The official on-air premiere of MTV’s newest original movie Turn The Beat Around happens tomorrow Friday, Feb. 26 at 10 PM EST, and I couldn’t be more excited. In order to prepare for the film’s debut, I’ve been stretching my jazz hands, breaking in my Capezio Sofia heels and busting out my old Grind Workout: Hip-Hop Aerobics VHS to reconnect with my Club MTV roots. Wubba wubba!

What I’m most excited about, though, is watching ”Whatcha Say” singer Jason Derülo show off his acting skills.

In the film, Derülo plays—wait for it—a pop singer who is searching for dancers to appear in an upcoming music video. MTV news recently sat down with Derülo about his acting debut and former Lady Gaga opener revealed that this might be the first of many acting roles to come. “This is my foray into acting and I’m really excited ’cause I’ve been acting my entire life. So I mean, I definitely want people to get to know that side of me because I feel like my acting will take precedent at some point. My music is obviously the forefront right now, but I’m as much an actor as I am a singer.”

Check out the video below to see what else Derülo had to about his acting aspirations and watch the trailer for Turn The Beat Around here.

+ Don’t forget to catch the premiere of Turn The Beat Around Friday, Feb. 26 at 10 PM EST.

Bravery comes in many forms, folks. But I think we can all agree that getting your nose hairs pulled out, in a library, on MTV takes a special form of courage.

It is for this kind of courage that we salute We The Kings drummer Danny Duncan who, along with his fellow Florida pop-rockers, went under MTV’s Silent Library treatment in their episode which airs tonight.

In this behind-the-scenes video, We The Kings discuss their harrowing experience on MTV’s prank show, Silent Library. There’s some chatter on what exactly came out of their noses when said nose hairs were extracted and the painful number of takes it took. Lesser men would be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, but We The Kings happily talk about it.

It’s not the first time the boys have flexed their funny bones. You can catch up with all kinds of We The Kings-themed hilarity by watching their Kings Carriage skits.

We The Kings’ episode of Silent Library airs tonight at 6:30pm ET.

(Credit: Liza Chrust/MTV)

Big Time Rush are the newest kids on the block at Nick, and they’re a boy band with a story to tell. Big Time Rush’s self-titled Nick show follows the ups and downs of four Midwestern boy, as they move to Los Angeles to make it in the music biz.

We already showed you our get-to-know-you chat with Big Time Rush, and any Big Time Rush fan now knows about Carlos’ Supersoakers gig. So now that you know all about Big Time Rush, it’s time for some extra eye candy.

Shot by MTV’s Liza Chrust, we’re happy to present this exclusive gallery of Big Time Rush photos, where we find the guys in various states of excitement, happiness and cool repose.

Check below for some more photos and be sure to tune in to watch Big Time Rush tonight at 8:30pm ET on Nick.

+ Check out all of MTV’s Big Time Rush’s MTV photos here.

If you missed Christofer Drew’s visit to MTV yesterday, where he chatted live with fans on Buzzworthy, and then played a live four-song Never Shout Never set with just his guitar, a harmonica, a stool, and a handful of Never Shout Never fans. And if you’re a fan, you know that really don’t need much else besides Christofer, a guitar, and his biting yet beautiful lyrics.

Check out the set list below, get photos of Christofer performing at MTV, and watch Never Shout Never’s live take on “What Is Love” from his MTV.com appearance on Thursday, February 4 in New York City.

MTV Set List

“Lovesick”

“If You Go Leave Your Key In The Mailbox”

“The Day That Music Died”

“What Is Love”

Today’s good news comes with a healthy dose of sarcasm in the form of a very special video message from Never Shout Never’s Christofer Drew, who gets a special phone call from his Big Important Tour Manager Guy (who looks A LOT like his actual tour manager, Jeremy).

If you hate surprises and enjoy a good spoiler in your life, the voice on the other end of the call is about to inform the Never Shout Never brain child that on Thursday, February 4, Christofer Drew will be coming to MTV in New York City to perform an acoustic live set. The MTV Buzzworthy Blog (an easy way to remember how to find it is that you’re reading it right now!) will be streaming the entire set live and hosting a live chat with Christofer beforehand. After the performance, you can watch a full-length performance of “What Is Love,” plus photos and footage of Never Shout Never at MTV.

The live chat with Christofer Drew starts at 3pm ET, with the live acoustic performance to follow.

But, you don’t have to take my word for it…

This past Friday night, MTV’s Hope For Haiti Now: A Global Benefit For Earthquake Relief helped raise over $58 million dollars for the people of Haiti, and the star-studded event sent a new record for donations made by the general public during a disaster-relief telethon, and the “Hope for Haiti Now” album became the biggest one-day album pre-order in iTunes history.

