Michael Jackson Doctor Conrad Murray's Trial To Be Televised

Judge rules that camera will be allowed in the courtroom for manslaughter case.
By Gil Kaufman


Conrad Murray
Photo: AFP/ Getty Images

For what promises to be one of the most bizarre and riveting legal proceedings in years, a Los Angeles judge ruled on Monday that a television camera will be allowed in the courtroom when Michael Jackson's doctor goes on trial for involuntary manslaughter.

Reuters reported that Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor, approved the presence of a camera in the trial of Dr. Conrad Murray as long as it does not interfere with the proceedings in the closely watched case.

The judge asked for the "absolute least-intrusive placement" of a TV camera in the courtroom, but blocked cameras from documenting jury selection.

Pastor also announced that he would bump up the opening date of the trail by four days to March 24, at which point jury selection will begin. Murray, who faces up to four years in prison if convicted, has pleaded not guilty to the charges, and the trial is expected to last around six weeks.

Cardiologist Murray was hired to be Jackson's personal physician in the run-up to the King of Pop's planned 50-date comeback series of shows at London's O2 arena in the summer of 2009. The doctor told police that he provided Jackson, 50, with sedatives and the surgical anesthetic propofol in order to combat the singer's chronic insomnia. He said he did so on the morning of June 25, 2009, when Jackson died of what a coroner deemed acute propofol poisoning.

TMZ reported on Tuesday (February 8) that Murray's lawyers plan to argue that Jackson was already in weak health before he died and that it's unfair to blame propofol for his passing. Unnamed sources close to the case told the gossip site that at the time of his death, Jackson's body was already failing him in part because concert promoter AEG Live had "driven [him] over the edge" with a rigorous rehearsal schedule for the shows.

Murray's lawyers reportedly plan to call witnesses to say that Jackson was not showing up for rehearsals and when he did he showed "clear signs" of frail health. They also reportedly plan to argue that it was Jackson who administered the final, fatal dose of propofol to himself while Murray was out of the room.

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Lady Gaga To Perform On 'Saturday Night Live'

Sources tell MTV News she'll appear alongside Justin Timberlake on May 7.
By Jocelyn Vena


Lady Gaga
Photo: Tom Briglia/ WireImage

When Justin Timberlake returns to host "Saturday Night Live" next month, none other than Lady Gaga will join him as musical guest during the May 7 show. A source confirmed the booking to MTV News, though no official confirmation has come though from "SNL" reps.

Gaga last appeared on the show in October 2009 in what went down as one very memorable episode. Gaga and Madonna poked fun at pop-star rivalries during the sketch "Deep House Dish," where they had a catfight and nearly kissed.

That night, Gaga performed two songs: a high-concept take on "Paparazzi" and a piano-driven performance of her dance track "LoveGame." She later appeared in a sketch alongside Andy Samberg, when both of them wore her famous bubble dress.

Being that this latest appearance comes just as Gaga is dropping her May 23 album release Born This Way, there's a good chance she'll perform lead singles "Born This Way" and "Judas." Or, as she's known to do, she might just dazzle fans with a brand-new track.

This is the latest promotional appearance announced for the album, including a May 27 appearance on "Good Morning America" that will kick off the show's summer concert series and the May 7 premiere of Gaga's highly anticipated HBO special, which was taped at New York's Madison Square Garden in February. She also just wrapped up work on her video for "Judas," though no date has been set for its release.

What are you expecting from Gaga's return trip to "SNL"? Let us know in the comments!

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Daniel Radcliffe Admires Lady Gaga's 'Outspoken' Gay Rights Advocacy

'Deathly Hallows' star tells MTV News, 'She has a slightly more flamboyant way of putting her point across.'
By Terri Schwartz, with reporting by Josh Horowitz


Daniel Radcliffe
Photo: MTV News

"Harry Potter" star Daniel Radcliffe has been one of the most active celebrities showing their support for the LGBT community, and his continued efforts on behalf of the Trevor Project has earned him a Hero Award. MTV News caught up with Radcliffe recently and talk turned to his affiliation with the gay rights/ civil liberties causes, so we asked if he'd ever come into contact with another passionate supporter: Lady Gaga. His response wasn't quite what was expected.

