Source: http://www.imnotobsessed.com/2011/04/16/brooke-mueller-charlie-sheen-drug-test-custody-court/
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The 'O.M.G.' singer looks forward to sharing the stage with his protégé on Sunday night.
By James Montgomery
Usher
Photo: Amanda Edwards/ Getty Images
HOLLYWOOD — At Sunday's 53rd Grammy Awards, Usher will be pulling double duty as both a nominee and a performer. Of course, given the massive year he just completed — with the success of his smash single "O.M.G." and as a mentor to rising phenom Justin Bieber — Ush's Grammy plans seem rather fitting.
Especially since he'll be performing with Bieber (and Bieber's pal Jaden Smith), a move that's just as much about celebrating Usher's successes as it is the successes of his young protégé.
"Having been through [the Grammys] so many times, you couldn't want for anything more than for your young protégé to have the opportunity to have one, so, in support of him having his moment, I wanted to be here," Usher told MTV News on Thursday, hours before his performance at the (Belvedere) RED launch party in Hollywood. "And also to be there to perform, to kind of tell the story of how we came together. This music business has definitely been good to both of us, and this year we have a lot to be happy for."
And just how will the dynamic duo tell that story? Well, Usher wasn't about to reveal all the details, but he did say that he's hoping their performance will show another side of Bieber ... a side most tend to overlook.
"The performance will be fun," Usher explained. "We want to get up there and just do what we do. Be comfortable, and have a great time. ... This is kind of a crossover for Justin. Having performed on so many different stages, this is the way that I wanted him to be seen and an opportunity to show the industry — a lot of the industry, that didn't believe [in him] — some of his other talents. He's going to play acoustically, and also, we'll get down a little bit."
And though Ush is up for a pair of Grammy awards on Sunday — Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best Contemporary R&B Album for Raymond v. Raymond — he's most looking forward to sharing the stage with Bieber and giving fans a look at where the young artist will be heading next.
"I'm very proud, man. I definitely saw it from the beginning, but thanks to the team that we have around us, it was made to happen. And that story has only just begun," Usher said. "The story of Justin Bieber doesn't stop with screaming girls; we need screaming fans all around the world ... a cultural experience that's much more than just fanfare. And that's what this is. That's what the Grammys will be; that's what my next phase for Justin is. This is the way I found him: I found him with a guitar in his hand, so I want him to be seen that way."
Don't miss "Snooki & Sway: Live From the Grammys," a red-carpet live stream kicking off Sunday at 6 p.m. ET on MTV.com. And stick with us all Grammy night for coverage of the red carpet, the show, the afterparties and beyond!
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'It shows the intense live side of the band, as opposed to the perfection and the cleanness of how we sound on our albums,' guitarist says.
By Chris Harris
Dimmu Borgir's Silenoz
Photo: Nuclear Blast
On October 14, Dimmu Borgir — who just happen to be Demi Lovato's favorite black-metal band — will release a a three-disc DVD/CD set called "The Invaluable Darkness," the band's first visual offering since 2002's "World Misanthropy." Boasting live footage shot last year, during gigs in Norway, Germany and England, "The Invaluable Darkness" demonstrates the unbridled furor of seeing Dimmu live, guitarist Silenoz said.
"It shows the honest rawness and atmospheric darkness of our concerts," the Norwegian told Metal File last week, after dismissing recent online rumors that his band's next LP would be coming out through Roadrunner Records. "Basically, it shows the intense live side of the band, as opposed to the perfection and the cleanness of how we sound on our albums. It's just a different side to the band, basically."
Dimmu Borgir began thinking about "The Invaluable Darkness" two years ago, but didn't start capturing footage until last summer, Silenoz explained, adding that the band will use its current stint on the Blackest of the Black Tour — which got underway Thursday night in Miami Beach, Florida, and also features the tour's founder, Danzig, along with Moonspell, Winds of Plague and Skeletonwitch — to promote the DVD. Dimmu Borgir will not, however, use the tour to write material for their next LP.
"It's our first time on Blackest, but Glenn [Danzig] had wanted to bring us out before [on the tour], but we weren't available until now," Silenoz said. "We've done Ozzfest before, but we're looking forward to this tour more. We did the main stage on Ozzfest, playing in f--_ing broad daylight. This tour will let us play in bigger places, but at the same time showcase more of what the band's about, visually. We are going to concentrate on the tour for now. Some years ago, we tried putting [material] together on the road, but once we got home, we listened back to it, and were like, 'What the f--- is this?' So, we just scrapped it all. We find it's so much better to totally focus on one thing at a time, and then, when that's over, you move on to the next [thing]. We don't really feel like we need to rush things, anyway, so we'll just take our time, and it's going to be what it's going to be."
