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Posts Tagged “trl”

dispatches from the trl front lines

Tokio Hotel: The Future Of Music, Whether You Like It Or Not


Watch this performance very closely, because it may contain clues as to what comes next in the "rock that sets the TRL contingent's dialing digitals aflame" pantheon. German band Tokio Hotel, who Kate had a run-in with a few months back, made their American TV debut yesterday, and if anything, they're instructive in the way that they're something of a MySpacian melting pot, visually: the Shotgun Messiah haircare aesthetics on the lead singer, the laid-back Abercrombie-bro style exhibited by that other guy, and the dreads worn by the lead singer's brother combine to turn the band's visual profile into some sort of ragtag comic-book army. And their shyness in interviews should serve as some sort of camouflage for an unrelenting musical assault, right? More »

5:15 PM on Wed May 7 2008
By Maura Johnston
1,458 views, 30 comments

Latest by n/a: I adore Tokio Hotel, but I know this performance was terrible. I cringed everytime the chorus started. But it's hardly their fault. Honestly, it's unfair judging Bill directly after vocal surgery. Pre-surgery shows were phenomenal. Their music may not be more »

Right now Flo "Don't Forget That The 'I' Is Long" Rida is on TRL performing his inescapable—and terrible—No. 1 song "Low," and not only is T-Pain not even there, dude was apparently rapping along with the track. Which would be fine, if a little embarrassingly low-tech, if not for the fact that he keeps falling behind his taped twin, and I'm pretty sure that at one point he just sorta gave up and let his DJ take over rapping duties. I'll admit that I probably wouldn't mind the trickery as much if the song wasn't such a piece of garbage. It's going to be No. 1 for the rest of the year, isn't it? Blegh. [TRL]

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I was completely serious about TRL only showing a video in its entirety because of "technical difficulties." (The video was Lil Mama's "G-Slide/Tour Bus," in case you're interested. Also, "Gimme More" was No. 9, for those of you who still care about the show's "countdown" aspect.) [TRL]

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Today's TRL is being shot in a smaller-than-usual studio, resulting in many moments that are almost as cramped/chaotic as the Video Music Awards (here come the flashbacks!); right now, three young ladies in the audience are getting ready to compete for the title of "Soulja Girl," and they started off by, as Kate put it, "standing up there sort of not talking directly to him but listing all his great qualities." It's like VH1's dating shows, only with training wheels (and vision-obstructing glasses). [TRL]

2 comments

dispatches from the trl front lines

Ashley Tisdale's Hot Mess Confuses Me To No End


Today's episode of TRL featured the MTV premiere of the above video, which is apparently High School Musical alumna Ashley Tisdale's attempt to break into the "grown-ups" market without having to subsequently send out apologies to her current fans. The video itself, while being visually boring, was actually pretty riveting TV, but for all the wrong reasons. More »

5:10 PM on Wed Sep 19 2007
By mjohnston
5,206 views, 21 comments

Contrary to Internet rumormongerers' reports from earlier today, Britney Spears' video for "Gimme More" will not be premiering during tomorrow's edition of TRL. Which will no doubt be great news for TNT, whose ratings for the Law & Order rerun scheduled for tomorrow at 3 p.m. ("Possession," 2001) should only go up up up on this news. [Extra]

1 comment

the center of attention

MTV Figures Out Surefire Way To Boost "TRL" Ratings

So apparently tomorrow's episode of TRL will feature the premiere of Britney Spears' "Gimme More" video, which was shot back in July and which is, according to a New York Times report last week, "gritty." If nothing else, this rumor will help encourage suckers people outside of the normal TRL demographic to tune into the show, which has been on the chopping block for most of the year thanks to very crummy ratings. More »

9:32 AM on Wed Sep 19 2007
By mjohnston
679 views, 2 comments

Because I can't seem to get enough MTV today, I'm subjecting Jess to TRL, which is on at 3:30 p.m. ET this week—then moving back to its summer time slot of 1 p.m. ET next week, or "just in time for the target demographic to be fully in the thick of school." So is this the beginning of the end for the show, or is MTV just reworking the show and targeting the always-desirable "unemployed layabout"/"easily distracted blogger" demographic? [MTV.com]

