Lawsuit Dropped!

I had first reported in October regarding the lawsuit between Caitlin Sanchez, the voice of Dora the Explorer and Nickelodeon, MTV networks and parent company Viacom.

It seems the young actress has dropped the lawsuit after alleging that the network underpaid her and cut her out of lucrative merchandising deals.

Sanchez's attorney John Balestriere had stated, "after discussions, the lawsuit was withdrawn." He added that he could not go into details because of an agreement among the parties.

 The network released the following statement:
 "We have always felt, and continue to feel, that Caitlin is a very talented performer. Our intention was always that Caitlin complete the episodes on which she worked, and we are pleased that she has agreed to do so."

Nickelodeon did not comment on any possible financial considerations that led to its resolution.


To find out more about the Sanchez/Viacom lawsuit, click here and here!

MTV EMA 2010

On Sunday, November 7th Madrid, Spain hosted the biggest party in Europe, the MTV European Music Awards (EMA) hosted by "Desperate Housewives" star Eva Longoria Parker.

All the highlights from the EMAs are posted on MTV's website, you can check out performances from Rihanna, Shakira, Miley Cyrus and Ke$ha.

The biggest winner of the night was Lady Gaga who nabbed 3 EMAs including best song. She accepted her awards at her concert in Budapest, Hungary. The singer is currently touring Europe.

From what we saw on MTV's website, we weren't impressed with the EMAs, maybe our minds will change because they are airing the award show once again this Friday, November 12th on MTV.

Will you be checking out the MTV EMAs?

Taylor Swift Makes More Than A Million...

...In Album Sales!

I have to admit, I'm not a fan of Taylor Swift's music, but I am amazed that this 20 year old Country music singer has made history selling more than 1 million copies of her third album "Speak Now." The last artist to achieve this was Lil' Wayne in 2008.

Swift has been a winner of a MTV VMA "Moonman"for Best Female Video in 2009.

Congratulations to Taylor Swift on this amazing accomplishment!

Have You Taken the Trivia Challenge?

Returning to our discussion about the Video Music Awards (VMA), this week I stumbled upon the VMA Trivia Challenge on MTV's website.

Since, I've watched the VMAs regularly since 1999 and have done a bit of research on past VMAs for the purpose of this blog, I felt confident that I would answer more questions correct than incorrect.

All questions in the trivia challenge were about the most memorable moments in VMA history, the moments viewers remember!

Unfortunately, I can't say that moments from this years VMAs will be added to the trivia challenge. As we know, it lacked spontaneity and entertainment and isn't comparable to past award shows.

Take the trivia challenge below! How well did you score?

Legal Matters!

MTV networks is a division of Viacom International Inc. whose brands include Shockwave, VH1 and Nickelodeon.

The parents of Caitlin Sanchez, voice of Dora the Explorer since 2007, are in a legal tussle with Nickelodeon. They are claiming that Nickelodeon had forced them to sign a legal contract that paid her a pittance for her work and then fired her when they tried to negotiate a better deal.

Nickelodeon responded saying that Sanchez has made more than $300,000 over the years she has voiced Dora and that she was removed from the show because of her voice change.

Here is their statement:

"Unfortunately, Caitlin's voice changed and she was no longer able to portray the Dora character, as happened with the actress who originated the role. Caitlin's contract was extensively negotiated through her agent and in compliance with her union. She was well-compensated for her work and for personal appearances. We have enjoyed working with Caitlin on Dora the Explorer these past three years, and we did in fact offer her a contract for other work with us."

But it doesn't end there...Sanchez's lawyer John Balestriere says that his client has taken advantage of by the network and even threatens to humiliate the network by exposing some unflattering secrets, how "civil".

Nickelodeon fired back with the following:

"The threats made to us by the lawyer are not only totally inappropriate, but it truly saddens us that he would try to use a 14-year-old girl to gain what he believes would be some sort of advantage. Our company prides itself on its honesty and integrity and has nothing to hide. Intimidation tactics will not help in the resolution of this dispute."

Sounds like a bit game theory to us...we'll watch as the events unfold.

Whose side are you on? Sanchez or Nickelodeon?

 

There's Nothing You Can't Do...At The VMAs

Hanging out with my sister and her roommates, I decided to asked them what they thought about this year's Video Music Awards.

They all agreed that this years VMAs lacked in spontaneity and crazy antics from celebrities, which is what makes the VMAs so fun to watch.

One of my sister's roommates made a quick comparison to this years VMAs to last years...you know when Kanye interrupted Taylor Swift during her acceptance speech AND when lil' mama jumped on stage during Jay-Z and Alicia Keys performance of "Empire State of Mind"!

In all honesty I don't remember that happening, but luckily I was able to find the performance online, which you can view here!

What do you think of Lil' Mama's interruption? Is it what you want to see more of at the VMAs?

Why Do You Watch The VMAs?

Once we have willing participants for our study, we're going to take a poll on the MTV video music awards to find out what audiences like or dislike about the show... but what's the best way?

What questions would be asked in this poll?
Questions would include:
1. Do you watch the VMAs every year?
2. Is your favorite part of the VMAs the musical performances?
3. Is a good host essential to make a good show?

We could rank these questions (1-5...1 being the worst, 5 being the best), along with other questions based on the likert scale, taking an average score for those agreeing with each of the individual statements.

From the scale we'll find what is most important for viewers and be another step closer to producing a MTV video music award that audiences enjoy!

How would you rank these questions?

Continuing with our favorite VMA musical performances, this weeks performance is OK Go performing "Here It Goes Again" in 2006.

What do you think of their performance?