day 4.77

she returns!

the promos for lindsay lohan's fourth outing as host of saturday night live hit the interwebs today and did two things to me -- made me incredibly excited (i mean, all her hosted-shows have been top notch ... i mean, she was in the first "debbie downer" sketch) and google "cheek implants." seriously, what is going on with her face? and why has no one sat her down and explained bangs and blonde do not a redhead make? i guess it's one step at a time - sobriety, then redhead. what didn't make me so excited was this promo (below) for lilo's interview with matt lauer set to air tomorrow on today. did she really just say whitney houston's death didn't resonate ... at all? someone dropping dead at 48 after a public battle with drugs and alcohol didn't resonate at all? really? lohan appears very uncomfortable in interviews -- a far cry from her pre-public meltdown days. maybe the full length talk will be better? let's hope. let's also hope her cheeks settle by saturday.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

day 3.304

i think it's safe to say our love affair with selena gomez is still on...

right? right.

day 3.255

the vmas, 2011

here are the highlights, the winners and the what just happened moments.

gaga opened the show. as a man. and then continued to act as this man (jo calderone) for the remainder of the show. she's special. really special.

these two can do no wrong. ok, kanye can. but never, never jay.

if "shutting it down" were in the dictionary, this performance would be next to it.

this was great, but i have two questions: 1) why were children performing it? 2) why wasn't this a medley of britney songs performed by today's younger pop stars?

best vma performance ever? i mean she's currently carrying jay-z's baby. or is it destiny's child? (see what i did there?)

rip amy.

because it makes so much sense to perform a song that requires 95% bleeping.

as far as the winners:

• video of the year- katy perry, "firework"
• best female video- lady gaga, "born this way"
• best new artist- tyler, the creator
• video vanguard- britney spears
• best male video- justin bieber, "u smile"
• best collaboration- katy perry ft. kanye west, "e.t."
• best hip hop video- nicki minaj, "super bass"
• best rock video- foo fighters, "walk"
• best pop video- britney spears, "till the world ends"
• best video with a message- lady gaga, "born this way"

day 3.254

what i love (this week)

the song

i just really like this.

the show

it's on tonight!

the movie

watched this on netflix. post-bottle of wine. by myself.

the look

check back tomorrow for my full vma recap. also, beyonce is pregnant!

day 3.217

2011 video music awards: the nominations

my take on who will win big, who got snubbed and surprise nominations for this years video music awards.

best pop video

• adele, "rolling in the deep"
• britney spears, "till the world ends"
• bruno mars, "grenade"
• katy perry, "last friday night (t.g.i.f)"
• pitbull ft. ne-yo, nayer and afrojack, "give me everything"

i mean, it's the best video ever. like of all time. adele's all about the voice, so i can't see her winning for a video where she sits all by herself. britney's done better, and bruno/pitbull don't stand a chance. but- big oversight not putting rihanna or j.lo on this list.

best new artist

• big sean ft. chris brown, "my last"
• foster the people, "pumped up kicks"
• kreayshawn, "gucci gucci"
• tyler, the creator, "yonkers"
• wiz khalifa, "black and yellow"

this one will come down to who votes- the hipsters or the too-hip-to-be-a-hipster crowd. if the hipsters show up, expect foster the people to take the moonman home. if everyone else shows up? wiz khalifa. but where are ellie goulding and jesse j?

best female video

• adele, "rolling in the deep"
• beyonce, "run the world (girls)"
• katy perry, "firework"
• lady gaga, "born this way"
• nicki minaj, "super bass"

adele? again- she's sitting in a room. alone. beyonce? that song flopped. if her billboard music awards performance were nominated it would be a different story. and "born this way" is the weirdest effing video to come out in a decade. it comes down to katy vs. nicki here, and nicki's candy-colored rap fantasy's more likely to take the trophy than perry's inspirational firework-sparking boobs.

best male video

• bruno mars, "grenade"
• cee-lo green, "f*ck you"
• eminem ft. rihanna, "love the way you lie"
• justin bieber, "u smile"
• kanye west ft. kid cudi and rihanna, "all of the lights"

this is a "duh" to me- cee-lo all the way.

