Archive for November, 2008
Gossip Girl Marathon: Win A Trip to NYC!
Friday, November 28th, 2008
Rejoice! New episodes of Gossip Girl will start airing on Much this Thursday @ 7pm ET, and if you’re a little behind on the salacious action, here’s your chance to buck up. This weekend we’re airing all of season two thus far, starting with the subtle Vitamin Water white party episode and ending with whatever’s happening now (I haven’t watched since episode 1).
AND OMFG (come on, you knew it was coming), we’re making your weekend even better with the chance to win a trip for two to NYC, the epicentre of Blair bitchery and Chuck Bassholery. Contiki Tours will fly you down and show you how the big apple rolls. (You: “But how?” Oh, I’ll tell you.)
Watch the Gossip Girl marathon on Saturday and Sunday, starting at 2pm ET each day. Every hour you’ll see a different keyword pop up on your screen. Copy ‘em down. Make sure they’re neat, so you can read them later. Then tune in to MOD on Monday and all next week to find out exactly how you can use those keywords to win a trip to NYC!
So I guess I know what you’ll be doing all weekend, you lame-o. Haha, I’m kidding. I’m totally doing it too.
Posted in Contests | 26 Comments »
Britney: For The Record (This Sunday)!
Friday, November 28th, 2008
Ten years ago, Britney became an instant superstar at the age of 16 when she released the video for “…Baby One More Time”. Money flew, tongues wagged and gossip flourished with the advent of a new pop star for a generation - and in that decade we’ve seen the rise, fall and resurrection of Britney Spears.
We know the blurry facts, the media-skewed tales of drugs, marriage, annulment, break-downs, obsession, scandal and success. On a superficial scale, we know everything about Britney from her dating history to her favourite beverages. But what do we really know? And what really happened in the past four years? In one of the most anticipated docs of the year, Britney sits down for a candid look at her life as a pop icon and gossip legend.
Check back for a recap blog on Monday, but for now set a reminder to watch this 90-minute special exclusively on MuchMusic this Sunday, November 30 @ 10pm ET! And then read this previous blog by Soja about the special, because it’s way better than this one.
Posted in We <3 TV | 2 Comments »
Earworm: Kaiser Chiefs “Never Miss A Beat”
Friday, November 28th, 2008
Since last week’s Kaiser Chiefs show I’ve been pretty much unable to stop listening to their new single Never Miss A Beat. It’s ridiculously catchy. RIDICULOUS! It helps that the video is pretty cool too, featuring a bunch of masked young kids running through the streets (presumably the ones Ricky’s singing about in the song? The ones that never miss a beat?) and Ricky Wilson as a TV weatherman.
To add to the song’s star quality, there are backing vocals from Ms. Lily Allen and members of New Young Pony Club. Oh, and Mark Ronson produced it.
Watch it: Kaiser Chiefs - Never Miss A Beat
Posted in Music & Videos | No Comments »
Win Something Touched By Robert Pattinson
Friday, November 28th, 2008
THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED! 
Thanks to everybody who entered!
Hey check it - we’ve got a Twilight soundtrack autographed by Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, and after much deliberation (Kat thought that maybe she wanted to spend the weekend with it) we’ve decided to give it away to someone. There’s some other stuff you can win, too:
1st prize: 1 autographed soundtrack and “Twilight: The Complete Illustrated Movie Companion” book
2nd prize: 5 (not autographed) soundtracks and the movie companion book
You likey? Email redhot@muchmusic.com with the word “Twilight” in the subject for your chance to snag some Twilight swag! Also don’t forget to include your name and age and a phone number where we can contact you if you win!
PS: Here’s a description of the book - “Everything fans want to know about the Twilight movie! Designed as a celebration of the film, this lavishly illustrated paperback edition is an exclusive behind-the-scenes guide featuring full-color photos of the cast, locations, and sets, as well as storyboards, interviews, details of the special effects, and much more.”
