VMAs Backstage: Five Things You Didn't See
Find out what happened backstage at the 2011 MTV VMAs.
By Kara Warner, with additional reporting by Matt Elias and Jim Cantiello
Beyoncé
Photo: Jason Merritt/Getty Images
For all the unforgettable moments that occurred onstage during the VMAs on Sunday night, there were just as many equally amazing happenings that went down behind-the-scenes. Thanks to our VIP connections, MTV News had access to everything that happened before, after and during the live broadcast. Therefore, in no particular order, we are proud to present five moments you didn't get to see:
Gaga's Gentlemanly Behavior Leaves Celebs Starstruck
As is her M.O., Lady Gaga's presence at the VMAs was a highlight in and of itself, and every celeb who encountered her had a wide-eyed story to tell of his/her encounter. Particularly Foo Fighter Dave Grohl's first introduction to Gaga as her alter ego Jo Calderone.
"I got to meet her for the first time tonight [as Jo Calderone]," Grohl said of meeting Gaga when he went to say hello to Queen guitarist Brian May, who performed with her during the show. "I was like, 'Brian May, what's up!' and she was right next to him and I said, 'Hi, I'm Dave,' and she goes 'I know who the f--- you are!' Yeah, it was rad."
We spotted Kanye West, Lady Gaga, Britney Spears and more hanging out backstage!
Another Gaga-centric highlight occurred during one of the commercial breaks, when Gaga as the confident ladies' man Jo Calderone (or Gago, as Twitter users tagged him last night) took a cigarette from behind his ear, lit it and smoothly passed it to Adele.
'Jersey Shore' Stars Make Friends Everywhere They Go
As part of the MTV family, the stars of "Jersey Shore" have become welcome additions to any and all of our awards shows. We witnessed the ladies of Seaside Heights — JWoww, Snooki and Deena — palling around with new BFF, none other than "High School Musical" star Vanessa Hudgens. Later on we spotted them crossing paths with Jared Leto, which produced the following exchange: JWoww to Jared Leto: "Wow. I'm a huge fan! 'The Kill' is my favorite!" Leto: "Thank you so much!" Snooki, once they had passed the 30 Seconds to Mars frontman: "Aah?" To which Jenni replied, "That was Jared Leto. Don't you know who Jared Leto is?!"
Tyler, The Creator's Accidental Stage Dive Sends Him Into Unlikely Arms
Immediately following their win for Best New Artist, the many members of Odd Future and their assorted entourage were trying to shuffle off the circular stage, when suddenly there was a loud noise and everyone in the audience in the right section gasped. It was clear from the commotion that a member from Future had fallen off the stage. When the dust finally settled, we saw two unexpected heroes holding frontman Tyler, the Creator up: Kanye West and Kid Cudi.
Go behind-the-scenes with Wiz Khalifa, Kreayshawn and more at the VMA Pre-Show!
"It was really hard, but [the tears] came out when I fell offstage into Kanye's arms," Tyler half-joked as he processed the emotions surrounding his win and his almost fall.
Jay Z And Beyoncé Celebrate Baby News
Arguably the newsiest moment of the evening occurred when Beyoncé announced that she was pregnant, with a not-so-subtle rubbing of her belly at the end of her performance. Immediately following the big moment, Beyoncé and Jay-Z were enveloped backstage by ecstatic well-wishers including Kanye West, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams. One of the sweeter of those moments was when Jay stepped outside Beyoncé's dressing room, to allow her some time with her female friends to gush and squeal over the news. The proud and sweet smile on his face when he did so made for our favorite VMA warm fuzzy moment.
BONUS: VMA Recap With MTV News' Jim Cantiello MTV News correspondent Jim Cantiello does many things well, but his 60-second recaps of important events in pop culture are a must-watch. Check out Cantiello's super-speedy recap that includes analysis of Gaga as Calderone, what gets a hard-to-impress Justin Bieber to applaud VMA performers and Beyoncé's big announcement.
The 28th annual MTV Video Music Awards have wrapped, but the real action is just getting started! Stick with MTV News for winners, fashion pics, video and behind-the-scenes stories about everything that went down. Visit VMA.MTV.com for the latest.
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Beyonce, Lady Gaga Dominate Twitter Trends On VMA Night
Hashtags #whatwillgagawear and #DemiYouAreBeautiful also made an impact on Sunday.
By Kara Klenk
Lady Gaga at the 2011 VMAs
Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images
Just as predicted, the 2011 Video Music Awards generated even more buzz than last year, with over 3 million tweets sent from 8 p.m. ET at the start of the pre-show until the end of the West Coast broadcast, 11 p.m. PT. Which makes perfect sense when we're talking about a show in which Selena Gomez interviewed Justin Bieber, Britney and Gaga almost made out, and, oh yeah, Beyoncé announced her pregnancy!
