The “Fiddy Cent” Bible

Posted on: 10/5/09 4:57 PM | by Jonathan McKee

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Not to be confused with a Bible that only is half a dollar… this “Bible” is a collection of self reliance advice from successful rapper Fiddy Cent. (now forever knows as “50”)

It’s always intriguing to peek at the philosophies that our kids hear from their heroes today. I think you’ll find some of 50’s advice… well… interesting.

Fast Company Magazine provides a little slideshow giving you a glimpse of this new book, a collaboration between 50 and author Robert Greene. 50 was a fan of Green’s 2000 book, The 48 Laws of Power. Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson credits Green’s book for his success- 50 was named the #1 earning Hip-Hop Cash King by Forbes in 2008. Green and 50 worked together this time to create The 50th Law- the 50 Cent Bible.

Here’s some of the advice you’ll find from 50.

“Lead from the front”

“Reality is my drug. The more I have of it, the more power I get and the higher I feel.”

“Make everything your own- self reliance”

“I was born alone and I will die alone. I’ve got to do what is right for me and not live my life the way anybody else wants it.”

“The public is never wrong”

“When I nearly died, it made me think- this can happen again any second. I better hurry and do what I want.”

If your kids are fans of 50, here’s a fun exercise. Don’t over-react, instead, use this as an opportunity to teach your kids to evaluate philosophies like this (they’ll get plenty of this when they’re out on their own!), comparing them with Biblical truth. Place 50’s advice parallel with corresponding Biblical advice- compare and contrast. For example. Take 50’s “Lead from the front” and compare it with Jesus’ model of servant leadership and “The first shall be last” philosophy.”

Don’t rip on 50’s philosophies… just ask questions.

“What is good about this advice?”

“What might be dangerous about this advice?”

“How does this advice differ from Biblical advice?”

“Which is right?”

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Lady Gaga’s Shift to #1

Posted on: 10/1/09 8:51 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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I like to keep my eyes on the music charts, and doing that, I occasionally notice large shifts triggered by big media events.

I would propose that these shifts can tell us a little about the power of certain media events, like the Teen Choice Awards or the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs).

For example. If you got to MTV.com today and look at their list of Top Artists, you’ll notice that Lady Gaga is #1. This is relatively new. For most of 2009, Lil Wayne has occupied that slot.

Do you know when that changed?

Lady Gaga jumped to the #1 spot the Monday after the MTV VMAs (my writeup about that show here). TV audiences must have loved her bizarre outfits, her blood-soaked finally to her song Paparazzi (which soared up the charts on iTunes the next day), and her articulate acceptance speech (“This is for my CENSORED fans! … and it’s for God and for gays!”)

I’ve been watching Gaga’s reign to see how long it would last. We’ll see… but as of today, she still sits on the MTV “Top Artist” throne.

MTV’s VMA’s yield quite a lot of power to affect the charts that instantaneously.

Another blip on the charts occurred the night after the Teen Choice Awards, August 10th. Until that night, the Black Eyed Peas occupied the number one spot with their song, I Gotta Feeling (the song that our kids will tell us is clean… but is it?) But the day after the Teen Choice Awards, Miley’s song Party in the USA was on top of iTunes, and eventually Billboard’s Hot 100. I guess her sexy little escapades that night paid off.

Don’t be fooled; TV still has a lot of influence over pop culture.

Keep your eyes on MTV.com’s top artist list. Pop on iTunes and see what the most downloaded songs are. Jump on Billboard.com and see what’s on the Hot 100 (usually very close to the iTunes Top 10). If you have no idea what the song is, use iTunes and click on the song for a 30 second preview. Google the video and take a peek for yourself. Google the lyrics and see what these artists are actually saying.

A 10 minute search just once a month can keep you aware of some of the content our kids are absorbing day to day.

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How Much Influence Does MTV Have?

Posted on: 09/19/09 9:33 PM | by Jonathan McKee

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Two weeks ago I told you to set your TIVOs to record the MTV Video Music Awards, referring to the show as one of the top three “portholes into youth culture” you’ll see any given year. Last week I wrote my annual recap of the show, calling it the “biggest pop culture phenomenon of the year.”

