Here is webisode 3 from Sebastien Lefebvre and Katie Rox.

Sebastien Lefebvre of Simple Plan and Katie Rox have been fans of one another for years. After a few years in the rock world, Katie switched focus for a more personal career in the direction of singer/songwriter in 2007. While Simple Plan were in between records, Sebastien released his first solo venture in 2009. The idea for the 2 friends to write songs together was always discussed, but to find the time – next to impossible. The 2 long time friends have been sharing song ideas, demos and records via the world wide web for years, and occasionally getting to share their craft in person whenever their tour schedules place them in the same city. Katie has spent the last few years self-releasing 2 albums: “High Standards” (2008) and “Searchlight” (2009). When Sebastien released his first solo EP “Vous Etes Ici” (2009), it was clear that the 2 friends had more in common than just other friends – their musical taste. However, with Sebastien based in Montreal and Katie in Vancouver, the two had to overcome unmatched schedules and the 3694 kilometers between them if they were ever going to collaborate. BBM, Skype and iChat quickly became regular members of what is now known as Sebastien & Katie. Over the span of a month, the 2 friends wrote and recorded their first EP together – Christmas Etc, Sebastien from his Montreal studio and Katie from hers in Vancouver. Christmas Etc shows that when it comes to friends & music, it’s not where you get it done – but how you get it done.

Visit Sebastien on the web: <a href=”http://sebastienlefebvre.ca/”>http://sebastienlefebvre.ca/</a>  and Katie: <a href=”http://www.ktrox.com/”>http://www.ktrox.com/</a>
Pre-order the EP from iTunes now: <a href=”http://bit.ly/dt14Tl”>http://bit.ly/dt14Tl</a>

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Prison Break Season Four- DVD out on June 2^nd.  Season Four follows brothers Michael Scofield and Lincoln Burrows as they seek justice against The Company, the shadowy group responsible for destroying their lives and killing the woman Michael loves, Dr. Sara Tancredi. 

andPOP is giving away 2 copies of the DVD.Email contests@andpop.com with your mailing address for your chance to win. Hurry! Contest ends July 5.

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Get ready to get addicted again with another heart-pounding, nail-biting thrill ride when “24” Season Seven arrives for the first time ever on high-definition Blu-ray Disc and DVD May 19 from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. The countdown starts over as Jack Bauer (Emmy® Award winner Kiefer Sutherland) is thrust back into action in a new city, with a new role and a new enemy to bring down. Set in Washington, D.C., Jack is under investigation for his “high crimes” during his time at CTU as a mysterious new threat is attempting to take the government down. As the race against the clock escalates, Jack is forced to take matters into his own hands, working with old friends and new allies to once again protect the country. Featuring stunning performances by returning from dead cast member Carlos Bernard (“Tony Almeida”), Mary Lynn Rajskub (“Chloe O’Brian”), James Morrison (“Bill Buchanan”), Carlo Rota (“Morris O’Brian”) and Elisha Cuthbert (“Kim Bauer”), new faces emerge including comedian-actress Janeane Garofalo (The Truth About Cats & Dogs, Ratatouille) and two-time Tony Award-winner Cherry Jones, as the first female President of the United States.

24 Season 7 is now available on DVD and Blue-ray!

andPOP is giving away 2 copies of the DVD.To enter, email contests@andpop.com with your complete mailing address by June 16.

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Wings – The Final Season – DVD is now available!

The Hackett brothers, laid-back Brian and straight-laced Joe, and Joe’s wife, Helen, attempt to run a one-plane airline on Nantucket surrounded by their various wacky friends and employees.

andPOP is giving away copies of this DVD and all you have to do to enter is email your mailing address to contests@andpop.com. Contest ends May 20. Good luck!

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Mr. Toronto Film Fest 2007 Ben Affleck revealed to andPOP Saturday morning that he isn’t ready to end his working relationship with Matt Damon just yet.

Affleck showed up to a screening of Running the Sahara, which Damon produced and narrates, and told andPOP that he will indeed be working with Damon on a project again soon.

The two actors became mega-stars when they wrote Good Will Hunting, which won them an Oscar.

So what will that project be?

“If I told you,” Affleck said, “I’d have to kill you.”

Fair enough.

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

If you visit andPOP regularly, then you know we don’t report rumours – we only report facts.

So here’s one for you: Mike Comrie of the New York Islanders and his gal pal Hilary Duff are in Toronto together. She’s here to perform and host a film fest party. He’s here for some Duff.

There, I said it. I hate talking about people’s personal lives, but you like to read it, and we have the “scoop” (ok it’s a small scoop) so might as well report it before someone else does (like a certain other Canadian site who likes to take our exclusives without giving us credit).

Other not as interesting spottings: Kenny and Spenny at the E! launch party Friday night, Ellen Page walking around Yorkville with a group of friends also Friday, and Ben Affleck all over the city. Affleck is this year’s Lance Bass. Last year, Bass turned up everywhere. This year, it’s Affleck’s turn.

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The official opening night party for the Toronto International Film Festival sounds so prestigious, but if Screech from Saved by the Bell stopped in, he’d be the biggest star there. And he wasn’t, so if you didn’t go, you didn’t miss anything.

The place to be on opening night of the film fest was The Brant House, where Darren Lynn Bousman, the director of the “Saw” franchise, and Lyriq Bent, who appeared in the first three but stars in October’s “Saw IV,” hosted a party (both pictured at right).

Bousman is in town shooting a horror musical, which stars Paris Hilton. He brought another star, Alexa Vega, to the party. Also spotted was Rasta Phil, a member of Mark Wahlberg’s real entourage.

The party was a great way to begin the film fest, which can’t be said about the rump across town.

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The last time Jennifer Lopez appeared on the big screen with her other half, the world was punished with “Gigli.”

The film starred Lopez and Ben Affleck, her fiancé at the time, and was universally panned by critics and failed miserably at the box office. The relationship didn’t last much longer after the film’s release in 2003.

On Friday, Lopez’s latest film, “El Cantante,” was released in limited theatrical release and he co-star is none other than Marc Anthony, her (current) husband.

So weren’t Anthony and Lopez hesitant at all to work together?

“Absolutely!” Anthony says with a laugh, when andPOP posed the question to the couple at the Toronto Film Fest last year.

“We’ve worked together so many times,” Lopez interjects.

The couple’s working relationship dates back to 1999, when Lopez released her first album, “On the 6.” The album featured a Spanish duet, performed by Lopez and Anthony, called “No Me Ames,” which reached No. 1 on the U.S. Hot Latin Tracks chart even though she never released it as a single.

But they had never spent so much time together in a working environment until “El Cantante.”

The film tells the story of salsa singer Héctor Lavoe – from his contribution to Latin music to his battle with drugs and to his death at age 46 after battles with depression and AIDS.