Dimmu Borgir hope to reconvene in late December to begin writing the follow-up to 2007's diabolically titled In Sorte Diaboli. "We have some ideas floating around already, but we haven't arranged any material yet," he said. "We'll start doing that once the touring for this DVD is over." The band's frontman, Shagrath, is also due to marry soon — he's engaged to actor Nicolas Cage's ex-girlfriend, Christina Fulton, so that may have an effect on when Dimmu finish their next album, which Silenoz said could be out this coming spring.
"I'm sure [Shagrath] won't let anything get in the way [of] the band — I think, I hope," the guitarist said. "We don't need a Yoko [Ono] situation."
While Dimmu have been at it going on 15 years now, Silenoz said he doesn't think their forthcoming material will be much of a departure from their previous black-metal offerings.
"And we have always been about more than just that term, 'black metal,' " he said. "Luckily for us, the older you get, the less concerned you get with the categorization and putting labels on your music. Things start getting more and more limitless with us, and we know that we operate within certain frames. But we try not to analyze things too much, because it's just going to be working against you in the end. When we write new stuff, we don't think about what we should write — we just get together, and put material together, and if we like it, we keep it. That's the formula, if we even have a formula."
Dimmu Borgir are definitely getting older — guitarist Galder will be missing Blackest because of a recent addition to his family, and Susperia's Cyrus will be filling in for him; while former Vader drummer Dariusz Brzozowski takes over for Hellhammer, who had to leave the band in 2007 after sustaining a neck injury that's now limited the use of his right arm. As Dimmu has gotten on in years, Silenoz admits they have failed to keep pace with some of the more extreme black-metal acts that have followed in their wake.
"We helped open doors for the more extreme bands out there," Silenoz said. "I'm sure we helped open doors for bands like Watain, [insomuch as] people that had maybe started listening to us first then went on to the more extreme stuff. Let's face it — we're not as extreme as Watain and other bands like that, but we're fine with that."
The Blackest of the Black Tour continues through November 10 in San Francisco.
The rest of the week's metal news:
Dimmu's tourmates on Blackest, Winds of Plague, have announced ex-Azusa drummer Art Cruz has joined their ranks — he replaced Jeff Tenney. According to the band's blog, "Art has already added a new spark to the band and has provided us with a solid backbone that will allow us to continue our rampage stronger than ever." ...
What the world really needs is another Led Zeppelin box set, so, on November 4, Rhino Records will issue the Led Zeppelin Definitive Collection Mini LP Replica CD box set. For just $200, you'll get 1969's Led Zeppelin, 1969's Led Zeppelin II, 1970's Led Zeppelin III, 1971's Led Zeppelin IV, 1973's Houses of the Holy, 1975's Physical Graffiti, 1976's Presence, 1976's The Song Remains the Same, 1979's In Through the Out Door and 1982's Coda, as mini-LP replicas, with artwork from the original U.K. LP sleeves. Now, you know what you can get your dad for Christmas. ...
Former Killswitch Engage frontman Jesse Leach and current Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz have teamed up for a new project they're calling Times of Grace, and they've already started working on material for their debut album. According to Leach, "We have two songs to go and we will be finished with all of the vocals. Adam has taken lead vocals in three songs as of yet and he is doing a great job. We also worked on a track yesterday that is so epic — we trade vocals and do two different melodies at the same time. This album went from a melodic metal album to an epic mix of metal/rock/pop/shoegaze and punk. So all of your metal expectations will be incorrect — we are pushing genre boundaries." To quote "Meet the Parents," we'll look forward to that, Greg. ...
The Funeral Pyre and Early Graves will be hitting the road together next month, starting November 7 in South Lake Tahoe, California. Dates are booked through November 21 in Hollywood. ...
The latest incarnation of Brujeria, which features Carcass frontman Jeff Walker and Napalm Death's Shane Embury, have lined up several U.S. dates for this winter. The band will begin its brief trek November 28 in Denver, and wrap things up in Dallas on December 7. ... Demiricous will be touring with the Gates of Slumber starting November 9 in Denver, for a jaunt that's scheduled to run through December 6 in Indianapolis. ...
Nearly three years after Roadrunner Records' Roadrunner United concert, which took over the Nokia Theater in New York's Times Square, the label is now releasing footage from that special night as "Roadrunner United: The Concert." The DVD, which hits stores December 9, will boast two discs and 24 live tracks, including Life of Agony's "River Runs Red," King Diamond's "Abigail," Killswitch's "My Last Serenade," Type O Negative's "Black No. 1" and Sepultura's "Refuse/Resist." ...
