Beyoncé
Photo: Luiss Gene/ AFP/ Getty Images

At 25, Beyoncé was celebrating her independence as a solo artist on her second solo disc, B'Day, the follow-up to Dangerously in Love. And it wasn't just "Déjà Vu" for fans. The album showed Beyoncé's progression towards the heavier, hip-hop- influenced pop music of her 2008 disc, I Am ... Sasha Fierce.

In 2006, she sat down with MTV News to talk about the album, even hinting at her more aggressive stage persona, Sasha Fierce. "I absolutely get scared every time I get on the stage," she said. "I get nervous. I'm actually really scared when I'm not nervous because then I don't transform into that person that people are used to seeing."

She added that in real life, she's nothing like that girl you see in her videos and performances. "I'm really more quiet, reserved. I speak when spoken to and polite," she explained. "When I'm onstage, I'm aggressive, I'm strong, I'm fearless. So I'm not who I really am in real life."

At the end of the day, Beyoncé doesn't care about keeping up with the pop-star Joneses and feeling compelled to release a lot of music as trends change. For her, it's about making great, time-tested tunes. "Well, I guess the most important thing is it's not the quantity of things I do, it's the quality," she said. "And I'm way more selective and more specific, more involved. I am really picky and I make sure everything I do is something I'll be proud of 10 years from now, 15 years from now."

• Beyoncé

Lady Gaga in the "Video Phone" music video
Photo: Columbia/Music World

Monday night was the premiere of Lady Gaga and Beyoncé's sexy, Hype Williams-directed "Video Phone" video, featuring the two pop stars dancing and posing pin-up style with massive toy guns and matching leotards.

The clip is charged with energy, and the cynics out there might wonder if putting two sizzling divas in a room together created any kind of rivalry. But Gaga says there was no such thing.

"What I was excited about is with B, I had no ego," Gaga told MTV News about the collaboration. "Neither of us had an ego. It wasn't about competition. It was about, like, 'Man let's give the world what they want. Let's do a real girl-power collaboration where we support one other.' "

For the Day-Glo-tinged video, Gaga ditched her typical avant-garde look and styled herself more like Beyoncé. "I said, 'I want to do you in your video, and I want to tribute you. I want to dress up like you,' " she recalled telling her co-star. "And Hype Williams ... was so excited. He was like, 'Gaga I want no makeup on your face.' It was really stripped down — real Beyoncé hair, and we wore the same outfit in the video, and I [paid tribute to] her."

Gaga, whose own gothic-pop aesthetic has grown more elaborate as her popularity has risen, said she wanted to honor B for creating her own style. "I wanted to [work with her] because this was an era for her in her career where she defined herself aesthetically," she said. "And that should be applauded that a woman did that. She's so great at what she does."

• Beyonce And Lady Gaga Answer The 'Video Phone'
• MTV News Extended Play: Lady Gaga

• Lady Gaga
• Beyoncé

Beyoncé in the "Video Phone" video
Photo: Columbia/Music World

When one imagines a collaboration between Beyoncé, Lady Gaga and Hype Williams, the mind reels with visions of outlandish costumes, hip-displacing dance moves, DayGlo flames, fish-eye lenses ... the list goes on and on.

Thus, it's a little surprising that the just-released clip for Beyoncé's "Video Phone" has nary a flame or fish-eye shot (there are, of course, plenty of outlandish costumes). However, don't make the mistake of thinking this video is by any means straightforward — it's plenty WTF!

Opening with a tracking shot that pays homage to Quentin Tarantino's 1992 flick "Reservoir Dogs" (and features Beyoncé wearing a Zorro mask) and closing with her firing an assault rifle while seated atop a motorcycle, it's a decidedly weird trip, a cartoonish fantasy brought to life. There's an extended sequence where Beyoncé dresses up as '50s pinup Bettie Page, and other parts where she handles more firearms than a Guns & Ammo editor. There are eyeball-popping colors and head-spinning edits, too.