It was Lavoe’s music that drew Anthony to this film.

“Héctor Lavoe is an icon in our community and got the chance to leave behind some amazing music,” he says. “This is a chance we got to tell his story.”

“It’s a tragic story,” Lopez tells andPOP, “but it’s a story of a real artist. And it’s a beautiful story in that sense because, like Marc said, he left behind an incredible legacy of music.”

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A few thousand people promised an appearance by Grammy-winning Wyclef Jean at a free outdoor hip-hop festival in Toronto went home disappointed Saturday night when the rapper didn’t show up.

They weren’t so much disappointed that Jean was a no-show. What irked them was that they were kept in the dark.

“We thought he’d come on at the end. But after a few artists were on the stage for an hour, right at the end, they said Jean couldn’t make it,” Matt Jenkins of Toronto wrote in an email to andPOP.

Jean was supposed to appear at the Global Hip Hop Festival at Harbourfront to showcase artists from his label, Sak Pase Records.

After members of his label performed for an hour, one of them finally told the crowd that Jean wouldn’t be appearing because of problems at the border.

Turns out, organizers had already known Jean wouldn’t be attending and he didn’t have any border problems. He couldn’t have had border problems – he was on the other side of the world.

“Wyclef was asked to perform overseas with international superstar T.I.P. (T.I.) on that same weekend,” reads a statement from YB Entertainment Group, which had planned the Wyclef apeparance. “He recently voiced a track in collaboration for T.I.P album and the track toke [sic] off on the charts, so we were forced to reschedule the event as per request of [the] record label.”

A concert featuring Wyclef planned for the night before in Montreal was also cancelled.

“Had they said that at the beginning, that would be understandable, problems happen,” Jenkins said. “But they didn’t tell us he wasn’t coming until the very end. That was bush league. We all left disappointed because we had no idea he wasn’t going to show up.”

Jean is no stranger to Toronto. Last August, he performed with Shakira at the Air Canada Centre. The next month, he was in town for the Film Festival and performed at an after-party for his film, Ghosts of Cite Soleil. In November, he performed at a secret show to launch Playstation 3.

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When four comedians sit down together for one on-camera interview, it makes editing it very difficult.

What do you cut out? What do you leave in? Why deprive the audience of a full interview?

Ya, why? We understand that when the local news does an interview, most of it will be canned since they only have a few seconds per story. But we’re the internet with no restrictions and no time limits!

andPOP sat down with four comedians – Sugar Sammy, Frank Spadone and the two members of the Doo Wops – who will all be performing on July 28 at Toronto’s Winter Garden Theatre as part of the Just for Laughs festival at a show called The Ethnic Heroes of Comedy.

The interview of course has its humour, but the guys also get serious, discussing the comedy scene in Canada and what needs to change.

So here it is, uncut and uncensored, the whole damn thing. If you get easily offended, or if you’re from Stouffville, watch with caution.

Oh, and while watching, the comics try to remember who the fourth member of the Rat Pack was. Joey something. Play along at home and see if you can remember his name before they do. Or just Google it and cheat.

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

Richard Lewis just turned 60 years old, but because of his appearances on Curb Your Enthusiasm, he’s attracting a whole new generation of fans. 20-year-olds who are too young to remember his sitcom with Jamie Lee Curtis, Anything But Love, or his constant appearances on Letterman that started in the ’80s are suddenly fans because of Larry David’s show.

But not me.

True, I’m 24 and I watch Curb like the rest of them. But no, I can’t be considered a new fan. I’ve had Lewis on my radar since the 1993 film Robin Hood: Men in Tights, in which he played Price John. I’m an old fan.

“I’m 24,” I begin to tell Lewis, on the line from his home in Beverly Hills.

He interrupts me in a panic.

“You could be my son. In my drinking days, I could have been with a zebra and I didn’t know.”

The phone interview – from start-to-finish – becomes an improvised standup act, much like the method he takes when he does a real standup act, like he’ll do on Friday, July 27, at Toronto’s Massey Hall as part of the Just for Laughs Festival. He’s billed as a “special guest” and will share the stage with Lewis Black at one of the festival’s galas.

“I hate the name gala,” Lewis says. “I feel like I’ll have to go out and buy a tuxedo and some prom dress for some chick.” (“Or a woman,” he continues. “If you write chick, let the women know I hate men; I love women. It’s time we got this dick out of the White House anyway.”)

Every question I ask has Lewis trailing off on some rant, which he apologizes for every time. And every time, I tell him he has no need to apologize. I’m somehow getting a free standup act from a comedy legend – shhh, don’t tell anyone.

The paying audience next week can expect a very candid Lewis. He has never been shy about his personal woes – he’s battled alcohol and drug addictions and is proudly almost 13 years sober – and is convinced that if he didn’t get so personal on stage, his career would have ended long before it started.

“That’s why I got on stage to begin with,” Lewis says. “I felt like I was being raised like a lamb chop. I said you know what, I can’t be as crazy as [my parents] are making me feel. What got me on stage was to be validated as Richard Lewis and find out who the hell I was and the only way I could was to talk about the deepest feelings I had. When they laughed at my pain, I felt like I’m not alone, my family isn’t right, and I had another option; that I could be Richard Lewis and feel good about myself.

“Granted,” he continues, “I’m riddled with low self-esteem and I have a bottomless pit of obsession, but I have a lid on it. And drinking and sex and rock and roll, that lifestyle lasted for two decades.”

Lewis says he’s never been happier in his life than he is now, and a large part of that is because of his wife of two years, Joyce, a former music executive who is now involved with Urban Farming (urbanfarming.org).

Lewis begins to tell me the story of how he met his wife at a party, as he is walking up the stairs in his house to find a note he wrote her.

“I was a consensual womanizer. They wanted to be with me for some reason … I feel like I’ve had every manager in L.A., from the biggest to the littlest, and if I leave my manager now who is one of the biggest in the world, then I’m down to like a dairy father in Iowa, I’m done. I had this one manager who was huge and very famous and I would give him so much money in commission and they had this tradition to give gifts for their clients at the end of the year. This one guy gave boxes of stationary, couldn’t have cost more than 100 bucks, with the client’s name on it. I had different pads, different sizes. I had 100s of these things, and I wrote on one to my wife.

“I wrote, and I’m reading right now, ‘J, I swear I’m very decent’ with my phone number with a heart and an ‘RL’ and the heart looks like a kidney bean, but nevertheless. It was so Freudian because I wasn’t very decent. I was compelled to make love with her as soon as possible. Even though I was sober I still had that sexual addition thing going crazily and she came over. We didn’t sleep together the first night although she’ll be the first to admit the second night we did.”