Posted in Contests | 59 Comments »
Rick Astley’s Rise, Fall, Rise and Shark Jump
Friday, November 28th, 2008
Photo courtesy of Getty Images
In 1987, a dorky Brit by the name of Rick Astley became a sex symbol and music sensation when he released the undeniably catchy “Never Gonna Give You Up”. He found himself rich, Grammmy nominated and famous before he was even 25 but by the early 90s, poor Ricky was pushed aside for Vanilla Ice, New Kids on the Block and Nirvana. He was never to be heard from again.
Until 2007, when Rickrolling was invented. If you don’t know what Rickrolling is, you probably don’t use the internet and thus, wouldn’t be reading this post anyway, but just in case, here’s an example:
Me: Hey, buddy, check out this amazing video of a cow giving birth to a pony!
You: *Click on the link*
Me: Ha, ha. You’ve been rickrolled! Sucker.
I guess the playground equivalent would be like, when people point at your shirt and go, ‘what’s that?’ and you look down and they boink you on the nose. There’s no real punch line, but there’s a grain of amusement, and sometimes a grain is all you need to make your day brighter.
Anyway, it wasn’t long before the Rickroll became an internet phenomenon, and the real beauty is that you can never learn from your mistakes. If someone sends you a link to something ~*amazing*~, you’re going to click on it, no matter how many times ~*amazing links*~ have led to “Never Gonna Give You Up”. And hey, it’s catchy. It’s not like you’re being forced to listen to “Blue” by Eiffel 65, which I won’t even link to cause it’s so bad.
The funny thing is that I’ve never been Rickrolled, except for on April Fool’s Day when every website thought it would be hilarious to Rickroll every link (Youtube did it best). Have you been Rickrolled? Somebody must have, for it to become a sensation. Please speak up so I may start a tally.
Anyway, Rickrolling simulateously jumped the shark and became even more awesome when Rick Astley performed a live Rickroll at the Macy’s Parade yesterday:
Some people are crying “overkill!”, but I think it’s pretty funny, and cool of Rick Astley to embrace what was essentially a joke on his behalf. But like Mark Wahlberg’s SNL skit (which he first disapproved of and later embraced with his own SNL appearance), Rick Astley knows that it was the Rickroll that singlehandedly revived his otherwise extinct career (not that he’ll become a record-selling success again, but you know… it made him sort of famous again). So here’s to Rick Astley: we totally believed you when you said that you were never gonna give us up.
Posted in Celebrities & Pop Culture | No Comments »
Video of The Week: Famous ‘Ain’t No Use’
Friday, November 28th, 2008Watch the video: Famous ‘Ain’t No Use’
‘Ain’t No Use’ caught my attention this week for its lyrical social responsibility. (Contrary to popular assumption, it was not because of the opening shower scene.) Famous raps about the influence that the hip hop industry has on its listeners and he sets himself apart by poking fun at some things. It’s not too often that you listen to every word that a rapper spits out, but this time around, I did. It’s one thing to try and deliver a message like this and it’s another thing to actually carry it out effectively while making it a song to turn up. I think Famous hit the nail on the head with this one.
I got the vibe that work was play when filming this video. From the 2-Pac inspired bandana to the Run-DMC Kangol hat and big gold chains, I can only assume that Famous had a lot of fun with this. Don’t get me wrong, he’s not making fun of the great contributors to hip hop, he’s simply addressing the fact that you don’t have to try and be everything you see and hear about.
I like the use of the old video footage of Famous freestyling on the mic at a party. It breaks up the video and takes you to a different place for about 20 seconds while adding a very “real” element to it. If you’re looking for a new song to put on repeat, ‘Ain’t No Use’ is definitely a tune worth taking note of. Canada is full of many talented artitsts and Famous is no exception.
