FROM BUZZWORTHY: It’s only appropriate, now that Britney Spears is back for the 2008 VMAs, that we analyze appearances past to enjoy almost 10 years’ worth of Britney VMA moments. From schoolgirl to showgirl to liplocking with the Material Girl, anything Britney does at the VMAs are always worth watching, and rewatching and rewatching …

For more on Britney’s best VMA moments, head to Buzzworthy.MTV.com.

For more on Brit’s history with the Video Music Awards, watch “Pieces of Me: Britney’s Best VMA Moments,” premiering Saturday at 1 p.m. ET on MTV.

At last year’s Video Music Awards, one of my MTV News colleagues, who shall remain nameless (John Norris), was asked to do an interview with a massive L.A. news channel. I won’t lie: I was very jealous. It was clear I wasn’t a big enough name to represent MTV News.

Well, this year, sh– is different.

When the boss called and asked me to take KTLA red-carpet legend Sam Rubin on a tour of the VMA set here on the Paramount Studios backlot, I accepted gladly — until I found out the interview was booked for 7 in the morning.

Now, I had a very late night last night, and my eyes were tired, so I needed to find an excuse to wear sunglasses without looking like a wannabe rock star. I grabbed two pair and — just as Sam was doing his very professional open — I said, “Sam, you’re at the VMAs, loosen up!” And I handed him a pair.

Later, in one of the sets, there was a roomful of fur coats, so I took two off the hangers. And Sam totally played along! We did the rest of the interview in sunglasses and a white fur coat that would’ve made Snoop proud. And, to be honest, he totally pulled it off.

Sadly, our cameras weren’t rolling on the set. But I nailed my first L.A. TV interview, and snagged these three red-carpet tips from a red-carpet legend to boot. Check it out!

Dear Everyone Who Has Inexplicably Co-Opted the Phrase “Rock Star”:

Please give it back. Seriously, it’s not funny anymore. Really, I’m not writing this to be snarky or make fun of shut-ins still clinging to their prepubescent glory days (this isn’t another “open letter to New Kids on the Block Fans,” after all). I’m doing it because I care. And because I can still remember a time when “Rock Star” wasn’t a catch-all term used to describe junior senators from Illinois and governors from Alaska. It was a state of mind, a way of life, a swearing, swaggering, strutting thing, one that wanted to sleep with you (or your sister), steal all your drugs and then get into a fight with a bouncer. You could point at someone and go “now that guy — the one with the bottle of Jack, the leather pants and the sh–ty attitude — THAT’S a Rock Star.”

Now? Not so much. Over the past few weeks, I’ve seen the term used to describe the magnetic appeal of both Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama (in pieces like this and this) and Republican VP nom Sarah Palin (here and here). While I certainly admire the political pundits (and basement-dwellers with a Blogspot account) of this great nation for trying to, you know, “rock the vote,” I will most respectfully have to disagree with all of them.

More of James’ argument, plus your chance to agree or disagree, after the jump!
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One aspect of the Republican National Convention that was largely obscured by Sarah Palin’s star turn was the number of protests and arrests that took place this week: More than 800 people were arrested during demonstrations that veered between peaceful and violent. MTV Street Teamer Charles Berens, of Wisconsin, was one of many people who were reporting or merely observing the protests and found themselves under arrest. Here’s his story, as told to Michigan Street Teamer Nadir Omowale. See more Street Team reports from the RNC right here.

Last week, right before Republican presidential candidate John McCain introduced the world to his running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, in Dayton, Ohio, he strutted out to the sounds of Van Halen’s “Right Now.” A few hours later, Van Halen’s publicist told MTV News that the POTUS hopeful was never granted permission to use the track, and had permission been sought, it would never have been granted.

Now, Heart are furious with the McCain campaign for its use of their 1977 hit “Barracuda” as Palin’s unofficial theme song during the RNC. (When the governor was a high school basketball champ, her teammates nicknamed her “Sarah Barracuda.”) Heart’s reps fired off a statement saying they’d asked the Republicans to stop using the song, and in a phone call to EW.com, Nancy Wilson said she felt “completely f—ed over.”

It seems McCain’s people just can’t find the right tunes. Considering how liberal most recording artists are, it’s likely this will continue to be a problem for the GOP. Perhaps John should just stick with John Rich’s “Raising McCain.”

If you had to pick a song to capture the spirit of McCain’s or Senator Barack Obama’s campaign, which song would you go with? Tell us!

FROM BUZZWORTHY: Regular girls kick guys to the curb. Pink kicks them underground. Underground as in going towards the train platform.

The singer was part action heroine today during preliminary rehearsals for her VMA performance.

“Rock and roll,” she yelled from a fire escape on the back lot of Paramount studio. Standing next to a stunt woman, Pink was getting direction on how to slide down a large piece of silk.

Basically, you wrap your right leg around it, hold on tight and work your way down. The fearless performer had originally told MTV she wanted to straight up jump down to the street below, but the plan’s been switched to a graceful slide-down maneuver.

Read more about Pink’s VMA Rehearsal at buzzworthy.mtv.com.

Like many Americans, artists such as Kenna, David Banner, Bun B and others are tuned in to the Republican National Convention tonight, watching John McCain officially accept his party’s nomination as its candidate for president. Read their thoughts in real time throughout tonight’s speech:

Kenna, 10:09 p.m. ET: McCain is a true patriot. Mad respect for his service. No one can question his courage. Most people would have serious PTSD from that imprisonment … unable to function in society, let alone become a senator.

Bun B, 10:11 p.m. ET: The video intro is the same old military clips we’ve seen a million times. It doesn’t impress anyone anymore. While I appreciate his service as well as all soldiers and veterans, when they shove his service record down my throat it keeps reminding me of the past. It’s time to move forward, and these guys just seem stuck in the mud. LOL at “mama’s boy”!

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To be honest, I haven’t seen that much of Russell Brand’s stand-up, so I didn’t know what to expect from his VMA press conference.

When he finally walked in, he banged out, like, 25 jokes in a row! It’s constant — not one joke here and one joke there. It’s less like stand-up and more like a hilarious personality.

We talked on the way to Kid Rock’s rehearsal and had this really funny, really weird conversation. I’m pretty sure he was making some sort of sexual joke when he said he was going to take me to his dressing room and decorate me.

Anyway, he knocked the press conference outta the park and unleashed all sorts of Video Music Awards secrets.

In his hit “Cowboy,” Kid Rock rapped about heading out to California for some “West coast chillin’ ” — and now we know exactly what that looks like. We were lucky enough to be at Kid Rock’s VMA rehearsal on Thursday, where he belted out his latest smash, “All Summer Long,” doing his thing on a Hollywood sound stage in some … fuzzy white bedroom slippers? Yup. See for yourself:

And he’ll be doing it again — live! (and without the slippers) — on Sunday night during the 2008 MTV Video Music awards with Lil Wayne and presumably lots more surprises.

Plus, read more about what Christina Aguilera and T.I. have up their sleeves for the big show…

By Jocelyn Vena

Ciara has found a failsafe way to focus attention on her forthcoming third LP, Fantasy Ride: The singer appears nude (albeit with parts of her body strategically covered) on the cover of the October issue of Vibe magazine.

And the revelations don’t end there: The 22-year-old singer — who has been rumored to be romantically linked with 50 Cent — also talks about fame and her love life in the magazine, which hits newsstands on September 16.

More on Ciara, plus the controversial photo, after the jump.
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