Kanye @ SXSW 2009 (more by Faith-Ann Young)

Critics may have hated it, but Monday's premiere of "The Jay Leno Show" got a warm reception from viewers.

Thanks in part to a newsworthy appearance from rapper Kanye West -- who drew widespread scorn for his behavior during the MTV Video Music Awards the previous night -- the former "Tonight Show" host's 10 p.m. comedy-variety show drew a surprisingly large crowd of 18.4 million total viewers, according to data from Nielsen Media Research. That's more than three times what he averaged on "The Tonight Show."

Among the key demographic of viewers aged 18 to 49, "Leno" scored a 5.3 rating/14 share, easily the night's top-rated program. It was NBC's most-watched program in the time period since last year's Summer Olympics. [LA Times]

Meanwhile, as Kanye promised a few weeks ago, he's going out on tour with Lady Gaga who was also a big star at the VMAs. The'Fame Kills' tour runs from November into January 2010, and includes two (for now?) NYC-area shows: December 22 at the Izod Center and January 3 at Nassau Coliseum. Ticket info TBA. All tour dates, and videos from the Leno show, are below...

Continue reading "Kanye West (the jackass) & Lady Gaga - 2009 Tour Dates"

photos by Bao Nguyen

The nominees for this year's MTV Video Music Awards Breakthrough Video are Anjulie, Bat For Lashes ("Daniel"), Chairlift, Cold War Kids, Death Cab For Cutie, Gnarls Barkley, Major Lazer, Matt and Kim, Passion Pit, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

Bat For Lashes, who is also up for this year's Mercury Prize, and who will be back in NYC on August 12th, has a new video for the song "Sleep Alone". Check it out, with more pictures of Passion Pit playing the Diesel Party at Webster Hall on 7/30, below...

Continue reading "Passion Pit (Webster Hall pics) vs Matt & Kim vs Bat for Lashes (new video) vs others for MTV Video award"