Some of you might be wondering why I would cite this show and this channel (MTV) as such a vivid reflection of our culture (and potent influence to it). I mean… seriously. How many people actually watch this show?

Good question. Let’s look at the extent of this channel’s reach, and then, let’s peek at how we can respond like the Apostle Paul.

How many watched the awards on the 13th? 9 million on MTV alone. But if you look at the other channels the show was aired on, the show drew 26.9 million viewers on Sunday night on all three channels (MTV, MTV2 and VH1). But that doesn’t include the 5.5 million who watched it online the next day. These huge numbers make it the #1 viewed cable show of the entire year among people age 12-34 (You can read the whole breakdown of TV viewers here).

An MTV press release expanded on the 5.5 million people who visited MTV.com the day after the awards, ringing up 53.4 million page views and watching 17.9 million video streams.

MTV General Manager, Kristen Frank commented, “On Sunday night, MTV and MTV.com were really at the center of the pop culture zeitgeist. The Awards set high marks yet again this year both on-air and online, and we’re really seeing some unprecedented growth for our multimedia content in 2009.”

Hold on a minute… I have to go get my dictionary and look up zeitgeist. Ah, here it is: the ideas prevalent in a period and place, particularly as expressed in literature, philosophy, and religion.

Unfortunately, Kristen is correct. According to their press page, on-air, MTV is the number one rated full-day ad-supported cable network for young people ages 12-24. A few years ago Nielsen Media Research reported that MTV was the most recognized network among young adults age 12 to 34, watched by 73% of boys and 78% of girls age 12 to 19. (ParentsTV.org)

What do all these numbers mean? It means that whatever MTV is slanging (look that word up here)… our kids are listening. That’s why we should probably follow Paul’s example in Acts 17 and at least become aware of the content of this award show, as well as the content of this network’s programming. Unfortunately, I think you’ll find yourself reacting the same way the Apostle Paul reacted in Acts 17 when he walked along the city of Athens and looked at all the idols the people worshipped. He was “distressed.” The New Living Translation describes his reaction as “deeply troubled.”

How do you respond when you are deeply troubled by the elements of our culture?

Hopefully, if you’re looking for how to respond, you’ll continue reading that same passage and see how Paul responded in a reasonable dialogue with the people in the culture. He “reasoned” with them, even citing inscriptions on their idols (vs. 23) and quoting their pagan poets (vs. 28).

I encourage you to do the same.

1. Be deeply troubled when you see these elements in our culture. Don’t get numb to them.

2. Don’t over-react. Instead, ask God to open doors for reasonable conversation with unbelievers. You can even use tools like our MUSIC DISCUSSIONS page or our MOVIE CLIP DISCUSSIONS to jumpstart conversations using these elements from secular culture.

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Kanye Truly “Heartless”

Posted on: 09/14/09 12:54 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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Sunday night millions of teenagers watched The MTV Video Movie Awards to catch a glimpse of the best artists of the day… unfortunately the most of what they caught was the “worst of them.” Kanye was sure at his worst.

If you haven’t read the headlines by now, Kanye did one of his dumbest moves yet live on the show, leaving Taylor Swift in tears. As I sit here and write this blog only hours after the event, articles are already appearing like popcorn all over the internet, filled with new news of Kanye’s rude antics, his removal form the awards, and now his weak apology.  (Sigh.)

I was watching the show Sunday night, my annual glimpse of one of the biggest pop culture phenomenon’s of the day. (As you know, ever year I encourage you to set your TIVOs and watch the show. The day after the awards, I write an article sharing my two cents on the show- ours will appear on the front page of our site late Monday in the Youth Culture Window magnifying glass.) Early in the show, shortly after Katy Perry’s disgusting crotch grab (that’s actually describing it mildly), Kanye West revealed his true self once again with an out of control outburst, walking on stage when Taylor Swift was awarded Best Female Video. Kanye took the mic from her during a pause in her acceptance speech and said, “Yo Taylor, I’m really happy for you, I’m gonna let you finish, but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time! One of the best videos of all time!” Beyonce looked a little confused, and slightly flattered. Boos began echoing throughout the room, disapproving of Kanye. As West left stage, applause began again for Taylor. A stunned Taylor stood there with a horrified look on her face. She never got to finish her speech.

