Janet Jackson
Photo: John Shearer/WireImage

While many of the people who worked with Michael Jackson on his "This Is Is" concerts expressed surprise at his struggles with drug addiction, sister Janet Jackson told ABC News that she and her family were well aware of her brother's demons.

In fact, Jackson said that she and her family reached out several times over the years to confront Michael about his drug problem and stage interventions, to no avail. "That's what you do," she told interviewer Robin Roberts in a sit-down in which she also blamed Jackson's personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, for the singer's death. "Those are the things that you do when you love someone. You can't just let them continue on that way. And we did a few times. We weren't very successful."

The youngest Jackson sibling said Michael, to whom she was very close, understood that his family was trying to help him, but that he was "possibly" in denial about the extent of his problems. "I wish he could answer this question for you and not me," she said. "I felt that he was in denial."

A coroner's report found that Jackson died of a lethal amount of the powerful surgical anesthetic propofol, a drug he reportedly used to combat his chronic insomnia and which Murray has told police he administered to Jackson several times on the morning of the singer's death. Jackson told Roberts she thought Murray was responsible for her brother's death.

"You can't make 'em drink the water," Janet tells Roberts about forcing someone to face their addictions. "It's something that you can't do for them, something they have to do for themselves." Janet also revealed in the interview that she learned first-hand what the ravages of addiction can do during her first marriage to James DeBarge, who has admitted a prescription medication dependency. After eloping with the singer, Jackson said their marriage fell apart after three months due to DeBarge's addiction.

• Remembering Michael Jackson

• Michael Jackson: A Life In Photos

• Janet Jackson
• Michael Jackson

Taylor Swift
Photo: Rick Diamond/Getty Images

'Tis the season for inappropriately early Christmas decorations, conspicuous consumption and, most important, holiday radio shows. The end-of-year tradition of smashing a dozen completely unrelated acts onto a stage together as a thank you to fans (and radio programmers) is about to kick off, and this season's offerings offer multiple coast-to-coast appearances by everyone from Muse to Taylor Swift, 30 Seconds to Mars, Justin Bieber and Kris Allen.

One of the season's most pop-tastic rosters is for Z100 (WHTZ) in New York's annual Jingle Ball at Madison Square Garden on December 11. The talent lineup includes Taylor Swift, John Mayer, Justin Bieber, the Fray, Jordin Sparks, Kris Allen, Boys Like Girls, Pitbull, Owl City, Jay Sean and Ke$ha. On the opposite coast, Los Angeles' KIIS (102.7 FM) Jingle Ball will host Swift, Keri Hilson, Fabolous, the Ting Tings, 3OH!3, LMFAO, Jay Sean and Jason Derulo at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on December 5.

Tampa's WFLZ 93.3 FM will host many of those same acts December 13 at the St. Pete Times Forum, for a show featuring the Fray, Sparks, Pitbull, 3OH!3, Boys Like Girls, Sean Kingston and the Ting Tings. Yet another Jingle Ball, this one for Kiss 108 at the Tsongas Arena in Lowell, Massachusetts, on December 10, will host Bieber, Sparks, the Fray, Boys Like Girls, Kingston and Jay Sean. Assuming that's not enough Jingle Balling for you, there's always Minneapolis' sold-out KDWB 101.3 Ball, which helps kick things off December 6 at the Xcel Energy Center with Sparks, Pitbull, Boys Like Girls, Bieber, 3OH!3, Sean, Owl City and Colbie Caillat.

The granddaddy of the alternative holiday radio shows, KROQ (106.7 FM) Los Angeles' Almost Acoustic Christmas, hits the Gibson Amphitheatre on December 12-13 with AFI, Muse, 311, Rise Against, Alice in Chains, 30 Seconds to Mars, Dead by Sunrise, Phoenix, the Bravery, Metric, Vampire Weekend and White Rabbits.

In Philadelphia, Q102 (WIOQ FM) will shake its Jingle Ball with Bieber, Sparks, Sean, Owl City, Pitbull, Cobra Starship and the Fray on December 9 at the Susquehanna Bank Center. Dallas' KRBE (104.1 FM) will light up its Not So Silent Night show at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Houston with the All-American Rejects, Bieber, Cobra Starship and Sean.

If your taste runs to the alternative, the December 3 Buzz Xmas Show at the Uptown Theatre in Kansas City, Missouri, will offer sets from Spoon, the Bravery, Metric and buzz band Hockey. An even more star-studded lineup will hit the Remac Arena in San Diego on December 12 for 94.9's Holiday Hootenanny, with Spoon, Vampire Weekend, Phoenix, Manchester Orchestra and White Rabbits. A roster featuring the best of those two bills will play the WaMu Arena in Seattle on December 15 at venerable alternative station 107.7 The End's (KNDD) Deck the Hall Ball, featuring Muse, 30 Seconds to Mars, Phoenix, Metric and Vampire Weekend.