Anyway, I’ve somehow got sidetracked, much like Lewis every few seconds (his physiatrist sometimes walks up and leaves when he goes on rants, he says). But back to the gala.

Lewis says he never knows what he’s going to say once he gets onstage, but spends hours upon hours preparing.

“I go to hotels during the day and write and look over thousands of new lines that I hope come out when I’m on stage. Every show will be slightly different. Some shows are entirely different. I prepare my ass off. I’m already scrawling over 20 hours of new material. And then I’ll ad-lib half the show anyway. I’m looking forward to it. That’s how I live on the edge. It used to be with drugs and sex additions and alcohol and now it’s standup. I’ve never enjoyed standup more in my life than now.”

His method wasn’t always like that.

“Starting out, my dream was to get on the Tonight Show and to do that, you have to get three or four tight to the bone monologues, and the only way to do that is to do the same set every night until you’re ready to get the producers to come down and you hope that you score. And I got on the Tonight Show in a little over two years, which is fairly fast and I never looked back.”

He’s appeared on Letterman over 20 times since the early ’80s, but always conversed with Letterman, never performing as a standup performer.

“The truth is, he said just sit down in the chair and don’t do standup because you’re just too physical. Jay Leno once quipped that I had left the camera and walked out of the screen for a few minutes and they couldn’t even find me. After Letterman set that precedent for me way back in 1982, I have never done standup ever again on a television talk show.”

Lewis can be seen on the next season of Curb You Enthusiasm in September, and he has also been pitching a new show to networks.

He’s also hoping for a change in Washington.

“I will never nor do I want to go into the oval office during this administration. He would never invite me anyway.”

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

Elton Brand is shocked – somewhat startled.

The NBA All-Star, who has entered the movie production game, has just found out that on his company’s Web site, his name is listed as an executive producer of a film starring Paris Hilton.

“No, no, no. Are you serious? No, no, no. I’m not producing that. My name’s not attached to that at all,” he says in disbelief.

When Brand, the Los Angeles Clippers’ franchise player, decided to invest money that he earned playing basketball in film production, working with Paris Hilton apparently wasn’t part of the plan.

“Wow. I’m going to make sure that comes off tonight.”

The boy who once couldn’t afford to see a movie is now the Hollywood big shot who keeps getting approached by fellow basketball players for parts in his films. (“Cuttino Mobley swears he’s an actor now,” Brand says.)

Brand co-founded Gibraltar Films with nightclub owner Steve Marlton three years ago. Their first joint-venture, the thriller Rescue Dawn, is now playing at select North American theatres.

Christian Bale (Batman Begins) stars a German-born pilot who is captured during the Vietnam War era in the Werner Herzog-directed project, which debuted in September at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Brand’s interest for films started as a child.

His family grew up in a housing project north of Manhattan, where they had to use pliers to change the channels on their knobless black-and-white television set. Going to the theatres wasn’t a usual occurrence; it was a treat.

“Sometimes we got sponsors from summer camps and they would take us to the movies. Even corny stuff like Pee Wee’s Big Adventure and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It was the best thing [and] that started my love affair with movies.”

He’s rich enough to retire today and never have to think twice about spending money – he’s heading into the fifth year of a six-year, US$82 million deal – but he’s smart enough that he evaluates every investment carefully.
With Rescue Dawn, he could have put up the money, trusted his partner to handle the day-to-day business, and waited to see his name in the credits and a return on his money.

“I’m not in it just to get the money,” he says. “I’m in it for the business experience. That’s why I’m in Thailand for 21 days. That’s why I went to the editor’s room. That’s why I’m looking at the budget.”

Brand sees film production as an investment, but he says making money isn’t his only motive.

“I have tons of stocks. I have tons of t-bills. I have tons of bonds. I have that. That’s my actual nest egg,” he says. “But I like to have a little fun. I have some money allotted to the side for some more fun investments that I like to do that I can be a part of. You can sit back and make a great living in the NBA and then retire, but I wanted to have fun and I have that opportunity.”

But as he promotes the release of Rescue Dawn – which is playing in Toronto and Vancouver, and hits theatres in Calgary and Edmonton on July 27 – Brand hasn’t been able to stop thinking about basketball.

He’s had it on his mind ever since the final day of the season, when the Clippers fell out of contention for a post-season appearance.

Missing the playoffs by just a half a game, he says, has left a bitter taste in his mouth, which is why he is working out daily with the Clippers all summer.

“I take it personally,” he says. “I remember I missed a jumper against Seattle. We could have won that game. I made a jumper in New Orleans to put us into overtime but we ended up losing that game and I could have taken over. All that stuff is still in my head.

“That’s why I’m here at 5 a.m., to really get to that next level. I guarantee it won’t be a half a game next year.”

In case the Clippers were curious about Brand’s priorities, he says even if Rescue Dawn becomes the No. 1 movie at the box office, it still wouldn’t ease the pain of missing the playoffs.

“[Even] if my wife comes home happy or something,” he laughs timidly, “it still doesn’t take away the pain.”

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

Kelly Rowland’s dog has hijacked our phone interview.

“Stop it!” Rowland says over strident barks. “Don’t you dare.”

“I hope you’re talking to the dog.”

Rowland is spending the day at her Houston home (she also has a house in Miami), but it’s no time for relaxation. She’s been promoting her second solo album Ms. Kelly (out in stores this week) for a few months and won’t stop the campaign any time soon (she hopes to tour late this year).

It’s a lot of work, but Rowland isn’t complaining.

She’s just happy Ms. Kelly is seeing the light of day. Rowland had been working on the record – or at least a record – for nearly three years. The album’s original release date, under a different name, was over a year ago, but Rowland realized it wasn’t turning out to be the album she wanted. So she scrapped it.

“I was missing an element,” says the 26-year-old. “I was missing my youthful element in the whole record. There were so many mid-tempos and ballads, I needed a few up-tempos on there!”

She knew what she wanted and how she wanted to do it because Rowland, the former Destiny’s Child member, looks back at her debut solo album, 2002′s Simply Deep, with a hint of regret.

Worldwide, it was a relative success, selling over two million copies. In the U.S., it sold around 600,000 copies, about the same amount Destiny’s Child albums sold in their first weeks of release. The figures weren’t low enough to be considered a flop, though nothing to celebrate.

And not something she speaks too highly of now.

“I was rushed on the last record,” Rowland says. “My label rushed me because of the momentum from Dilemma.” Dilemma, a duet with rapper Nelly, stayed at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart for an impressive 10 weeks and earned the pair a Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.

“I wanted to make sure that I was able to take my time with this record.”

So with no pressure to meet any record label deadlines, Rowland did just that.

The finished product, she says, introduces Kelly Rowland to the world, again, “away from Destiny’s Child.”