The evening wasn’t about promoting vanity projects, red carpet fashions, or Hollywood heartthrobs. It was about putting aside the fact that our country is in need and giving to those whose need is so great that ours pales in comparison.

And the Hope For Haiti Now: A Global Benefit For Earthquake Relief was about the power of music — from Justin Timberlake’s cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” to Stevie Wonder’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” to Bono, The Edge, Jay-Z and Rihanna’s brand-new song, “Stranded — Haiti Mon Amour,” and, of course, Wyclef Jean’s “Rivers of Babylon”/”Yele” medley — to unite and bring us hope.

Watch all of the Hope For Haiti Now: A Global Benefit For Earthquake Relief performances below. Plus, pre-order the Hope for Haiti Now full-performance album for just $7.99 on iTunes. And please, donate.

Alicia Keys, “Prelude To A Kiss”

Coldplay, “A Message”

Bruce Springsteen, “We Shall Overcome”

Stevie Wonder, “A Time To Love”/ “Bridge Over Troubled Water”

Shakira, “I’ll Stand By You”

John Legend, “Motherless Child”

Mary J. Blige, “Hard Times Come Again No More”

Taylor Swift, “Breathless”

Christina Aguilera, “Lift Me Up”

+ Watch more performances after the jump.

Sting, “Driven To Tears”

Beyonce, “Halo”

Sheryl Crow, Keith Urban & Kid Rock, “Lean On Me”

Madonna, “Like A Prayer”

Justin Timberlake & Matt Morris, “Hallelujah”

Jennifer Hudson, “Let It Be”

Emeline Michel, “Many Rivers To Cross”

Bono, The Edge, Jay-Z, Rihanna, “Stranded — Haiti Mon Amour”

Dave Matthews & Neil Young, “Alone And Forsaken”

Wyclef Jean, “Rivers Of Babylon”/ “Yele”

One of the questions facing musicians performing at MTV’s Hope For Haiti Now benefit last Friday was what to play. Some chose to perform covers, with Jennifer Hudson deftly handling “Let It Be” by The Beatles and Justin Timberlake giving a close reading of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”. Others chose to dip into their own catalogs to find an appropriate piece.

For her performance, Madonna chose her stirring gospel-pop anthem, “Like A Prayer.” New York Times pop critic Jon Caramanica might have summed the moment up best: “For 20 years, that song has been the symbol of one of the most tumultuous and controversial periods in Madonna’s life. But for five minutes tonight, it was pure, put in service of something bigger than the singer.”

Rendered in an appropriately minimal fashion, with just an acoustic guitar and the backing of a fantastic choir, Madonna gave a heartfelt, cathartic performance of one of her greatest singles. Relive it in the video below. And for old time’s sake, check out the original “Like A Prayer” video as well.

Make sure you watch all of the performances from the Hope For Haiti Now benefit here. Also, pre-order the Hope for Haiti Now full-performance album for just $7.99 on iTunes. And please, donate.

MTV’s Hope For Haiti Now benefit sent out a beacon of light, hope, and help to the people of Haiti. And one of the brightest lights of the star-crossed night was Taylor Swift, who performed a stripped-down, slowed-down, breathy version of Better Than Ezra’s “Breathless,” set to strings, live from Los Angeles.

Watch Taylor Swift’s performance of “Breathless” at MTV’s Hope For Haiti Now: A Global Benefit For Earthquake Relief.

And if you haven’t yet, watch all of the performances from the Hope For Haiti Now benefit here. Also, pre-order the Hope for Haiti Now full-performance album for just $7.99 on iTunes. And please, donate.

The details are still being finalized, but apparently George Clooney and MTV are collaborating on an telethon to benefit the relief effort in Haiti. The telethon for Haitian relief, tentatively scheduled for Friday, January 22, will be a bi-coastal event that will air on MTV, BET, CMT and VH1 to raise funds for the victims of the earthquake in Haiti.

With Clooney involved, the telethon will undoubtedly involve a roster of stars and musicians, including Sting.

We’ll keep you posted as details are confirmed.

See how you can help the relief in Haiti.

In the interest of full premeditated disclosure, it’s only right to tell you that we’re “Stan“-ing pretty hard for Vampire Weekend these days.

Their new album, Contra, is, incredulously, even better than their formidable, self-titled 2008 debut; it’s full of beguiling, charming, lovely jams that pull equally from African pop, Peter Gabriel, Pavement, and snotty punk.

So we’re pretty jacked/amped/psyched for their brand-new “MTV Unplugged” performance, which consists of six songs and a selection of interviews.