The rundown is slightly different at 106.1 FM's Jingle Bell Bash also at Seattle's WaMu Arena on December 19, with guarantees of complicated hair and lots of questionable tats from the likes of All-American Rejects, Cobra Starship, We the Kings, All Time Low, Hey Monday, Cash Cash, Push Play, the Maine, This Providence, Amber Pacific and hosting duties handled by none other than Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz.

Harder-rocking tastes will be slaked by the lineup of the Night the Edge Stole Xmas at the Nokia Theatre in Dallas on December 3-4, which will feature headliners Breaking Benjamin, Papa Roach, AFI and 30 Seconds to Mars, as well as Flyleaf, Dead by Sunrise, the Bravery and Cage the Elephant. A similar lineup will play KXTE's Holiday Havoc at the Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas on December 11-12, with contributions from Alice in Chains, Muse, Dead by Sunrise, Cage the Elephant and Paper Tongues. A lot of the same names will be on hand for KTCL (93.3) in Denver's Not So Silent Night, with sets from AFI, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Say Anything and I Fight Dragons on December 6 at the Magness Arena. Detroit's 88.7 FM (CIMX) will also get hair flying with the Night 89X Stole Christmas 12, featuring 30 Seconds to Mars, Flyleaf, Thousand Foot Krutch, Veer Union and After Midnight Project.

New York's leading hip-hop station, Hot 97, presents Funkmaster Flex's Thanksgiving Bash on November 26 at the LQ Nightclub with Swizz Beatz, Ron Browz, Omarion, Amerie and Juelz Santana. Hartford, Connecticut, station Hot 93.7 (WZMX) will take over the XL Center on December 3 with a Jingle Jam show by Pitbull, Mario, Hilson, Trey Songz, Nicki Minaj and Fabolous.

Chicago's B96 Jingle Bash will crash down December 12 at Allstate Arena with spots from Hilson, Bieber, Pitbull, David Guetta, Sean, Kingston, Jeremih, Livvi Frank and the Jump Smokers. Fab will also be on hand for the December 16 Power 106 Cali Christmas show at the Gibson Amphitheatre near Los Angeles, headlined by 50 Cent and T-Pain, with Jeremih, Pitbull and Sean in the mix as well.

• Taylor Swift
• 50 Cent
• Muse
• Kris Allen

Shakira
Photo: Ben Hider/ Getty Images

Conventional wisdom states that you shouldn't review a record after it's already been in stores for more than a month (overseas, anyway), but when the record in question has been described as "endearingly bonkers" and "fantastically strange" and leads with an Italian-disco-indebted first single that features the word "lycanthropy," well, sometimes you have to ignore conventional wisdom and just go for it.

So, yes, this is my take on Shakira's She Wolf (which hits stores here in the U.S. next week with a surplus of bonus tracks), a slinky, sexy, spirited pop/disco bonbon that's all hips and lips and handclaps, with the occasional cowbell or clarinet (or mouth trumpet/ electro urchin/ Matt Damon shout-out) sprinkled in for good measure. It's every bit as good as the reviews advertised, and roughly 50 percent more batsh-- crazy than I ever could have imagined.

So, yes, this is a great pop record, certainly one of the year's finest (right up there with Lily Allen's It's Not Me, It's You and Kelly Clarkson's All I Ever Wanted), and, yes, hearing Shakira bleat lines like "I gotta say, California is a place that I respect" or "I hope the French fleas eat you both alive" is endlessly entertaining. But what I really enjoyed most about She Wolf is that, for all the ephemera buzzing in/on/around it, it's really a pretty straightforward, oddly personal record — a fascinating, funky, fun one at that.

Because, at its core, She Wolf is simply Shakira's attempt at making an electro-pop record. And the songs presented here are her versions of dance music: mutated, genre- (and era-) hopping, poly-national tunes, written by a Colombian pop star who's fluent in English, Portuguese and Italian, tinkered with by a globe-spanning squad of producers (the Neptunes, Timbaland, Wyclef, John Hill, Amanda Ghost, etc.). It's music that couldn't have existed in any other era — a very 21st-century, global thing — made by a woman whose career wouldn't have been possible at any other time in history.