But weirdest of all is Gaga's cameo — mostly because it's shockingly normal. She's not wearing some gravity-defying outfit or hairstyle: She sings a verse, fires a sidearm and then works her way through a chair-dance routine with B (which, it should be noted, is pretty great). And then she disappears.

(Gaga said last month that she told Beyoncé, "I don't want to show up in some frickin' hair bow and be fashion Gaga in your video.' I said, 'I want to do you,' " which offers some explanation.)

It's definitely not the Gaga we're used to seeing, but her appearance isn't exactly run-of-the-mill, either. And neither is this video, for that matter. Especially not when you're watching Beyoncé snap her gum and shake her hips and grope an AK-47 while the screen pops from electric green to Kool-Aid red.

If only all videos were this "normal" ...

• Beyonce And Lady Gaga Answer The 'Video Phone'

• Beyoncé
• Lady Gaga

Beyoncé in the "Video Phone" video

It's been a great season for high-profile video premieres. Last week saw the unveiling of Lady Gaga's hyper-kinetic clip for her new single "Bad Romance," the new video for the Chris Brown ballad "Crawl" and the unleashing of Rihanna's cinematic tour-de-force for "Russian Roulette." This week sees another new video, a much-talked-about collaboration between arguably the two biggest divas in all of pop music right now. Lady Gaga and Beyoncé will pull the curtain back on their new Hype Williams-directed tag-team clip "Video Phone" at midnight tonight, but there is already a 30-second teaser worming its way around the Internet.

In the short clip first posted on our Buzzworthy blog, Beyoncé is seen walking down some sort of alley flanked by four men in black suits. B herself is dressed in a sexy one-piece leotard and a Zorro mask. The shot recalls the opening credits of the 1992 Quentin Tarantino film "Reservoir Dogs," which featured actors Tarantino, Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Steve Buscemi, Chris Penn, Eddie Bunker and Lawrence Tierney walking in slow motion. Not much of the song is revealed and Gaga herself is absent from the clip.

In another still from the video (also posted at Buzzworthy), Beyoncé and Gaga are seated in matching poses against a white background and wearing matching white outfits. The only difference? Beyoncé is wearing red shoes, while Gaga's are yellow.

"Video Phone" will premiere tonight at midnight on MTV.com.

• Beyoncé
• Lady Gaga

Kanye West (file)
Photo: Astrid Stawiarz/ Getty Images

Kanye West — who had been absent from the stage since he interrupted Taylor Swift's acceptance speech at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards — made a surprise appearance at Beyoncé's concert in London on Saturday night. The woman he interrupted Swift to shout out (to her dismay) called upon 'Ye to be her special guest at her concert at the O2 Arena. Footage has emerged on the Internet of the cameo, where Kanye rapped his verse from the "Ego" remix.

"I got a big, hah-uh-ha, ego," Kanye rapped. "She love my big, hah-uh-ha, ego/ So stroke my big, hah-uh-ha, ego/ I like to joke around a little bit but here we go/ Welcome to the wonderful world of gold-plated earl/ 'Cause everything I throw up, blow up."

If there was any backlash remaining from the VMA incident, the crowd didn't let it show: When 'Ye touched the stage, the crowd can be heard screaming with excitement. According to NME.com, Beyoncé also brought out Jay-Z during her set for "Crazy in Love."

There's more from Kanye coming this week — new music! West appears on the remix of his G.O.O.D. Music artist Consequence's remix for "Whatever U Want." The track features Kanye and John Legend (who were also on the original) as well as Common, Kid Cudi and Big Sean.

In related Beyoncé news, her video for "Video Phone," featuring Lady Gaga, will premiere on MTV.com tonight at midnight.

• Kanye West
• Beyoncé

Sean Garrett
Photo: Universal

Sean "The Pen" Garrett has the swagger of a boxer. Fast with a verbal jab, expert at talking an Ali-worthy streak of trash and prone to referring to himself in the third person, the fire-hot producer/songwriter (Beyoncé's "Diva," Fergie's "London Bridge," Usher's "Papers" and Mario's "Break Up") is planning to take some rare "me" time later this year to hunker down on his first solo album.