Watch “A-Punk” and “Cousins” live, and watch the rest of Vampire Weekend’s “MTV Unplugged” performance — including “Oxford Comma,” “White Sky,” “M79″ and “Run.”

And watch four exclusive Vampire Weekend interviews from their MTV Unplugged set — In these two clips, Vampire Weekend talks about making Contra and being not that into Twitter.  (Though you can follow Ezra at his @arZE handle).

(Credit: Michele Crowe /MTV)

When we had Never Shout Never’s Christofer Drew stop by to answer your queries for our Buzzworthy Blog Fan Interview it was impossible to overlook his nautical The Old Man And The Sea theme to his look.

In these exclusive MTV photos you can see Admiral Drew in all his naval glory. He’s got the pea coat, the sailor’s cap and, in a mark of true dedication, two anchors tattooed on either hand.

He’s also rocking an entire summer’s worth of camp-made friendship bracelets and assorted other wrist trinkets.

Perhaps most telling is the “Don’t Worry Be Happy” (holler at Bobby McFerrin) top he’s sporting. It’s an appropriate slogan for his acoustic, ebullient emo-folk. Can’t wait to hear it in all its glory when his What Is Love album finally drops in January.

+ Check out the entire set of Never Shout Never’s exclusive MTV photos, and watch his “On The Brighside” video.

Photo: Wargo/WireImage

It’s off. After just two short seasons, MTV’s live talk show, It’s On With Alexa Chung, will be going silent after its final episode airs on December 17th. The series, hosted by the British TV personality, featured interviews, musical guests and pop-culture news. It debuted as an hour-long program in June, but was cut by 30 minutes in October. MTV programming president Tony DiSanto told Variety the network is “100 percent committed” to a studio-based, live pop-culture show with music and interviews, but that the network was still trying to perfect the right formula.

“The difference between these [and scripted shows] is you have to develop these on the air,” said DiSanto, adding that “we make the changes until we settle on the show that’s what we want.” Chung’s contract with the network expires in early 2010, but MTV indicated that it might continue its relationship with the host for future projects,

Though the network has had little trouble developing reality and non-music shows that rake in massive ratings, MTV has been struggling to find a music program that can connect with viewers since Total Request Live’s ratings started to dip earlier this decade. The show’s audience peaked in 1999, when 757,000 viewers would watch the afternoon’s countdown of the top 10 videos. After MTV announced TRL would go off the air November 16th, they tried replacing it with FNMTV, a Friday night music video program that taped live and was hosted by Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz. The show featured big-name guests like Snoop Dogg and the Pussycat Dolls, but vanished after five months.

MTV brought back its Unplugged franchise, which was nixed in 1997, for a handful of specials between 2005 and 2007. This year, Adele, Silversun Pickups, Katy Perry and Paramore stripped down their songs for the show’s official return. The performances aired on MTV’s Website, and selections appeared on the network during its morning music programming.

Headbangers Ball still airs — though on MTV2 — and the hard-rock show celebrated its 20th anniversary in October.

At the 2007 Video Music Awards, Justin Timberlake famously chastised MTV for its lack of music programming, ranting from the stage, “Play more damn videos. We don’t want to see the Simpsons on reality television. Play more videos.”

Related Stories:

• Farwell to TRL
• MTV Celebrates 20 Years of Headbanger’s Ball
• Pete Wentz’s FNMTV Premieres With Snoop Dogg, Awkwardness

Give the cast of Glee two microphones (and Lea Michele’s turntable), and watch them go crazier than a lot of tots on an unsupervised Halloween candy binge.

The cast of Glee — Lea Michele, Dianna Agron, Chris Colfer, Kevin McHale, Cory Monteith, Amber Riley, Mark Salling, and Jenna Ushkowitz — visited the MTV Buzzworthy Blog, and the format was simple: Grab a mic and shared 10 things they think are cool.

What ensued was a total free-for-all obsession-/ gush-fest that included fixations on criminal records, sai swords, corvids, Passion Pit on vinyl, bowties, Hungry Hippos, Amber Riley’s Oprah Winfrey impression, Chuck Taylors, dudes with braces, and an impromptu “Family Matters” theme song serenade. I also walked away with a cast drawing.

If you, like me, are ruing the hiatus of Glee (DAMN YOU, FOX! DAAAAMNNN YOUUUU!), this seven-plus-minute video of the cast of Glee sharing the things they love (both inexplicable and otherwise.)