best collaboration

• chris brown ft. busta rhymes and lil' wayne, "look at me now"
• kanye west ft. kid cudi and rihanna, "all of the lights"
• katy perry ft. kanye west, "et"
• nicki minaj ft. drake, "moment for life"
• pitbull ft ne-yo, nayer and afrojack, "give me everything"

i would say eminem and rihanna were a lock for this category for "love the way you lie," but they weren't nominated! based on video, katy perry and kanye will win this title, but all the nominees are viable options.

video of the year

• adele, "rolling in the deep"
• beastie boys, "make some noise"
• bruno mars, "grenade"
• katy perry, "firework"
• tyler, the creator, "yonkers"

this category is much more about the song than the video, making it adele's to lose. adele's four fellow nominees seem completely random. the beastie boys? really? and "last friday night" is way better than "firework."

for a complete list of nominees and to cast your own vote, click here. the vma's air sunday, august 28 on mtv, 9/8c.

day 3.57

the death of reality tv as we know it?

the (reality) tv gods just keep playing with me. taunting me, to be more precise. you might remember that mtv announced late last year that lauren conrad - the girl who kept the network afloat after they abandoned the whole "music television concept" - would be returning to the net's airwaves with a brand new show about her life in the fashion industry. well guess what? that show will never see the light of day. conrad and co. filmed a pilot ep, but the footage reportedly didn't fit with the mtv "brand." it's too "high brow," which translates to "she didn't get drunk or punch anyone, so we don't think people will watch it." trust me, i completely get the appeal of jersey shore. and, sure, i indulge in the occasional snooki-centric marathon. but a person can only take watching so many drunken nights at the club fist pumping before they need something that doesn't actually kill braincells. while i highly doubt l.c.'s return to the small screen would have been emmy-worthy, i at least think the fans deserved to see it. the hills became such a caricature of the stars' everyday lives, and this would have been the chance to see what we were missing all that time. i know it seems like forever ago, but it was just a little over a year ago that conrad brought in close to 4 million viewers for the net. there's a slight chance that the pilot lauren filmed may be turned into a special for mtv, but don't get your hopes up. it might be hard to fit some real documentary-style reality tv in-between non-stop repeats of jersey shore, teen mom 2 and skins. i mean, they brought back my life as liz but passed on lauren conrad? enough said.

another show we won't be seeing anytime soon? the new season of the real housewives of new york. the bravo series won't premiere until late spring, even though the net said we could watch what happens starting in just a couple of weeks. the nyc ladies have been pushed aside to make room for some latin flavor. bravo plans to premiere the real housewives of miami in the new york cast's place. while i'm excited to follow the florida drama (check out the trailer above), i'm impatient. i need jill zarin's nasal whining, ramona's bug-eyes, countess luann's freak voice and kelly killoren bensimon's nonsense ramblings back in my life, asap.

in other real housewives news, it looks like we might get some new faces on the yet-to-be-annouced, but sure-to-happen, second season of the real housewives of beverly hills. the runaway hit of the franchise might lose not one, but two original cast members (both camille and kim are rumored to be considering exits, but i'm doubtful), so producers are reportedly scrambling to find replacements. brandi glanville - eddie cibrian's ex/the woman whose house leann rimes wrecked - is reportedly in talks to join the cast, which would bring back former lisa vanderpump flunky cedric. apparently since cedric left vanderpump manor he's been spending a lot of time at brandi's house - they're pictured together above. maybe he can be credited as "brandi's permanent houseguest" next season? also on the list of possible additions are sylvester stallone's wife jennifer flavin (could we see another hollywood marriage blow up in our faces?) and jeannie buss, an exec for the los angeles lakers (current housewife adrienne maloof owns the sacramento kings - rivalry, anyone?).

day 3.23

i cannot wait for this

snooki in a ball to be dropped at midnight. happy new year!

day 2.337

euro-trashed

yesterday, the european music awards were broadcast across the globe. except in the us. but thanks to the magic of youtube (and this blog), you can still see all the show-stopping performances from the foreign vmas. miley cyrus, rihanna and katy perry all brought down the house with their latest singles. check out the performances below. it really makes no sense to me why mtv doesn't broadcast the ema's stateside - they have, like, 4 different mtv networks - but oh well.

