Blake Shelton, Incubus Take Over Billboard Chart

Beyonce's 4 knocked down to #5 in third week out.
By Gil Kaufman


Blake Shelton
Photo: Stephen Lovekin/ Getty Images

Blake Shelton was already a beloved country star before he became a reality-TV double-threat. But thanks in part to his breakout role on "The Voice," Miranda Lambert's better half is reaping plenty of benefits, including a #1 debut on the Billboard 200 charts next week for his new album, Red River Blue.

According to figures provided by SoundScan, Shelton's sixth studio album, his first #1 debut ever and highest-charting album to date, sold 116,000 copies last week. Just behind was the first album in five years from floaty rockers Incubus with If Not Now, When, which debuts at #2 on sales of 80,000. They lead a parade of new faces in the top 10 that also includes country singer Chris Young, whose Neon hit #4 in its first week (73,000), pop smoothie Colbie Caillat's All of You (#6, 66,000), head-bangers Theory of a Deadman's Truth Is (#8, 38,000) and the debut from the rebooted Sublime with new singer Rome, Yours Truly (#9, 35,000).

The rest of the top 10: Adele's 21 (#3, 77,000), Beyoncé's 4 (#5, 72,000), Jason Aldean's My Kinda Party (#7, 42,000) and Selena Gomez and the Scene's When the Sun Goes Down (#10, 33,000).

A couple of former top 10 dwellers fall to the second rung, including Eminem's Hell: The Sequel project under the Bad Meets Evil banner (#11, 30,000), Lady Gaga's Born This Way (down five to #13, 25,000) and Jill Scott's Light of the Sun (#14, 21,000).

The soundtrack to "Harry Potter: Deathly Hallows, Part 2" comes in at #25, while indie darlings Washed Out crash in at #26 with the excellent Within & Without (#26, 15,000). And it was a short trip to the top 10 for R&B crooner Lloyd, who plummets 39 spots to #49 in the second week for King of Hearts (9,000).

Over on the iTunes chart Caillat sits atop the album tally, followed by Shelton, Incubus, Adele, Sublime, Chris Young, Theory of a Deadman, Beyoncé, Bad Meets Evil and the unstoppable Mumford & Sons' Sigh No More.

LMFAO continue to rule the iTunes singles chart with their summer hit "Party Rock Anthem," which beats out Demi Lovato's "Skyscraper," Katy Perry's "Last Friday (T.G.I.F.)," Nicki Minaj's "Super Bass" and Hot Chelle Rae's "Tonight Tonight." Rounding out the top 10 at #6 are Lil Wayne's "How to Love," Pitbull's "Give Me Everything," Adele's "Rolling in the Deep," OneRepublic's "Good Life" and Aldean's "Dirt Road Anthem."

Things should be fairly static next week, with the only new titles including a new Kidz Bop Kids title and albums from 311, 3 Doors Down and DJ Khaled.

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Britney Spears Is A VMA 'Icon,' Sabi Says

Collaborator/ tour opener says Brit's 'catchy' catalog is perfect for Sunday's tribute.
By Kelley L. Carter, with reporting by Christina Garibaldi


Britney Spears performs at the 2001 VMAs
Photo: Getty Images

Fans are eagerly anticipating the Britney Spears tribute at Sunday's Video Music Awards — and you can count Sabi among those die-hards.

Spears' Femme Fatale Tour opening act and "(Drop Dead) Beautiful" collaborator said it's definitely fitting that Spears will be feted at the awards show.

"I think it's awesome," the singer/songwriter told MTV News. "I personally have been able to watch firsthand how she's worked her butt off. She's been in the game for a minute. She's an icon. It's well overdue."

Go behind the scenes as Britney films her 2011 VMA promo.

So what Spears songs would Sabi like to see in the tribute? Her picks: "I'm Slave 4 U," "Toxic" and Brit's breakout hit, " ... Baby One More Time." "She has so many catchy, great records," she added.

As for Spears herself, she told MTV News that her favorite VMA memory was that infamous lip-lock with Madonna back in 2003. "My greatest experience — probably being with Madonna," she told MTV News. "The kiss was amazing. ... Being onstage with someone of that caliber is just iconic." Spears is up for two Moonmen at the 2011 VMAs, including Best Pop Video and Best Choreography.

Sabi will get her first taste of the VMAs when she performs the dance hit "You Make Me Feel ... " with Cobra Starship during the VMA Pre-Show.

"I always say this: Like, someone needs to pinch me," Sabi said of performing as part of the show. "Just know that the guys and the one girl, we've all performed a bunch of times with each other and just know that this is going to be different than anything I've ever done."

