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After several delays, Lady GaGa finally released her “Telephone” music video that features Beyonce. Directed by Jonas Åkerlund it appears the video is inspired by everything… from Thelma & Louise to everything else Tarantino starting with the Kill Bill films.

It’s certainly entertaining (pussy boat, Beyonce's motherfucker, etc) and yet very underwhelming, quite over produced. GaGa and Beyonce are both wonderfully talented artists however this video is about 5 minutes too long, too busy, over the top, lacks any plot, and has little connection or cohesiveness with the actual lyrics of the song.

In Gaga's effort to make it an “event” you're left feeling as though its snippets of different videos spliced together to make this one with strong lesbian undertones made just for the “controversy/water cooler chats” effect. Both ladies acting, even if it was supposed to be intentionally bad is actually beyond bad, Beyonce's speech leaves very little to be desired.

“Telephone” is certainly better than Beyonce's “Video Phone” that featured Gaga; however it’s outdone by Gaga's "Bad Romance”.

“Telephone” was hyped as something “EPIC”. The difference between this, and Michael Jackson‘s epic videos … is the simplicity, uniqueness, cohesiveness of/with the song, the truly incredible dancing that worked together to make Michael Jackson’s videos enjoyable and memorable. An epic is something that people will know and remember for generations. Michael Jackson's Thriller, Ghost, Bad, Billie Jean etc  videos will be studied and enjoyed for decades to come, Telephone will be forgotten in 2 years.

So did it live up to your expectations?

J-Lo‘s “performance” may have left little to be desired, however SNL’s skit on the disastrous We Are The World 25 was hilarious.

Quincy Jone's must be somewhere extra salty right now miffed that his “genius” is being parodied, as someone else said, 2 of the 3 main people responsible for the original Michael Jackson influenced We Are The World were involved in the remake, the result speaks for itself and also reveals who the genius truly was that made the original version the classic it is, its untouchable.

Quincy did this for a good cause, like the remake or not, please do what you can to donate to Haiti. They still need all the help they can get.

Here's how you can help the people in Haiti:

Download “We Are The World 25” For Haiti from World25.org or iTunes.

The following organizations are accepting SMS donations in the US only:

• SMS text “HAITI” to 90999 to donate $10 to Red Cross relief efforts
• SMS text “YELE” to 501501 to Donate $5 to Yele Haiti’s Earthquake Relief efforts
• SMS text “GIVE10” to 20222 to donate $10 to Direct Relief

Canadians can also donate by going to the UNICEF website, the Canadian government will match every donation made. Please give if you can.

The Youtube Community decided to come together to make their own unique remake of Michael Jackson's Iconic “We Are The World”  WRTW2.0 is undoubtedly a reaction to the much criticized Quincy Jones/Lionel Richie remake, ‘We Are The World 25 For Haiti’.

This version features some of the YouTube’s biggest artists and cover acts. Funny that WRTW 2.0 feels better than the Quincy/Lionel WRTW25 For Haiti remake featuring, autotune, rap music, howling sounds, Justin Biber, Kanye West, Jeniffer Hudson et al.

Awesome!

Here's the music video for We Are The World 25. 

Lionel Richie & Quincy Jones decided to remake this classic to raise money for Haiti. Their efforts were for a good cause and their hearts were in the right place commendable effort for sure, however in my opinion they have ruined a classic.

Butchered; complete with auto-tune, rap, Jamie Fox's laughing on such a serious occasion (his impersonation was quite spot on though) commentary, Justin Beiber opening the song? Lionel Ritchie to Justin Beiber? You have Gladis Knight in the crowd yet Nicole from Pussy Cats does the “uhh ohhs”? I could go on and on.. If they did this purely to be “relevant” to the new generation, I hope it really works, because Haiti does need the help, sad though is this generation will never get to know true talent, that was in the 80s.

The video editing, is even more of a disappointment, chopped up, all over the place, unorganized. Choices of voices to highlight, confusing and uninspired, Janet sings 2 or 3 words and even then you can hardly hear her, the way the split screen is done, seems to do both her and Michael Jackson no favors. Of everyone in the group, in this video Michael Jackson's voice pierces through and towers over all of them . Says something no?

I wonder, would Michael Jackson have approved of this were he alive? Michael Jackson was famously known for his perfectionism, when the original WRTW was made he didn't sleep or eat because he wanted every part of it to be perfect. And it was, he helped create that magic that turned into a classic that can never be matched, going on to raise more than $60 Million for Africa.

Wouldn't Lionel, Quincy and Haiti been served better had the group just written a brand new song for the cause, one that could have stood on it's own merits, inspired many to give, instead of being compared to a perfect and highly acclaimed classic?

Haiti still needs all the help and money they can get, I have and will contribute, please do if you can.

Here's how you can help the people in Haiti:

Download “We Are The World 25” For Haiti from World25.org or iTunes.

The following organizations are accepting SMS donations in the US only:

• SMS text “HAITI” to 90999 to donate $10 to Red Cross relief efforts
• SMS text “YELE” to 501501 to Donate $5 to Yele Haiti’s Earthquake Relief efforts
• SMS text “GIVE10” to 20222 to donate $10 to Direct Relief

Canadians can also donate by going to the UNICEF website, the Canadian government will match every donation made. Please give if you can.

The original We Are The World video.