"Sean Garrett as an artist is what fans are missing," he said recently during a break from a workout at an Atlanta gym. "I'm making the kind of records Bell Biv Devoe and Bobby Brown made, songs you love and get excited hearing, with crazy beats and incredibly creative. I'm trying to be a little innovative and make songs girls will love. I'm pulling out all the stops."

Soon, he promised, he'll announce his new label deal, and by the end of December, he's penciled in six weeks or so of intense recording time — the first extended studio lockdown in his nearly decade-long career — to begin laying down the tracks for the yet-untitled album he hopes to have out next summer.

But, like any savvy boxer, Garrett knows when to pull punches and save some for the ring, so while he won't reveal too much about what guests he might have on the album, he did promise this: "I confirmed today that one of the biggest superstars in the world will be on it." Beyond that, he was not saying much.

Garrett released a Japan-only solo disc, Turbo 919, last year, but he said the upcoming album will be his true solo debut after more than half a decade of toiling behind the scenes for everyone from Ashley Tisdale and Amerie to the Pussycat Dolls, Jesse McCartney, Mary J. Blige and Chris Brown.

The first single from the album, the recently released Gucci Mane-featuring tune "Up in Your Heart," is a prime example of Garrett's skills: a hypnotic chorus over a sneakily insidious spare beat and a hook that instantly grabs your ears. "If people love [Mario's] 'Break Up,' they're gonna love my album," said the supremely confident hitmaker. "The biggest comparison I can make [as an artist] is to Kanye, because there's so much energy and so much to talk about, and I want to have so much fun on the record. People have tried to keep me in this songwriter/producer box, but I'm so much more of a bigger talent."

Working hard to make the album what he called "bulletproof," Garrett said despite his proven track record of hit writing, he feels like an underdog on his solo effort. That's why he's working extra hard to prove himself as he plans to continue his winning streak with a song on the upcoming Rihanna Rated R album, as well as tunes he's writing for Lady Gaga and Britney Spears, another single with Mario, "Stranded," and a new one from Jamie Foxx's upcoming album, "French Kiss."

"I have to take the same type of approach I take on the hit records I write: I can't rush it," he said. "I'm a f---ing superstar artist/writer/producer, and I will give my fans what they want and what they're asking me to give them: a phenomenal album. I'm the underdog, man, I can't go wrong. I got nothing to lose. Underdogs can't lose."

In the meantime, Garrett promised that he will also continue to be a presence on the radio and on the mixtape front, pointing to his current spot on the Gucci song "In My Business" alongside Drake.

• Sean Garrett
• Beyoncé
• Rihanna
• Usher

Robert Pattinson
Photo: Steve Granitz / Getty Images

Who's your favorite celebrity? Chances are, they're nominated for a 2010 People's Choice Award. The list of nominees for the annual populist event reads like a who's who of the music, film and TV charts, topped by multi-nominees Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Carrie Underwood, Rihanna, Taylor Swift and "American Idol" top two Adam Lambert and Kris Allen, who will face off in the Breakout Star category.

The show, which will air on January 6 on CBS and will be hosted by Queen Latifah, latched onto the hottest entertainment trend, vampires, with "Twilight" and "True Blood" sucking up multiple nominations thanks to more than 18 million online votes. "Twilight" snagged nods for Favorite Movie and On-Screen Team for Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner. Stewart and Pattinson are also nominated in the Favorite Move Actress and Actor categories, and Lautner earned a Breakout Movie Actor bid. HBO's Southern gothic series, "True Blood," snagged a nod for Favorite TV Obsession, and lead Anna Paquin was nominated for TV Drama Actress.