Kanye’s name was mentioned a few times later in the show as a nominee for other awards– a majority of the crowd booed whenever Kanye’s name was mentioned (actually flustering Diddy to stumble over his words).

My heart broke for Taylor Swift. Kanye’s actions were, dare I say, “Heartless.” As this MTV.com article put it,

“But his verbal attack against Swift had a more vicious tone. According to a tweet from Jay-Z’s DJ, Neil Armstrong, Swift and her mother were seen backstage crying afterward; Beyoncé brought Swift onstage for another chance at her acceptance speech later in the show. Various celebs have lashed out against West on Twitter, including Pink, who had to be escorted away from the rapper by security. “

For those of you read our Youth Culture Window article about Kanye last year, his actions Sunday night might not have surprised you. His “apology” wasn’t much of a band aid. Kanye’s blog reveals a little regret as he apologizes to Taylor. But he turns to defend himself by claiming he was just being “real.”

Yeah… a real jackass! (There I go again!)

Catch the whole Youth Culture Window article about the 2009 VMAs here.

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Learning from Chris Brown

Posted on: 09/10/09 3:38 PM | by Jonathan McKee

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Any regular user of our free youth ministry resources knows that we like to use pop culture as a jumpstarter for discussion. (You may remember discussions we’ve done like the one about “Judging Others” when Susan Boyle was on “Britain’s Got Talent,” or our discussion on “Choices and Their Consequence” when Miley regretted her decision to take some risque’ pics. Hmmmmmmm.) This week we just launched two new discussions that we’ll be featuring on the front page of our site next week (I’m just giving you blog subscribers a sneak peek!) One of these new discussions from our Spiritual Growth Agendas page is about self control, using the Chris Brown incident to launch the discussion and Bible study.

Most of you have heard the buzz about Chris breaking the silence on Larry King last week. We’ve taken this interview and written a lesson about it, with small group questions, scripture and a wrap up. Here’s a snippet:

Main Point of Discussion: Because we all have a sinful nature, we all have the potential to act in terrible ways.  That’s why it is critical as Christians to defeat the inclinations of our flesh through the power of the Holy Spirit

The Background:
R&B singer Chris Brown pleaded guilty to felony assault after a widely publicized incident with his former girlfriend, Rihanna. A second felony charge of making criminal threats was dropped.

On August 25, 2009 Brown was sentenced to five years probation and six months of community labor.

Brown breaks his silence to CNN’s Larry King in his first TV interview since assaulting Rihanna.

He talks about what happened the night of the assault, the infamous photo of a battered Rihanna and his feelings for her today.

Introducing the Clip:
Today I want to show you a clip from the interview with Chris Brown on Larry King Live.  As we watch it, pay close attention to Brown’s tone and wording when he talks about the incident.

 

(we link the entire CNN clip on the discussion page)

Key Interview Dialogue:

    King: What do you think caused you to be violent? I mean, you have to think about it. Everybody — we all think about ourselves — why did I lose my temper, why did I get angry over this?

    Brown: I mean, that’s relationships. I wouldn’t say it’s O.K. I think, just in relationships in general, there’s chances where you lose your temper or like arguments get heated or whatever the case may be. I’m not saying domestic violence is a part of relationships.

    I feel like that we’re young. We’re both young. So nobody taught us how to love one another. Nobody taught us a book on how to control our emotions or our anger. I’m not trying to fall on the fact that I’m young. I’m just saying it’s a lot of stuff that I wish I could have changed that night.

    King: When you hear about all the things that the police and the reports say you did, how do you react to that?

    Brown: I’ll just look at it and like, “Wow, like, I’m in shock. Because, first of all, that’s not who I am as a person and that’s not who I promise I want to be.

    King: Do you remember doing it?

    Brown: No.

    King: You don’t remember doing it?

    Brown: I don’t. It’s like it’s crazy to me.