Here's Michael Jackson in the studio recording the guide and his solo parts for the original WRTW

Michael Jackson would have been proud.

Travis Payne, Michael Jackson‘s long time choreographer traveled to the Philippines and was allowed access to the now famous Jailhouse dancers to teach them and then record the inmates dancing to “The Drill” And " They Don’t Care About Us" from This Is It!

Its uncanny, seems like Michael Jackson's 3D vision is realized in real life. Awesome work Mr. Payne, Dres Reid and the This Is It dancer for the choreograph. I wonder if this will be used in the This Is It! DVD?

More pix from the shoot.

Will you buy the DVD?

[hat tip: KOPboard]

Michael Jackson continues to lead the way in groundbreaking ways once again. MJ's London “This Is It!” shows were meant to have a 3-D mini-movie for his song “Earth Song” shown to fans attending the shows. The shows are no more however MJ's vision and wishes will come true at the Grammy's, it will be the first time the Grammy's will feature 3-D technology at the show… MJ would have been the very first artist to feature 3-D during a live show.

Grammys executive producer Ken Ehrlich has announced that a 3-D mini-movie created MJ and his team for “Earth Song” will be presented as part of a tribute performance featuring Smokey Robinson, Usher, Celine Dion, Jennifer Hudson and Carrie Underwood.

MJ will be honored posthumously with the Recording Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award.

This year, Jackson will be a focal point of the show, with an unprecedented posthumous tribute. The Grammys will broadcast a 3-D clip the singer made for his hit “Earth Song,” a video that was to be integral to his comeback concerts in London in July 2009

Usher, Celine Dion, Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Hudson and Smokey Robinson will perform alongside the clip, which Ehrlich says will be the first time an awards show will feature 3-D.

“Whenever we would do a show with (Jackson), the first thing he would say to me was, `How can we do something that we (have) never done before?' And now we're doing something that hasn't been done before,” said Ehrlich, who worked with Jackson for almost 30 years, in an interview Tuesday.

Ehrlich produced the televised memorial to Jackson last year. He was with the singer the night before he died — and that's when he first saw the 3-D clip of “Earth Song,” a call to action about the destruction of nature and animals by man.

“There are these incredible images of the beauties of nature, and then they are seen through the eyes of a little girl, and that girl falls asleep and when she wakes up, she is witness to the destruction of nature,” said Ehrlich. “It's all about questioning what our values are.”

While a part of the clip was shown in the recent movie documentary “This Is It,” Ehrlich says the Grammys will show the full piece in 3-D. When he saw it with Jackson that night, Ehrlich said the singer was moved to tears.

“It was pretty emotional for him,” Ehrlich said. “Afterward he said to me that that song and that piece and that portion of the concert was as important to him than anything else in the show.”

He also went on to say viewers (the ones that will attend the show in LA) will be able to get free 3-D “Grammy” glasses from Target stores nationwide from Jan. 26 through Jan. 31. The Grammy Awards will air live on CBS Jan 31st. TV viewers will miss out on the 3-D effect but will see the video anyways.

Way for the Grammy's to get their ratings up.

Will you be watching the Grammys? We'll sure be watching, we love MJ and wouldn't want to miss seeing his vision and what meant so to him.

Janet Jackson graces the next cover of Gotham magazine. She, talks about Michael Jackson, her new album and even a new book that she's soon to be releasing. Highlights:

On what she’s taken from Michael’s death:

“When you hear people say life goes on, it’s really the truth. You can’t stop living. It becomes a part of you. I feel a bit selfish because there are times I feel I shouldn’t be doing this, but I enjoy my work and I have to keep doing it. I have to keep my life going. There are days that are harder than others.”

On her New Year’s resolutions:

“I want to learn a language. I haven’t decided which, but it’s between French, Spanish and Italian. I also want to get
closer to God.”

On her new album:

“It’s going to be a little different. The writing is about life experiences. There’s a part of me that’s craving escapism, which is a sense of wanting to keep on moving with my work but also of coming to terms with reality. So I think it will be upbeat and light.”

On her new book:

“I hope it’s inspiring for all ages. I’m talking about weight loss, confidence, self-esteem—especially in your youth. It’s not an autobiography, but there are little anecdotes that I give here and there from my childhood all the way to the present that I thought would be interesting and helpful to share.”

“Everything. I love the energy–the creative energy. I’ve been here for 12 years and I will be here for the rest of my life.”

Wonder if she's taking any part in raising her brothers 3 kids? Miss Jackson is looking real good. Are you looking forward to her new album?

Peep below for another image Janet image from Gotham

The King of Pop Michael Jackson continues to lead the way in “firsts”; first African American crossover on MTV, first mini-movie video, first video premiered and screened in movie theaters, the list is endless. His artistry has been the first in breaking all sorts of unbelievable records not to mention sells globally.

Now his iconic music video Thriller has been officially inducted for preservation in the 2009 National Film Registry of the Library of Congress becoming the first music video in history to be bestowed this honor!

Here's the National Film Preservation Board's explanation for the choice:

“Because of the way the recording industry is evolving and changing, we thought it would be good to go back to the development of an earlier seismic shift, which was the development of the music video.”

Thriller is one of those video's that just-does-not-get-old, its still as entertaining today as it was 20 years ago, it makes total sense it was chosen for preservation, now future generations will enjoy it and learn from it. 

Here's Thriller!       

HERE's the full list of inducted films for 2009.