“I feel like I’m a woman now,” Rowland says. “I’ve come into my own and I know what I want and I’m confident and I’m sure of myself.

“Not saying that I wasn’t before,” she continues, “but it takes years to get to that point and I’m still not at the full potential that I could be, but that’s what life is about. You can’t just expect to be great overnight.”

Rowland also used Ms. Kelly as a form of therapy.

She was set to wed Dallas Coyboys safety Roy Williams in 2005, but they ended the relationship two months before the wedding date.

“For me, [the album] was very therapeutic,” she said. “I had the chance to express myself in the studio. I talk about my personal life but it’s not to the point where it was something I didn’t want to say. I always made sure it was something I felt comfortable saying.”

With the album in stores, Rowland can now focus on touring, something she says is her favourite part of the music business.

“I’ve already started to think of who I would love to tour with. Justin [Timberlake] has already gone out but I would love a great fun tour, like with Nelly Furtado or Rihanna.”

Ladies, Ms. Kelly awaits a response.

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

Two actors from the short-lived but critically-acclaimed Fox show Arrested Development will both appear in the “Juno,” a film directed by Jason Reitman.

Michael Cera, who played George Michael, and Jason Bateman, who played his father Michael Bluth, are set to star in the film, about a young woman’s unplanned pregnancy.

But the two actors won’t actually appear in any scenes together when the movie is released later this year.

“Jason had to come to set on one of Michael’s days just to say hello to him because otherwise they wouldn’t have seen each other,” Reitman told andPOP.

Reitman was in Toronto to help induct his father, acclaimed producer and director Ivan Reitman, into Canada’s Walk of Fame.

“I’ve spent my whole childhood kind of scampering down the red carpet behind him watching him do interviews and the idea that I’m here presenting him with this honour is out of this world,” said the younger Reitman.

“My father’s my hero,” he added. “He’s taught me to be the storyteller that I am and he’s taught me to be myself.”

Jason Reitman’s next project will be directing Banzai Shadowhands, which is being written by Rainn Wilson, who plays Dwight Schrute on The Office.

“He plays a ninja. It’s going to be Midnight Cowboy meets Crouching Tiger.”

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

Downtown Toronto becomes the centre of the music universe when Avril Lavigne, Fergie, Billy Talent, Hilary Duff, Alexisonfire, Maroon 5, Belly, The Used and Finger Eleven take the stage for The 18th Annual MuchMusic Video Awards on Sunday June 17 LIVE at 9ET/6PT. For the very first time, one of those acts will perform live atop the landmark Much headquarters for what’s sure to be a spectacular rooftop blowout.

andPOP asked the MuchMusic VJs to choose some of their favourite moments from past MMVAs.

Here’s what they said.

(All photos courtesy of MuchMusic)

LEAH MILLER

Fefe Dobson

“Fefe Dobson said the f word while presenting an award…I was so shocked & didn’t know what to do? I just giggled & moved on…what can you do? It’s live tv!”

DEVON SOLTENDIECK

Arcade Fire Performance from 2005.

“The MMVAs has a way of getting great performers right when they’re on the cusp of something greater than themselves. It happened with Kanye in 04, it happened with Britney Spears who performed a few years back and it certainly happened with the Arcade Fire.”

Hosting the red carpet and main show last year in 2006

“It’s one of my favorite shows to host – you get to meet everyone as they arrive and since it’s completely live, you have to be on your toes!”

My first throw with Sarah in 2004 at our first-ever MMVAs

“I was so nervous I ripped her dress! We opened the show so there was a lot of pressure. Everything went according to plan but I did have to pay for the dress to be altered again!”

HANNAH SIMONE

Rihanna’s performance last year

“I thought Rihanna knocked it out of the park last year. She looked amazing and her performance was the perfect kick start to summer.”

Presenting Simple Plan with their award!

“It was the first award I have ever presented at the MMVA’s so I was so nervous. Thankfully I had Massari and Kardi on stage with me and everything went smoothly.”

Fall Out Boy last year

“Fall Out Boy closed the show with an incredible performance. Got everyone in the mood to head to the after parties! ”

MATT BABEL

“The initial roar of the crowd off the top of the show is incredible. There’s nothing like it.”

“Seeing Kanye West perform ‘Jesus Walks’ with the choir was amazing.”

“Rick Campaneli ran on stage in his underwear with his shirt from his last MMVAs appearance!”

TIM DEEGAN

Elisha Cuthbert

“I used to watch her on TV when I was a kid so it was so exciting to see her taking such a star turn.”

Hedley

“You never know what they’re going to do and they didn’t disappoint — great performance!”

Nelly Furtado and Timbaland

“Nelly is always hot but it was Timbaland who was the real surprise — who knew they would be so great together?”

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

The 2007 MuchMusic Video Awards – airing this Sunday starting at 7:30 p.m. – will be the subject of talk at the water cooler on Monday morning (actually, it will be the subject of talk on blogs and message boards; water bottles have made water coolers so last decade).

Here now are 10 things andPOP wants to see at the MMVAs:

10. Someone explaining who Belly is. Hey, give the guy credit, he’s earned four MMVAs nominations. No disrespect to the rapper, but I have yet to speak with someone who knows who he is. The MMVAs could be his coming out party.

9. Ray Emery of the Ottawa Senators proving to Sean Avery of the New York Rangers (both are presenters) that goalies can fight too.

8. Bradford How making a cameo appearance.

7. Avril Lavigne getting into a catfight with Hilary Duff.

6. Avril Lavigne getting into a catfight with Perez Hilton.

5. Perez Hilton and Tara Reid walking down the red carpet holding hands.

4. A Tara Reid red carpet moment.

3. Raptors star Chris Bosh dunk Fergie. Think of that visual.

2. Canada’s Next Top Model host Jay Manuel say this on the red carpet: “where are all the hip-hop artists?”

1. Joss Stone.

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

When Heroes wrapped up its first season in May, Hiro Nakamura’s time travel powers left him trapped in Japan in the year 1671, and Nathan Petrelli was floating somewhere in orbit, holding his brother who had just exploded.

There’s a lot to be explained when the second season of Heroes begins in a few months, but two of the main actors – Masi Oka (Hiro) and Adrian Pasdar (Nathan) – offered a glimpse into the future when they were in Toronto to help launch Global’s fall schedule on Wednesday.

“I feel good about the direction it’s heading in,” said Pasdar. “I think it’s across the boards surprising for each character and for each audience member, whoever their favourite character is. It takes a wildly different arc then you might think. Season Two is going to be a big surprise.”

For fans of Hiro’s pal Ando (played by James Kyson Lee) who was transported back to Tokyo in the season finale, don’t worry, Oka said. Ando will return.

