Caitlin Kinney and Jason Glover in an out of this world performance- ‘an alien wanting the last living male on the planet for procreation,’ welcome to Brian Friedman’s world…

Pop-Jazz “Creator”—Santigold. Choreography by Brian Friedman

The Filipino inmates who shot to global fame with a Youtube video recreating the “Thriller” dance, swayed and stomped again on Saturday in a behind-bars tribute to their idol, Michael Jackson. (June 27)

Below is the original YouTube video uploaded in June of 2007. Since it hit YouTube, the video received over 28 million views! “1,500 plus CPDRC inmates of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center, Cebu, Philippines at practice! This is not the final routine, and definitely not a punishment! just a teaser,” says the accompanying video information.

Billboard talks with American Idol season 8 contestant Allison Iraheta, as she prepares for the summer 2009 Idols Live tour. (Please wait for the video to load…)

Plus Bonus Interview

Billboard talks with American Idol season 8 runner-up Adam Lambert, as he prepares for the summer 2009 Idols Live tour. (Please wait for the video to load…)

Bonus Interview with Adam

Melissa and Ade perform Classical Pas de deux Romeo & Juliet: Prokofiev’s Suite (No.1 Op 64b, 6th Movement)
—Orchestre De La Suisse Romande & Armin Jordan, Choreography by: Thordal Christensen

In our books, the unpretentious, unassuming laid back chicken catcher Kevin Skinner from Kentucky wins America’s Got Talent auditions. They should end the search right now. America has found its talent! Much as we dislike singers auditioning in America’s Got Talent because we think it should be in a different avenue or category and not to be put on the same basket as an Illusionist, magician or juggler- 35 year old, unemployed farmer Kevin Skinner blew us away. Our jaws dropped and almost fell on our seats hearing him sing Garth Brooks.

He is the real deal. The phrasing was perfect. Emotions flowing. We have never seen an honest performance in a long time. It is a rare gift not even seen in huge names in the music industry. Dare we say his audition cover of “If Tomorrow Never Comes” was better than that of Garth Brooks himself?! Enough said. Watch the audition and yes, it’s all right to get chills and be misty-eyed.

Only 14 years old, packed with such powerful voice- Thia Megia impresses audience and judges in her America’s Got Talent 4 audition. She is moving on to the next round in Vegas.

Michael Jackson in 2001


Photo: Evan Agostini/ Getty Images

LOS ANGELES — Organizers and representatives for the Jackson Family have confirmed memorial services for Michael Jackson will take place Tuesday (July 7) inside the Staples Center.

Fans will be able to attend after registering for tickets at StaplesCenter.com beginning Friday morning, and registration will run until Saturday evening at 6 p.m. On Sunday fans will receive information on how to pickup tickets on Monday.

Only 17,500 tickets will be given away, with 11,000 entrants able to go inside the arena and the remaining 6,500 ushered just across the street to the Nokia Theater where the proceedings will be simulcast. There are no guarantees for fans who register online and only 8,750 people will be selected randomly by a computer-generated program. Each selected fan will receive two tickets and two wristbands.

No further details regarding the service were announced. At a press conference held outside of the Staples Center, Jackson family representative Ken Sunshine said the plans are still being developed. Sunshine said he hopes the ticket process is handed with “dignity” and that tickets not be resold or counterfited.

L.A. city councilwoman Jan Perry said the city’s budget anticipates extrodinary curcumstances and will pay for police protection on site. Perry asked interested donors to contact her if they wish to support other anticiapted costs. She and a police spokesperson on hand urged fans to not attend the venue without a ticket.

Both parties said should fans not sec ure tickets, the best place to view the service is from home.

MTV, VH1 and VH1 Classic will be airing the Michael Jackson memorial service live beginning at 1 p.m. ET on Tuesday. For continuing updates about the service as they become available, please continue to check MTVNews.com

For complete coverage of the life, career and passing of the legendary entertainer, visit “Michael Jackson Remembered.”

Share your Michael Jackson memories by uploading video and comments to Your.MTV.com or joining the discussion below.

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Michael Jackson in 1984


Photo: Diana Walker/ Getty Images

LOS ANGELES — Official plans for Michael Jackson’s public memorial service will be revealed Friday morning at a press conference to be held by Tim Leiweke, the president and CEO of AEG, the parent company that owns the Staples Center, the venue where the memorial is due to take place.

