MTV's Eminem-Bruno Stunt Was Completely Staged, Says Host Andy Samberg's Head Writer
Sacha Baron Cohen's Bruno gave Eminem a "new moon" preview of his own.
The "face-off" between Sacha Baron Cohen's bare backside and Eminem's mug came as a surprise to the viewers of Sunday's MTV Movie Awards, but just how shocked was the rapper also known as Marshall Mathers?
To hear host Andy Samberg's head writer, Scott Aukerman, tell it, not at all.
Ending nearly 24 hours of silence from all involved parties, Aukerman took to his blog to set the record straight: "Yes, the Eminem-Bruno incident was staged. They rehearsed it at dress [rehearsal] and yes, it went as far as it did on the live show."
As previously reported, Cohen's "Bruno" alter ego landing in Eminem's lap was of course a prearranged stunt. "There's no way it was an accident," an industry insider who was seated a few rows in front of Eminem told TVGuide.com. "You don't let two stars collide without a detailed plan."
As such, Bruno's airborne entrance was purposely detoured by speakers that were lowered into his path during the previous commercial break. That bit of equipment manipulation — coupled with the director's cut to Eminem several seconds before Bruno's "fall" — made for the first "smoking gun."
What about the appearance that tensions escalated when Cohen thrust his bare derriere in Eminem's face? While a spokesperson for the recording artist has not yet responded to multiple requests for comment, head writer Aukerman's blog now confirms that it was all for show. (When considering Eminem's compelling performance, remember that he did collect the occasional accolade for his acting debut in the semibiographical 2002 film 8 Mile.)
"Everyone was laughing about it during the next break," says our eyewitness, "especially the MTV staffers."
While it is true that Eminem, after "storming out" in disgust, never returned to his seat, that was the M.O. of many a star who shone at the awards show.
"Most of the big celebs came, did their thing and left," reports our onlooker.
MTV reps declined to comment on the incident.
New CD Releases, June 2: Dave Matthews Band, Neil Young, Rancid, Elvis Costello, Ryan Bingham, Chickenfoot and more!!
Dave Matthews Band "Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King" (RCA)
The multi-platinum rock act is on an impressive run: Its last four studio outings have all debuted in the No. 1 slot on the US album charts. Now, the Dave Matthews Band is looking to make it five in a row with the release of "Big Whiskey and the GooGrux King."
The set, which follows 2005's "Stand Up," is DMB's first release since the death of founding member LeRoi Moore. The saxophonist died in August from complications resulting from an ATV accident that occurred on his Virginia ranch. The second part of the album's title, "GrooGrux King," is said to be a reference to Moore.
The album was produced by Rob Cavallo (Green Day, My Chemical Romance) and its first single is the track "Funny the Way It Is."
The Dave Matthews Band is currently on tour in support of the album. Currently, the group has shows booked through the start of October.
* * *
Neil Young "Archives, Vol. 1: 1963-1972" (Reprise)
Nearly two decades in the making, the first volume of Young's ambitious "Archives" project is finally ready to hit shelves. The multi-disc collection will be available in three different formats: Blu-ray, DVD and CD.
This volume--which spans 10 discs in the Blu-ray and DVD configurations, and eight discs in the CD version--covers the first 10 years of Young's legendary body of work. An interactive-timeline feature allows the viewer to follow the singer-songwriter during this period of his career, beginning with his high school band The Squires and continuing up through his landmark albums of the early '70s.
The release of the first volume of "Archives" quickly follows a new studio offering from Young. The Northern California resident can be heard singing the praises of eco-friendly transportation on "Fork in the Road," which hit stores in early April.
* * *
Rancid "Let the Dominoes Fall" (Epitaph)
The San Francisco Bay Area punk rockers are back with the long-awaited studio follow-up to 2003's "Indestructible," a work that peaked at No. 15 on The Billboard 200 and spawned the modern-rock hit "Fall Back Down." The band's most recent offering was 2007's "Rancid B Sides & C Sides," which included previously unreleased material alongside songs that have been featured on compilations, soundtracks and B-sides.
"Let the Dominoes Fall" is the group's seventh studio album, and it was produced by longtime collaborator Brett Gurewitz. "Let the Dominoes Fall" is available in several different formats, including a single-disc CD, a double-vinyl LP set and an expanded multi-CD/DVD combo, which offers such bonuses as an acoustic version of the album.