“Hiro made a promise that he’ll be back. Hiro is beginning his journey in the second season and he’ll be by himself for a while but I’m sure we’ll see [Ando] in some context so I wouldn’t count it out,” Oka revealed.

As for the mysterious Heroes: Origins simultaneous spin-off show, the cast hasn’t been told much.

“Heroes: Origins, from what I understand, is actually going to be in between hiatuses or after the show,” Oka said. “They’re going to introduce a couple characters, and whatever works, they’re going to bring it back to the flagship. I think it’s a vote of confidence from NBC for the Heroes brand and I don’t see it as an over saturation.”

With Heroes being one of the few shows that survived last season’s introduction of new programming, and certainly one of the most popular, it’s not unreasonable to assume that the cast gets mobbed at every turn. Not so, explained Pasdar.

“Masi and I were in New York a few weeks ago and we had the opportunity to go to Times Square and I had a little video camera and it was 8 o’clock on Saturday night and I said, ‘Masi you have to go to the middle of Times Square and do the Yata scene,’” Pasdar said.

“So we go there in the middle of Times Square; we couldn’t have been more invisible. I was walking around him taking a picture, he’s spinning around and he does the Yata, and nobody puts it together. And this fellow walks up to him and says, ‘can you take a picture of me?’ So Masi takes the picture. He was completely oblivious.”

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

The man behind bars for life isn’t much different than Jeremy Irons, the English actor explains.

Irons was putting together a charity event at a prison in England recently and was speaking with one of the inmates.

The prisoner explained that he had been arguing with his girlfriend in the kitchen when he saw a knife lying nearby. He picked it up, the knife went through her heart, and he’ll be spending the rest of his life behind bars.

“And I thought, anybody could have done that,” Irons tells andPOP. “And now this man’s life was ruined. I realized that so easily could have been me in there. There is no difference. We tend to think of prisoners as people totally different than us and we throw away the key, when in fact in many cases, these are people who just got it wrong because of anger, or lack of education, or frustration.”

One way prisoners can deal with their anger and stay out of jail once they are released, Irons explains, is through yoga and meditation.

Seems far-fetched – both that the spiritual practice can help prisoners transform themselves into better citizens, and that the assessment is coming from an Oscar-, Emmy- and Tony-winning actor.

But Irons knows what he’s talking about.

For many years, Irons has been a proponent of Freeing the Human Spirit, a program started by Sister Elaine MacInnes, who has been teaching meditation in prisons since 1980.

They had met when MacInnes – who was appointed an office of the Order of Canada in 1999 – was living in England. Irons continued helping whenever he could when she moved to Toronto.

“It’s very tough to say I want to put meditation and yoga into your prison,” Irons says, “but she’s a determined woman.”

Her determination has paid off. The Freeing the Human Spirit program has been accepted in 27 prisons in Canada and is being practiced in 14.

The goal is to lower the likelihood of reoffenders. “What this is planned to do is to break that cycle so that when prisoners leave, they have a sense of their own worth, their own individuality, their own being,” says Irons, known for his roles in Eragon, the Merchant of Venice, The Man in the Iron Mask and Die Hard 3 and as the voice of Scar in the Lion King.

And while there aren’t many costs involved with the program, there are some, which is why Irons will be in Toronto on Monday (June 4) for a fundraiser at the Jane Mallett Theatre (visit freeingspirit.com for ticket info). Kate McGarrigle, the legendary folk singer and mother of Rufus Wainwright, will perform.

What can people expect once Irons takes the stage?

“I don’t know,” he says. “Hopefully we’ll get something together.”

Further pushing reveals that Irons plans to do some readings and poetry. “I’m almost as excited to see what we’re going to do as you are.”

It can be unsettling to some to know that if a celebrity doesn’t attach themselves to a charity or cause like this, it may go unnoticed, or not noticed as much. If Al Gore wasn’t so passionate about the environment, global warming wouldn’t be as highly spoken about. If Irons didn’t take time to speak about Freeing the Human Spirit, perhaps it too would suffer.

It’s just the nature of charity, Irons says.

“There are so many people doing good work in the world,” he says. “But you have to raise funds. It’s just something I’m able to do because of my position and I’m delighted to do it. I’ve been very fortunate. I had a great upbringing and I have a career I love. Things have been easy for me. And for a lot of people they haven’t been easy so this is something that gives me great pleasure to be able to give back at least a little something.”

And maybe the cause he’s fighting for now can improve his life a little bit, too.

“[Sister Elaine] is always telling me I should [meditate and do yoga] regularly because it would stop me from smoking so much and it’s a great antidote to the pressures in my life but I have yet to get into the daily practice of it,” Irons says. “One day I will grow the wisdom to do so.”

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

Elvis Costello is sitting across the aisle from him. Chuck D is sitting right in front of him. Stevie Wonder and Alicia Keys are singing on stage about 20 feet away.

It’s February of 2006, and Patrick Stump is sitting amongst the best artists in the world at the Grammy Awards, where his band Fall Out Boy is nominated for Best New Artist.

Then a piercing realization enters his head.

“What am I doing [here]? I’m a drummer who has been faking as a singer.”

Stump had never seen himself as a singer. But when Fall Out Boy began reaching certain plateaus – their breakout 2005 album From Under the Cork Tree has gone three times platinum, they’ve won two MTV VMAs – Stump realized it was time to get serious.

“I saw myself as a singer de facto,” he told andPOP before Fall Out Boy – Stump, bassist Pete Wentz, guitarist Joe Trohman and drummer Andy Hurley – took the stage in Milwaukee last week. “Now I really focus on it and I spend a lot of time practicing and working at it.”

The work, apparently, paid off. Fall Out Boy’s latest, Infinity on High, debuted at No. 1 when it was released in February. AbsolutePunk.net, the bible of punk music on the web, affirms, “Patrick Stump shines on each song, as his vocals have never sounded better.”

Fall Out Boy will be in Toronto on Saturday for a tour stop at the Molson Amphitheatre, a few weeks ahead of their trip to Northern Uganda with Invisible Children to raise awareness for the refugee crisis in the area.

In an insightful interview with andPOP, Stump talked about the band’s upcoming trip, his role as a frontman and more.

andPOP: So you’re right in the thick of the tour now.

Patrick: It calms down. It comes in waves as the tour goes on. The first week everyone’s just freaking out, making sure everything works, and then by the middle of the second week, everyone starts to calm down a little bit.

andPOP: The trip to Uganda is approaching. How are you feeling about that right now, still a few weeks away?