    King: You’re a great dancer, a great singer, you’re popular, you’re known all over the world. Do you ever say to yourself I screwed up?

    Brown: Every day. Every day. I think this is probably — like I said, it’s probably one of the worst moments of my life. And I always wish like I could take it back. And every day, it’s just something that sticks in my mind. And I’ve said countless times how sorry I am to Rihanna, and I just accepted full responsibility. But it’s just one of those things I wish I could have relived and just handled totally different.

Transitional Statement:
You probably noticed several interesting things during the interview, one of the most prominent to me is the connection to something that is true for all of us in this room- which is the fact that we all have a side to us we’d rather not admit to having.

Divide into Small Groups…

You can access this entire discussion peice here.

You can access that discussion and our new discussion about being “Changed by Christ,” discussing the tragic death of D.J. AM. … both on our Spiritual Growth Agendas page.

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Set Your TIVOs for This Porthole into Youth Culture

Posted on: 09/5/09 12:20 PM | by Jonathan McKee

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Every year I encourage parents and youth workers to pay attention to three television events: The MTV Movie Awards, the Teen Choice Awards, and the MTV Video Music Awards (the VMAs). Next Sunday, September 13th is the MTV VMAs.

MTV’s VMAs always provide a revealing look not only to what bands and artists our kids are listening to, but also a peek into the type of content the top songs and videos are filled with. Every year I write an article the day after the event providing my take on the show (see my last year’s two cents here).

This year kids are already logging onto MTV.com to cast their votes (you can see what else kids are finding on MTV.com here, I blogged about that last week). Today as I jumped on MTV.com, it asked me to cast my vote for the best new artist. We can actually gain insight from merely peeking at just a few of the nominees.

One of the choices was a dark song from the band 3OH!3 titled “Don’t Trust Me.” This catchy song hit the Top 10 of Billboard’s HOT 100 at the beginning of the summer and has been hanging in the charts since. You can watch the video right on MTV’s Best New Artist nominee page, or, for a peek at the unedited lyrics, look here.

Another “New Artist” kids can vote for is Drake with his video for Best I Ever Had. I blogged about this song and video a couple weeks ago.. a song with a chorus that simply repeats, “You’re the f***ing best…” I find it literally amazing that this song is popular (currently on the Top 10 of Billboard’s Hot 100).

That is just a glimpse of the kind of content our kids are being inundated with.

Learn more by watching the show yourself on September 13th (just put the kids to bed first). Or, if you can’t stomach it, wait until the next day and you can catch my synopsis on our YOUTH CULTURE WINDOW page (yep, I’ll do the dirty work for ya!).

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Good Girls Go Bad

Posted on: 08/27/09 4:32 PM | by Jonathan McKee

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David and I try to keep our thumb on the pulse of the music charts as much as we can, understanding that music is a huge influence on teenagers today.

The charts have been in my blog quite a bit lately, with Drake’s explicit Best I Ever Had, and the Black Eyed Peas’ racy I Gotta Feeling both in the top 10.

Earlier this week Dave gave me the heads up about a new song that has crept its way up into Billboard’s and iTunes Top 10. The song is called Good Girls Go Bad, by a group called Cobra Starship (no relation to Jefferson).

David researched the song and has written a Youth Culture Window article about the song, the lyrics, the video and the group.

Here’s just a snippet:

The song employs an interesting “symmetry.” Saporta sings a verse about his coercion capabilities on the opposite sex, and moments later, the female vocalist affirms a very similar sentiment. Like a snake responding to a charmer, the girl plays her part…right into his hands. Take a look for yourself.
 
(male singer)
I make them good girls go bad
I make them good girls go
Good girls go bad, good girls go bad
 
I know your type, you’re daddy’s little girl
Just take a bite (one bite)
Let me shake up your world
‘Cause just one night couldn’t be so wrong
I’m gonna make you lose control
 
(female singer)
I know your type, boy you’re dangerous
You’re that guy I’d be stupid to trust
But just one night couldn’t be so wrong
You make me wanna lose control

The entire article will be featured on our front page and on the YOUTH CULTURE WINDOW page all this coming week.

