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A shade under nine million viewers tuned into this year’s MTV Video Music Awards, meaning that the VMAs’ largest television audience since 2004 tuned in to see Kanye West steal the spotlight from Taylor Swift. Of course, also helping MTV to their best ratings in years was news that Janet Jackson would star in a tribute to her brother Michael at New York’s Radio City Music Hall, while the trailer for the upcoming documentary for Jackson’s This Is It was also premiered. In addition to the 8.97 million viewers, the VMAs’ also became the Number One cable program this year for the much-desired 12-34 demographic, Variety reports.

Photos: The 2009 MTV Video Music Awards’s Memorable Moments

Viewers were up six percent compared to the VMAs, something that seems even more impressive when you factor in what the 2009 broadcast was up against: The opening Sunday of the NFL season, tennis’ U.S. Open and the season finale of True Blood, which probably sapped some of the audience eagerly awaiting the VMA’s debut of the New Moon trailer. By comparison, the 2006 Video Music Awards, the last time the show was staged at Radio City Music Hall, claimed only 5.76 million viewers. (more…)

Two days after becoming the victim of Kanye West’s stage intrusion at the MTV Video Music Awards, Taylor Swift appeared on today’s episode of The View to talk about what was going through her mind as Kanye hijacked her acceptance speech for Best Female Video. “I think my overall thought process went something like: ‘Wow, I can’t believe I won… This is awesome… Don’t trip and fall… I’m gonna get to thank the fans, this is so cool… Oh, Kanye West is here!’,” Swift told the ladies on The View, “‘Cool haircut… What are you doing there? And then, Ouch. And then, I guess I’m not gonna be able to thank the fans.’ ” (Watch Swift recount the moment in the clip above).

VMAs 2009: look back at the big show’s memorable moments.

Swift was reportedly in tears backstage after the infamous moment, but the VMAs schedule forced her to make a quick recovery. “I’m not gonna say that I wasn’t riled by it. I had to perform live five minutes later, so I had to get myself back to the place where I could perform,” Swift said, adding that she was overwhelmed by the amount of support she received in the moments after the incident. (the subway part of her performance was pre-taped, but Swift sang live outside the venue atop a taxi the night of the Awards.) “There were a lot of people around me backstage that were saying really incredible things and just having my back. And all the other artists that came and showed me love in the hours following it, and all the people tweeting about it and all the fans… I just never imagined that there were that many people out there looking out for me, so it was really wonderful to see that people were out there defending me so I didn’t have to.” (more…)

Photo: NBC

Since Jay Leno announced the first-ever musical guest on his new The Jay Leno Show would be Jay-Z with Rihanna and Kanye West a few weeks ago, anticipation has been building for what was to be the “Umbrella” star’s return to the spotlight — her first major televised appearance since she was assaulted by then-boyfriend Chris Brown in February.

But all eyes were on Leno tonight for an unexpected reason: Kanye West. After igniting a firestorm of controversy by invading the MTV Video Music Awards stage last night to protest Beyoncé’s loss of Best Female Video to Taylor Swift, West spent most of the day uncharacteristically under the radar, posting an apology on his blog in which he said he felt as awkward as Ben Stiller in Meet the Parents. On Leno, West was greeted by cheers. He apologized, called his actions on the VMAs “rude,” and vowed to take time off to address personal problems that may have led to his unexpected rant.

Photos: The 2009 VMAs
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Photo: Mazur/WireImage

Kanye West wasn’t the only one to crash the Radio City Music Hall stage at the Video Music Awards; he was just the loudest. As we reported in our live blog last night, Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’ performance of The Blueprint 3’s “Empire State of Mind” was hijacked in its closing seconds by “Lip Gloss” aficionado and America’s Best Dance Crew judge Lil Mama. We’re still not entirely sure why Lil Mama came onstage — perhaps she wanted to take the mic and express her disappointment that Jigga opted for “Empire” instead of “Off That,” or stage-crashing has become the equivalent of streaking at a baseball game ̬ but Mama issued a statement today through her publicist explaining her actions, MTV reports.

“I did not mean any disrespect towards Jay-Z or Alicia Keys,” Lil Mama said in the statement. “I admire them and look up to them as role models. ‘Empire State of Mind’ had my emotions running high. In that moment I came up onstage to celebrate my two icons singing about NY.” (more…)

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Despite the recession, there was no shortage of VMAs afterparties in New York City last night. In fact, many of the show’s biggest names converged on a four-block radius surrounding 14th Street and 10th avenue, the same area where Courtney Love played an impromptu set on Saturday night for designer Alex Wang at a Fashion Week party held at the corner gas station.