	2009 Peoples Choice Awards Nominees

A few of the key races include:
Music

Favorite Male Artist: Eminem, Jason Mraz, John Mayer, Keith Urban, Tim McGraw

Favorite Female Artist: Britney Spears, Beyoncé, Carrie Underwood, Pink, Taylor Swift

Favorite Breakout Artist: Adam Lambert, Demi Lovato, Kris Allen, Lady Gaga, Susan Boyle

Favorite Rock Band: Daughtry, Green Day, Kings of Leon, Muse, Paramore

Favorite Music Collaboration: Cobra Starship and Leighton Meester ("Good Girls Go Bad"), Lonely Island and T-Pain ("I'm on a Boat"); T.I. and Rihanna ("Live Your Life"); Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat ("Lucky"); Jay-Z, Rihanna and Kanye West ("Run This Town")

Favorite R&B Artist: Alicia Keys, Beyoncé, Jennifer Hudson, Mariah Carey, Usher

Favorite Pop Artist: Black Eyed Peas, Britney Spears, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift

Movies

Favorite Movie Actor: Brad Pitt, Hugh Jackman, Johnny Depp, Robert Pattinson, Ryan Reynolds

Favorite Movie Actress: Anne Hathaway, Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Aniston, Kristen Stewart, Sandra Bullock

Favorite Comedic Star: Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller, Jim Carrey, Ryan Reynolds, Vince Vaughn

Favorite Breakout Movie Actress: Anna Kendrick, Emily Osment, Ginnifer Goodwin, Miley Cyrus, Zoe Saldana

Favorite Breakout Movie Actor: Chris Pine, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Sam Worthington, Taylor Lautner, Zachary Quinto

Favorite On-Screen Team: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Gint ("Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince"); Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock ("The Proposal"); Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox ("Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen"); Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner ("The Twilight Saga"); Daniel Henney, Dominic Monaghan, Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Ryan Reynolds and Will.I.Am ("X-Men Origins: Wolverine")

Favorite Movie: "The Proposal," "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," "The Hangover," "Star Trek," "Twilight"

Television

Favorite TV Obsession: "Dexter," "Gossip Girl," "The Hills," "The Secret Life of the American Teenager," "True Blood"

• 2010 People's Choice Awards Nominees
• MTV Rough Cut: Robert Pattinson

• 2010 People's Choice Awards Nominees

• Beyoncé
• Lady Gaga
• Britney Spears
• Rihanna
• Taylor Swift

Adam Lambert
Photo: David Livingston/ Getty Images

Adam Lambert clearly likes to have fun with his image. He loves the glamorous worlds of rock and roll and disco. He's not afraid to wear makeup and glitter. Plus, he likes to poke fun at people's perceptions of him, as he does on the kitschy cover for his forthcoming debut album, For Your Entertainment. But when it comes to his music, Lambert isn't shy about shedding his pop-star persona and singing about deeper emotions.

"The dress-up supports that; the fantasy element supports it. People want to talk about whether I have rock cred, whether I'm selling out, the theatricality, the gay stuff. ... Chill out! And just enjoy yourself," he told the Los Angeles Times. "It's not that deep. ... Sometimes it is deep. Some of the songs on the album are."

He said songs like the unreleased Muse track "Soaked" and the ballad "Broken Open" are examples of being vulnerable. But there are definitely fun tracks on the album as well. "Sometimes it's just, 'This is hot, I feel good, this song makes me want to go get a drink and flirt with somebody and have a good time.' Good energy is just as credible as the cathartic, dark, heavy stuff," he said. "It's just as important!"

Lambert also talks about how his image, which he says is of a gay man pushing the straight boundaries, is more like something Beyoncé is doing than other male "American Idol" alumni like Chris Daughtry and David Cook. "People look at me and immediately say, 'Oh, he's doing the musical-theater thing,' " he explained. "But if you look at most female pop stars right now, how are they any less theater? Beyoncé is doing 'Single Ladies' with two girls in character shoes and leotards, doing [Bob] Fosse choreography from 'Sweet Charity' and 'West Side Story.' "

The album is a reflection of Lambert's overwhelming musical influences ranging from rock to pop to dance music. In the interview he cites Christina Aguilera's rise to fame.

"I listen to crazy, robust rock music where they sing their faces off, and soul music, which can be similar," he said. "But I also listen to a lot of dance music. I love that style. I was a Paula Abdul fan, a Michael Jackson fan, a Madonna fan. When Christina Aguilera came out when I was in high school, that was a great example of someone taking the pop-dance feel but who could really sing. Pop stars have done it; it's just not a lot of guys have done it. Maybe it's a question of masculine persona."