The 28th annual MTV Video Music Awards will air live Sunday, August 28, from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles at 9 p.m. ET/PT, following the Selena Gomez-hosted pre-show at 8. See the list of nominees, revisit last year's highlights and vote for Best New Artist by visiting VMA.MTV.com.

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Lady Gaga Looks To Top 2009 'Opera'-Like VMA Set

Creative director Laurieann Gibson talks Gaga's upcoming performance and male alter ego Jo Calderone.
By Kelley L. Carter, with reporting by Jim Cantiello


Lady Gaga performs at the 2009 Video Music Awards
Photo: Christopher Polk/ Getty Images

Jo Calderone is an acquired taste. The male alter ego of Lady Gaga -- he first surfaced in Vogue Hommes Japan last year -- was last seen in the Laurieann Gibson-directed "Yoü and I" video, and the two didn't immediately hit it off.

"When I first met Jo, I didn't particularly like him. He calls me Ms. Laurie. And when he came to work on my 'Yoü and I' video, he was like, 'Ms. Laurie, how long am I going to have to shoot?' And I was like, 'Jo, you're going to have to wait just like everyone else.' "

Now, the two get along swimmingly. So does that mean he'll make an appearance at Sunday's Video Music Awards?

"Will Jo be at the VMAs? Hmmm, I'm trying to book him. I'm talking to his manager now, so I'll keep you posted," she told MTV News correspondent Jim Cantiello.

She added: "He's not a diva; he's just a real dude. He's a little scary, but he's real."

Scary indeed. In the Vogue Hommes Japan issue, Calderone talked about his relationship with Mother Monster, saying, "[My occupation is] mechanic for my dad's business. This is the first time I've had my picture taken. Well, I always helped my dad at work, since I was a kid. I thought it would be fun to have my picture taken."

Gibson also talked up 2009's much-talked-about "Paparazzi" performance and joked about the excessive use of blood. "I thought it was an opera," she said. "I started out to create an opera. It was 'Paparazzi,' and it was the beginning of everyone seeing how crazy we are -- but crazy creative, and MTV [is] the most amazing platform to deliver that."

The 28th annual MTV Video Music Awards will air live Sunday from Los Angeles at 9 p.m. ET/PT, following the Selena Gomez-hosted pre-show at 8. See the list of nominees, revisit last year's highlights and vote for Best New Artist by visiting VMA.MTV.com.

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Adam Lambert's 'Whole Lotta Love': The Story Behind The Cover

Glam rocker tackled the legendary 1970 Led Zeppelin song for 'American Idol' rock night.
By Gil Kaufman


Adam Lambert performs "Whole Lotta Love" on "American Idol" on Tuesday
Photo: R. Mickshaw/Getty Images/ Fox

Imagine a freight train speeding toward you at midnight. Or a rockslide barreling down a hill as you try to outrace it. That's the feeling of the ominous, chugging Jimmy Page riff that kicks off Led Zeppelin's 1970 Stonehenge of rock, "Whole Lotta Love." And that's before singer Robert Plant leans into one of the nastiest, ecstatic rock screams this side of the Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again."

That's the song Adam Lambert chose to sing on "American Idol" rock night Tuesday (May 5), and, needless to say, it was a challenge that the eyeliner-loving Los Angeles stage veteran was more than up for, hitting a series of high notes and rock screams that would have made Plant proud. It was a risky maneuver that paid off for Lambert, who chose a tune that came in at #75 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2004.

The legendary British rock act recorded the tribute to Chicago blues icon Willie Dixon during their second U.S. tour after working it out in their live show, including it on their 1969 classic album Led Zeppelin II. Like many of the songs Zeppelin performed early in their career, "Love" was a blues standard turned on its head with a heavy dose of crunching psychedelic guitar and thundering drums, courtesy of late drummer John Bonham. The song was based on a 1962 tune by another blues forefather, Muddy Waters, called "You Need Love," which was penned by Dixon.

For Zeppelin's version, Plant customized the lyrics by adding some lyrical quotes from a few other songs Dixon wrote for Howlin' Wolf, "Back Door Man" and "Shake For Me," nailing the tricky vocal in a single take. It was also inspired by 1966's "You Need Loving" from the British rock group the Small Faces, for whom Zeppelin had great affection, but they also did not credit Dixon for his part in writing the original lyrics. The song became Zeppelin's first U.S. single and their only U.S. top 10 hit. Though their manager would not let them release singles in the U.K. because he thought it cannibalized album sales, the song was finally released as the band's only British single in 1997.