day 2.326

the city, 2008-2010

it's time to add another headstone to the tv graveyard. whitney port confirmed to ryan seacrest this morning that mtv pulled the plug on the hills spin-off, with no plans to continue the series in any way, shape or form. i can't say that i'm surprised - i had my suspicions at the end of the summer when port tweeted that she was now a homeowner in l.a. you can't exactly be in a show about life in new york if you live in l.a...well, unless it's a sitcom. the series never had the draw of its predecessor and, with lauren conrad's exit from the hills, time-slot companion the city took a big dip in the ratings. i didn't watch the city nearly as religiously as i did the hills in its heyday (i watched only the first and last episodes of the final season sans lc), but what i did see in the city's final season seemed promising - they were actually showing port's somewhat real life. they weren't hiding the fact that she was a designer, just the fact that she was famous. but let's be honest, the real star of the city was kelly cutrone and when she got her own show, kell on earth, on bravo, there was even less of a reason to watch the show. i do expect port to pop up on lauren conrad's new mtv series, which started filming this month.

i can't get this out of my head...

"hey, everybody! did you hear the news?"

day 2.298

the sesame shore

day 2.296

the hills, take 2?

lauren conrad is poised to make her tv comeback. the former laguna beach and the hills star returns to her the network that made her, mtv, for a new reality show. the new series will follow lc in her real, real life. as in the life that slowly moved off-screen on the hills. it will be a fashion-focused show, following the creation of lc's new line (both for kohl's and boutiques). lc says her love life will remain off camera (she's dates actor kyle howard), but she also won't be in fake relationships. the show should premiere later this year.

day 2.285

the vmas!

mtv's big night - and the only night they really turn their focus to music - the video music awards went down with just a few hitches last night. the show was preceded by a "very special episode" of jersey shore and a pre-show that was really just a long-form commercial for thursdays' episode of jersey shore. after every interview or performance they cut to a clip of snooki taking off her earrings and threatening to hurt angelina. anyway, nicki minaj was the first act to perform when she took the stage during the pre-show.
the sound was almost off (it's been fixed in the version mtv posted). will.i.am was in some bizarre blackface make-up. overall, it could have been so much better. nicki marked the beginning of the night's trend: lip-syncing. the majority of the artists who performed either lip-synced...or should have lip-synced.

eminem opened the show with a mash-up of "not afraid" and "love the way you lie," with a surprise appearance by rihanna, who was supposedly stuck filming her film debut, battleship. it was a good performance but it could have been bigger. i feel like mtv was playing it safe with the performances this year. it felt more like we were watching a concert performance instead of an award show.

chelsea handler's opening sketch and monologue set the right tone for the night and helped introduce the comedian to those who didn't know who she was.

chelsea then made her stage debut dressed as a bootleg lady gaga. it was the easy thing to do, but i also think it was the right thing to do. the dove flying out of her koslopus? not the right thing. but you win some, you lose some.

now to all the night's other performances...

i'll start with my favorite of the night, florence + the machine doing "dog days are over." it was a song that most people probably don't know, or only recognize from commercials, but it was the only song that was done specifically for the award show and couldn't have been done in concert.

justin bieber took the stage with a "u smile/baby/somebody to love" mash-up. i'd say he was the audience favorite.

the bieb's mentor usher took the stage later and, well, you can watch it here. mtv won't let me embed it, which is fine because it could have been so much more.

the best performance idea, and worst executed, of the night was the b.o.b./bruno mars/hailey williams/paramore mash-up. it could have been so much better had the stage been used. they were just standing around singing. that's fine for a concert, but this needs to be theatrical for tv.

and then there was taylor swift. oh, taylor swift. for as talented an artist she it, the girl is not a strong live performer. she's always a little all over the place and never sounds like her records. taylor performed "innocent," a song she wrote about the kanye west incident from last year. had they not played the clip from last year's show, no one would have known what the song was about. it sounds like all her other ballads (see: "fifteen"). taylor really needs to take some time away and reevaluate what kind of music she wants to make. she's no longer a teenager and, therefore, probably shouldn't be singing about being one. step back and make like carrie underwood - an edgier country-rock-pop sound could really work for swifty.

the only other highlight of the night was kanye's closing performance. he sang "runaway," which also seemed to be a nod to last year's incident. it's a little crass and i'm not the biggest fan of the song, but the performance is worth watching.

if you want to see drake's or another performance from the night, click here.

ok, now for the winners. the two names you need to know: lady gaga and eminem.