Representatives for the Jackson family announced the media briefing late Thursday. At the briefing, which will take place at 10 a.m. PT, Leiweke is expected to announce details, including how the public will be given the opportunity to register for the 11,000 tickets available for the service. The tickets are free, but are limited in comparison to the venue’s capacity, reportedly over 20,000 seats.

Jermaine Jackson appeared on “Larry King Live” on CNN Thursday night and expressed concern over the Staples Center location.

“There’s 20,000 people just coming from the U.K.,” the elder brother told King when asked about the capacity. Jackson also confirmed that a private service for the family and select friends will be held on Tuesday prior to the public service. He also said the services will be the first of many that will take place across the country.

ABC News reports that sources close to the planning said that over 750,000 people from all over the world are expected to attend the memorial. According to the same report, over 2,500 police will be on hand to help with the huge crowds occupying the downtown area. A number of public and private travel partnerships have noted the upswing in arrivals into the Los Angeles airport and hotels, in addition to the already high number of holiday travelers into the city.

Previous reports suggested the services for the late King of Pop would take place anywhere from his Neverland Ranch to the Los Angeles Coliseum.

On Wednesday, however, police began to barricade Chick Hearn Court, the street located directly in front of the Staples Center. The move, along with reports by the Hollywood Reporter and CNN, confirmed that the services would in fact be held at the Staples Center. The venue is controlled by AEG, the company that also was promoting Jackson’s upcoming 50-show run in London.

To accommodate the huge number of fans expected to attend the services, large screens are will be placed outside the Staples Center. As of press time, workers are placing Michael Jackson signage around the arena. A representative for the company that created the material told MTV News that a number of items that will be on display were made in just a few hours for the services.

For complete coverage of the life, career and passing of the legendary entertainer, visit “Michael Jackson Remembered.”

Share your Michael Jackson memories by uploading video and comments to Your.MTV.com or joining the discussion below.

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Michael Jackson at last rehearsal at the Los Angeles Staples Center


Photo: AEG/CBS News

Earlier this week, the promoter of Michael Jackson’s 50-date “This is It” residency at the O2 Arena in London said there was ample footage of a Jackson rehearsal for the planned series of shows, and that he hopes to release them.

On Thursday (July 2), one week after Jackson, 50, died following cardiac arrest at a rented Los Angeles-area mansion on the eve of the July 13 start of the O2 run, MTV News obtained a clip of a rehearsal filmed just two days before Jackson’s sudden passing. And though it is just a 90-second glimpse of the singer performing the controversial track “They Don’t Care About Us,” the brief bit of film does appear to show Jackson in solid shape, stomping around the stage, apparently singing in full voice and energetically dancing with an all-male troupe of backup performers.

The footage, shot on June 23 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles — where a memorial service for Jackson reportedly will be held on July 7 — opens with Jackson performing some of his patented military-style, slow motion marching dance moves along with the male dancers, who are behind him on a slanted platform. It then cuts to the singer enthusiastically pulsating to a solo from his guitarist.

Jackson gives one of his signature “Oh!” exclamations as the track changes tempo to a rousing royal fanfare overlaid with a snipped of the “I Have a Dream” speech from the late civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King. The singer and dancers straighten up and salute, then do a high-step march across the stage to a martial beat as Jackson does knee bend and shuffles in place alone center stage.

After what appears to be an edit, the sound of a car horn blaring overtakes the music, the dancers put their hands out in a stop motion and the tempo shifts once again into a spare, funky track to which Jackson does a subtle shoulder shimmy walk to, landing him at the lip of the stage. It’s clear the rehearsal is a casual run-through, as the dancers are wearing sweats and t-shirts and the typically meticulously dressed Jackson is clad in black pants, a grey jacket and a pattered red button-down shirt that is half-untucked.

Near the end of the clip, the car horn blares again and an unseen director says “hold for applause, hold for applause” and a look of what appears to be relief washes over Jackson’s face. While Jackson is hardly the frail, sickly performer that some reports have portrayed him as near the end of his life — with one observer on the set of the singer’s mysterious “Dome Project” saying the pop star was so weak he needed help descending steps — he doesn’t appear to be the whirling dervish of energy and jaw-dropping dance moves that he was in his prime.