Get your "Idol" fix on MTV News' "American Idol" page, where you'll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions.

• MTV News RAW: Adam Lambert

• Kris Allen, Adam Lambert And The "American Idols Live!" Tour

• Adam Lambert
• Beyoncé
• Daughtry

Beyoncé accepts an award at the EMAs
Photo: Jeff Kravitz/ Getty Images

Bowler caps, bow ties, corsets, crystals, "boobie thingies" — no, these are not the remnants of last weekend's Halloween rave but rather the accoutrements returning host Katy Perry flounced around in at this year's MTV Europe Music Awards. Together with the theme "Katy Kat Club," the Sally Bowles-inspired garb was only appropriate as the 16th annual EMAs returned to its inaugural location of Berlin, just days before the 20th anniversary of when the Berlin wall came tumbling down.

Jay-Z, Beyoncé, U2, Tokio Hotel, Leona Lewis, David Hasselhoff, Juliette Lewis, Shakira, the Jonas Brothers and Tokio Hotel were just some of the stars that turned up on the red carpet to commence the largest awards show in MTV Europe's history. A staggering 17,000 audience members congregated at Berlin's O2 Arena and Brandenburg Gate, while an estimated 2 billion people tuned in from home.

It was a night contrasted by both the old and new, bad jokes on the German language and crackling political overtones. Veteran act Green Day opened up the show with a blistering two-song performance that had lead singer Billie Joe pogoing his way through the crowd and ending in shooting flames and fireworks as "Minority" slowed to its last four-note chord. (Proving why the group was once synonymous with teenage angst, Joe later returned to the stage after winning for Best Rock with these wise words: "Great that we got the best co-- band — I mean, rock band. Pardon my German.")

A slithering and glittering Katy Perry then took the stage, bellowing out "Herzlich wilkommen meine damen und herren!" and performed a raw-vocal medley that included the Black Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feeling" and Lady Gaga's "Poker Face." Curiously, Perry then ribbed Lady Gaga later during the show when she emerged from a set design involving a giant ruby-red shoe. "They say that if a guy has big shoes, then he has ... the funny thing is, I think this belongs to Lady Gaga!"

The first award of the night went to U2 for Best Live Act. Taking the stage, Bono introduced the Edge, who in an emotional speech expressed how the recording of "One" in Berlin — inspired by Germany's then-recent reunification and symbol as the new Europe — "brought the band together." More East/West references abounded. Upon winning the award for Best Urban, Jay-Z, donning sunglasses and a black leather jacket, succinctly said, "The will come a day when the only walls that come down are just music," then said something about the Jonas Brothers.

Both Lady Gaga (Best New Act) and Eminem (Best Male) accepted their awards remotely through televised acceptance speeches.

	EMA 2009 Show Highlights

And what is an awards show in Germany without the Hoff? Clad in a dazzling chrome silver dinner jacket, David Hasselhoff returned the country's seemingly undying love for him by flashing his select knowledge of the native language. "Yo! Twenty years! Alles klar! I am not responsible for the wall falling down," the former "Baywatch" actor announced with an apparent slur. "Wie gehts? Alles klar! Gut!"

But it was three-time winner Beyoncé (Best Song, "Halo"; Best Female; Best Video, "Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)") who had the best line of the night. Having performed earlier in a silken red set straight out of a Daphne du Maurier novel, the visibly weary singer simply said upon receiving her final award: "There is one person I want to thank, and that is Jay — for putting a ring on it!" then shot her fist into the air to loud cheers. "You go, B!" Katy Perry shouted from the sidelines.

Despite other spirited performances from Jay-Z, Shakira and overwhelmingly popular local androgynoids Tokio Hotel, the true stage spectacle of the night came from Leona Lewis. What started off as a rather standard rendition of "Happy," set against a starry background, experienced a jaw-dropping special effect as a green vortex whirred around the singer then dramatically vanished into glittering stardust.