• video of the year - lady gaga, "bad romance"
• best new artist - justin bieber, "baby"
• best hip-hop video - eminem, "not afraid"
• best pop video - lady gaga, "bad romance"
• best male video - eminem, "not afraid"
• best rock video - 30 seconds to mars, "kings and queens"
• best female video - lady gaga, "bad romance"
• best collaboration - lady gaga featuring beyonce, "telephone"
• best dance video - lady gaga, "bad romance"
• best art direction - florence + the machine, "dog days are over"
• best choreography - lady gaga, "bad romance"
• best cinematography - jay z featuring alicia keys, "empire state of mind"
• best direction - lady gaga, "bad romance"
• best editing - lady gaga, "bad romance"
• best special effects - muse, "uprising"
• breakthrough video - the black keys, "tighten up"

you can watch the whole show on-demand at mtv.com.

day 2.284

video music awards

tonight at 9/8c on mtv. hosted by chelse

a handler. i'll be live tweeting @bricesander. rumor has it rihanna will be making a surprise appearance, taylor swift will sing a son about kanye. and lindsay lohan will address all her recent troubles. check back tomorrow for a full recap.

day 2.248

taylor swift is "mine"

ms. swift's latest single, "mine," has leaked onto the internets. the song is in her wheelhouse of bubbly country pop love song, so it's nothing new or exciting. just more of the same. the one plus is taytay has moved on from high school, kind of. the song talks about the boy being in college so...check out the song below. i understand taylor wants to play it safe and not lose any fans, but she's going to have to grow and evolve to stay in the industry. her career will plateau within five years if she doesn't do something game changing. or at least adult. take some cues from carrie underwood - she started out with a song about jesus, then busted up some guys car and became country's resident pop star. check out the song below.

the vma's are coming!

mtv has released the nominations for this year's video music awards. not surprisingly, lady gaga got the most noms with 13, the most for any artist ever in the history of the show. here's a list of the major categories and who i think will be taking home the moon man at the end of the night. there's a lot of repetition and quite a few snubs, but i'll get to those at the end.

video of the year

• 30 second to mars, "kings and queens"
• b.o.b. featuring hailey williams, "airplanes"
• eminem, "not afraid"
• florence + the machine, "dog days are over"
• lady gaga, "bad romance"
• lady gaga featuring beyonce, "telephone"

best collaboration

• 3oh!3 featuring ke$ha, "my first kiss"
• b.o.b. featuring hailey williams, "airplanes"
• beyonce featuring lady gaga, "video phone"
• lady gaga featuring beyonce, "telephone"
• jay-z featuring alicia keys, "empire state of mind"

best female video

• beyonce featuring lady gaga, "video phone"
• katy perry featuring snoop dogg, "california gurls"
• ke$ha, "tik tok"
• lady gaga, "bad romance" - see video above
• taylor swift, "fifteen"

best male video

• b.o.b. featuring hailey williams, "airplanes"
• drake, "find your love"
• eminem, "not afraid"
• jason derulo, "in my head"
• usher featuring will.i.am., "omg"

best new artist

• broken bells, "the ghost inside"
• jason derulo, "in my head"
• justin bieber featuring ludacris, "baby"
• ke$ha, "tik tok"
• nicki minaj featuring sean garrett, "massive attack"

best pop video

• b.o.b. featuring bruno mars, "nothing on you"
• beyonce featuring lady gaga, "video phone"
• ke$ha, "tik tok"
• lady gaga, "bad romance"
• katy perry, "california gurls"

every year, mtv attempts to maintain their music credibility by throwing in videos/songs/artists that are relatively unknown. while we all know those people will never win (hello broken bells...who the hell are you anyway?) it is nice for them to get some exposure. on the flip side, people who have had big years (like miley cyrus - "party in the usa" is no where to be found - and justin bieber, who got one nod and one nod only) get bumped out of categories. you can't please everyone, but i don't know if putting lady gaga in every category is fair for a fan-voted show. fan-voted shows are never really fair, though. oh well. the show airs september 12 on mtv. a host is yet to be announced. click here to see the full list of nominees and learn more about the show.