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You’re the BLEEP Best

Posted on: 08/18/09 10:20 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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Yep… that’s the chorus of the number three song on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart right now. Amazing.

The song is by Drake. It’s called, Best I Ever Had and the chorus features him simply repeating, “You’re the f**king best…”  Creative, huh?

Sigh.

The music video starts with a slow motion shot of huge breasted women running onto a basketball court, with their merchandise swaying to and fro in slow motion.

I’m working on my parenting workshop this morning– I preach at a church this weekend, then I get two hours with parents from the church that afternoon. As part of my Parenting the Texting Generation workshop I always update them with the current songs and videos that their kids have access to. I can only sigh as I’m looking at the Top 10 this morning with “I Gotta Feeling” still at number one (I ranted about that to you last week) and now Drake’s Best I Ever Had as number three.

It never fails. Whenever I do this parenting workshop a large number of the top 10 songs are explicit, over-sexualized or raunchy. And the response from the parents is always the same. They are shocked and had no idea that these messages were in the top songs. Furthermore, they had no idea that iTunes and YouTube provide easy access to most of these songs and videos.

Another funny note: The CLEAN version of the song. You see… if you look up Best I Ever Had on iTunes there is the Explicit Version and the CLEAN version. Do it… I encourage you to do that search. Then click on the CLEAN version, double click the song and listen to the 30 second free preview of the “clean lyrics.” Here’s what you’ll hear:

I know you got a roommate, call me when there’s no one there
Put the key under the mat, and you know I’ll be over there
I’ll be over there, shawty, I’ll be over there
I’ll be hitting all the spots that you ain’t even know was there

If you don’t know what “hitting” means, I encourage you to look up “hit it” in our slang dictionary.

I look forward to my time with parents this weekend.

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My Thoughts After Watching Teen Choice 2009

Posted on: 08/11/09 9:49 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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Yesterday I blogged that I’d share my thoughts with you after watching the Teen Choice Awards 2009 that aired on Fox last night. This show always provides us with an informative glimpse into our youth culture. Last night’s show didn’t fall short of that.

I don’t know where to start: Sean Kingston’s pole dancers? Britney’s “Ultimate Choice” award? Miley’s “J-lo dress?”

Sigh.

Yes, there were a few, “Oh my!” moments. But overall the show was actually pretty tame. Just more of the same: people that shouldn’t be role models receiving awards from teenagers for movies teens shouldn’t be watching, TV shows they shouldn’t be viewing, and music they shouldn’t be listening to. (Wow… I’m starting to sound old and grumpy!)

The lowlight of the show was Miley.

Yesterday I jumped to Miley’s defense. She’s young and has definitely made some mistakes. But I’m not one to talk. When I was her age I was doing things that would make you shudder (I wasn’t following Christ).

Miley seems to be on the same quest that many young stars have navigated. She’s looking for her place, and she seems to be wondering if that place requires racy outfits and sexy dance moves.

The news is buzzing this morning about Miley’s outfits and her “pole dance” at the show. ( I’ll let you decide for yourself what to call it. She did hold onto a pole and dip once. Not sure what she was thinking. This article actually includes a home-made video from someone at the awards who recorded Miley’s performance) Her new song, “Party in the USA” included a nice little line about moving her hips… and she definitely did.

I don’t know if that whole dance bothered me half as much as her dress that she war later when she gave Britney her award. Again I’ll say, “Billy? Dude… that’s your daughter up there! Don’t you feel like covering her up a little bit?!”

Another moment in the show that reflects our culture was the new award, “The Choice Fabulous.” This is a new award that seemed a little vague, but they announced it as an award to a guy who isn’t afraid to “where heels.” So call it what you may, it was the “Choice Gay” award. When the skirt-wearing “Miss J” accepted his award, he made sure to thank “every single gay, lesbian…” etc.

Should parents worry about their kids watching this show?

I definitely am always concerned about the subtle elements of shows like this (past years haven’t always been so subtle). The subtle messages of this show are, “These are the people to be!” “These songs are the songs to listen to!” “These movies and TV shows are the ones to watch!”