Granted, at 50, Jackson was nearly two decades removed from his heyday and the footage was shot at a rehearsal, but given that it was less than two weeks before the beginning of a showcase that was meant to put the singer back on top, Jackson appears to be moving at a curiously deliberate pace in the brief clip.

The song featured in the clip appeared on his 1995 greatest-hits collection HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I and it was one of Jackson’s most controversial late-period releases thanks what some deemed its anti-Semitic overtones.

Among the lyrics were the lines, “Jew me, sue me, everybody do me/ Kick me, kike me, don’t you black or white me,” as well as “Skinhead, deadhead, everybody gone dead/ Hit me, kick me, you can never get me,” which said at the time could be interpreted as being “pointedly critical of Jews.”

Jackson denied the charges in a statement released at the time, saying, “The idea that these lyrics could be deemed objectionable is extremely hurtful to me, and misleading. The song in fact is about the pain of prejudice and hate and is a way to draw attention to social and political problems. I am the voice of the accused and the attacked. I am the voice of everyone. I am the skinhead, I am the Jew, I am the black man, I am the white man. I am not the one who was attacking.” He later apologized again and eventually re-recorded a second version of the song without the offending lyrics.

It has been reported that the London show’s promoter, AEG Live, has more than 100 hours of rehearsal footage that could eventually be culled into the singer’s first live CD/DVD set.

For complete coverage of the life, career and passing of the legendary entertainer, visit “Michael Jackson Remembered.”

Share your Michael Jackson memories by uploading video and comments to Your.MTV.com or joining the discussion below.

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Michael Jackson in December of 1999


Photo: MTV

Michael Jackson revolutionized the world of music videos — he embraced the medium and took it to a new level by creating groundbreaking short films. Jackson spoke to MTV News back in 1999 about why he felt music videos are more than just commercials for the artist — they were an important part of the creative process for him.

“The idea is to take it a step further and innovate, otherwise why am I doing it?” he said. “I don’t want to be just another can in the assembly line. I want to create, do something that’s totally different and unusual.”

Before talking about some of his greatest music-video achievements at length, he went on to say that “in my opinion, it has to be completely entertaining and has a linear sense of continuity. I like having a beginning, middle and an ending so that you can follow a story. I am very much involved in complete creating of the piece. It has to be from my soul.”

In 1983, Jackson changed the face of music videos with his John Landis-directed music video for “Thriller,” off the album of the same name. “We’re never serious on the set, so it’s fun working with John ’cause I get to throw water balloons and stink bombs at him,” he said. “That’s a ritual for me — after we wrap on each video I throw a lot of stuff at everybody. My idea was to make a short film with conversation at the beginning and bookmark it with conversation at the end. Believe it or not, I’m afraid to watch scary movies. I always try to be a pioneer and innovator in whatever I do.”

While choreographing the video, Jackson wanted to make sure that dancing zombies would look natural, not cheesy. “It was a delicate thing to work on, ’cause I remember my original approach was, ‘How do you make zombies and monsters dance without it being comical?’ So I got into the room with Michael Peters and he and I together kind if imagined how these zombies move.”

Before Jackson released the video for “Thriller” in 1983, he released “Beat It.” And surprisingly, he found his inspiration for the video from a McDonald’s commercial. “I remember [Quincy Jones] telling me to write this song that I would enjoy with an edge. The song is so self-explanatory that it was so easy to make the short film,” Jackson explained. “I had seen … I think it was a McDonald’s commercial. I said I want this director [Bob Giraldi] for this piece.”

In “Billie Jean,” also released in 1983, Jackson made sure to include some of his signature dance moves.

“It’s kind of surreal and it’s different. I didn’t come up with that concept. I think it was a British fellow, Steve Barron. I thought he had wonderful ideas but I let him go with it,” Jackson recalled. “The only part I wrote in the piece … I said, ‘Give me a section I can dance a little.’ So that whole section where you see that long street, that’s the only part I contributed.”

In 1991, Jackson released the controversial video for “Black or White” off his album, Dangerous, but looking back on the song eight years later, he didn’t see any reason for the controversy.

“I wanted to do a dance number [and] I told my sister Janet, I said, ‘You remind me of a black panther.’ I said, ‘Why you don’t do something where you transform into a black panther and you transform into yourself again?’ She said, ‘I like it,’ but she didn’t go with it,” he explained. “The two of us, we always think alike. So I did it. And in the dance, I said, ‘I want to do a dance number where I can let out my frustration about injustice and prejudice and racism and bigotry,’ and within the dance I became upset and let go. I think at the time people were concerned with the violent content of the piece, but it’s, like, easy to look at. It’s simple.”