Posted in Music & Videos | No Comments »
The Power of Retro
Friday, November 28th, 2008
Since we moved, our TV screens have been permanently occupied by MuchRetro (I’m not sure why we never watched it in our old area? Why are you giving me such a hard time? GOD). Last week Kat tested the waters of our MuchMusic employee benefits and requested a video. And lo, the next day they played it for her!
Then, she requested a special song just for me, to profess her love: Boyz II Men “On Bended Knee”. They played it this morning at 11, and all us girls clenched our firsts and sang the refrain in full force. The boys grumbled and pretended they were too manly for such things, but you know they were remembering that slow dance in grade 7 with Jenny B (last name protected for privacy).
So we’re trying to convince the programmers to let us make a playlist for an hour once a week. It’s on, now. Color Me Badd! Guns ‘N Roses!! Marky Mark! TLC!!! Oh, the joyous of joys!!
What songs would you request on MuchRetro?
Posted in Just For Fun | No Comments »
T.I. is No Turkey
Friday, November 28th, 2008* T.I. made some people happy yesterday. Me: “Less turkey, more T.I., plz.”
* Kristen Stewart detests interviews, which I can attest to (through word of mouth).
* Britney performed in Germany…
* So I guess Reese & Vince hate each other now..
* A-Rod sits front row at a Madonna show, I guess they’re way beyond secrecy now.
* And in completely unrelated to anything news: a sleeping bag you can wear!!!!!
Posted in Celebrities & Pop Culture | 1 Comment »
Things You Should Know About New Lily
Thursday, November 27th, 2008
Photo courtesy of Getty Images
How excited am I about the new Lily Allen album? All the songs she’s posted on her MySpace have been top notch (I’ve been playing the lights out of “The Fear”, formally “I Don’t Know” for months now). Like Kat said to me yesterday, it’s hard to believe this girl is only 23 and about to release her second expectedly excellent album.
Popjustice put a list together of 20 things you need to know about the album, including these:
“…it is really extremely good: funny, sad, clever and accessible with big tunes and fresh, sometimes unique production.”
“…about four or five of the tracks here fall into (synthy sound) category. That’s one of the album’s three distinct sounds.”
“The first single, ‘The Fear’, is out in January. It’s one of the tracks Lily posted on her MySpace ages ago.”
Posted in Music & Videos | No Comments »
SYTYCD: High Fives and Moshless Pits
Thursday, November 27th, 2008
Natalli & Nico rock the quickstep in this week’s episode
Even though they’re booked to the gills, somehow I found myself at this week’s taping of So You Think You Can Dance Canada (read: thanks to the hook-up Queen Celine).
After being ushered to the coat check where you must surrender all your prized posessions (no cameras or cell phones), we were placed in line to await our entrance into the studio. Standing with masses of people 10 years my junior (I’m old), I was like… ’so this is what it feels like to be on MOD…’
Anyway, they brought us into the studio, which is bigger than I expected and smaller than I expected. I know that doesn’t make sense, but roll with it. The space for audience (the pit) was tinier than it looks on TV but the stage was pretty huge. Before they started the show, camera dudes had to shoot about a million cut-away shots of the audience (’ok, go crazy!’ ‘ok, now look sad’). Then the judges all came out and I was conveniently in the spot where they ran through to their perch and doled out high fives. If you would like to purchase my Mary Murphy, Sean Cheesman, Tre Armstrong and Jean Marc Genereux flavoured hand, please contact me.
So the question is, how different is the in-person experience than what you see on TV? Aside from the dancers you see on television being holograms, not really. (Ha, ha. Aah. I guess I’m the only one who found that remotely funny). But seriously folks, it’s a pretty parallel experience - all the routines are performed only once (so if you mess up a dance, that’s your problem) and the judges aren’t so long-winded that they need to be edited. Being that close to the dancing was pretty breathtaking at times, I must say, and despite the three hours of standing, it was totally fun.
If you’re not up to speed, tonight is the latest results show, and after the votes are counted we’ll be down to the top 4 dancers! Who are you rooting for?
Posted in We <3 TV | 3 Comments »
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