Patrick: I’m excited. I realize we’ve gotten to see a lot of the world but we’ve never been to the entire continent of Africa and there’s so many different things between cultures and languages, and with every culture and language, there’s a whole different set of problems, be them social, economic or even weather. So it’s really weird, kind of crazy thinking about that. The first time you see it, it will probably be totally alien to you. I’m nervous and excited about it but we’re also there for a reason.

andPOP: Does it put what you’re doing in perspective in a way, where you get to rock out every night on tour but now you get to see the positive effects of your celebrity?

Patrick: Ya, well no, I don’t really overestimate our reach. It’s more of a case of a best-case scenario thing. Hopefully we get people involved but I don’t necessarily assume that that’s going to happen. At the end of the day, you’re an entertainer. That’s the path you’ve chosen. Some entertainers command a certain amount of respect and I don’t want to jump to the assumption that we also command that respect. Obviously on this tour our audience is happy to see us and we’re happy to see them but at the same time, I just think in context sometimes. You have to be really careful how serious you get with whatever because at the end of the day, you are just an entertainer. My favourite show is The Office and it’s hilarious and we’re watching both Offices, the U.S. and UK one, and I think it would be a lot of less funny if in the middle of it, Ricky Gervais deadpanned the camera and started talking about the environment. As a musician, I have to be careful about it but if we inspire anybody I’m happy because it’s obviously important enough that we’re trying to do something about it.

andPOP: I know what you mean, but you don’t even have to open your mouth. As long as you go, you’re creating awareness. I’m going to mention it in my article and other people will mention it and each mention is one that wouldn’t have been discussed had you not planned to go.

Patrick: And that’s really what I’m hoping. I don’t know that directly we’ll do anything, but I’m hoping it’s a lot of indirect inspiration and hopefully a lot of people take note.

andPOP: You’ve also been signing posters in your blood. Where did that idea come from?

Patrick: The idea itself, the physical idea came from Kiss. They did that with their comic book in the late ’80s or early ’90s. It was that and I was talking to my aunt who actually lived in Africa for 20 years and she and I were talking about charities and it was right after the tsunami happened and she was saying that one of the things that’s frustrating as an aid worker, because that’s what she did, is that charities have a really big boom immediately after an event happens but down the line, three years later, there are still people in need of a lot of help. There are still people suffering from Katrina in the United States and we’re supposed to have out stuff together. So she said its frustrating that blood drives happen immediately after the fact but down the line when people really need blood, there’s none. So I wanted to throw that into the public consciousness too. At the same time, there’s probably some creepy little fan that really wants my blood.

andPOP: With all the success you’ve garnered in the past few years, were you at all nervous about how well Infinity on High would do?

Patrick: Its’ a really weird time to be making music right now. The industry is in a total gray area. What I said to everybody was I don’t care if it sells because right now, I don’t know what that means. The No.1 record in America right now is maybe selling a fraction of what the No. 1 record was selling in 1988, so there’s no way in knowing what that means anymore and quite frankly I don’t really mind. Its not like I was in it for the money or anything. I told everybody that I just wanted to see it tour because that’s when I know whether or not it worked, when I hear people sing it back, and that’s more fun to me anyway. That’s what I’ve been waiting on and I’m so happy to be out on it finally.

andPOP: The pop-punk label gets thrown around a lot. Is it something Fall Out Boy embraces or something you’d rather distance yourself from?

Patrick: We’re a pop punk band and [it's fine] if people choose to call us that, if that’s the quickest way to determine who we are or whatever. Because of that, we’re a punk band but we have a lot of pop influences. I wanted to combine that in as many different ways as I could. There’s a lot of fertile ground in music I think. I looked at bands like Talking Heads or Blondie or The Ramones. You look at that era of punk rock and they were all making pop punk. Blondie was playing disco and that was the most punk rock thing they could have done back then so those were my heroes on this record. I was really obsessed with Michael Jackson.

andPOP: And you’ve been playing Beat It on tour.

Patrick: That’s honestly like my favourite part of the tour. We were playing the riff in sound check and there’s just something so awesome about it.

andPOP: In a Rolling Stone article from last year, you expressed how you were uncomfortable being the band’s frontman. As time goes on, are you getting more comfortable?

Patrick: To come and see us at a show, you’ll really get me a frontman, which is what I am. We played Chain Reaction in Anaheim at a secret show right before we started this tour. I think that’s where I am most natural, and I was really nervous but when we get on stage and there’s all this pyrotechnics, you sort of find yourself in a character. When there’s fire going off behind you, some ancient rock God awakens within you. So it’s weird, I can get more comfortable when there are props and things but in general, the second I have to talk on stage, the second I make mistake on stage that’s when you’ll see me [uncomfortable].

andPOP: Last question, and take this however you want. If members of the band want to bring their girlfriends on tour, is that ok with the rest of the band.

Patrick: Absolutely, for sure!

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance

With the 2007 MuchMusic Vidoe Awards less than a month away, Billy Talent and Nickleback have learned that they lead the pack of artists with five nominations each.

Hip-hop artists Belly and k-os each received four nominations.

“It’s always a pleasure for us to recognize all the amazing home-grown talent in the music video industry,” says Programming Director Sheila Sullivan. “A strong group of nominees like this will surely make for a great show and the biggest music party of the year.”

The MMVAs will be held on June 17.

And although MuchMusic has yet to announce who will be performing or presenting, andPOP has a hint for you about one artist who will be appearing: She is in the Black Eyed Peas. Hmmm…..

List of nominations:

Best Video

Belly f. Ginuwine – Pressure (CP Records/Fontana North)
Director: RT!
Producer: John Nadalin
Production Company: 235 Films

Billy Talent – Fallen Leaves (Warner Music)
Director: Dean Karr, Ian D’sa
Producer: Geoff McLean
Production Company: Merge @ Crossroads Films

finger eleven – Paralyzer (Wind-Up/Warner Music)
Director: Barnaby Roper, James Black
Producer: Thom Fennessey
Production Company: Collaboration Factory, LLC, Revolver Film Company

Nickelback – If Everyone Cared (Roadrunner/EMI)
Director: Dori Oskowitz
Producer: Justin Cronkite
Production Company: Cronkite Productions

Three Days Grace – Never Too Late (Zomba/SONY BMG)
Director: Tony Petrossian
Producer: Amanda Fox
Production Company: Blink Pictures

Best Director

Belly f. Ginuwine – Pressure (CP Records/Fontana North)
Director: RT!
Producer: John Nadalin
Production Company: 235 Films

Billy Talent – Red Flag (Warner Music)
Director: Floria Sigismondi
Producer: Joanna Shaw, Jannie McInnes
Production Company: Revolver Film Company

George – Lie To Me (HC Entertainment/Fontana North)
Director: RT!
Producer: John Nadalin
Production Company: 235 Films

k-os – ELEctrik HeaT – the seekwiLL (EMI)
Directors: The Love Movement [k-os, Micah Meisner]
Producer: Natalie Galazka
Production Company: The Love Movement, Revolver Film Company