Which is how we end up with songs like "She Wolf" — the batty first single that slinks along on an Italo-disco line (it was written by Hill and Sam Endicott from the Bravery) and features Shakira howling at the moon (and comparing herself to a coffee machine) — and "Long Time," which is buoyed by a Roma-esque clarinet breakdown. It certainly explains songs like "Good Stuff," electronic genie music that transforms into "La Isla Bonita" in the chorus, or the excellent "Men in This Town," a tune that starts in California but finishes up as a disco tune on Jupiter (it's also where Shakira openly pines for Matt Damon, for the record).

So, basically, it's not a stretch to call She Wolf Shakira's most personal album. This is dance music, as she hears it in her head, with no filters added. And that goes doubly for the lyrics, which are riddled with guilt ("Did It Again") and spite (the biting "Mon Amour," which closes with her singing/speaking, "Passengers with destination to hell, we are ready to board now") and — most of all — lust ("Long Time," "Why Wait," "Spy"). These are imperfect emotions, and she's unashamed to be feeling them. In fact, this is probably her confessional.

Of course, that's all nerdy music-journo crap. The real power of She Wolf lies in its ability to pack dance floors. Of the 10 songs on the record — the U.S. version comes with six additional tracks, three of which are reworked versions of songs already on the album, two of which are live tracks and one of which features Lil Wayne — only one ("Gypsy") isn't an immediate, rousing hip-shaker, which makes it one of the most party-ready, blissed-out listens of the year.

This is impressive, undeniable stuff: deeply personal pop for everyone. There's a she-wolf (or, perhaps a wolf-man) inside us all, and this is the soundtrack to his/her Saturday night. Or, as Shakira puts it: "Awoooooooooo!"

Totally.

Questions? Concerns? Hit me up at BTTS@MTVStaff.com.

• MTV News Extended Play: Shakira

• The Evolution Of: Shakira

• Shakira

Pete Wentz
Photo: MTV News

It all started with a single tweet, written — and subsequently deleted — by drummer Andy Hurley. In it, he said the band was on "hiatus," touching off a wave of panic among FOB fans, most of whom were already skittish that their favorite band was calling it quits.

The problem was the word itself. "Hiatus" has a rather nasty and permanent connotation these days, it seems. So when MTV News caught up with Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz at the opening of American Eagle's Times Square store in New York, he took it upon himself to set the record straight ... again.

"It's weird because, if you look it up in the dictionary, 'hiatus' is a synonym for 'a break.' We're on a break that doesn't have a definite ending. There's no ending date," Wentz said. "We've been doing this for eight years straight, where it was pre-recording, record, promo, tour, tour, pre-recording, record, tour, tour, and our band was going to imminently implode."

So, while yes, Fall Out Boy are on a "hiatus," it's not of the nasty, this-is-forever variety (something Wentz tried to explain on his own Twitter account earlier this month). It's of the ... well, perhaps there's no good way to put it, which is why Wentz decided to coin a brand-new term for his band's break.

"I don't think I would use the word 'hiatus' because I think that word has gotten a dirty name, especially if you say 'indefinite hiatus,' " he explained. "I wouldn't use the word 'breakup' because that's not true. It's a break — we're decompressing. I'm making a new term for it: we're decompressing right now."

• Leighton Meester, Pete Wentz Help Launch American Eagle In Times Square

• Fall Out Boy

Nick Jonas
Photo: Jason Merritt/Getty Images

At last year's Grammy Awards, Nick Jonas performed with his brothers, Joe and Kevin. But at this year's Grammy Nominations Concert Live, Nick will be going rogue and playing with his new band and side project, Nick Jonas and the Administration.

Nick, whose nickname is Mr. President, will be introduced by his older brothers when he takes the stage on December 2 at Club Nokia in Los Angeles. Other performers include the Black Eyed Peas, Maxwell and Sugarland. LL Cool J will host the show, which will be broadcast live on CBS.

At the concert, nominations for several categories of the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards will be announced, as well as acts that will perform at the big show on January 31, 2010. It has already been announced that Lady Gaga will be ineligible for a best new artist nomination due to her best dance recording nomination last year.

The Jonas Brothers were up for a Grammy last year, but lost the Best New Artist statue to Adele. Nick caused quite a stir when he first announced he was working on a side project, but the band assured fans they weren't breaking up.

"We are so proud of our brother Nick," Kevin and Joe said in October. "We know that we will be doing music together for the rest of our lives. But we are thrilled for you to hear these songs that were on his heart. They are amazing works of art from an amazing talent ... our brother. We will see you later this year, next year and hopefully for the rest of our lives."

A snippet of a song by Nick Jonas and the Administration, "Who I Am," was recently leaked online and is expected to be released on December 3.