Rancid will let the "Dominoes" fall while serving as the main support act on Rise Against's North American headlining tour. The trek gets underway June 4 in Vancouver, BC, and is currently scheduled to run through a July 31 date in Toronto.
* * *
Elvis Costello "Secret, Profane and Sugarcane" (Hear Music)
The Grammy-winning singer/songwriter is set to drop his 25th studio album, which trails last year's "Momofuku." The 13-track record was produced by the legendary T Bone Burnett, who also co-wrote two of its numbers, "Sulphur to Sugarcane" and "The Crooked Line."
"Secret, Profane and Sugarcane" also features guest-star vocalists Jim Lauderdale, Emmylou Harris and Loretta Lynn. The album was recorded over three days at Nashville's Sound Emporium Studio, and will be sold at participating Starbucks locations in the US and Canada, as well as through traditional music retailers.
Costello will tour with the musicians who backed him in the studio for the new album. Dubbed The Sugarcanes, the lineup includes Jerry Douglas on dobro, Stuart Duncan on fiddle, Mike Compton on mandolin, Jeff Taylor on accordion and Dennis Crouch on double bass. The run begins on June 9 in Red Bank, NJ.
* * *
Ryan Bingham "Roadhouse Sun" (Lost Highway)
The alt-country troubadour returns with a follow-up to his 2007 major-label debut, "Mescalito." "Roadhouse Sun" was produced by former Black Crowes guitarist Marc Ford, who was also at the dials on the singer's previous record.
Bingham spent the spring helping to create a buzz about the new album's release. Notably, he appeared on both the "Tonight Show with Jay Leno" and "Late Night with Conan O'Brien." Also, his song "Southside of Heaven" was featured in an "ER" episode.
* * *
Chickenfoot "Chickenfoot" (Fontana)
Exiled from Van Halen in favor of David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen's teenage son, singer Sammy Hagar and bassist Michael Anthony have gotten themselves another guitar legend and powerhouse drummer--this time in the form of Joe Satriani and Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers). Originally a just-for-fun trio featuring Hagar, Anthony and Smith--who joined forces a couple of years ago during an impromptu jam at Hagar's Cabo Wabo nightclub in Mexico--the group went legit by recruiting six-string wizard Satriani and recording an album with legendary producer Andy Johns (Led Zeppelin, Van Halen).
Hagar raised eyebrows when he commented in an interview last year that Chickenfoot's music could rival that of Led Zeppelin; Smith recently defused that bomb while making an on-camera Zeppelin reference during a track-by-track, "Chickenfoot" video documentary that is available at the group's website.
"I know we're not supposed to talk about Led Zeppelin since Sammy got drunk and said that we were better than Led Zeppelin," Smith joked. "We're not better than Led Zeppelin, and Sammy was drunk when he said that, OK? So let's put that s--- to rest."
* * *
More new releases:
Stephanie J. Block, "This Place I Know" (PS Classics)
Jeff Buckley, "Grace--Around the World" (Sony)
Crosby Stills & Nash, "Demos" (Rhino)
Eels, "Hombre Lobo: 12 Songs of Desire" (Vagrant)
IQ, "Frequency" (Inside Out)
Paolo Nutini, "Sunny Side Up" (Atlantic)
Iggy Pop, "Preliminaires" (Astralwerks)
Eros Ramazzotti, "Ali E Radici" (Sony)
Taking Back Sunday, "New Again" (Reprise)
311, "Uplifter" (Volcano)
UFO, "The Visitor" (Steamhammer)
Soundtracks and scores:
"The Story of My Life" (PS Classics)
"West Side Story: The New Broadway Cast Recording" (Sony)
Beatles Reveal 'Rock Band' Details At E3
The surviving members of the Beatles unveiled new details about their upcoming "Rock Band" videogame at the E3 videogame conference in Los Angeles.
Joined by Yoko Ono Lennon and Olivia Harrison, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr disclosed 10 of the 45 songs expected in "The Beatles: Rock Band" when it comes out Sept. 9.
The tracks are "I Saw Her Standing There," "I Want To Hold Your Hand," "I Feel Fine," "Taxman," "Day Tripper," "Back In The USSR," "I Am The Walrus," "Octopus's Garden," "Here Comes The Sun" and "Get Back."