Sam Roberts – Bridge To Nowhere (Secret Brain/Universal Music)
Director: David Pawsey
Producer: Jean-Luc De La Montagna
Production Company: Nu Films

Best Post-Production

Cadence Weapon – Sharks (Upper Class Recordings/EMI)
Post-Production: Jay Lee, Matt Biloitz
Director: Cosmonaut [Chris Grismer, Duane Crichton]
Producer: Marc Milliard
Production Company: Spy Entertainment

Hedley – Gunnin’ (Universal Music)
Post-Production: Christian Moreton, Marc Bachli
Editor: Jay DesChamps
Director: Kevin De Freitas
Producer: Daniel Bekerman
Production Company: Blink Pictures

In-Flight Safety – Coast Is Clear (Dead Daisy Records/Outside Music)
Post-Production: Drew Lightfoot, Tom Morrison Marc Bachli, Kevin Kim
Director: Drew Lightfoot
Producer: Aram Kouyoumdjian
Production Company: Revolver Film Company

Mobile – Dusting Down The Stars (Universal Music)
Post-Production: Steve Mottershead
Director: Chris Sargent, Steve Mottershead
Producer: Cherie Sinclair
Production Company: Blink Pictures

Sam Roberts – Bridge To Nowhere (Secret Brain/Universal Music)
Post-Production: Johnathan Legris
Director: David Pawsey
Producer: Jean-Luc De La Montagna
Production Company: Nu Films

Best Cinematography

Alexisonfire– This Could Be Anywhere In The World (Distort Entertainment/Universal Music)
D.O.P.: Chris Sargent
Director: Chris Sargent
Producer: Mike McNally
Production Company: Trailer Park Films

Belly f. Ginuwine – Pressure (CP Records/Fontana North)
D.O.P.: Adam Marsden
Director: RT!
Producer: John Nadalin
Production Company: 235 Films

Billy Talent – Red Flag (Warner Music)
D.O.P.: Claudio Miranda
Director: Floria Sigismondi
Producer: Joanna Shaw, Jannie McInnes
Production Company: Revolver Film Company

JDiggz – Make It Hot (Maxamus Records/Koch Entertainment)
D.O.P.: Simon Shohet
Director: RT!
Producer: Davin Black
Production Company: 235 Films

Sam Roberts – Bridge To Nowhere (Secret Brain/Universal Music)
D.O.P.: François Dutil
Director: David Pawsey
Producer: Jean-Luc De La Montagna
Production Company: Nu Films

Best Pop Video

City And Colour – Comin’ Home (Dine Alone/Universal Music)
Director: Chris Sargent
Producer: Davin Black
Production Company: Trailer Park Films

George – Talk To Me (HC Entertainment/Fontana North)
Director: RT!
Producer: John Nadalin
Production Company: 235 Films

Hedley – Gunnin’ (Universal Music)
Director: Kevin De Freitas
Producer: Daniel Bekerman
Production Company: Blink Pictures

k-os – Sunday Morning (EMI)
Director: The Love Movement [k-os, Drew Lightfoot]
Producer: Natalie Galazka, Zeb Roc Munir
Production Company: Revolver Film Company

Keshia Chante – 2U (SONY BMG)
Director: Bobby O’Neill
Producer: Yusuf Muhammad
Production Company: Kiss Creative Films

MuchLOUD Best Rock Video

Alexisonfire – This Could Be Anywhere In The World (Distort Entertainment/Universal Music)
Director: Chris Sargent
Producer: Mike McNally
Production Company: Trailer Park Films

Billy Talent – Fallen Leaves (Warner Music)
Director: Dean Karr, Ian D’sa
Producer: Geoff McLean
Production Company: Merge @ Crossroads Films

finger eleven – Paralyzer (Wind-Up/Warner Music)
Director: Barnaby Roper, James Black
Producer: Thom Fennessey
Production Company: Collaboration Factory, LLC, Revolver Film Company

Nickelback – If Everyone Cared (Roadrunner/EMI)
Director: Dori Oskowitz
Producer: Cronkite, Justin
Production Company: Cronkite Productions

Three Days Grace – Never Too Late (Zomba/SONY BMG)
Director: Tony Petrossian
Producer: Amanda Fox
Production Company: Blink Pictures

MuchVibe Best Rap Video

Belly f. Ginuwine – Pressure (CP Records/Fontana North)
Director: RT!
Producer: John Nadalin
Production Company: 235 Films

Classified – Find Out (Half Life/Urbnet)
Director: Harv
Producer: Davin Black
Production Company: 235 Films

JDiggz – Make It Hot (Maxamus Records/Koch Entertainment)
Director: RT!
Producer: Davin Black
Production Company: 235 Films

k-os – ELEctrik HeaT – the seekwiLL (EMI)
Directors: The Love Movement [k-os, Micah Meisner]
Producer: Natalie Galazka
Production Company: The Love Movement, Revolver Film Company

Point Blank – Born And Raised In The Ghetto (Tilt Rock Records)
Director: Marc Andre Debruyne
Producer: John Nadalin
Production Company: Blink Pictures

Best Independent Video

Cancer Bats – French Immersion (Distort Entertainment/Universal Music)
Director: Marc Ricciardelli
Producer: Davin Black
Production Company: 235 Films

Classified – Find Out (Half Life/Urbnet)
Director: Harv
Producer: Davin Black
Production Company: 235 Films

In-Flight Safety – Coast Is Clear (Dead Daisy Records/Outside Music)
Director: Drew Lightfoot
Producer: Aram Kouyoumdjian
Production Company: Revolver Film Company

Ten Second Epic – Count Yourself In (Black Box/Universal Music)
Director: Colin Minihan
Producer: Shawn Angelski
Production Company: Blink Pictures

Tokyo Police Club – Cheer It On (Paper Bag/Universal Music)
Director: Sean Wainsteim
Producer: Davin Black
Production Companies: 235 Films

MuchMoreMusic Award

Feist – My Moon My Man (Arts & Crafts/EMI)
Director: Patrick Daughters
Producer: Geoff McLean
Production Company: Revolver Film Company

Michael Bublé – Everything (Warner Bros./Warner Music)
Director: Sean Michael Turrell
Producers: Geoff McLean
Production Company: Spy Entertainment

Nelly Furtado – Say It Right (Geffen/Universal Music)
Director: Rankin and Chris
Producer: Nicole Acaccio
Production Company: North6 Films

Nickelback – Far Away (Roadrunner/EMI)
Director: Nigel Dick
Producer: Nina Dluhy
Production Company: DNA Inc.

