TVSquad

MTV is really getting into this whole idea of TV viewers also becoming TV content providers. First they add a new viewer video category for the MTV Movie Awards, and now they're looking for guest hosts for Total Request Live.

Fans of the show have to answer six questions to enter, including which celebrity that they'd pick to star as in a movie about their life, who they would pick for the ultimate TRL guest list, and how they would describe TRL to someone who has never seen the show before (that last one is easy: they play music videos, a celeb comes on, and the kids in the audience go nutso). MTV and Acuvue will pick four winners who will each host a day in May.

You also have to upload a picture of yourself. So please, make sure you're attractive.

[via TV Guide]

Call me a nerd, but I absolutely love big band music. Out of my rather small collection of about fifty vinyl albums, about fifteen of them are from the likes of Louis Armstrong, Glenn Miller, the Dorsey Brothers, and others. When my grandfather passed away a few years ago, he left behind a nice stack of records, and I snatched them all up rather quickly. That music has a timelessness to it that's rare in today's music industry where bands are shuffled through to make way for the next big thing.

The PBS documentary Soundies (check your local listings for airdates) takes a look at "music videos" from the '40s. These weren't the videos we know today, but rather "soundies," viewed through a special machine called a panoram. The documentary is hosted by pianist Michael Feinstein.

It's clear the music in television commercials is no longer limited to mainstream music. In fact, more and more advertisers are using "alternative" and "underground" (or whatever you want to call it) music in their ads. In fact, it's a great way to get your music heard if you're a struggling new band, says Cyndi Lauper.

This helps to explain why Lauper signed on as a creative consultant for Alka Seltzer's Battle of the Bands contest. The contest is seeking bands to write their own version of the popular "Plop Plop Fizz Fizz" jingle. I don't know if reworking that particular jingle will launch any band to superstardom, but I think Lauper has a point about how commercials can help a band get exposure that's harder to come by these days with more and more clubs and smaller venues closing down for good.

The Onion AV Club has this fun little column they do on occasion where they ask a celebrity to hit "shuffle" on their iPod and talk about the songs that pop up. The column is called "Random Rules," and recently they had The Daily Show's Rob Corddry chat about his own personal playlist. I've always liked Corddry, but now I like him even more after finding out he's a Pavement fan (my favorite band) and also a fan of Lou Barlow's band Sebadoh, another band in my top five. Although I take some exception to him saying Brighten the Corners is a better album than Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain because that's just wrong. Anyway, Robby ol' pal, you're now my favorite Daily Show correspondent. Give me a call sometime and we'll slap Bakesale on the stereo and light up a doobie like we were in college again. Also, they spelled your last name wrong. We can discuss that, too.

Hey kids, it's time to break out that ol' guitar, trombone, washboard, monkey trumpet, or whatever the heck else you play and join me in listing the best bands to ever grace the small screen. Today we're going to focus on real bands, but don't worry, there's another "The Five" right around the corner where we'll discuss the best fictional bands on television. But for now:

The Tonight Show Band (under Doc Severinsen): The Johnny Carson era of The Tonight Show came to an end when I was a sophomore in high school, and while I never had the same loathing for Jay Leno many others did, I don't think the show will ever be able to duplicate the vibe created by Carson, Ed McMahon, and bandleader Carl H. Severinsen (his friends call him "Doc"). Don't get me wrong, Kevin Eubanks and the current musicians on the show all have chops to spare, but Doc and his fellow bandmates had a kind of old-time classiness about them I couldn't help but admire. And who could forget those glittery, kitschy suits he used to wear?