Additionally, they said the entire "Abbey Road" album will be available for purchase and download, as will other tracks from the band's catalog, after the game's release, and "All You Need Is Love" will be released exclusively for Xbox 360 users as a downloadable song the day the game hits retail shelves. The proceeds of the single will be donated to Doctors Without Boarders.
Different venues played by the Beatles will be recreated for the game, including the Cavern Club in Liverpool (where they got their start), the Ed Sullivan Show, Shea Stadium and the Budokan in Japan.
The game will take fans into the studio experience after the band stopped touring through "artistic visual expressions known as Dreamscapes, intended to transport players to the imaginative environments that capture the essence of The Beatles' genre-busting musical and fashion transformations during their later years," according to the release.
From a gameplay perspective, the release will break from existing music-based games that allow for only one singer, and add three-part vocal harmonies. Content will also include previously unreleased recordings of the bandmates talking between takes during studio sessions recorded at Abbey Road.
A demo version of the game is available for attendees of the E3 conference to play.
Conan O'Brien makes debut on 'The Tonight Show'
NEW YORK – Conan O'Brien debuted as host of "The Tonight Show" Monday with a "run" across the country to Los Angeles and other comedy bits emphasizing his entry into a strange new culture.
He joined a line of predecessors — Steve Allen, Jack Paar, Johnny Carson and Jay Leno — on television's most historic late-night franchise.
"I think I've timed this move perfectly," he said in his opening monologue. "I'm on a last-place network, I moved to a state that's bankrupt and 'The Tonight Show' is sponsored by General Motors."
O'Brien spent 17 years as host of NBC's "Late Night" in New York, and the move up one hour has been in the works for five years. Leno, his immediate predecessor, will do a weeknight prime-time show on NBC. The workaholic Leno will start "in two days, three days tops," O'Brien joked. Actually, it's in September.
O'Brien christened a new studio on the Universal City lot with a handsome art deco look. The stage has a blue glass background for the opening monologue, before O'Brien retreats to a desk in front of a sparkling backdrop of Los Angeles.
From the top, O'Brien showed the silly comic style that sets him apart from Leno, with more comedy skits filmed earlier and less reliance on jokes in front of the studio audience. The first one showed O'Brien marking off a to-do list with "move to L.A." left undone, as a camera panned a New York skyline outside his window.
A frantic O'Brien went out in the street to find a cab. When he couldn't, he began running. He ran out of New York, and sprinted through various spots across the country — across Wrigley Field in Chicago, past the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, by the Rockies and through the desert to Las Vegas. Finally he arrived at the locked door to his new studio, only to realize he'd left his keys behind.
In other segments, O'Brien commandeered a tram filled with tourists on a Universal Studios lot tour and took his used green Ford Taurus for a ride into the car-obsessed culture. Fabio complimented him on his ride.
O'Brien appeared nervous at the long-awaited opening night, pacing onstage during his monologue and mugging with his red pompadour.
"I remember watching Johnny Carson when I was a kid and thinking: That's what I want to be when I grow up," O'Brien said. "I'm sure right now in America there is likely a kid watching me, thinking: 'What is wrong with that man's hair?'"
Longtime sidekick Andy Richter slid smoothly into the role Ed McMahon once played for Carson, standing at a podium to the side of the stage and loudly laughing at his boss' jokes.
Over at CBS, David Letterman slyly made mention of NBC's transition.
"I'm still here," he said. "I knocked off another competitor."
He said he got a call from his mom and she said, "Well, David, I see you didn't get 'The Tonight Show' again," a reference to Letterman losing out to Leno to become Carson's successor.
Comic Will Ferrell was O'Brien's first guest, his appearance less manic than some of his memorable "Late Night" visits. He offered O'Brien some "tips" for L.A. living, including a good burger joint in Pasadena "called Burger King."
Pearl Jam was the musical guest, debuting a song off an upcoming album.
Ferrell sang his own song in tribute to O'Brien, a version of "Never Can Say Goodbye" that "bewildered" the host. Why sing a goodbye song on the first night?
"Don't get me wrong," Ferrell said. "I'm pulling for you. But this little thing is a crapshoot at best."