I'm LOVING Battle of the Seasons! Fresh off the first challenge, everybody is at the beach club partying, and having a good time. Meanwhile, Melinda is missing her boyfriend and is dealing with Danny being there. Danny has a lady at home too. Both of them obviously have to be very cautious and learn to work together since they are the last people from Austin left.

Later that night, the house gets a clue from TJ for the next day's challenge: "A lot of you have pulled some slick moves in the past. Better bring your A game tomorrow." After the text is read, it is clear that the alliances have started and everyone is plotting and scheming...while St. Thomas is on the sidelines. While Marie is trying to get them to join one, it's obvious Trey is not interested in sucking up to anyone. I can respect it, but in this game, it's kind of necessary at times especially when you're a rookie. And, let's be honest Trey, normally rookies are the first ones out just because they're rookies. Might be smart to hook up with a team that will have your back.


At Lamina Beach the next day, TJ presents the day's challenge, "Oil Change". One of Turkey's national sports is wrestling, and the teams will be doing a good old fashioned oil wrestling match. The object of the game is to wrestle someone (or a body part) out of the surrounding red line border. Every time a team member wins, they get an icon piece, and you have to get four in total. If nobody wins within ten minutes, there's a draw. The first team to get their icons will be the Power Team. The last team to get their icons is going straight to the Arena. Team Cancun chooses the first duo to go in, but the winner of the last match will pick the next people to go in.

It definitely starts out as an intense and tiring challenge for everybody. However, San Diego, Cancun, Las Vegas, and New Orleans start throwing matches and picking members within their teams to put the game in their hands, and the game becomes, "Don't play harder, play SMARTER." With that strategy, San Diego wins and is the new power team. St. Thomas quickly makes their way to icons, but the remaining teams want make sure that St. Thomas is the odd man out. Brooklyn and San Diego ends up having to  fight for the last icons between them to find out who will fight St. Thomas, and Melinda loses. Danny fights Trey to get that last piece. Trey refuses to give up, and it's a draw between the two. Melinda goes up against Laura, and Laura takes her out by using her hand to cross the line. Team Austin is going straight to the arena.

Back at the house, as San Diego contemplates who will go in, it's rumored that Fresh Meat will be the chosen team. Camila and Frank got into it at the challenge (Camila's quite the trash talker). However, San Diego also considers St. Thomas, but reaches out to them since they're both rookies and San Diego wants to add them to their alliance possibly. Trey obviously doesn't want to kiss ass so San Diego walks away from them, which pisses off Marie. Surprisingly though, Frank and the rest of his team picks Fresh Meat surprisingly even though they kissed their butt. San Diego also picks the Endurance round for the Arena for Fresh Meat vs. Danny and Melinda.

After the announcement, everybody goes out for a night on the town to just have fun. Zach and Jonna are flirting and loving each other right now. Trey and Laura are still dealing with their emotions from their season, while Knight is still fighting for Jemmye, though he cheated on her. Melinda comes in to delve out her Dr. Phil moment, and tells Jemmye to maybe reconsider. Back at the house, Knight talks to Danny, while he doesn't want to hear it. At the end of the day, it's not fighting with Jemmye and trying to win her back that's going to win him the money!

Fresh Meat is going to the Arena for the second week in a row. They're trying to figure out a plan for them to work together, and also see who will go in the Arena. Obviously, none of them want to go in, which I thought was a punk move on Camila and Brandon because Cara Maria and Eric went in last week. At the Arena, Fresh Meat still couldn't come to a decision so San Diego chose Camila and Eric. The teams played "Balls Out," in which they will have 5 minutes to slide balls to opposite sides of the court. Whoever has the most balls on their opponent's side will win the game. Though it was a well fought game, Danny and Melinda are sent home with Fresh Meat having the most balls on their side. Danny and Melinda part ways amicably. So there goes Austin, the first team out!

Back at the house, Trey is complaining to Laura with everybody hating him. Everybody thinks that Trey has a big ego, which he kind of does, but I don't blame him for not wanting to kiss up. He's new though. He'll have to learn how to play the game, or St. Thomas won't be around much longer!

Check out all new episodes of The Challenge: Battle of the Seasons on Wednesday nights at 10 p.m. only on MTV!

Photo via MTV

11:47:00 AM

*****For the record, Eventually I will get back to entertainment news, but I'm learning how to balance three other blogs so please bear with me! 