• Jonas Brothers

Lady Gaga
Photo: George Napolitano/ WireImage

Few new artists in recent years have made an impact on the pop music scene as quickly as Lady Gaga, who won the Best New Artist VMA this September. But her catchy #1 hits and unpredictable performances aren't enough to make her eligible for the new artist category at next year's Grammy Awards.

According to Variety, because her song "Just Dance" was nominated for best dance recording at this year's Grammy Awards, regulations state that the singer can't be placed on the ballot as a new artist this January. She lost the Grammy last year to Daft Punk for their song "Harder Better Faster Stronger."

Recently, Gaga sat down with MTV News to discuss the onslaught of accolades she's received in the last year since breaking out on the scene as a leotard-wearing disco queen with her album The Fame and then elevating her act to avant-garde performance art.

"[I also want something that] isn't this Hollywood kind of future that we imagine all pop stars go to," explained Gaga, whose The Fame Monster rerelease comes out on Monday. "I have to find my own space. I try to reject all of that. I try to stay internal and just focus on myself."

• MTV News Extended Play: Lady Gaga

• Lady Gaga Attracts A-List Celebrities For MOCA Anniversary
• Lady Gaga Arrives At Billboard's Women In Music Event
• Lady Gaga's 2009 VMA Looks

• Lady Gaga

Gucci Mane
Photo: MTV News

Gucci Mane spoke out for the first time Tuesday (November 17) since being sent back to jail last week. Through a statement sent to XXLMag.com, Gucci said he is prepared to face the music.

"I have accepted full responsibility for my actions, and I am ready to deal with what is in front of me right now," Gucci's statement read. "Thankfully, my label is still moving forward with my album release, so I will have plenty to look forward to when I get out. I am remaining positive and want my fans to know that I am grateful for their loyalty and continued support. I will get through this."

Last week, Gucci was sentenced to 12 months in jail for a probation violation. He failed to serve hundreds of hours of community service and attend classes for anger management and drug and alcohol abuse. Gucci also disregarded court orders to obtain permission for his travel. His lawyer and the courts say the rapper will serve no more than six months. During his sentencing, Gucci faced two and a half years, but the judge was lenient.

"First of the year, he could be out," Gucci's lawyer Dwight L. Thomas explained to MTV News last week. "It all depends on his conduct and how he conducts himself while he's there. We're working on other avenues that might entitle him to be released early. If nothing happens at all, he'll do six months. But if we're able to do some of the things we're exploring, we may get this thing down to two months."

"You can't hold down a man like Gucci for long," Shawty Lo told Mixtape Daily about his friend's sentence. "His situation is unfortunate, but he'll be back on top in a few."

• Gucci Mane

Adam Lambert
Photo: Frank Micelotta/ Getty Images

Adam Lambert had a simple response to the impassioned open letter penned by the editor in chief of the gay magazine Out alleging that the flamboyant "American Idol" runner-up's management team is attempting to push him back into the closet: Chill out.

Lambert took to his Twitter account on Tuesday to respond to Aaron Hicklin's tirade. "Dear Aaron, it's def not that deep. Chill! Guess ya gotta get attention for the magazine," Lambert wrote. "U too are at the mercy of the marketing machine. ... Until we have a meaningful conversation, perhaps you should refrain from projecting your publication's agenda onto my career."

The tweet came after Hicklin published a letter in which he said he was proud to have the singer in the Out 100 list of influential gay and lesbian icons but upset that Lambert's label and management appear to be trying to tone down talk of his homosexuality.

"You're a pioneer, an out gay pop idol at the start of his career," Hicklin wrote. "Someone has to be first, and we're all counting on you not to mess this up. You have to find your own path and then others can follow. We just hope it's a path that's honest and true and that you choose to surround yourself with people who celebrate your individuality."

A spokesperson for Lambert's management company did not return MTV News' requests for comment on the controversy.

The author of the Out interview, Shana Naomi Krochmal, also posted a letter in the magazine's Popnography blog in which she addresses the thousands of comments the magazine got about the interview and Hicklin's letter. In the missive, she claims that when she went to the offices of Lambert's management, 19 Entertainment, for the interview, she was ushered out onto a balcony where she was cautioned by a publicist not to make the interview "too gay" or "you know, gay-gay." She claims she was also discouraged from asking about the March on Washington by gay activists that was to take place the next weekend or other "political" topics.