"No, never, although my mom and dad, bizarrely, went to her concert," Radcliffe said with a laugh. "Like, my parents at a Lady Gaga concert, which I just think is the coolest, oddest thing ... they're ahead of me on most things pop culture."

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Dimmu Borgir Release Live DVD; Plus Led Zeppelin, Brujeria, & More News That Rules, In Metal File

'It shows the intense live side of the band, as opposed to the perfection and the cleanness of how we sound on our albums,' guitarist says.
By Chris Harris


Dimmu Borgir's Silenoz
Photo: Nuclear Blast

On October 14, Dimmu Borgir — who just happen to be Demi Lovato's favorite black-metal band — will release a a three-disc DVD/CD set called "The Invaluable Darkness," the band's first visual offering since 2002's "World Misanthropy." Boasting live footage shot last year, during gigs in Norway, Germany and England, "The Invaluable Darkness" demonstrates the unbridled furor of seeing Dimmu live, guitarist Silenoz said.

"It shows the honest rawness and atmospheric darkness of our concerts," the Norwegian told Metal File last week, after dismissing recent online rumors that his band's next LP would be coming out through Roadrunner Records. "Basically, it shows the intense live side of the band, as opposed to the perfection and the cleanness of how we sound on our albums. It's just a different side to the band, basically."

Dimmu Borgir began thinking about "The Invaluable Darkness" two years ago, but didn't start capturing footage until last summer, Silenoz explained, adding that the band will use its current stint on the Blackest of the Black Tour — which got underway Thursday night in Miami Beach, Florida, and also features the tour's founder, Danzig, along with Moonspell, Winds of Plague and Skeletonwitch — to promote the DVD. Dimmu Borgir will not, however, use the tour to write material for their next LP.

"It's our first time on Blackest, but Glenn [Danzig] had wanted to bring us out before [on the tour], but we weren't available until now," Silenoz said. "We've done Ozzfest before, but we're looking forward to this tour more. We did the main stage on Ozzfest, playing in f--_ing broad daylight. This tour will let us play in bigger places, but at the same time showcase more of what the band's about, visually. We are going to concentrate on the tour for now. Some years ago, we tried putting [material] together on the road, but once we got home, we listened back to it, and were like, 'What the f--- is this?' So, we just scrapped it all. We find it's so much better to totally focus on one thing at a time, and then, when that's over, you move on to the next [thing]. We don't really feel like we need to rush things, anyway, so we'll just take our time, and it's going to be what it's going to be."

Dimmu Borgir hope to reconvene in late December to begin writing the follow-up to 2007's diabolically titled In Sorte Diaboli. "We have some ideas floating around already, but we haven't arranged any material yet," he said. "We'll start doing that once the touring for this DVD is over." The band's frontman, Shagrath, is also due to marry soon — he's engaged to actor Nicolas Cage's ex-girlfriend, Christina Fulton, so that may have an effect on when Dimmu finish their next album, which Silenoz said could be out this coming spring.

"I'm sure [Shagrath] won't let anything get in the way [of] the band — I think, I hope," the guitarist said. "We don't need a Yoko [Ono] situation."

While Dimmu have been at it going on 15 years now, Silenoz said he doesn't think their forthcoming material will be much of a departure from their previous black-metal offerings.

"And we have always been about more than just that term, 'black metal,' " he said. "Luckily for us, the older you get, the less concerned you get with the categorization and putting labels on your music. Things start getting more and more limitless with us, and we know that we operate within certain frames. But we try not to analyze things too much, because it's just going to be working against you in the end. When we write new stuff, we don't think about what we should write — we just get together, and put material together, and if we like it, we keep it. That's the formula, if we even have a formula."