Decided to recap the newest season of MTV's The Challenge--Battle of the Seasons! Held in Bodrum, Turkey, and, as always, hosted by BMX rider TJ Lavin, this season brings together teams of people from various Real World seasons battling the other seasons to see who's number one! Of course, it's awkward, because not everybody got along! The seven RW seasons represented are Austin (Wes, Lacey, Danny and Melinda), Back to New Orleans (Preston, Knight, Jemmye, and McKenzie), Cancun (Derek, Jasmine, CJ, and Jonna), San Diego (Frank, Ashley, Zach, and Sam), Las Vegas (made of the original and the second season-Alton, Trishelle, Nany, and Dustin), Brooklyn (Chet, JD, Devyn, and Sarah) and the newest kids on the block, St. Thomas (Trey, Marie, Robb, and Laura).

Of course, the money should be enough to override all (or at least some) of the drama! $250,000 goes to the winning team, the biggest prize in Challenge history! $50,000 goes to second (think it should have been at least $75 K, but whatever), and $40,000 goes to third. TJ also introduces everybody to the Arena is where the elimination rounds will be. The losing team is sent into the Arena, and the winning team will send another team to battle against them. There's a twist, however. Each team has to decide which two players will go in.  If they lose, your team is down to two players (which can be a pro, but mostly a con depending on the challenge). And, of course, if you go in again, and lose, your team is automatically finished. My question is, will the other two members who got disqualified still get money in the end if their other teammates win? Because I don't like that haha!


The first night is all partying, as always in the gorgeous villa. Of course, everybody talks through some of their past issues with each other. Ashley and Frank have problems, because, from their season, he felt like she was being fake and lying to him. The next day, the cast still drinking and having fun. Melinda and Danny try to deal with their divorce (which I just found out!), and it's kind of awkward for them. I think that, as time goes on, they will definitely hook up in the house. Jemmye and Knight broke up because he cheated, but he's persistent on getting her back. Meanwhile, Jonna is crushing on Zach, and goes to Jasmine for advice on how to handle it. Jasmine tells her to get to know him better, and see where things lead.

Later that night, the crew gets a text from TJ with a clue to the next challenge: "Some of you have crossed each other in the past. I hope that doesn't come to bite you." Already, CJ is going into the game wanting to send Wes home, because Wes sent him into elimination from Fresh Meat 2. Of course, Wes starts plotting and manipulating already, trying to get the St. Thomas kids on his side.

At next day's Challenge, TJ makes the shocking revelation that one more team is joining the roster! I was expecting it to be a Road Rules team (because MTV acts as if they never existed, and it would just be a nice change up), but it was a mix of folks from Fresh Meat (Brandon, Cara Maria, Eric, and Camila). The challenge, "Don't Cross Me," has a wooden X up in the air, with the teams having to climb up ladders from the ocean to get to it. The teams, two at a time, cross from opposite sides of the X. Everyone has to be careful though, because it the weight isn't distributed right, the X will be thrown off, possibly sending someone into the water! The team with the quickest time wins, and the last place team will be sent right into the Arena!

Each team does pretty well. Though Big Easy boasts about losing 70 pounds, and wants to make up for his less than impressive performance in The Challenge some years back, he falls from the ladder and is unable to get up, putting Team Fresh Meat in last place. Preston falls too during his team's turn, but he digs deeps and gets back up to finish. Of course, Fresh Meat ends up last, and will be automatically sent into the Arena. The first power team of the season is Cancun, who zoomed through the challenge no problem!

Of course, at deliberations, CJ tries to get Team Austin in the round to get Wes back. St. Thomas were brought up too, of course, because they're the rookies, and rookies are normally first to go. Cancun does end up choosing Austin, though. In showing the cast the Arena again, TJ announces that there are four types of games for the eliminations--Endurance, Strategy, Mental, or Physical. The power team will choose which game the teams will face off in (yet another advantage). Cancun chooses Physical, while the Austin crew and Fresh Meat have to decide which two they will be sending in.

Later, the other six teams come back and get drunk. Frank ends up getting all worked up from the alcohol, even getting in Wes' face with Zach having to pull him away. Sam says something smart to him, and Frank throws her a low blow talking about her girlfriend. After finally getting Frank to chill out, Zach gets away with Jonna and they kiss. They have a connection. Later, Jonna talks to her boyfriend back home and breaks up with him, which breaks his heart. She needs her freedom, and obviously wants to spend more time with Zach.

Before the elimination round, Wes and Lacey (Austin's chosen duo) were confident that they wouldn't go home. Meanwhile, Cara Maria (who volunteered herself) is worried about everything and has second thoughts about going into the Arena, which pisses off Eric (who's going in too) and Camila. Seriously, Cara Maria is never in the right head space for these games. She's good, but mentally she's not there fully, and that's her downfall!