In the much-publicized highlight of the evening, Dublin rockers U2 performed a free 20-minute set in front of the historic Brandenburg Gate for the rabid 10,000 fans who had secured a spot online. Shot several hours earlier and beamed into the arena, the concert moved the audience even remotely as the giant pillars were emblazoned with the words "One Love" and "Freedom." "Happy birthday, Berlin!" frontman Bono crowed during a performance of "One," his voice both soaring and sage.

U2 returned to the big screen to close out the show, this time with Jay-Z freestyling over a performance of "Sunday Bloody Sunday." Jay-Z rapped in the lyrics from Bob Marley's "Get Up, Stand Up." The gates behind them lit up in the holiday colors of green and red, like an early present. Bono leaned in to hold to Jay-Z's hand as the duo raised them up triumphantly in the air.

• EMA 2009 | The Entire Show On Demand
• EMA 2009 | Red Carpet Report With Joss Stone And Joko Winterscheidt

• EMA 2009 | Show Highlights
• EMA 2009 | Full Fashion Recap

• Beyoncé
• U2
• Jay-Z
• Green Day
• Tokio Hotel

Lady Gaga
Photo: MTV News

Lady Gaga and Beyoncé have apparently found a quite a kinship in one another and have become good friends quickly. While it might seem that the two superstars would be worlds apart it terms of image, sound and vibe, but at the end of the day there's no question that they're two of the hardest working women in pop music today.

And perhaps those personality traits made it easy for the two of them to bond and collaborate with one another. Since the 2009 Video Music Awards, where both women won awards, their paths have been crossing quite frequently — and they've worked together on two projects so far.

The first to appear will be Beyoncé's clip for "Video Phone." Not many details have emerged about the Hype Williams-helmed video, which was shot in Brooklyn, New York, last month.

The pair also collaborated on a new song, "Telephone," that will appear on the forthcoming deluxe reissue of Gaga's debut LP, dubbed The Fame Monster, which includes eight new songs and is slated for release on November 23 (Gaga's Monster Ball Tour launches in Montreal four days later).

Gaga had nothing but praise for B when she sat down with MTV News for a long interview on Tuesday.

"You know she is such a beautiful person, and I gotta tell you, I just adore her," she said. "I had kind of lost faith a little bit in meeting artists in the business — and then I met Beyoncé."

She also spoke briefly about how much fun the two of them have together. "She is a real, real woman," Gaga said. "I have never laughed so hard on a video set in my life. We had the best time doing 'Video Phone.' "

MTV News will have lots more from our sitdown with Lady Gaga in the coming days!

• MTV News Extended Play: Lady Gaga

• Lady Gaga Arrives At Billboard's Women In Music Event

• Lady Gaga
• Beyoncé

2009 American Music Award Nominees

• Michael Jackson
• Lady Gaga
• Jay-Z
• Taylor Swift
• Beyoncé

10 Best Dressed Ladies On People Magazine's Best & Worst Dressed Of 2009 List

• Vanessa Hudgens
• Beyoncé
• Taylor Swift

Who Are The Landmarks Of The VMAs?

• Britney Spears
• Lady Gaga
• Jay-Z
• Lil Wayne
• Beyoncé

Beyonce's Best VMA Moments

• Beyoncé

SPOTTED! Daily Celebrity Sightings

• Jay-Z
• Lindsay Lohan
• Jessica Simpson
• Chris Brown
• The All-American Rejects

2009 VMA Nominees

• Yeah Yeah Yeahs
• Green Day
• Kings Of Leon
• Paramore
• Fall Out Boy

2009 VMA Performers And Presenters Announced

• Jay-Z
• Muse
• Lady Gaga
• Green Day
• Taylor Swift

Beyonce Performs At Madison Square Garden

• Beyoncé

Beyonce, Ali Larter And Olivia Palermo Are 'Obsessed' With The Red Carpet

• Beyoncé

Mariah Carey, Beyonce, Will.I.Am, More Headline The Neighborhood Ball

• Mariah Carey
• Beyoncé
• Will.I.Am
• Mary J. Blige