Dimmu Borgir are definitely getting older — guitarist Galder will be missing Blackest because of a recent addition to his family, and Susperia's Cyrus will be filling in for him; while former Vader drummer Dariusz Brzozowski takes over for Hellhammer, who had to leave the band in 2007 after sustaining a neck injury that's now limited the use of his right arm. As Dimmu has gotten on in years, Silenoz admits they have failed to keep pace with some of the more extreme black-metal acts that have followed in their wake.

"We helped open doors for the more extreme bands out there," Silenoz said. "I'm sure we helped open doors for bands like Watain, [insomuch as] people that had maybe started listening to us first then went on to the more extreme stuff. Let's face it — we're not as extreme as Watain and other bands like that, but we're fine with that."

The Blackest of the Black Tour continues through November 10 in San Francisco.

The rest of the week's metal news:

Dimmu's tourmates on Blackest, Winds of Plague, have announced ex-Azusa drummer Art Cruz has joined their ranks — he replaced Jeff Tenney. According to the band's blog, "Art has already added a new spark to the band and has provided us with a solid backbone that will allow us to continue our rampage stronger than ever." ...

What the world really needs is another Led Zeppelin box set, so, on November 4, Rhino Records will issue the Led Zeppelin Definitive Collection Mini LP Replica CD box set. For just $200, you'll get 1969's Led Zeppelin, 1969's Led Zeppelin II, 1970's Led Zeppelin III, 1971's Led Zeppelin IV, 1973's Houses of the Holy, 1975's Physical Graffiti, 1976's Presence, 1976's The Song Remains the Same, 1979's In Through the Out Door and 1982's Coda, as mini-LP replicas, with artwork from the original U.K. LP sleeves. Now, you know what you can get your dad for Christmas. ...

Former Killswitch Engage frontman Jesse Leach and current Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz have teamed up for a new project they're calling Times of Grace, and they've already started working on material for their debut album. According to Leach, "We have two songs to go and we will be finished with all of the vocals. Adam has taken lead vocals in three songs as of yet and he is doing a great job. We also worked on a track yesterday that is so epic — we trade vocals and do two different melodies at the same time. This album went from a melodic metal album to an epic mix of metal/rock/pop/shoegaze and punk. So all of your metal expectations will be incorrect — we are pushing genre boundaries." To quote "Meet the Parents," we'll look forward to that, Greg. ...

The Funeral Pyre and Early Graves will be hitting the road together next month, starting November 7 in South Lake Tahoe, California. Dates are booked through November 21 in Hollywood. ...

The latest incarnation of Brujeria, which features Carcass frontman Jeff Walker and Napalm Death's Shane Embury, have lined up several U.S. dates for this winter. The band will begin its brief trek November 28 in Denver, and wrap things up in Dallas on December 7. ... Demiricous will be touring with the Gates of Slumber starting November 9 in Denver, for a jaunt that's scheduled to run through December 6 in Indianapolis. ...

Nearly three years after Roadrunner Records' Roadrunner United concert, which took over the Nokia Theater in New York's Times Square, the label is now releasing footage from that special night as "Roadrunner United: The Concert." The DVD, which hits stores December 9, will boast two discs and 24 live tracks, including Life of Agony's "River Runs Red," King Diamond's "Abigail," Killswitch's "My Last Serenade," Type O Negative's "Black No. 1" and Sepultura's "Refuse/Resist." ...

According to Blabbermouth, Verrot, bassist for Swedish black-metal outfit Elimi, committed suicide on October 3. In a statement, the band said, "Verrot was a very good friend, brother, an excellent bass player/musician and an important part of Elimi; we respect his decision and hope he'll find his way with the dark gods of Chaos. Let your black flame be a part of what brings forth the day of wrath."