The physical elimination is "Hall Brawl," and the goal is to run through your opponent in a small glass hall and ring the bell on the other side. Cara Maria runs over Lacey in their heat, and Eric pretty much stomps Wes. Their heat came down to a photo finish, and by 2/10ths of a second, Big Easy got it! Fresh Meat sent Wes and Lacy home, leaving Melinda and Danny to fend for themselves. Of course, CJ is happy, because he took out the top dog and his fiercest rival. TJ also announces that the other types of challenges have to be used before anyonc can use Physical again (to make it fair).

Overall, a good premiere episode. I thought last challenge was bad, but this challenge looks like one of the fiercest yet! Of course, the hookups and drama are going to be rampant, and I'm excited to watch! Make sure you check out Battle of the Seasons every Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET only on MTV!

7:25:00 AM

One of the biggest nights for MTV is the Video Music Awards, the night to honor artists with the classic Moonman in different categories!

As always, the event kicked off with the pre-show. The star-studded red carpet featured appearances from top celebs like One Direction, 2 Chainz, and The Wanted and we even got a performance  from new X-Factor judge Demi Lovato (I love her)!

Before the main event even started, three Moonmen were given out. Demi Lovato won the first official Moonman of the night for Best Video with A Message for her song "Skyscraper." DJ Calvin Harris snagged one for Best Electronic Dance Music (EDM) Video for "Feel So Close," and the ever so popular British-Irish boy band One Direction got a Moonman for Most Shareworthy Video for "What Makes You Beautiful." Between these guys and Justin Bieber, girls FALL OUT!


On the red carpet, Wiz Khalifa and Amber Rose officially announced that they are indeed expecting a baby. It's something we already knew, but it's nice to have some confirmation. Congratulations to them!

Now on to the main event!!!! Rihanna opened the show with "Cockiness" before rolling into the crowd to sing and party to "We Found Love." She killed it! I wish that she had performed "Where Have You Been" instead of "Cockiness," but since that's her new single, she wanted to sing that, I guess.

MTV brought back Kevin Hart (take notes BET! Stick with what WORKS...just saying) to host the show. This crazy fool came out as the "president" of the show with little people as his security! Of course, he wouldn't be himself if he didn't crack some jokes. He proceeded to talk about the need for forgiveness on some mistakes on Drake and Chris Brown's beef (they were both present last night btw), Frank Ocean's coming out (funny but tasteful, at least to me), Snooki and Baby Lorenzo, and the HUGE elephant and the room, the Kristen Stewart and Robert Patterson cheating scandal (He had to be expecting that!). I was absolutely dying the whole night! I love Kevin as a host, and if the execs over at BET had any sense in their heads, they would bring him back next year for the BET Awards.



Katy Perry presented Best Pop Video to One Direction for "What Makes You Beautiful." No surprise there. Pink then came out to perform her new song "Blow Me One Last Kiss." I also found out earlier that she is the newest face to grace the CoverGirl brand, in addition to Ellen DeGeneres, Sofia Vergara, Janelle Monae, and more! I love it!

Rita Ora and Demi Lovato presented Best Male Video to Chris Brown for "Turn Up The Music." Though I love Chris to death, it was kind of surprising because I always expect Justin Bieber to win just about any award he's up for, but he didn't. Congrats Chris! Zoe Saldaña presented what I thought was the best performance of the night (maybe I'm biased), Frank Ocean who sung "Thinkin Bout You." Besides some grass and fire behind him, Frank had a microphone and an acoustic guitarist to back him up and he sung the HELL out of that song, hitting that falsetto amazingly! I really love him.

Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg presented the award for Best Rap Video to Drake and Lil Wayne for "HYFR." Again, no surprise there. Figured it would be either him or Nicki. I did need Lil Wayne to quit acting like he didn't want or need to be there with those headphones on all night though! After this award, One Direction hit the stage and performed "One Thing."

The Wanted and Rebel Wilson (who is absolutely hilarious to me!) presented the Best Female  Video to Nicki Minaj for "Starships." Now I like Nicki and 75% of her music. However, I'm going to need her to stop being so over the top every time she accepts an award! Not taking away from her win at all, but all this "I didn't--Oh my god--I can't believe--". Nicki, you know that you are the biggest female rapper out right now. Stop doing all of that, and just calmly go up to the stage to get your award!  And I'm sorry, but why is it when one person in Young Money wins an award, EVERYBODY has to come on stage?! Goodness. Afterwards, 2 Chainz and Lil Wayne performed "Yuck" and "No Worries." I'm just going to keep my mouth closed on that one. Green Day also hit the stage with "Oh Love," and I was rocking out!

The night also featured a new look at Breaking Dawn Part 2 (the end of the Twilight saga which looks mad intense!). Several members of the cast were there (including my boo Taylor Lautner), excluding Kristen Stewart for uh...obvious reasons!

