Concert Picks: Bake Sale, The Features, Grass Widow?
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NFL team was snapped shooting scenes as fictional Gotham Rogues.
By Eric Ditzian
Christian Bale films "The Dark Knight Rises"
Photo: Jared Wickerham/ Getty Images
The NFL lockout might be over, but life for the Pittsburgh Steelers was certainly not back to usual on Saturday, when Christopher Nolan's "Dark Knight Rises" swooped into Heinz Field and recast the team as the Gotham Rogues.
Clad in familiar black-and-gold uniforms, the Steelers-turned-Rogues included Ben Roethlisberger, Hines Ward, Willie Colon, Troy Polamalu and Heath Miller, according to multiple local reports. Former Steelers coach Bill Cowher returned to the sideline to play the Rogues' coach. Cowher and crew were joined by more than 10,000 extras, bussed in to film a fictional game between the Rogues and the Rapid City Monuments.
The shoot itself dives into some spoilery territory, so if you'd like to remain blissfully unaware of the goings-on in Gotham during "Dark Knight Rises," in which Batman faces off against Bane, turn back now!
Reports from the scene indicate that the football game is violently interrupted, with explosions, the presence of three tumblers and the arrival of Bane. After the players are reportedly killed and the assembled crowd is freaked the hell out, the villain comes out onto the mangled field, grabs a microphone and makes an announcement about how Gotham has been liberated.
What's perhaps most interesting about Bane in all this is how sickly he sounds. According to DC Comics lore, Bane became a test subject for something called Venom, a substance to which he becomes so addicted he needs it to survive. Couple that sickly voice with the production picture of a thick scar on Bane's neck, and we're starting to get an idea of a bad guy who is deeply unwell, not only in mind but in body.
The shoot stretched into the evening, starting off with straight football scenes and concluding with Bane's destructive entrance and announcement. It's just the latest on-location shoot for the city of Pittsburgh this summer, but residents appear to be embracing the whole thing.
"Forget Hollywood. You guys were great," an assistant director told the crowd at one point, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, "I'll come to Pittsburgh any time for extras."
Check out everything we've got on "The Dark Knight Rises."
For breaking news and previews of the latest comic book movies — updated around the clock — visit SplashPage.MTV.com.
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'I've never been afraid to fall,' she says in the special, which debuted Thursday on MTV.
By Jocelyn Vena
Beyoncé in her "Year of <i>4</i>" special
Photo: MTV
It's a good time to be Beyoncé. The singer just released her latest album, 4, and fans were taken behind the scenes of its completion in the special "Beyoncé: Year of 4," which debuted Thursday (June 30) on MTV.
The intimate special opens with black-and-white footage of the singer swimming. "I'm always happy when I'm surrounded by water," she says. "I think I'm a mermaid or I was a mermaid. The ocean makes me feel really small, and it puts my whole life into perspective. ... It humbles you and it grounds you and it makes me feel almost like I've been baptized. Am I the same Beyoncé? Absolutely not."
The special is footage of B's life, complete with montages of the frenzy surrounding her: Video shoots, rehearsals, studio time and photo shoots all pepper her life as she prepares to release her fourth solo studio effort. However, she is quick to point out that, before she got back to work, she needed to decompress in a major way.
"After I finished the last tour, I was a bit overwhelmed and overworked, and my mother was the person that preached to me ... 'You really need to live your life and open your eyes and you don't want to wake up with no memories,' " she explained.
Beyoncé shows what she did on her off-time, which included playing aunt and wife. "I was able to spend time with my family and pick my nephew up from school, and it gave me time to reflect," she said.
In that reflection time, Beyoncé made a major business decision: Her father, Mathew Knowles, would no longer serve as her manager. While explaining the decision, fans are taken back in time thanks to vintage video of the Knowles family. "A real change meant separating from him," she said. "It was scary, but it empowered me, and I wasn't going to let fear stop me."
Fans are once again on Beyoncé's whirlwind world tour as she continues work on her album. "I am a workaholic, and I don't believe in 'no,' " she said. "If I'm not sleeping, nobody's sleeping."
"My focus is not bigger; it's quality, and I want to make sure it's something I'm proud of years from now," she says later on. "It's very difficult managing myself. Every night when I go to sleep, I ask hundreds of questions. I'm making mistakes, and I'm learning from them. I've never been afraid to fall — and I say all these things, but now I'm being tested."
As the special closes, Beyoncé shoots her "Run the World (Girls)" video and continues work on her album, including meetings with record executives. It all ends with B swimming once again, as she says, "I'm learning to drown out the noise. I only have to follow my heart. I run my world."
What did you think of Beyoncé behind-the-scenes world? Let us know in the comments!
Related Videos Related ArtistsSource: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1666719/beyonce-year-of-4.jhtml

Both Cassie and Lisa Raye were spotted hosting parties yesterday and we have pics of Cassie on the West Coast and Lisa Raye holding down the East Coast inside....
Cassie hosted the "Cocktails With Cassie Party" at the Diamond Supply Co. store in Los Angeles. She was joined by friend Malika Haaq.

Cassie mixed up a few cocktails while at the party.

And she hit the DJ booth to help with the music selection.
And over in New Jersey last night....

Lisa Raye was spotted in her summer white, hosting Dolce Thursdays In Elizabeth, New Jersey.




