back in June. “My goal at this point is to keep making that organic music. I don’t wanna feel pressure now that I have a single and music that’s hot.”
Drake recently sat down with MTV News in his Canadian hometown and explained how the song, produced by Tone Mason and co-produced by his October’s Very Own cohort Noah “40″ Shebib, came to fruition.
The track will be included on the rapper’s forthcoming debut, Thank Me Later, tentatively slated for a March release.
“When I heard that beat, the drums that they had come up with, it was like, ‘Man, this is a moment,’ ” he said. ” ‘This sounds like where I’m at in my life.’ So, we took it and 40 did what he does to pieces of music that I see potential in — he took it to the next spot. Jay-Z’s on it. The song is phenomenal. It’s done now.”
The pair previously worked together on Jay-Z’s “Off That,” from Hov’s The Blueprint 3 project.
The Timbaland-produced track, however, only featured Drake on the hook instead of contributing a verse alongside Jay. This time, the two MCs both had their say on “Light Up.” Though the upstart MC was able to recruit the Roc Nation head into the fold for his first album, in addition to expected collabos with Lil Wayne and Kanye West, Drake said he’s trying to downplay the guest list and focus on his humble beginnings.
“At the end of the day, one of the biggest things I’ve been toying with on Thank Me Later is that it’s kind of hard for me to come out and be like, ‘I’m still the underdog,’ ” Drake told Mixtape Daily recently.
“I can’t rap about the same things [as I did] on So Far Gone, so it’s just really trying to tell the greatest story that’s never been told, which is the story of a rapper’s come-up, and tell it without being corny or over-bragging or sounding like, ‘Feel sorry for me.’ It’s going to be a very interesting record because I’m really going to have to dig deep and tell stories that people can relate to. But it’s kind of hard, because my life is at a very different place now. ”
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...A Few Words About ‘Auld Lang Syne’
Dec 31st
If you’re like us, you’re going to go to a New Year’s Eve party tonight, and as soon as the calendar turns over, somebody will inevitably start slurring the tune “Auld Lang Syne” because they thought they heard it in a movie or something (perhaps “200 Cigarettes” was on TV earlier in the day). But people very rarely nail down the correct melody, nor do they know all of the words. And what does “Auld Lang Syne” even mean?
Glad you asked! It began as a poem written by Scotland’s Robert Burns (pictured!) in 1788 (with a few of the lyrics cribbed from a James Watson ballad from 1711 called “Old Long Syne”). The tune is a traditional Scottish folk song, and it quickly gained popularity in the U.K. as a song sung at the end of the year as well as at funerals. As Brits emigrated to other parts of the globe, the tradition spread, and took hold in the United States as early as 1896. It didn’t become a popular American staple in this country until band leader Guy Lombardo played the tune during his year-end radio broadcast in 1929.
The title of the tune literally translates to “Old Long Since,” though people readily accept “Long Long Ago” or “In Olden Times” as reasonable transpositions. The first verse goes a little something like this: “Should old acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind?/ Should old acquaintance be forgot and days of auld lang syne?/ For auld lang syne my dear/ For auld lang syne/ We’ll take a cup of kindness yet/ For auld lang syne.” That second part is actually the chorus, but it usually just gets treated as another verse.
So enjoy this particular version of the song or fire up one yourself (it helps if you have bagpipes or a pump organ), and raise your glass to a successful 2009 and an even better 2010.
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...It’s Official: Marvel Entertainment Stockholders Approve Walt Disney Company Deal
Dec 31st
What has long been expected is now finally official — the pending merger between Marvel Entertainment and The Walt Disney Company is a done deal.
According to an official press release from Marvel Entertainment, a special meeting held this morning between Marvel stockholders resulted in the approval of the deal that was first announced at the end of August.
While the press release notes that the merger’s completion “is subject to satisfaction of remaining conditions” of a previously filed statement by Disney, the hard part is certainly over. Barring something unforeseen and catastrophic, Marvel will be owned by Disney as soon as “today after the close of the market.”
The earlier announcement that Marvel would be purchased by Disney was easily the biggest comic book news story of the year, if not the entire decade. Just the thought of Spider-Man, Captain America, Iron Man and more joining the entertainment juggernaut that houses Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and their pals is enough to provoke plenty of positive, negative and mixed reactions alike from the comic book community.
It’s still far too early to know exactly how Disney’s acquisition of Marvel will effect the comic book publisher and its many properties — even if some minor details are already public — but it’s only appropriate that the last day of 2009 brought about the finalization of the biggest comic book news story of the year. Here’s hoping that 2010 is similarly epic.
Tell us what you think of the finalization of Disney’s acquisition of Marvel in the comments or on Twitter!
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