O Music Awards Look To Liven Things Up With Unboxed Events

When it comes to the O Music Awards, fun is always at the top of the agenda, and this year things are about to get even crazier with the addition of O Music Awards Unboxed.

O Music Awards Unboxed is a New York-based event series that will pull together all aspects of the O Music Awards, MTV’s awards show honoring achievements in music and technology, into one big night.
The first Unboxed event goes down at The Studio at Webster Hall in New York City on February 23 and will focus on the theme of interaction. Cameo, a new application from the Fast Society team primed to launch at SXSW, will be previewed at the event, which will also feature performances from classical instrument-wielding indie rockers Miracles of Modern Science and O Music Award nominee MNDR. The night will also include visuals from The Rainbow Machine, and the chance to participate in a crowd-sourced music video shoot directed by Eli Stonberg.

In other words – this thing is going to be awesome! Tickets go on sale beginning Thursday (February 9). Get full details on the event over on the O Music Awards blog.

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Metallica Announce First-Ever Orion Music Fest

They've headlined stadiums around the world and made an incredibly polarizing album with punk grandfather Lou Reed. So what's left for Metallica to do to cap off a stellar year? How about launch their own summer festival with a lineup that includes some of their favorite bands?

On Tuesday (February 7), the group announced the debut of the Orion Music + More fest, described as an annual "music, arts and lifestyle" gathering that will feature multiple stages and take place June 23-24 at Bader Field in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

In addition to headlining sets from Metallica each day — during which they will play The Black Album one night and Ride the Lightning the other in their only North American performances of those classic releases in 2012 — the festival will also feature sets from: Arctic Monkeys, Avenged Sevenfold, Modest Mouse, the Gaslight Anthem, Cage the Elephant, F---ed Up, Best Coast, Hot Snakes, Titus Andronicus, Gary Clark Jr., Lucero, Roky Erickson, the Black Angels, the Sword and Liturgy. More bands will be announced in the coming weeks.

"We've had the idea of doing our own lifestyle festival with lots of diverse music and fun and games for years," drummer Lars Ulrich said in a press release announcing the event. "Finally this year all the practical ducks lined up in a row, and we are beyond psyched to bring Orion to our fans, friends and the curious. After the most incredible of weeks ever in December 2011 celebrating our 30th anniversary at the Fillmore in San Francisco, CA, bringing the spirit of that week, the looseness of that week, the possibilities of that week, the fan interactive elements of that week, and the (fill in your own blank here) of that week to a festival setting is so exciting we can hardly contain ourselves."

Pre-sale tickets for the Metallica fan club start Wednesday at 10 a.m. ET, with the public on-sale slated to begin Saturday. Tickets are $150 for two-day passes for the public and $125 for fan-club members. Head to OrionMusicAndMore.com for details.

Will you check out the first Orion fest? Let us know in the comments!

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'The River' Is 'Paranormal Activity' Meets 'X-Files,' Eloise Mumford Says

There's magic out there ... you just need to ford "The River" to find it.

"Paranormal Activity" mastermind Oren Peli is back with another found-footage fright-fest, but this time, it's playing out on the small screen in the form of "The River," a new supernatural series debuting on ABC on Tuesday (February 7). "The River" stars "Star Trek" actor Bruce Greenwood as Dr. Emmet Cole, a television personality and famed explorer who vanishes without a trace while seeking magic in the depths of the Amazon. Six months later, new evidence regarding Emmet's whereabouts comes to light, leading his wife, Tess (Leslie Hope), and son, Lincoln (Joe Anderson), to the Amazon with a television crew in tow.

What they find there is darker and more inexplicable than anything they expected — and as promised by the missing Dr. Cole, there is indeed magic out there, deadlier than the rabbits-from-hats variety.

Actress Eloise Mumford, who stars on the show as adventurer Lena Landry, dropped by MTV News this week to talk about the premiere of "The River," and why it's a television event that fans of found-footage absolutely can't miss.

"It's 'Paranormal Activity' meets 'X-Files,' " she told MTV about the premise of the show. "The conceit is that it's all shot as a TV show — you're aware that it's not just a TV show on TV, but that the whole thing is being shot as a TV show within a TV show. It's really fun, because it's all shot as a documentary. You see the camera guys; they're characters. Sometimes we had up to 13 cameras rolling at once. It's groundbreaking TV in that sense. It's taking this age of technology right now and taking full advantage of that."

Indeed, though found-footage is a prominent part of pop culture today, it's a device that's rarely explored in scripted genre television. Mumford said that the unique perspective will help set "The River" apart from other shows currently on TV.

"If you're flipping through the channels, you're going to go, 'Whoa!' It's such a different look," she said. "And the storytelling of it is so much faster. There's really unique points of view in all of it."

"It's in line with the youth of today," she added of what makes "The River" relevant. "We're used to shooting our own stuff on our cellphones. We're used to capturing everything. To be able to have that as a TV show is going to be really fun for people to watch."

"The River" flows on ABC tonight (February 7) at at 9 ET/PT (8 Central).

Are you excited for the premiere of "The River"? Leave your comment below.

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Lil Wayne, deadmau5, More To Toast EDM At The Grammys

Get your glow sticks ready for the Grammys: Another fist-pumping performance has been announced for Sunday's show. Previously announced performers Chris Brown and the Foo Fighters will join fellow nominees Lil Wayne and EDM superstars deadmau5 and David Guetta for a genre-busting performance that will highlight dance/electronica music.

This marks the first time the Grammys have shed light on the increasingly popular genre, which has recently seeped into every form of music. The performance will take place in a tent outside Staples Center.

The announcement comes on the same day it was confirmed that Alicia Keys and Bonnie Raitt will head up a tribute to late soul singer Etta James and Nicki Minaj revealed she will perform a spankin'-new track, "Roman Holiday," when she takes the Grammy stage.

MTV News will be on hand at the Grammys for the MTV News Pre-Show, hosted by Sway Calloway and James Montgomery. With so many artists set to appear at the show, including Katy Perry, Drake, Fergie, Bruce Springsteen, Adele, Rihanna, Coldplay, Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars, Kelly Clarkson and host LL Cool J, stay tuned to our live stream on MTV.com, starting at 5 p.m. ET Sunday, to get all the scoop from all the biggest stars in the music industry.

Kanye West is the night's most-nominated artist, with seven nods for his joint album with Jay-Z, Watch the Throne, and his own My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, both of which are up for Rap Album of the Year. West is followed by this year's critical darling, Adele, who is tied with the Foo Fighters and Bruno Mars with six nods each. Lil Wayne and dance-music breakout Skrillex each garnered five nods.

Chaos! Profanity! Wardrobe malfunctions! Don't miss Sway and James Montgomery live from the Grammys red carpet this Sunday, February 12, for a full three hours of mayhem, starting at 5 p.m. ET on MTV.com. And the fun doesn't end Sunday: MTV News has you covered until the Grammy hangover wears off!

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