Female artists definitely ruled Twitter this year. Bey's baby news made her the most tweeted-about celeb overall, with the first twitpic of her touching her pregnant stomach on the red carpet passing 600,000 views in six hours. In that same six-hour window, the VMA Twitter Tracker clocked the top subject as Nicki Minaj in the first hour, Adele in the next, and then Lady Gaga and Beyoncé alternating in the final hours. But the guys weren't far behind, with Jay-Z and Kanye West (a.k.a. the Throne), Chris Brown, Lil Wayne and Tyler, the Creator giving the ladies a run for their money.
Britney Spears talks about Jo Calderone after their onstage encounter.
For the entire duration of the VMAs, over half of the worldwide Twitter trends were VMA related, and at points they dominated eight or nine of the top 10 trends. Trends tended to coincide with a celeb's arrival (Wiz and Amber), a live interview (Selena and Justin) or the live performances (Adele). But some humorous trends emerged as well: The Karate Kid himself, Ralph Macchio, might have been surprised to see his name trending if he didn't tune in to see his doppelganger, Lady Gaga as Jo Calderone, appearing several times throughout the show. And Happy Trees trended briefly after Rick Ross appeared in a sketch in the show channeling the late painter and personalitya Bob Ross.
The trend #whatwillgagawear was one of the longest running of the evening, as was BEYONCE IS PREGNANT, which clearly called for caps, and #DemiYouAreBeautiful was a message to Demi Lovato from her many fans. Joe Jonas, Bruno Mars, Adele and Justin Bieber were all the subject of trends with words of encouragement started by their supporters.
The Twitter Tracker is continuing to monitor VMA activity, under top 10 celebs to check it out and see who's up in the days following the big show!
Top 10 celebs by number of mentions:
Beyoncé 280,000
Lady Gaga: 237,000
The Throne: 183,000
Adele: 159,000
Chris Brown: 110,000
Lil Wayne: 104,000
Tyler, the Creator: 72,000
Nicki Minaj: 66,000
Bruno Mars: 57,000
Katy Perry: 54,000
The 28th annual MTV Video Music Awards have wrapped, but the real action is just getting started! Stick with MTV News for winners, fashion pics, video and behind-the-scenes stories about everything that went down. Visit VMA.MTV.com for the latest.
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1669903/beyonce-lady-gaga-vma-twitter-trends.jhtml
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Sony Pictures Classics Negotiating for Rights to 'Hysteria'
Jay A. Fernandez Maggie Gyllenhaal stars in the romantic comedy about the invention of the vibrator.
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Lily Collins Is Our New Class' 'Ass-Kicking Girl Next Door'
With 'Mortal Instruments' and 'Snow White' still to come, the badass-yet-relatable actress is destined for mega-fame.
By Eric Ditzian, with reporting by Kara Warner
We called it way back in January: Lily Collins was an actress to watch in 2011.
At that point, her career was just heating up following a turn as Sandra Bullock's daughter in "The Blind Side." An impressive series of castings in high-profile films followed: "Priest," "Abduction" opposite Taylor Lautner and an adaptation of the best-selling YA series "The Mortal Instruments." A few months later, she landed the role of Snow White in Relativity Media's Julia Roberts-starring take on the fairy tale.
Collins is making good on our predictions, which is why we've selected her as part of our New Class — a collection of young talent about to rise to the top of Hollywood, including her "Mortal Instruments" co-star Jamie Campbell Bower. With her badass-yet-relatable roles, Collins is our New Class' "Ass-Kicking Girl Next Door."
Though she's had all of 2011 to get used to the spotlight, the whole celebrity thing continues to feel odd.
"It feels very surreal," she told us at the "Abduction" red carpet. "It's weird getting out of a car and people are saying my name. It's still a weird concept to me."
Give her time. Collins told us she'd like to model her career after Keira Knightley, Kate Winslet or Meryl Streep. "I like that none of them have stuck themselves in a box," she said. "They've done all sorts of roles — comedic, dramatic, they've gone from indies to big motion pictures. I love their choices."
And she's a fan of the New Class itself, which includes not only Bower, but Emma Watson, Josh Hutcherson, Julianne Hough and Nina Dobrev.
"It's an honor to be placed in the New Class of actors," Collins said. "I'm doing what I love, and I'm having the best time."
For more on all the up-and-comers who make up MTV's New Class, go to TheNewClass.MTV.com.