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Usher To Donate Gadhafi Money To Charity

'I will be donating all of my personal proceeds...to various human rights organizations,' singer says of concert linked to Libyan dictator.
By Shawn Adler


Usher (file)
Photo: Getty Images

R&B superstar Usher announced Friday (March 4) that he was donating to various charities proceeds from appearing at a private event at St. Barts linked to Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, according to a statement made to the Associated Press.

The Grammy award winner's renouncement comes after similar announcements from singers Mariah Carey, Nelly Furtado, and Beyoncé, all of whom were revealed to have performed at private concerts linked to the Middle Eastern leader, who has faced open revolt and major political uprisings since February.

"I am sincerely troubled to learn about the circumstances surrounding the Nikki Beach St. Bart's event that took place on New Year's Eve 2009," Usher said of the concert, at which he appeared alongside Beyoncé but did not perform. "I will be donating all of my personal proceeds from that event to various human rights organizations."

Usher has already begun the process, having made a donation to Amnesty International, the AP reports. The exact size of the donation is not known.

The New Year's Eve gig was reportedly for Moammar's fourth son Muastassim, who an unnamed music industry source told MTV News has a history of throwing lavish parties "jammed" with supermodels.

Beyoncé, who sang at the event, donated all proceeds from her performance to the Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund, established in the wake of the Haitian earthquake.

"All monies paid to Beyoncé for her performance at a private party at Nikki Beach St. Barts on New Year's Eve 2009, including the commissions paid to her booking agency, were donated to the earthquake relief efforts for Haiti over a year ago," the "Halo" singer's publicist said in a statement to The Huffington Post. "Once it became known that the third-party promoter was linked to the Qaddafi family, the decision was made to put that payment to a good cause."

Singer Nelly Furtado tweeted February 28 that she plans to make similar amends.

"In 2007, I received 1million$ from the Gadhafi clan to perform a 45 min. show for guests at a hotel in Italy," she tweeted. "I am going to donate the $."

The leader of Libya since a successful military coup in 1969, Gadhafi has reportedly lost control of much of his country as a result of widespread uprisings. The United Nations voted unanimously to refer the dictator to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.

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Coldplay, Led Zeppelin Album Covers Featured On New British Stamps

Album art from Pink Floyd, Blur and David Bowie also included.
By James Montgomery


Coldplay's new British stamps
Photo: Royal Mail

On Thursday (January 7), the U.K.'s Royal Mail unveiled a series of 10 new stamps, honoring the most iconic album covers of the past 40 years.

The albums featured in the new series are the Rolling Stones' Let It Bleed, Led Zeppelin's IV, David Bowie's The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells, The Clash's London Calling, New Order's Power, Corruption and Lies, Primal Scream's Screamadelica, Pink Floyd's The Division Bell, Blur's Parklife and — the most recent album on to make the cut — Coldplay's A Rush of Blood to the Head.

Meant to honor "the most potent graphic images of modern times, many of which have provided a visual soundtrack to people's lives," the series is the end result of a lengthy research process by the Royal Mail, who looked through thousands of album covers by British artists before deciding on the final list. And, during a Wednesday night BBC Radio broadcast, it was revealed that the queen herself actually approved each design.

Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page — who helped design the cover for IV — was on hand to celebrate the release of the stamps and recalled the mysterious nature of the album's iconic imagery.

"Almost 40 years after the album came out, nobody knows the old man who featured on the cover, nor the artist who painted him," he said. "That sort of sums up what we wanted to achieve with the album cover, which has remained both anonymous and enigmatic at the same time."

Of course, any great honor is befitting of an equally great contest, so, on the same day the stamps were made available to the general public, Coldplay decided to give one of their Rush of Blood stamps away. In a message on their official site, the band held a contest to send one lucky fan "a letter using a Coldplay stamp, postmarked with today's issue date."

"We visited our local post office earlier today and bought some of the Coldplay stamps," the message read. "Very nice they are too."

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