Every now and then, having a Chinese IP address actually works out in our favor. We thought we'd point out that the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards is currently available for streaming in its entirety on Youku! The popularity contest took place at L.A.'s Nokia Theatre on Sunday night, and garnered the highest ever ratings in the show's history. A who's who of the world's most distributed artists were on hand, including Lady Gaga showing off as her skeezy Tony Clifton-esque persona Jo Calderone, performing a rendition of Yoü and I with Brian May of Queen. Later, Gaga/Calderone nearly kissed Britney "I'm Still Here!" Spears when presenting the former princess of teen-pop with a Video Vanguard Award. If you want your fill of pregnant Beyonce, Kanye and Jay-Z duets and Amy Winehouse tributes, click here now! NOTE: Due to licensing issues, the video is available only for those physically or virtually in mainland China. more ›

According to a presentation by MTV about youth and social networking in Asia, China is the only country where people actually have more ONLINE friends than offline friends. We guess that's not so surprising coming from the Land of 1,000 Internet Addiction Camps, but it still makes us want to go all Ogre on these kids. NERDS!! more ›

Back when we were wee little children, we watched Nickelodeon's Guts with the same fanaticism our Gen-X uncles had for American Gladiators. The show, which pits kids against kids in a competitive sports arena was great for its messiness, its "safe" violence, and its schadenfreude (when that girl who looks a lot like the annoying kid in your math class falls off the giant yoga mat pyramid onto her face. ha!). We've grown up now, but we're happy to hear that millions of Chinese youth will be getting a taste of the childhood we remember - MTV's international division will be bringing Guts to China. Called 挑战小勇士 (tiaozhan xiaoyongshi), it'll allow Chinese kids their shot at athletic glory and humiliation on a giant foamy set, something the adults have been allowed to do for a while now. Source: Hollywood Reporter more ›

If, as Chuck D said, "Rap music is CNN for black people," then Yo! MTV Raps was the unofficial News at Ten. more ›

Ex-convict/drunk driver/pornstar Heiress/socialite/singer/designer Paris Hilton — fresh from her modelling gig with Fila Sportswear in Seoul — is now in Shanghai for the first time to attend Friday's 2007 MTV Awards and Style Gala at the Shanghai Grand Stage. Apparently, she didn't think the Hilton hotel would make her feel at home here, so she decided to check into the Grand Hyatt at the Jinmao instead. Shanghai Daily, believe it or not, has the scoop:... more ›

Back in the late 1980s, we were of the opinion that the Oaktown (Oakland, California, USA) was a fetid, hopeless, de-industrialized, white-flight created shit-hole, but all of that was changed sometime around 1990 with the arrival of Oakland native MC Hammer onto the music scene. If America had gorged itself during a whole decade on the fashion excesses of pop stars, Hammer was like the long belch after the meal, but even if we had to squint and shield our eyes whenever MC Hammer was on MTV, before long, sparkle shirts, parachute pants, baggy suits, and spandex shorts with suspenders—standard issue Hammer wear—became firmly etched in American pop culture history, and in retrospect, we can say we are the better for it. more ›

As the world holds it's breath, teetering precariously on the cusp of the Super Bowl (well, at least in America), the wheels of the -ists keep on turning. more ›

Local police said the lecture was "unacceptable", the newspaper said. more ›

So everyone is reporting what we warned you about. Here's what the AP said: more ›

We admittedly don't know much about Robbie Williams' music -- we lived a sheltered existence in the United States from 1973 to 2002 -- but we do know the guy is huge (as in a huge megastar ... not in any other way ... as far as we know). We also know he is coming to Shanghai on November 4 -- and that show also will be huge. Some 26,000 people are expected to pack Hongkou Stadium. That's not too shabby. Earlier this year, we called the Black Eyed Peas playing Shanghai a "historic moment" because they were the first major contemporary foreign act at the height of their celebrity to stage a show in the city. Scratch that. This is the historic moment. more ›

You know who's going to be upset about those Bikini Bandits? The Houston school system. Houstonist also reports on some redevelopment shenanigans over a landmark theater. more ›

Fans of rap and hip-hop, take this down: Jay-Z is coming to Shanghai. Probably. The Grammy-winning rapper reportedly will be performing at the Hongkou Soccer Stadium on Monday, October 23, as part of a tour that will also see him making stops in Taipei and Seoul, according to Shanghai Daily. more ›

UPDATE: Show canceled? more ›

Torontoist (where it's 75 degrees F as of this writing) is keeping things cool this summer, nudity and blood optional. Less cool are the comments in this post about a hipster auctioning off crap so she can buy a house. And no summer would be complete without the twin guilty pleasures of crap dining and crap TV: get them both with Torontoist's interview with "Rockstar: Supernova" star Lucas Rossi and a look at the safety ratings of some of Toronto's favorite greasy spoons. more ›

GigShanghai: I-GO, Jewish rock and the F-word more ›

Doors open at 9 pm and it's "ladies night" at bonbon, so all the girls get in free and get one free drink before 11 pm. (Don't they know girls ain't nothin' but trouble?) Standard drinks are 25 kuai. We would assume there is a cover for the guys, but it's not clear on the poster. Someone said it could be RMB 40. more ›

San Francisco is proud host of a new reality show called How to Get the Guy that's unfortunately not a descendant of Will and Grace, Queer Eye, The L Word, American Idol etc. Also a biodefence lab is coming to the East Bay and SFist teaches wine pairing. more ›

Shanghaiist, admittedly, isn't much of a museum goer. While we can spend hours wandering the galleries at 50 Moganshan Lu, we have yet to set foot in that big famous museum in People's Square. We blame our short attention span on MTV. But when we do find a museum we like, we'll tell you about it. And this weekend we were thoroughly impressed by the little-known Shanghai Post Museum, which opened on January 1. more ›

LTJ Bukem and MC Conrad, drum and bass DJs more ›

Bored of the same old over-priced and pretentious crap that seemingly dominates Shanghai’s nightlife scene? Then a new event kicking off on Saturday could be right up your street. more ›

She's got some guy with her, too. Can't tell who it is because of the sunglasses. But who cares? Katie Holmes is in Shanghai! The mystery man with Holmes must be kind of well known, however. It's been reported that he is trying to keep a low profile -- not easy when you have a 20-person entourage and your own six-car fleet. The man, who looks to be quite a bit older than Holmes, is said to have a taste for gay men Sichuan food, so much that he spent 5,000 yuan at a Sichuan place on Yan'an Lu (is that even possible?). Holmes and her beau are staying at the Four Seasons and have visited Yu Yuan and 3 on the Bund. Tomorrow night they are expected to hit the Shanghai Grand Stage for the 2005 MTV Style Gala. After Shanghai, Holmes will head to Xitang, an old water town in Zhejiang, which has been shut down for the filming of some movie. Reportedly, Xitang will receive 100 million yuan for its trouble. We're sure much of that will trickle down to the people who need it most. more ›