Green Day, Tokio Hotel Battle For Musical March Madness Championship
After three weeks, nearly 20 million votes and just as many accusations of cheating from various fanbases, it's come down to this: [artist id="988"]Green Day[/artist] and [artist id="2034673"]Tokio Hotel[/artist] (who somehow survived the vast international conspiracy their supporters so adamantly insist exists) will meet for the 2012 MTV Musical March Madness championship.
And much like the actual NCAA final -- which sees Kentucky going up against Kansas in a battle of two storied programs -- the MMM championship is also fraught with historical implications: Green Day aim to become the first band to [article id="1661353"]repeat as champs[/article], while Tokio Hotel look to finally take home the title that has [article id="1635413"]so far eluded them[/article].
Voting for the 2012 MMM championship is now under way, with polls closing Tuesday at midnight ET ... oh, and much like we did in last year's title game, we're keeping the results secret until Wednesday morning, when we'll crown our champ.
It's a truly epic battle between two bands that have fought long and hard just to make it to this point: As reigning champs, Green Day entered the tourney with a target on their backs, and after pasting lesser foes the Decemberists and Lana Del Rey in the opening rounds, they faced their first true challenge in [article id="1681904"]upset-minded "American Idol" fave James Durbin[/article], who took them down to the wire. That was followed by an [article id="1682056"]epic Elite 8 battle[/article] with another "Idol" alum, Adam Lambert, and a shoot-out with MMM heavyweights My Chemical Romance in the Final Four. And though they may be weary, with their run in 2012, Green Day have proven that, like all great champions, there's no foe they'll shy away from and no challenge too big. But do they have enough left in the tank to win one more?
The only thing standing in their way is Tokio Hotel, a band who basically only made the tournament based on their tremendous success in previous years (Final Four in 2010, Elite 8 last year). And they've definitely proven the selection committee's sage-like powers with their run in 2012, blasting everyone in their path. They ripped Arcade Fire and Muse in the first two rounds, destroyed [article id="1681510"]underdogs F---ed Up[/article] in the Sweet 16, and then were victorious in a pair of record-busting battles: Besting [article id="1681939"]longtime foes[/article] Coheed and Cambria in the Elite 8 and outgunning #1 Evanescence in the Final Four (and we mean outgunning ... there were more than 8 million votes cast in that one alone). Now, they stand on the precipice of their first-ever MMM championship ... they've just got to find a way to get by Green Day. Now if only their fans would stop bugging us about cheating.
So, who will reign supreme: the battle-tested returning champs or the eternal MMM bridesmaids? You can help decide. Voting in our 2012 title game is now under way, and polls close Tuesday at midnight. Oh, and if you're a MCR or Evanescence fan still stinging from those Final Four defeats, well, now's the time to get your revenge. And on Wednesday morning, when the smoke finally clears, we'll know just who is the baddest band in all the land!
MTV's 2012 Musical March Madness tournament has made it to the championship game! Voting runs until midnight ET on Tuesday, April 3, and winners are determined by fan votes, so if your favorite act is still alive, it'll be up to you to guide them to glory. You can rally the troops on Twitter using the hashtag #MMM or by downloading one of our custom badges -- and we'll reveal our 2012 champion on Wednesday morning!