That’s why I’m disappointed when shows like “Gossip Girl” are awarded. I’m bummed when Miley introduces a racy Britney montage and then calls her, “my hero.” I’m not excited about the Black Eyed Peas song “I Gotta Feeling” is performed live, directing even more kids to their racy video.

This show gives a pretty accurate glimpse of what this generation values. The good is standing side by side with the profane and it’s all politically correct.

Parents should not only be aware of these influences in our kids’ lives, we should dialogue with our kids about these influences. Keep your eyes on resources like this blog and our frequent Youth Culture Window articles that keep you current.

Here’s the complete list of this year’s Teen Choice Awards winners:

Choice Movie Action Adventure: “X-Men Origins: Wolverine.”
— Choice Movie Drama: “Twilight.”
— Choice Movie Bromantic Comedy: “Marley & Me.”
— Choice Movie Comedy: “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.”
— Choice Movie Chick Flick: “27 Dresses.”
— Choice Movie Horror/Thriller: “Friday the 13th.”
— Choice Movie Music/Dance: “High School Musical 3: Senior Year.”
— Choice Movie Hissy Fit: Miley Cyrus, “Hannah Montana: The Movie.”
— Choice Movie Actor Drama: Robert Pattinson, “Twilight.”
— Choice Movie Actress Drama: Kristen Stewart, “Twilight.”
— Choice Movie Actor Action Adventure: Hugh Jackman, “X-Men Origins: Wolverine.”
— Choice Movie Actress Action Adventure: Jordana Brewster, “Fast & Furious.”
— Choice Movie Actor Comedy: Zac Efron, “17 Again.”
— Choice Movie Actress Comedy: Anne Hathaway, “Bride Wars.”
— Choice Movie Actress Music/Dance: Miley Cyrus, “Hannah Montana: The Movie.”
— Choice Movie Actor Music/Dance: Zac Efron, “High School Musical 3: Senior Year.”
— Choice Movie Villain: Cam Gigandet, “Twilight.”
— Choice Movie Fresh Face Female: Ashley Greene, “Twilight.”
— Choice Movie Fresh Face Male: Taylor Lautner, “Twilight.”
— Choice Movie Liplock: Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, “Twilight.”
— Choice Movie Rumble: Robert Pattinson vs. Cam Gigandet, “Twilight.”
— Choice Movie Rockstar Moment: Zac Efron, “17 Again.”
— Choice Summer Movie Drama: “My Sister’s Keeper.”
— Choice Summer Movie Comedy: “Up.”
— Choice Summer Movie Romance: “The Proposal.”
— Choice Summer Movie Action Adventure: “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.”
— Choice Summer Movie Star Male: Shia LaBeouf, “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.”
— Choice Summer Movie Star Female: Megan Fox, “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.”
— Choice TV Show Drama: “Gossip Girl.”
— Choice TV Show Action Adventure: “Heroes.”
— Choice TV Show Comedy: “Hannah Montana.”
— Choice TV Animated Show: “SpongeBob SquarePants.”
— Choice TV Reality: “The Hills.”
— Choice TV Reality Competition: “American Idol.”
— Choice TV Actor Drama: Chace Crawford, “Gossip Girl.”
— Choice TV Actress Drama: Leighton Meester, “Gossip Girl.”
— Choice TV Actor Action Adventure: Tom Welling, “Smallville.”
— Choice TV Actress Action Adventure: Hayden Panettiere, “Heroes.”
— Choice TV Actor Comedy: Jonas Brothers, “Jonas.”
— Choice TV Actress Comedy: Miley Cyrus, “Hannah Montana.”
— Choice TV Breakout Show: “Jonas.”
— Choice TV Breakout Star Female: Demi Lovato, “Sonny with a Chance.”
— Choice TV Breakout Star Male: Frankie Jonas, “Jonas.”
— Choice TV Male Reality/Variety Star: Adam Lambert, “American Idol.”
— Choice TV Female Reality/Variety Star: Lauren Conrad, “The Hills.”
— Choice TV Villain: Ed Westwick, “Gossip Girl.”
— Choice Fab-u-lous: Jay Alexander, “America’s Next Top Model.”
— Choice TV Sidekick: Emily Osment, “Hannah Montana.”
— Choice TV Late Night Show: “Chelsea Lately.”
— Choice TV Parental Unit: Billy Ray Cyrus, “Hannah Montana.”
— Choice Summer TV Show: “Princess Protection Program.”
— Choice Summer TV Star Female: Selena Gomez, “Princess Protection Program.”
— Choice Summer TV Star Male: Daren Kagasoff, “The Secret Life of the American Teenager.”
— Choice Music Single: Miley Cyrus, “The Climb.”
— Choice Music Hook-Up: Lady Ga Ga and Colby O’Donis, “Just Dance.”
— Choice Music Male Artist: Jason Mraz.
— Choice Music Female Artist: Taylor Swift.
— Choice Music Rad Artist: Kanye West.
— Choice Music R&B Artist: Beyonce.
— Choice Music Rock Group: Paramore.
— Choice Music Breakout Artist: David Archuleta.
— Choice Music Love Song: David Archuleta, “Crush.”
— Choice Music R&B Track: Beyonce, “Single Ladies.”
— Choice Music Rap/Hip-Hop Track: Black Eyed Peas, “Boom Boom Pow.”
— Choice Music Rock Track: Paramore, “Decode.”
— Choice Music Album Male Artist: Jason Mraz, “We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things.”
— Choice Music Album Female Artist: Taylor Swift, “Fearless.”
— Choice Music Soundtrack: “Twilight.”
— Choice Music Tour: Demi Lovato and David Archuleta.
— Choice Summer Song: Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus, “Before the Storm.”
— Choice Male Athlete: David Beckham.
— Choice Female Athlete: Shawn Johnson.
— Choice Male Action Sports Athlete: Ryan Sheckler.
— Choice Female Action Sports Athlete: Stephanie Gilmore.
— Choice Male Hottie: Robert Pattinson.
— Choice Female Hottie: Megan Fox.
— Choice Web Star: Fred.
— Choice Red Carpet Fashion Icon Female: Selena Gomez.
— Choice Red Carpet Fashion Icon Male: Jonas Brothers.
— Choice Comedian: George Lopez.
— Choice Celebrity Activist: Hayden Panettiere.
— Choice Celebrity Pet: Bo, the Obamas’ dog.
— Choice Video Game: “Rock Band 2.”
— Choice Celebrity Baby: Honor Marie Warren, daughter of Jessica Alba and Cash Warren.
— Choice Celebrity Dancer: Selena Gomez.
— Choice Twit: Ellen DeGeneres.
— Ultimate Choice Award: Britney Spears.