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The current TRL "Love It Or Hate It?" subject: Korn, whose new video uses that "let's use semi-animated shots of the band" trick that's apparently required of all bands with members older than 35 these days. Unfortunately, we can't see the live results, but we're thinking that might be so the band can save face before the clip never gets played on MTV again. [TRL]

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From the "finally, a focus group is useful for something" department: "Looks like MTV's "TRL" has won a reprieve. Sources say an interactive replacement for the show, "URL," failed so badly in tests that the daily countdown staple is off the chopping block for now." (Not that TRL is great, but come on, URL? In five years, it'd sound almost as silly as Modem MTV.) [NYDN, third item from bottom]

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It's "Bury The Music" day, in which the teenagers of America get to disown their Baha Men and Lou Bega CDs. (When it was announced yesterday, I thought it was going to involve a mass disposal of CD collections in favor of going completely digital—which would be much more of the moment than a weak "Mambo No. 5" joke.) Extra gas-face points to the guy who threw Eiffel 65 into the MTV-provided coffin, but sang a few bars of "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" before ditching his disc. [MTV.com]

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Today on TRL: Music videos, nay! A "viral" video of a fat guy falling off a chair, a contest in which bratty girls have fake Sweet 16-related tantrums, and a clip where the humor is based around the repeated saying of the word "vagina" by—not kidding—a fart, yay! Also: Aly and AJ are starting to reach Brooke Hogany levels of creepiness. [MTV.com]

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mtv

The New Name For "TRL" Is Making Us Want To Force-Quit

Just when we thought MTV was getting back to its senses, they have to go and do things like this: More »

5:30 PM on Mon Apr 30 2007
By mjohnston
429 views, 4 comments

trl

"TRL" Gets The "Live" Sucked Out Of It

During the mass bloodletting at MTV last month, Christina Norman sent out a memo stressing that afternoon countdown show TRL would continue to air, although it would "operate more efficiently downstairs." What did that mean, we wondered? Well, now we know: More »

6:13 PM on Tue Mar 20 2007
By mjohnston
665 views, 4 comments

mtv

MTV's Post-Layoff Shakeout: Screaming Teenagers Will Continue To Clog Up Times Square Foot Traffic

Our friends at Gawker got their hands on MTV President Christina Norman's post-layoffs memo, in which she outlines strategies for the network's outlets in this new, leaner era. Highlights: TRL isn't going anywhere, although it will "operate more efficiently downstairs"; the MTV News and MTV Online News departments have been consolidated; and MTV2, despite having its operations combined with MTV, will remain "packed 24 hours a day with the music and shows that its young male viewers love." What that means for you: Those 3 a.m. blocks of videos that your TiVo picks up every so often will still be there, at least for now. More »

1:22 PM on Fri Feb 16 2007
By mjohnston
402 views, Comment

trl

"TRL" Phone Lines May Have Their Minutes Cut Back

This week's layoffs at MTV Networks have only heightened rumors that call-in show TRL is close to the chopping block: More »

5:16 PM on Thu Feb 15 2007
By mjohnston
240 views, 8 comments

trl

Is "TRL" Getting Ready For Its Final Countdown?

Right now, Fall Out Boy is on TRL, MTV's daily countdown show; they're counting down their 10 favorite videos, which include "Thriller" and "Parents Just Don't Understand." It's part of what MTV is calling its "A-List Playlist" week—American Idol runner-up Katherine McPhee took over countdown duties yesterday—but given all the recent buzz about TRL's low ratings and candidacy for the MTV chopping block, we're wondering if this isn't the network's way of letting its long-running viewer countdown show run out the clock gracefully. Any tips or final-show timetables can be sent to the usual address, so we know when to throw up our Total Request No Longer Live headline. More »

4:15 PM on Tue Feb 6 2007
By mjohnston
552 views, 9 comments

Latest by antistar: Music really took a downturn when this show debuted. TRL is one of the main reasons why we had to deal with years of boy bands and teeny bopper vixens. Good riddance. more »