Whether you stand behind him or boycott him, Chris Brown’s still making music. On his third album, Graffiti, Lil Wayne, Swizz Beatz, Trey Songz, and The Game join Chris Brown on his quest to reclaim his title as R&B’s reigning prince. Will Graffiti help Chris Brown move beyond his checkered past? The album isn’t out until Tuesday, December 8, but MTV.com is streaming the album in its entirety on “The Leak,” so listen now.

+ Listen to Graffiti on MTV.com’s “The Leak.”

It’s Spankin’ New Music Week, and today’s the love is all Shakira’s. Check out this gorgeous live performance of “Gypsy,” off of Shakira’s brand-new album, She Wolf.

Shot during Shakira’s recent appearance on MTV’s It’s On With Alexa Chung, this exclusive performance of “Gypsy” sets aside Shakira’s “She Wolf”/ “Did It Again” sex goddess side and focuses on Shakira as living-room-floor storyteller and musician, complete with Shakira herself on harmonica, flanked by bongos and a banjo.

From an outsider’s perspective, it’s easy to say what should and shouldn’t matter to a pop star. We note the awards, special performances and chart positions. But what matters to the star, themselves? We posed this very question to the incomparable Lady Gaga.

In this very special Spankin’ New Music Week edition of “The 5,” as The Fame: Monster is finally officially released, Lady Gaga takes us through the five most amazing moments in her career. It’s a deeply personal list that touches on the  socio-political causes that are close to her heart (marching on Washington, D.C. for gay rights) as well as the small, personal pleasure of having her little sister dress up as her for Halloween.

Watch Gaga explain her top five career highlights in this exclusive MTV Buzzworthy Blog video, and get an up-close-and-personal look at the human side of Lady Gaga.

If you don’t yet know MTV Discover & Download artist Priscilla Renea, consider this full-length stream of her debut album, Jukebox, your early Christmas present. The sunny singer-songwriter-storyteller — think Lily Allen meets Solange Knowles — who garnered a massive fan base on YouTube — isn’t dropping Jukebox until December 1, but you can stream the entire album a week early on MTV.com’s “The Leak.”

+ Listen to Priscilla Renea’s Jukebox album now, and watch her breakout video, “Dollhouse.”

Spankin’ New Music Week is coming to MTV November 23 through 27. It’s a celebration of five new mega-albums that are all being released in one big mega-week.

Lady Gaga’s dropping The Fame Monster Limited Edition, which if you’re sharp enough you’ve already heard The Fame: Monster on MTV’s The Leak (a whole week early!). Rihanna’s Rated R also hits on Monday and you’ve already seen new videos for “Russian Roulette,” and “Wait Your Turn.” Meanwhile, Shakira’s long-awaited, hotly anticipated She Wolf album drops next week.

Beyonce has the Deluxe Edition of I Am, and on Tuesday, Britney’s releasing the Deluxe Box Edition of The Singles Collection.

So what’s in store? We have interviews with Gaga, Shakira and Rihanna, MTV News sat down with some of the girls as well, and we’ll have performances, videos, and more. It’s an unofficial “ladies week,” but because we’re not biased we’re not forgetting that 50 Cent also recently dropped his fourth LP, Before I Self Destruct and we sat down and talked to him too.

Check in next week for more Spankin’ New stuff on MTV, and, until then, watch Rihanna’s “Wait Your Turn” video.

Is Justin Bieber the new Robert Pattinson? I mean, sure he’s shorter, younger, smiles way more, seems 100,000 times more fun, pretty much OWNS Twitter, and he’s far better at music. But, like R Pattz, Justin Bieber not only has impressive hair, but he’s a TOTAL ladykiller. Girls twice, even three times Justin Bieber’s age are like SCREAMING their makeup off for The Biebs.

Watch him perform “One Less Lonely Girl” from today’s episode of It’s On With Alexa Chung, and see why Justin Bieber is basically Robert Pattinson, minus the British accent and brooding.

(Credit: Michele Crowe/ MTV)

Last time I caught up with Honor Society was in a basement bathroom. Which actually wasn’t as gross as it sounds. Before that, they taught me the Honor Roll (which I still kind of suck at). But yesterday, Honor Society dropped by MTV for a private performance in the MTV music lounge. A handful of staffers were treated to all-acoustic versions of “Over You,” “Two Rebels,” and “See U In The Dark” (and great leather jackets!) Oh, and Andrew had a cool pear shaker! I want one! After that, Honor Society jetted off to their sold-out New York show, where they also had their fans bring canned food. (Such a good idea. You listening, “other bands”?)

Check out these exclusive photos of Jason Rosen, Alexander Noyes, Michael Bruno, and Andrew Lee warming up before their private performance at MTV, and watch their brand-new video, “Over You” (again).

+ More Honor Society photos after the jump!