In his letter, Hicklin also referred to the warning from 19, writing, "We're curious whether you know that we made cover offers for you before 'American Idol' was even halfway through its run. Apparently, Out was too gay, even for you. There was the issue of what it would do to your record sales, we were told. Imagine! A gay musician on the cover of a gay magazine. What might the parents think! It's only because this cover is a group shot that includes a straight woman that your team would allow you to be photographed at all — albeit with the caveat that we must avoid making you look 'too gay.' "

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

• Adam Lambert

Bon Jovi's <i>The Circle</i>
Photo: Island

Music fans appear to have taken a break from holiday shopping last week, as sales of the top albums took a noticeable dip, and the latest #1 debut did just about half the business Carrie Underwood's Play On did the week before to hit #1.

Jersey icons Bon Jovi take over the top spot on next week's Billboard albums chart with their latest, The Circle, which sold just about 163,000 copies according to figures provided by Nielsen SoundScan. That was just over half of what the band's previous #1, the country-tinged Lost Highway, did in its first week in 2007. It was enough, however, to keep tenor Andrea Bocelli's My Christmas at #2 (136,000) and to knock Underwood down to #3 (128,000) as her second-week sales plummeted by 60 percent.

The only other debut in the top 10 is from righteous metallers Flyleaf, whose Memento Mori lands at #8 on sales of 56,000. The rest of the top 10: the "Michael Jackson's This Is It" soundtrack (#4, 117,000), Taylor Swift's Fearless (#5, 91,000), Now That's What I Call Music! Vol. 32 (#6, 68,000), Michael Bublé's Crazy Love (#7, 58,000), Glee: The Music Vol. 1 (#9, 56,000) and the soundtrack to "New Moon" (#10, 53,000).

Among other new releases, Switchfoot touch down at #13 with Hello Hurricane (39,000), and Dashboard Confessional's Alter the Ending hits #19 (30,000). Buzz rapper Wale sneaks in at #21 with Attention Deficit, followed by Britney Spears' Singles Collection at #22 (27,000).

Quite a few country acts got a bump after winning big at the CMA Awards, including Lady Antebellum, whose self-titled disc shoots up 130 percent and 13 spots to #11 (45,000), and best "new" artist Hootie and the Blowfish singer Darius Rucker, whose country disc Learn to Live jumps more than 20 spots to #27 (23,000). Other country gainers that performed or won on the show included the Zac Brown Band, Miranda Lambert and Jason Aldean.

Otherwise, the chart has been pretty quiet, with masked party rappers Hollywood Undead slamming to #29 with the remix CD/live DVD Desperate Measures (21,000), Jason Mraz a bit behind at #35 with the live disc Jason Mraz's Beautiful Mess (16,000) and an AC/DC box set, Backtracks, debuting at #39 (16,000).

Some of last week's top debuts had serious falls. The Foo Fighters' Greatest Hits stumbles 17 spots to #28 after business fell by 50 percent (22,000). Weezer's Raditude shed more than 73 percent of its debut business to nose-dive 25 spots to #32 with sales of 18,000. And Slayer's World Painted Blood skidded 67 percent, dropping 32 spots to #44 on sales of 13,000.

The deck should get shuffled next week with the long-awaited release of 50 Cent's Before I Self-Destruct, the latest from Norah Jones, John Mayer, Leona Lewis and OneRepublic, as well as debuts from Justin Bieber and Kris Allen.

• Britney Spears: The Singles Collection

• Bon Jovi
• Britney Spears

Mya
Photo: Astrid Stawiarz/ Getty Images

It's been an intense season, during which Aaron Carter got Robert Pattinson comparisons before eventually getting the boot, the dancers paid tribute to Michael Jackson and everyone from Taylor Swift to Shakira stopped by to perform on the show. But now the "Dancing With the Stars" finale is upon us, and the final three celebs to make the grade and dance in next week's show will be Mya, Donny Osmond and Kelly Osbourne.

On Tuesday night, model Joanna Krupa and her partner, Derek Hough, were voted off the show. "I really came in the underdog so it's great that people actually appreciated our dances and our hard work," Krupa told People, adding that she was happy for her new friend Kelly Osbourne. "[Kelly and I] basically said, 'Whatever happens happens.' It was an amazing experience. We both came in here with no experience, so whoever gets to the next level, we're going to root for, and I'm definitely going to root for Kelly to win."

Osbourne, Osmond and Mya are now left to battle it out for "Dancing" supremacy next Monday night before the winner is declared on Tuesday. In a previous interview with MTV News, Mya spoke about competing against Osbourne, noting that she was surprised that she wanted to be on the show to begin with.

"I didn't think it was in her personality to do something like this, but it's great that she is," she said of rock progeny Osbourne. "And I actually met her last night, and she's very cute and funny, so she's very sweet. I was just surprised, 'cause she's more of a rebel to me."

• 'Dancing With The Stars' Cast Announced

• Mya
• Kelly Osbourne