The "Singles Ladies" star showed the crowd she's got all the right moves.
And Lisa Raye is heading to Philly next week for the “Charlie Mack Party for Peace Weekend.”
Watch Ms. McCoy get it popping like she's still in her video chick days here:
Photos via Cassie-ventura.com/alleyesonwho.com


Mathew Knowles is officially speaking out about the theft allegations that he says have caused a severe rift between he and his superstar daughter Beyonce.
Get the deets on why Pappy Knowles says industry folks (namely Jay-Z's company Roc Nation) have driven a wedge between he and his first born inside...
While a brand new pic of Beyonce in the studio working on Watch The Throne with her hubby Jay and Kanye just surfaced (above), Mathew Knowles is talking about his split with his eldest daughter.
Pops originally made it seem as though Beyonce firing him as manager was part of a larger business strategy on both their parts. But now, more details are leaking about the shakeup in the Beyonce brand, which Mat says has caused he and Bey to stop speaking.
Mathew recently filed papers in a Texas court alleging that members of Beyonce's camp, which includes Columbia Records, Live Nation and Roc Nation, have made "negative comments about [him]."
"We absolutely have not taken any money from Beyonce, and all dollars will be accounted for," he told The Associated Press. "In no way have we stole money. Again, this about the people who have made these claims — they have to come into the light."
Mathew says the culprits (Live Nation--who her hubby inked a serious multi-year deal with himself) convinced Beyonce to hire a law firm to audit her finances so they could drive and wedge between him and his daughter and take over her career.

He said Beyonce's current team is a hybrid of her old team and Roc nation's people. And Live Nation and Roc Nation have the most to gain from taking over her career. He also mentioned that since Beyonce has changed management, her new album has not produced any breakout singles, although it is selling well. He hints that maybe she is proving the power of radio is not needed to sell a record when you actually have talent.
He stressed to the AP, the reason for his lawsuit is to restore his professional integrity.
The Randomness:
1. Fans lash out after Lil' Kim is removed from Monica's latest single. Story.
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Usher, Jaden Smith, B.o.B, Janelle Monae and Lady Antebellum will also perform on February 13.
By Gil Kaufman
Justin Bieber and Usher
Photo: Kevin Mazur/ WireImage
While Willow Smith is the one who made music headlines with "Whip My Hair" last year, it's her brother, "Karate Kid" actor Jaden Smith, who will take the stage at the upcoming 53rd Grammy Awards in a special performance alongside Usher and Justin Bieber, with whom he collaborated on the song "Never Say Never" last summer.
The trio joins a list of new performers added to the show on Thursday (January 20) that will also include another power trifecta made up of B.o.B, Bruno Mars and Janelle Monáe, according to a press release from the Recording Academy announcing the additions to the February 13 telecast from the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Also taking the stage next month will be nominees Muse and Lady Antebellum. They will join a roster of previously announced performers that includes Eminem, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Arcade Fire, Cee Lo Green and Miranda Lambert. It will be the first time on the Grammy performance stage for Bieber, B.o.B, Lambert, Mars, Monáe, Muse and Smith. Eminem, Green, Gaga, Perry, Usher and Lady Antebellum will be making return visits for the occasion.
While 11-time Grammy winner Eminem leads the pack in nominations this year (with 10 nods), Mars has seven nominations, and Gaga and Lady Antebellum are not far behind with six nods each. B.o.B has notched five, Perry and Green are each up for four, and Arcade Fire and Lambert are vying for three awards. Bieber, Muse, Usher and Monáe are each nominated for two Grammys.
No details of the collaborative performances were released, but the Grammy announcement promised a rare, never-before-seen event for the Mars, B.o.B and Monáe segment.
With the addition of Antebellum, all five Album of the Year nominees (Eminem, Arcade Fire, Gaga, Perry) are now scheduled to perform on the show. Additional performers, presenters and special segments will be announced soon.
Which Grammy performance are you most looking forward to? Talk about it in the comments!
Related Photos Related ArtistsSource: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1656279/justin-bieber-bruno-mars-muse-added-grammy-show.jhtml

Lady Gaga can get away with wearing meat to the MTV Video Music Awards and giving birth to an alien race in a music video -- so what on earth did she do to get kicked off YouTube?
Little Monsters checking in with Gaga's video diary on Thursday were stunned to find her YouTube channel replaced by this message: This account has been suspended due to multiple or severe violations of YouTube's copyright policy. And just as she was on the edge of glory! What did Gaga do to offend the Google-owned video network?
According to Time Out Tokyo, Gaga's "severe violation" was posting her July 12 appearance on a Japanese TV show called SMAPxSMAP. The clip featured the singer performing a ten-minute medley of "The Edge of Glory," "Born This Way" and "You and I," with occasional Japan-themed interjections like, "You taste like sake when you kiss me!" At one point, she emerges from a box in a black dust mask; at another, she plays at a piano made of giant bejeweled hands. You know, typical Gaga. Unfortunately, the singer's management failed to secure the rights to the TV clip, provoking a copyright complaint by the overzealous copyright-protection group Media Interactive, Inc. (You'd think she'd have some copyright claim since it's her own music -- but perhaps not.) Gaga has yet to comment on the YouTube shutdown, though earlier this week, she tweeted about her appearance: "My performance+cooking show appearance on SMAP SMAP is airing now in Japan. Kawaii Monsters!" Fortunately, the rest of the week's Lady Gaga news is much happier. It was announced Thursday morning that her Monster Ball HBO concert special was nominated for five Emmys. ("I'm crying, so proud!" the singer tweeted.) A few hours later, Gaga informed fans that China was had lifted its ban on the sale of her album Born This Way. (China and other conservative nations had objected to the album's "pro-gay content.") "Our trip to Asia has been enlightening + promising," Gaga tweeted after announcing the news. "Stand strong!" We expect that YouTube will follow suit soon, and lift its own ban. After all, a YouTube without Lady Gaga would be sadder than a Twitter without Justin Bieber!Source: http://www.ivillage.com/lady-gaga-banned-youtube-0/1-a-364935
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