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Teen Choice

Posted on: 08/10/09 12:03 PM | by Jonathan McKee

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Every year I watch three TV award shows that provide a pretty accurate glimpse of our current youth culture: MTV Movie Awards, the Teen Choice Awards, and the MTV Video Music Awards.

This year we already caught a glimpse from the MTV Movie Awards- a rather revealing glimpse (Click here for my summary of that show). MTV’s VMA’s are just around the corner (September 13th). The Teen Choice Awards air tonight, Monday, August 10, on FOX. (my apologies to those who are receiving this blog via email on Tuesday)

What do I expect from this year’s Teen Choice Awards?

My pre-show thoughts:

1. The Jonas Brothers are hosting. That might actually help the show stay a little more clean than normal. That doesn’t mean that all the guest there will be role models, but the host does have a huge effect on the flavor of the show. Last year the show cleaned up when Miley hosted- hopefully it will happen again.

2. Miley is performing her newest single, “Party in the U.S.A.” Miley is always interesting to watch. Through the good and bad, she’s always been a pretty clean role model (a way better role model than when I was a teenager!). I’ll be curious to see the direction this new single takes her.

3. Twilight, Twilight, Twilight, Twilight, Twilight. Did I mention Twilight? Yeah… that’s what the show is going to feel like (12 nominations going into it)

You can check out the official web site here: wwwTeenChoiceAwards.com and watch the show tonight on Fox. Expect my post-show thoughts later this week.

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