For young Hollywood news, fashion and "Twilight" updates around the clock, visit HollywoodCrush.MTV.com.
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What's Your Number? Premiere!
The What's Your Number? premiere is tonight in Los Angeles! I have my dress and I'm super excited!
I'm gong to be tweeting live from the red carpet at 6:30 PM PST for US Weekly magazine, so make sure to follow them and me on Twitter:
Source: http://www.prettyinthecity.com/blog/2011/9/19/whats-your-number-premiere.html
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Variance Films Jumps for U.S. Rights to 'Elevate'
The basketball doc will open theatrically on Oct. 21 in N.Y. and Nov. 4 in L.A.
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Usher To Donate Gadhafi Money To Charity
'I will be donating all of my personal proceeds...to various human rights organizations,' singer says of concert linked to Libyan dictator.
By Shawn Adler
Usher (file)
Photo: Getty Images
R&B superstar Usher announced Friday (March 4) that he was donating to various charities proceeds from appearing at a private event at St. Barts linked to Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, according to a statement made to the Associated Press.
The Grammy award winner's renouncement comes after similar announcements from singers Mariah Carey, Nelly Furtado, and Beyoncé, all of whom were revealed to have performed at private concerts linked to the Middle Eastern leader, who has faced open revolt and major political uprisings since February.
"I am sincerely troubled to learn about the circumstances surrounding the Nikki Beach St. Bart's event that took place on New Year's Eve 2009," Usher said of the concert, at which he appeared alongside Beyoncé but did not perform. "I will be donating all of my personal proceeds from that event to various human rights organizations."
Usher has already begun the process, having made a donation to Amnesty International, the AP reports. The exact size of the donation is not known.
The New Year's Eve gig was reportedly for Moammar's fourth son Muastassim, who an unnamed music industry source told MTV News has a history of throwing lavish parties "jammed" with supermodels.
Beyoncé, who sang at the event, donated all proceeds from her performance to the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund, established in the wake of the Haitian earthquake.
"All monies paid to Beyoncé for her performance at a private party at Nikki Beach St. Barts on New Year's Eve 2009, including the commissions paid to her booking agency, were donated to the earthquake relief efforts for Haiti over a year ago," the "Halo" singer's publicist said in a statement to The Huffington Post. "Once it became known that the third-party promoter was linked to the Qaddafi family, the decision was made to put that payment to a good cause."
Singer Nelly Furtado tweeted February 28 that she plans to make similar amends.
"In 2007, I received 1million$ from the Gadhafi clan to perform a 45 min. show for guests at a hotel in Italy," she tweeted. "I am going to donate the $."
The leader of Libya since a successful military coup in 1969, Gadhafi has reportedly lost control of much of his country as a result of widespread uprisings. The United Nations voted unanimously to refer the dictator to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.
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Jay-Z Throws A Carnival For College Kids' Scholarships
Jay's foundation set up the Ferris wheel in New York on Thursday to raise funds for university-bound students' scholarships.
By Steven Roberts, with reporting by Rob Markman
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Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage
NEW YORK — On Thursday night, Jay-Z hosted a carnival at the Hudson River Park pier for his Shawn Carter Foundation. But it wasn't all Ferris wheels and funnel cakes — unfortunately Momofuku doesn't make those. The event was called Making the Ordinary Extraordinary, and it sought to raise funds for college scholarships.
MTV News caught up with Mr. Carter at the event, where he said the evening was about having fun while raising money for a good cause. Jay said two of the worst things in life are a waste of talent and a person who applies him- or herself but is unable to advance due to financial hardship. He hoped this foundation would help ease such burdens and assist people in recognizing their potential.
"Just providing opportunity and seeing what people do with that opportunity. If you want to go further and you want to further your education, just giving someone that extra little push [so] that maybe you'll turn out to be someone special," Jay said.
Jay and his mother, Gloria Carter, started the foundation in 2002 to help those facing socioeconomic difficulties further their education at institutions of higher learning. The foundation started with one student earning a full ride through college and grew to offer 50 scholarships to students in 50 different states annually from 2003 to 2005. More than 750 students have been awarded scholarships totaling in excess of $1.1 million, and nearly 500 kids have taken part in the foundation's college tours — some even rode the bus with Jay's mom.
"My mom has been running this for a number of years," said Jay. "My mom gets on the bus and takes the kids and takes them to their orientations and she's been riding around the college. It's a real grassroots thing that she's been doing on her own, and I'm just really trying to help her expand it so we can help more people. It started out as a Brooklyn thing, and then it started as a New York thing, and now hopefully we can take it to a worldwide thing."
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