For complete coverage of the life, career and passing of the legendary entertainer, visit “Michael Jackson Remembered.”

Share your Michael Jackson memories by uploading video and comments to Your.MTV.com or joining the discussion below.

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The Game


Photo: MTV News

The Overdose: A Mixtape Daily Exclusive

Your boys are back at it. Hiatus is done. Today we had to put Firestarter on the back burner to bring you this testimonial from none other than the Game. Big Hurricane sat down with us in the lab where he’s recording his R.E.D. Album. And, in addition to speaking about the project, he wanted to tell us and the entire world that there’s no more 50 Cent beef. He’s said it before, no doubt, but this time the Compton rhyme beast says he’s dead serious — unless he changes his mind. Game compared his beef with Fif and the G-Unit to an airplane. (Is that private or commercial? Just kidding.)

“I just got off that plane,” Game said of the well-documented rift. “I didn’t even get my baggage out the baggage claim.”

The MC says he wants to “apologize to 50 as a man.” He also wants to apologize to the fans, Dr. Dre, Eminem and the head of Interscope, Jimmy Iovine.

“Jimmy always says, ‘Man, I told you guys not to break up the Beatles,’ ” Game said. “He says he told John Lennon the same thing a long time ago. But I was young, man. I was dumb. I did a lot of dumb things. I felt me and 50 clashed. I’m not gonna dis 50. I’m not gonna go back on the plane. He had his side, I had my side. I did what I felt was necessary for me and my career to have longevity and survive in hip-hop and music to be around when I’m Quincy Jones’ age — not just be Quincy Jones’ age, but be a Quincy Jones. Now, four albums in, I can honestly say from Banks to Buck to Dre to Yayo to whoever, if it would have kept going, endless paper. Millions of albums sold — because we were great together. Me and 50’s chemistry was like how Method Man was to Redman when they get in. You know when Method Man gets with Redman, it’s going down.”

True, the Unit, when they were a five-man squad (that’s with Game and Buck), were absolutely unstoppable. We’re still rocking that All Eyez on Us G-Unit Radio Part 5 mixtape.

“It is what KRS-One was with Scott La Rock,” Game added, describing his time with 50. “When you take Ralph Tresvant from New Edition and Bobby Brown goes this way, you might get a Bell Biv DeVoe, but you won’t get no ‘Candy Girl.’ You won’t get no ‘Mr. Telephone Man.’ You ain’t gonna get no ‘Hate It or Love It,’ you won’t get ‘How We Do.’ As a family, we had it. If we never [broke] up, I think Detox would have been out and we all would have been selling millions from Banks to Buck, Tony Yayo. I’m gonna apologize for my role.”

Just a few weeks ago, 50 told us he has no desire to entertain the Game. Maybe Dre or Iovine can get these guys together again?

The Streets Is Talking: News & Notes From The Underground

50 Cent says he wants to bring hardcore rap back to the forefront, and we know the sentiments Jay-Z expressed in “D.O.A.” Killer Mike says he’s not impressed. He’s been keeping it street.

“I don’t wanna hear none of that bullsh– from none of the n—as,” Mike said. “I dropped I Pledge Allegiance to the Grind II last year. If you wanna hear hardcore hip-hop, go to the store, go get I Pledge Allegiance to the Grind II. You can listen from the first Biggie sample to the last song on the album, ‘Good-Bye,’ it’s hardcore hip-hop. I don’t wanna hear that bullsh–, these n—as who got millions of dollars talking about bringing sh– back. They ain’t bringing sh– back. It’s here — you looking at it.

“Buy me,” he continued. “When that Killer Mike drops, hardcore hip-hop will be back for the second, third time. You know, the same guy that said ‘rap is dead’ three years before Nas said it. I’m here. F— with me. Jay dropped ‘D.O.A.’ and everybody went crazy. And I love Jay. A week before that, I dropped ‘Man Up.’ Go listen to that song and go listen to ‘D.O.A.’ ”

Killer Kill, who recently struck a partnership with T.I. and Grand Hustle Entertainment, is dropping a compilation of all the ATL underground MCs this summer.

For other artists featured in Mixtape Daily, check out Mixtape Daily Headlines.

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