2009 VMAs: relive the night’s big moments, in photos.

But on Sunday night, it was all about Lady Gaga turning heads in her umpteenth costume change of the night (we lost count after five).
Arriving at Avenue in a limo with bestie Perez Hilton, the Best New Artist winner incited a mad crush of autograph seekers. Wearing an
all-white ensemble (sans underwear) that she described as “Minnie Mouse’s wedding,” Gaga dedicated the evening’s dramatic performance of “Paparazzi” to her fans. “I wanted to say something honest and real and not just give a performance where I was jacking off on stage the whole time about my record,” she said. “It was really for my fans, who I knew would be at home cheering and swooning.” Inside the club, Gaga was joined by Katy Perry, Russell Brand, Keri Hilson, Kristin Cavalleri and Soulja Boy.

Get an eyeful of Lady Gaga’s zaniest outfits. (more…)

Photo: Mazur/WireImage

Kanye West took to his blog once again today to apologize to Taylor Swift in a short, uncharacteristically lower-case post that referenced his outburst in the middle of Swift’s acceptance speech for Best Female Video at last night’s MTV Video Music Awards. “I feel like Ben Stiller in Meet the Parents when he messed up everything and Robert DeNiro asked him to leave…,” Kanye writes. “That was Taylor’s moment and I had no right in any way to take it from her. I am truly sorry.”

Look back at the 2009 VMAs most memorable moments.

As Rolling Stone reported, West posted an all-caps apology to Swift on his blog last night, though it wasn’t a total mea culpa (his “apology” essentially reiterated what West said on the VMAs stage: “I’m in the wrong for going on stage and taking away from her moment!… Beyonce’s video was the best of this decade!”) The original post featuring Kanye’s apology generated such a traffic jam that his blog ultimately crashed, and when it finally came back online, the apology had been erased. (more…)

Now that Kanye West’s latest outburst is behind us, what else happened at the MTV Video Music Awards last night? Oh yeah, there were (planned) dramatic performances, a fashion faux pas or two and — surprisingly — a rather tame second-time bow by host Russell Brand. Think you saw it all? Read on for a glimpse of what they didn’t show on TV:

Other than Lady Gaga’s impending appearance, which everyone anticipated would raise eyebrows, the talk of the red carpet was evenly split between Michael Jackson worship and New Moon curiosity. Of the latter, Death Cab For Cutie’s Nick Harmer offered some insight into “Meet Me on the Equinox,” a song the band is contributing to the second Twilight soundtrack. “We didn’t watch a scene for the film and write a song based on that scene,” he explained. “It was more about finding the right song from some we had put aside to gestate or save for a future album, then looking over the themes of the books and polishing. It certainly fits the overall tone of [New Moon].”

Check out the All-American Rejects’ impressive VMAs arrival — and go behind the scenes of their marching band rehearsals — here:

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Last night’s VMAs ceremony featured Madonna and Janet Jackson’s tributes to the King of Pop, the This Is It trailer and Lady Gaga’s strangest costumes yet, but as soon as the lights dimmed at Radio City Music Hall, all everyone wanted to talk about was Kanye West’s outburst during Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech. Dozens of celebrities flocked to their Twitters and blogs in support of Swift, and three-time VMA winner Kelly Clarkson sat down to write a scathing open letter to the rapper.

Relive VMAs’ ’09’s memorable moments, in photos.

“I’ve seen you do some pretty shitty things, but you just keep amazing me with your tactless, asshole ways. It’s absolutely fascinating how much I don’t like you. I like everyone. I even like my asshole ex that cheated on me over you… which is pretty odd since I don’t even personally know you,” Clarkson wrote on her IAmKelly blog. (more…)

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Since Kanye West got to do most of the talking during Taylor Swift’s aborted acceptance speech for Best Female Video, the country darling popped into the press room at the end of the night to talk about her eventful evening at MTV’s Video Music Awards.

Her first reaction to seeing West join her onstage at Radio City Music Hall? “I was really excited, because I had just won the award. And then I was really excited because Kanye West was onstage,” she said. “And then I wasn’t so excited anymore after that.”

Though she admits she was a fan of West’s music in the past, Swift said she had never met the MC before, “and I don’t want to start anything because I had a great night tonight.” Rolling Stone has learned that backstage, when Swift’s mother approached West, the MC gave a half-hearted apology in which he added he still thought Beyoncé’s video was superior.

Look back at all the 2009 VMAs’ most memorable moments.