Dixon sued Zeppelin over the song in 1985, claiming it borrowed too heavily from his "You Need Love," and Zeppelin reached an agreement with him, with Dixon using the money he received to set up a program that provided musical instruments for schools. A cornerstone of heavy rock, the tune -- which was the theme song for the long-running British countdown show "Top of the Pops" in the 1970s and '80s -- has been covered by dozens of artists over the years, from Tina Turner and Ben Harper to Prince, Slash, Leona Lewis, Train's Pat Monahan, the London Symphony Orchestra and Jane's Addiction.

Get your "Idol" fix on MTV News' "American Idol" page, where you'll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions.

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'Dark Knight Rises' Director Is 'Genius,' Tom Hardy Says

'I just trust him and how he slowly feeds what he's about to do to the world,' Bane actor says of Christopher Nolan's 'enigmatic' methods.
By Kara Warner


Tom Hardy as Bane in "The Dark Knight Rises"
Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures

The only problem with Christopher Nolan's hugely anticipated "The Dark Knight Rises" is that no one involved in the project can talk about it, and with such secrecy comes obsessive fanboy quests for spoilers and on-set footage and photos.

When MTV News caught up with "Rises" star Tom Hardy as he promoted another of his anticipated films, "Warrior," we asked what he thinks about the incessant quests for details about his character Bane and the rest of the film.

"I think it just shows that people are really into it. It's great," Hardy said. "If you love something, why not follow it?"

He added that he doesn't much care for those who seek out spoilers, however, and also hasn't paid much attention to the photos that have been released, official or not.

"There are photos out there; it's nice to see them," he said, before changing the direction of the conversation toward more general territory. "Chris Nolan is amazing. How he releases his films, he's a very enigmatic human being. It's genius, what he does, and I just trust him and how he slowly feeds what he's about to do to the world."

Speaking of one of the things Nolan and company have fed to the world, we asked for his reaction to Anne Hathaway's catsuit.

"I've seen it, obviously. I've seen it up front," he said, not willing to expand on the subject. "I think everything Chris Nolan and every person at Warner Bros. [does] is amazing," he continued with a cheeky smile. "As I do Lionsgate as well [the studio releasing 'Warrior']. Funny, isn't it?" he said when his "Warrior" co-star Joel Edgerton burst out laughing at Hardy's politically correct outpourings of love for everyone. "Mercenary of me," he joked, proud to be toeing the company line. "Ka-ching!"

Check out everything we've got on "The Dark Knight Rises."

For breaking news and previews of the latest comic book movies — updated around the clock — visit SplashPage.MTV.com.

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Ke$ha, Adam Lambert, Ne-Yo Have A Few Royal Wedding Gift Ideas

From 'guyliner' to American delicacies like Uncrustables, Kathy Griffin, Mike Posner and more tell us what they'd get Will and Kate.
By Terri Schwartz


Kate Middleton and Prince William
Photo: Ben Stansall/ Getty Images

What kind of wedding gift do you give the royal couple who has everything?

The wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton is on Friday (April 29), so MTV News reached out to some of our favorite Hollywood celebrities — from Ke$ha to Adam Lambert. Fortunately, they had some solid ideas!

"I haven't met them, so it would be kind of awkward," the "Tik Tok" singer admitted to MTV News. "I might paint them something. Maybe I'll paint them a guitar."

Like Ke$ha, other celebs had suggestions that were from the heart, even if they weren't the most practical.

"I will go out on a limb and say these two individuals maybe haven't had Uncrustables before in their life. I would get them a strawberry Uncrustable," Mike Posner said about the pastry.

David Cook followed up on the all-American food idea. "I feel like they have everything except maybe they probably don't have an Applebee's gift card. I'll go [with an] Applebee's gift card," the "American Idol" alum said.

Other stars said they'd gift the British prince and soon-to-be-princess with an item they were personally best known for.

"I'd probably buy William some eyeliner," Lambert said. "He could do that, he could rock that look. I think."

Ne-Yo was more empathetic, saying he would give gifts that could help shield them from photographers and blend in with everyday people. "Three years' supply of sunglasses. Yeah, put them on. A bunch of baseball caps, throw those on, and try to move around like regular people," the singer said. "I can't imagine what it would be like having to live under that big of a magnifying glass your whole life ... and fake mustaches, that's what I'd give them."

Brooke Burke went the more traditional route, saying she would get Will and Kate a journal to record the big event. "I would ask them to really take the time to write down thoughts and phrases and wishes," Burke said. "And not really to lose sight of how they feel about each other now and to really hold on to that feeling."

Kathy Griffin had good intentions but the comedian couldn't resist a puke joke.

"If I had to get the royal couple a gift, I would get them the Royal Couple Vomit Bag, which someone sent me a photo of," Griffin told us. "So you can actually buy vomit bags with their image on it, and I think that that is an honor and I hope that they see it as such."

What would you give to William and Kate? Share your ideas in the comments section!

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