day 2.231

the hills says goodbye

last night mtv aired the series finale of one of their biggest hits, the hills. in the final moments of the series' final episode, the creators of the show gave the audience quite the twist - they basically revealed that the whole show was a sham. after kristin left brody for europe and the show took a fond look back on each of the characters, the screen turned back to brody as a hollywood hills backdrop rolled away and the camera panned out to reveal that kristin's car had not really pulled away, but was parked off camera in a studio backlot. tricky, tricky. the only thing that bothers me about it is, hello, we invested 4 years in this show - we deserve to know whether it was real or fake, right? brody apparently gave an interview and said multiple endings were shot, including one with lauren conrad. in the scene, brody returned to his apartment after leaving kristin to reveal that he and lauren had really been together this whole time - another nod at the "is it real or not?" thing. my other problem is that spinoff series the city is supposed to take place in the same reality, right? so are we now supposed to wonder whether that's real or not, too? i mean, i figured it's kind of fake, but at least more real than the hills, since they show whitney making clothes and such. oh well...check out the end of the hills era above.

day 2.230

the end of an era

2006 - 2010

day 2.295

am i getting old?

that has to be it right? why else would i not enjoy the mtv movie awards? i'm usually glued to the tv watching the show, but this year i fast-forwarded through the majority of it. plus, my dvr cut off i don't know how much of the show. i just didn't find it all that enjoyable. maybe because the show used to have a lot more over lap with movies with that got real awards. the past few years it's been all about twilight and harry potter. i don't think movies adapted from mythological book series are all that new or exciting. we all know what happens because we've all read the books - or at least read the synopses on wikipedia. plus, the awards used to be hosted by household names. who the hell is aziz ansari? i know he's on parks and recreation but, let's be honest, no one is watching that show. if you're going to get someone from tv comedy to host the show, get someone from the office or the cast of modern family. and, if it has to be parks and rec, get effing amy poehler. ok, that's my rant. onto the awards.

basically, twilight won everything. here's the few twilight didn't win.

best breakout star: anna kendrick, up in the air (she finally got something for it!)

best scared-as-shit performance: amanda seyfried, jennifer's body

biggest badass star: rain, ninja assasin (who?)

best comedic performance: zach galifinakis, the hangover

best villian: tom felton, harry potter and the half-blood prince

best fight: beyonce and ali larter, obsessed (this movie was in this awards year?)

best wtf moment: ken jeong (that naked asian), the hangover

generation award: sandra bullock

bullock's acceptance speech and the night's two performances, katy perry's "california gurls" and christina aguilera basically singing her entire album, are the only parts worth watching.

(sorry for the quality, but the whole show can be seen at mtv.com)

day 2.254

the hard times of mtv mtv is taking another swat at scripted comedy. the channel formerly known for music will premiere the hard times of rj berger this summer. the show is about a high school nerd whose life is hell until the school learns of his special gift - he's got a big, well, you know. check out the trailer for the series above. it looks like it would probably make a better movie than weekly series, but i might be wrong (especially since i haven't seen more than the trailer). it will be interesting to see if this show is a hit or a miss. hbo's similarly themed thomas jane vehicle,hung, is just doing alright, but maybe the high school crowd will take a greater liking to the theme of well endowed losers. all of mtv's past scripted (and semi-scripted) attempts have flopped, so hopefully they hit success at some point.

day 2.74

they're (coming) baaaaack

it's official. mtv has signed snooki andco. to a second season of the surprise hit jersey shore. originally developed to be a real world-style concept for the 2000s, jersey shore was supposed to have a revolving cast every season. little did mtv know that it would be the characters and not the show itself that became popular. jersey shore gets higher ratings than mtv's former star series the hills, which took contracting the cast of js even harder - the cast decided to stick together and negotiate a big paycheck for season 2. the guidos and guidettes will be raking in $10,000 per episode for the second season, of which there are 12 total (up from 9 the previous year). any appearances they make outside of the 12 episodes - on tv or real life - will cost extra. the only cast member not returning for another installment is - no surprise - angelina, who left after the third episode of the first season. no word on when production on jersey shore season 2 will begin, but i can tell you one thing - it won't be in jersey. the cast will be plunked down in a different vacation spot (probably mexico or florida). will the guidos and guidettes be able to survive outside their element? will they be able to survive months off the airwaves? we'll have to wait and see.

don't forget to tune into the grammys tomorrow night on cbs.

day 2.58

jersey shore goes to the kids

while i don't really watch the show, i do know who is who. and i love children in adult situations (save noah cyrus).