Though she held her tongue rather than slam West, Swift wasn’t short with her praise for Beyoncé, who invited Swift onstage to deliver her acceptance speech while thanking the crowd for her own Moonman, for Video of the Year. (Check out all the VMAs winners.) (more…)

Photo: Mazur/AEG via Getty Images
The trailer for This Is It — the documentary capturing rehearsal footage for what would have been Michael Jackson’s epic return to the stage — premiered as the finale of the 2009 Video Music Awards. It was a spectacular preview of what fans can expect to see October 28th when the film hits theaters for a two week engagement. “This is an adventure, a great adventure,” Jackson says of his show in the two-in-a-half-minute trailer. “We want to take them places that they’ve never before. We want to show them a time that they’ve never seen before.” In case you missed it, the trailer has been posted on the ThisIsIt-Movie.com site. (more…)

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With all the buzz surrounding Madonna’s surprise tribute to Michael Jackson and Kanye West’s stage invasion during Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech, it’s almost easy to forget MTV gave out a few trophies during tonight’s live broadcast of the Video Music Awards. Here’s the full list of honorees who walked off with Moonmen. (Plus, catch up on all our VMAs coverage here.)

Video of the Year:
Beyoncé, “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)” (more…)

Photo: Kravitz/FilmMagic

Kanye West pledged to keep his ego in check, but as he demonstrated at the 2009 VMAs, if Kanye has something to say, he’s going to say it. He made headlines tonight by rushing the stage during Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech, hijacking her big moment to complain Beyoncé hadn’t won the Moonman for Best Female Video.

Of course, this isn’t the first time Kanye has stormed a VMA stage because he didn’t like the results inside the envelope. At the 2006 MTV Europe Music Awards in Denmark, West crashed the stage after his “Touch The Sky” lost to Justice Vs. Simian’s “We Are Your Friends.” “Oh hell no, you guys won already. Share the wealth. Fuck this,” West said after coming uninvited onstage, mic already in hand, during Simian’s acceptance speech. “This video cost a million dollars!” (more…)

Photo: Mazur/WireImage

Twilight stars Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner and Kristen Stewart took the VMAs stage tonight to debut an extended trailer for the upcoming The Twilight Saga: New Moon — “a first look at a movie we’ve been working on for months,” said Pattinson.

Q&A with Robert Pattinson: “There’s only so much adoration you can take.”

The trailer offers a look at the darker sequel to last year’s blockbuster, which details what happens when Pattinson’s vampire hunk Edward leaves his girlfriend, the mortal Bella (played by Stewart), who in turn looks to Lautner’s character, the human-turned-werewolf Jacob. (more…)

Photo: Lovekin/FilmMagic

Madonna surprised MTV’s VMAs tonight by opening the show with a long speech about Michael Jackson that was followed by a performance by Janet Jackson. The show closed with a spectacular look at This Is It, the film assembled from Jackson’s concert rehearsals. Read Madonna’s entire tribute here:

Michael Jackson. [Cheers] I have a little bit more to say than that. OK, here we go again. Michael Jackson was born in August 1958. So was I. Michael Jackson grew up in the suburbs of the Midwest. So did I. Michael Jackson had eight brothers and sisters. So do I. When Michael Jackson was six, he became a superstar, and was perhaps the world’s most beloved child. When I was six, my mother died. I think he got the shorter end of the stick. I never had a mother, but he never had a childhood. And when you never get to have something, you become obsessed by it.

I spent my childhood searching for my mother figures. Sometimes I was successful, but how do you recreate your childhood when you are under the magnifying glass of the world? (more…)

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Leave it to Kanye West to produce one of the most infamous moments in VMAs history before the 2009 show was even an hour old. It happened after Taylor Swift’s victory in the Best Female Video category for “You Belong With Me,” which beat out Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It).” Just moments after Swift accepted the Moonman and began her acceptance speech, West stormed the stage, taking the microphone from Swift to announce Beyoncé deserved the award.

VMAs 2009 in photos: Kanye’s stage invasion, Madonna pays tribute to MJ and more.

“Thank you so much!” Swift began. “I always dreamed about what it would be like to maybe win one of these some day, but I never actually thought it would have happened. I sing country music so thank you so much for giving me a chance to win a VMA award.”

Before she could continue, West broke in. “Yo Taylor, I’m really happy for you, I’ll let you finish, but Beyoncé has one of the best videos of all time. One of the best videos of all time!” Kanye shouted to a mortified Swift and the speechless audience. And as quickly as he ran onstage — MTV cut away to show Pink applauding Taylor, and when they flashed back to Swift, West already had the mic in his hand — he was off, leaving a shocked Swift in his wake. (more…)