The award for  Best New Artist went to...One Direction for "What Makes You Beautiful." Shortly after, the Women's Gymnastics Olympic team brought out Alicia Keys to perform "Girl on Fire," with Nicki Minaj. Now I love Alicia, and I like the new song, but she was all the way OFF KEY last night! The best part of the entire performance was when Gabrielle Douglas came out to do flips across the stage with ease (the whole time I was thinking please don't fall on that slippery stage!). She KILLED it for the short seconds she was there!

The most coveted award of the night, Video of the Year, went Rihanna for "We Found Love," which was greatly deserved. It was a great visual with a deep story line. What we didn't see was Rihanna greet Chris Brown with a kiss (on the cheek or on the lips...has yet to be determined!) Now there are rumors of Karreuche and Chris being done (again, not confirmed!). If that's the case, I would honestly love to see them together. I know that people may not agree, but that love connection is definitely still there. Honestly, if that incident hadn't happened, those two would probably still be together. Maybe they could give each other a second chance.

Taylor Swift ended the show with "We Are Never Getting Back Together." I wouldn't have placed her at the very end of the show, but she did a good job! Overall, it was a great night, and I had a lot of fun watching and tweeting as always! And a big shoutout to MTV for starting the show early so people could watch President Obama's speech at the Democratic National Convention! Hopefully one day, I'll be on that red carpet (interviewing of course!). A full list of the winners and their acceptance speeches can be seen here! Congrats to all!

Images via MTV/Reuters

6:52:00 AM

The Love & Hip Hop Atlanta Reunion wrapped up with Part 2, but not before ending with a few more fights, secrets, and even a proposal! The reunion picks up from last week with Mona's question to Stevie about his relationship with Joseline. Though as always, he avoids the question at first, he finally says no, with  Joseline openly admitting she uses him for the sex and money. The conversation then turns to the failed therapy session with the three. Stevie, claiming that that he wanted to lay everything out on the table, invited both Mimi and Joseline to a session with Dr. Jeff, only to end up getting beat up by Joseline. It's all clear in the session that Stevie has some type of feelings for Joseline, but he refuses to see it.


The scene switches to another love triangle between Scrappy, Erica, and Shay. Erica herself feels like Scrappy's "relationship" with Shay was a ploy to get her attention. Scrappy and Erica got back into a relationship after Erica took him in, but it didn't work for them. Erica constantly had her guard up because she was afraid to be hurt, and Scrappy wasn't understanding why he didn't get that love, so they broke up. However, Scrappy acknowledges that he still loves her. Of course, Momma Dee comes on the stage to defend her baby boy Scrappy, and even gives him this Burger King crown. She's concerned that Erica doesn't give her that love. She thinks that Shay will be more affectionate. Scrappy apologizes for lying to Shay and stringing her along, but states that he didn't give Erica a chance to express her affection. Eventually, Shay walks off stage, hurt. Scrappy breaks out an engagement ring on stage, and proposes to Erica. Personally, I wouldn't want to be proposed to on a reunion show, but Erica will take it any way she can get it.

Mona then brings Kirk and Rasheeda, K. Michelle, and Benzino and Karlie up on the stage. Mona asks about Benzino about his non-proposal to Karlie. Benzino himself wanted to be married, but he just couldn't. However, Karlie drops a bomb that nobody knew! She went over to his house the night of the non-proposal, and found a half-naked woman there saying that they're living together!!! What?! Then she gives Benzino a t-shirt for being a "polygamous" (albeit the wrong tense of the word, but sums the situation). Needless to say, the two are officially done, which I don't mind because their relationship was moving way too fast for me to want to keep up with anyway.

Meanwhile, Rasheeda and Kirk are doing good, and Rasheeda doesn't regret choosing him to stay on as her manager. Many brought up that it was about choosing love over her career. However, I don't agree. Rasheeda could have perfectly well been happy in her marriage, and happy in her career by choosing Deb as her manager. Therefore, next season, if she's in the same spot as she is now, I don't want to hear any complaints from her, because that's what she chose. I mean, let's be honest, just because she was on Love & Hip Hop, don't mean she's going to all of a sudden elevate to superstar-status. No diss, no shade, but if you had the opportunity to take your career to the next level, why wouldn't you? That doesn't mean that you're leaving love behind. If anything, a separation of love and hip hop would be good for their marriage. But hey, do you.

At the end of the episode, the whole cast joins the stage to wrap up, with everybody coming to some type of resolution about their issues, either moving forward with folks, or moving on. Overall, an entertaining reunion from a crazy ratchet cast. I love it! Mona also made the announcement that the original Love & Hip Hop will be making its comeback for Season 3 in January 2013! Of course, I'll be recapping (though I don't even know who all is going to be on now that Chrissy and Emily are gone). We'll see what happens.

3:12:00 PM