The Tragically Hip – In View (Universal Music)
Director: Maxime Giroux
Producer: Jean-Luc Della Montagna
Production Company: Nu Films

Best French Video

Anodajay & Raoul Duguay – Le Beat A Ti-Bi (7ieme Ciel/D.E.P.)
Director: Alain Pichette
Producer: Steve Jolin
Production Company: LFS Productions

Damien Robitaille – Je Tombe (Audiogram/Select)
Director: David Pierrat, Olivier Picard
Producer: Patrick Zaloum
Production Company: Parce Que

Dumas – Au Gre Des Saisons (Tacca/Select)
Directors: Louis-Philippe Eno
Producer: Jean-Luc Della Montagna
Production Company: NúFilms

Malajube – Pate Filo (Dare To Care/Outside Music)
Director: Louis-Philipe Éno
Producer: Jean-Luc Della Montagna
Production Company: NúFilms

Vulgaires Machins – Compter Les Corps (Indica/Select)
Director: Maxime Giroux
Producer: Nicole Martel
Production Company: NúFilms

Best International Video By A Canadian

Avril Lavigne – Girlfriend (RCA /SONY BMG)
Director: The Malloys
Producer: John Winter
Production Company: Black Dog Films

Nelly Furtado – Say It Right (Geffen/Universal Music)
Director: Rankin and Chris
Producer: Nicole Acaccio
Production Company: North6 Films

Nelly Furtado – All Good Things (Come To An End) (Geffen/Universal Music)
Director: Gabriel Coss, Israel Lugo
Producer: Raquel Medina

Nickelback – Far Away (Roadrunner/EMI)
Director: Nigel Dick
Producer: Nina Dluhy
Production Company: DNA Inc.

Three Days Grace – Pain (Zomba/SONY BMG)
Director: Tony Petrossian
Producer: Nicole Acaccio
Production Company: Rockhard Films

Best International Video – Artist

Akon f. Eminem – Smack That (SRC Records /Universal Music)
Director: Benny Boom
Producer: David Duarte
Production Company: FM Rocks

Beyonce f. Shakira – Beautiful Liar (Columbia/Sony BMG)
Director: Jake Nava
Producer: Ben Cooper
Production Company: Anonymous Content

Christina Aguilera – Candyman (RCA/SONY BMG)
Director: Matthew Rolston, Christina Aguilera
Producers: Barbara Benson
Production Company: Radical Media

Eminem f. 50 Cent, Cashis & Lloyd Banks – You Don’t Know(Interscope/Universal Music)
Director: The Saline Project
Producer: Craig Flemming, Kate Sutherland
Production Company: H.S.I. Productions

Fergie – Fergalicious (A&M/Universal)
Director: Fatima Robinson
Producer: Dawn Rose
Production Company: Ingenuity Engine

Gwen Stefani f. Akon – The Sweet Escape (Interscope/Universal Music)
Director: Joseph Kahn
Producer: Maryann Tanedo
Production Company: H.S.I. Productions

Hilary Duff – With Love (Hollywood/Universal Music)
Director: Matthew Ralston
Production Companiy: Radical Media

Justin Timberlake – What Goes Around…Comes Around (Jive/SONY BMG)
Director: Samuel Bayer
Producer: Veronica Zelle
Production Company: H.S.I. Productions

Ludacris f. Pharrell – Money Maker (Island/Universal Music)
Director: Melina
Producer: William Green, Craig Fanning
Production Companies: FM Rocks

Rihanna f. Jay-Z – Umbrella (Island Def Jam/Universal Music)
Director: Chris Applebaum
Producer: John Hardin
Production Company: Reactor Films

Best International Video – Group

AFI – Miss Murder (Geffen/Universal Music)
Director: Marc Webb
Producer: Marcienne Friesland
Production Company: DNA Inc.

Blue October – Hate Me (Universal Music)
Directors: Kevin Kerslake
Producer: Dave Robertson, Joseph Uliano
Production Companies: merge@crossroads

Evanescence – Call Me When You’re Sober (Wind-Up /Warner Music)
Director: Marc Webb
Producer: Gina Leonard
Production Company: DNA Inc.

Fall Out Boy – This Ain’t A Scene, It’s An Arms Race (Island/Universal Music)
Director: Alan Ferguson
Producer: Jacquelyn Frisco
Production Company: Anonymous Content

My Chemical Romance – Welcome To The Black Parade (Warner Bros./Warner Music)
Director: Samuel Bayer
Producer: Tim Lynch
Production Company: H.S.I.

Pussycat Dolls f. Timbaland – Wait A Minute (A&M/Universal Music)
Director: Marc Webb
Producer: Michael Angelos
Production Company: DNA Inc.

Red Hot Chili Peppers – Dani California (Warner Music)
Director: Tony Kaye
Producer: Rachel Curl
Production Company: Above The Sea

The Fray – How To Save A Life (Epic/SONY BMG)
Director: Mark Pellington
Producer: Norman Reiss
Production Company: The Syndicate

The Killers – When You Were Young (Island/Universal Music)
Director: Anthony Mandler
Producer: Gina Leonard
Production Company: Box Fresh Pictures

The Used – The Bird & The Worm (Warner Bros./Warner Music)
Director: Lisa Mann
Producer: Shannon Brand
Production Company: Revolver Film Company

People’s Choice: Favourite International Group

Evanescence – Call Me When You’re Sober (Wind-Up/ Warner Music)

My Chemical Romance – Welcome To The Black Parade (Warner Bros./ Warner Music)

Pussycat Dolls f. Snoop Dogg – Buttons (A&M /Universal Music)

Red Hot Chili Peppers – Dani California (Warner)

The Killers – When You Were Young (Island/Universal Music)

People’s Choice: Favourite International Artist

Akon f. Eminem – Smack Dat (SRC Records /Universal Music)

Fergie – Fergalicious (A&M /Universal Music)

Gwen Stefani – The Sweet Escape (Interscope /Universal Music)

Hilary Duff – With Love (Hollywood/Universal Music)

Justin Timberlake – SexyBack (Jive/SONY BMG)

People’s Choice: Favourite Canadian Group

Alexisonfire – This Could Be Anywhere In The World (Distort Entertainment/Universal Music)

Billy Talent – Devil In A Midnight Mass (Warner Music)

Hedley – Gunnin’ (Universal Music)

Nickelback – Far Away (Roadrunner/Universal Music)

Three Days Grace – Pain (Zomba/SONY BMG)

People’s Choice: Favourite Canadian Artist

Avril Lavigne – Girlfriend (Arista/SONY BMG)

City And Colour – Comin’ Home (Dine Alone/Universal Music)

George – Talk To Me (HC Entertainment)

k-os – Sunday Morning (EMI)

Nelly Furtado – Say It Right (Geffen/Universal Music)

Read more at andPOP. andPOP - POP Culture with Substance