According to Blabbermouth, Verrot, bassist for Swedish black-metal outfit Elimi, committed suicide on October 3. In a statement, the band said, "Verrot was a very good friend, brother, an excellent bass player/musician and an important part of Elimi; we respect his decision and hope he'll find his way with the dark gods of Chaos. Let your black flame be a part of what brings forth the day of wrath."
Related ArtistsSource: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1596756/dimmu-borgir-release-live-dvd-set-metal-file.jhtml
PenÈlope Cruz Erika Christensen Audrina Patridge Rozonda Thomas
'We were shocked to see this,' read the Jacksons' message; Durbin tweeted an apology on Thursday.
By Gil Kaufman
James Durbin performs on "American Idol" on Wednesday
Photo: Michael Becker/ Fox
Some people might argue that it's patently unfair to take rank amateurs, put them on the biggest show on TV and then expose them to potential worldwide ridicule every week. Because it's one thing to tune in to "American Idol" from your living room or play shows at the local wings joint, it's another thing entirely when you get up on that stage and open your mouth with tens of millions watching and listening.
James Durbin learned this lesson the hard way this week when he made what he thought was an innocent crack about not setting himself on fire during his pyro-tastic cover of Elton John's "Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)" on Wednesday night.
Asked by host Ryan Seacrest if he was worried about dancing around among the flames shooting up from the piano onstage, Durbin joked, "I have a lot of hairspray in my hair to keep it from jumping around — so much so, the one thing I was worried about was having a 'Pepsi moment.' "
The seemingly innocent crack was a reference to the 1984 on-set accident in which late pop icon Michael Jackson was badly burned during the shooting of a Pepsi commercial by some wayward pyro effects. The serious burns he suffered in the incident allegedly led to his longtime addiction to pain medication and prescription drugs.
The Jackson family was not amused by the quip and sent a statement to TMZ on Thursday.
"We were shocked to see this. It's nothing to make light of and everybody should be focusing on who was responsible for Michael's death," read the statement. Family patriarch Joseph Jackson also was reportedly miffed that "Idol" producers did not cut the comment from the West Coast feed of the show.
Durbin defended his slip-up in a tweet, which has since been scrubbed from the singer's official "Idol" Twitter feed, that explained, "For anyone talkin ... I said pepsi NOT MJ! I have no disrespect for Michael. I grew up singing his art. I guess youll take it how you want it." He later added, "Talkin about MJs passing is too soon. Making a reference to an incident 25 years ago..not too soon. The stab was at pepsi people."
It's worth noting that Pepsi's bitter rival, Coca-Cola, is the main "Idol" sponsor, a fact that Seacrest reminded Durbin of in an awkward moment after the comment on the show.
What did you think of James Durbin's "Pepsi" quip? Tell us in the comments.
Related ArtistsSource: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1661097/jackson-family-james-durbin-american-idol.jhtml
Young Money MC tells MTV News the pair are working on a clip for single 'Wherever You Are.'
By Jocelyn Vena, with reporting by Vanessa WhiteWolf
Lil Twist
Photo: MTV News
Late last year, Justin Bieber and his "homey" Lil Twist revealed they were working on a mixtape. Well, fans may soon get to hear a song and see a video from that mixtape.
When MTV News spoke to rapper Twist at 106 & Park's Closer to My Dreams tour stop in Los Angeles on Thursday, he told us that once his new single with Bieber reaches the masses, it would have a good chance at making a play in our race for Summer Jam of 2011.
"My third single, 'Wherever You Are,' " Twist said of his summer jam pick. "It features my little brother Justin Bieber and I believe that that record is going to really do it."
Twist went on to dish about the duo's plans to step up their game for the song's forthcoming video."We're gonna get some treatments [written]," he said. "We're not just gonna pick any treatment because that video could just be out of here. We got a few different ones; I don't mean to name any [directors], but a few different ones. It's going to turn out great."
The collaboration between the two young stars has been long-simmering, with Bieber and Twist teasing a full mixtape. For now, though, fans will have to settle for one track. Last November, Twist explained that Bieber had come up with the idea to work on some music together.
"Me and Justin, we actually met through a mutual friend and after that we got real cool actually," he recalled. "[We] started working in the studio, sending stuff through the MacBook and everything. And then he was like, 'Yo, bro, we should do a mixtape. Let's go.' We just started then."
Are you looking forward to the Bieber/Twist collabo? Tell us in the comments!
Related ArtistsSource: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1666978/justin-bieber-lil-twist-wherever-you-are.jhtml
