Music on TV - Week of 12.26.11: New Year's Eve with Coldplay, Drake, Lady Gaga

New Year's Eve: Coldplay on Austin City Limits / Drake with Carson Daly / Lady Gaga for Dick Clark/Ryan Seacrest

With every New Year's Eve comes the pressure to ring in the new year with a bang, but for most, the evening generally ends up at somebody's house (usually your own) with a TV that gets turned on to mark the countdown.* With that in mind, there are a few decent options to have on the tube in the background of wherever you find yourself inching towards 2012.

*That is usually it goes down for me -- but not this year.

As a music-only option, for the first time in Austin City Limits nearly 40 years, the program is broadcasting a New Year's Eve special, and they've called upon Coldplay for their first. ACL executive producer Terry Lickona said in a press release, "We decided to go big with Coldplay — really big. So we came up with the idea of celebrating New Year’s Eve with a 90-minute special. All the hits plus their brand new songs. It’ll be a great way to kick off 2012!" There's probably bigger and better they could go with, but NYE requires a vanilla-like reach, so Coldplay is the ticket for 2012.

Elsewhere, you have the usual suspects, firstly with the Dick Clark's Rockin' NYE (ABC) annual tradition (torch still slowly being handed over to co-host Ryan Seacrest), this year featuring Lady Gaga as the featured music act, but a who's who of Billboard chart toppers chime in with a song: Nicki Minaj, Florence + the Machine, Blink-182, Justin Bieber, LMFAO, Pitbull, Will.i.am, OneRepublic, Taio Cruz, Gym Glass Heroes, the Band Perry, and Hot Chelle Rae. Meanwhile, NBC has New Year's Eve with Carson Daly, which usually gets the slight music edge, but this year is they've gone a tad more MOR, with Drake, Jessie J, Cee Lo Green, The Roots, and the legend himself, Tony Bennett.

UPDATE: Spin Magazine has an extensive guide out now that covers live NYE shows in major cities across the country. So go rock 2012.

Picks for the week
Monday, December 26
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Paul Anka (REPEAT)
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds (REPEAT)
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Lenny Kravitz (REPEAT)
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Jimmy Cliff (REPEAT)
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Thievery Corporation (REPEAT)
Tuesday, December 27
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Pink Martini (REPEAT)
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Coldplay (REPEAT)
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: We Were Promised Jetpacks (REPEAT)
Wednesday, December 28
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Yelawolf (REPEAT)
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Rufus Wainwright (REPEAT)
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (REPEAT)
TBS: Conan: Pitbull (REPEAT)
Thursday, December 29
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: My Morning Jacket (REPEAT)
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds (REPEAT)
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Shelby Lynne (REPEAT)
CBS: Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Cake (REPEAT)
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Young the Giant (REPEAT)
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Paul Simon (REPEAT)
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Wye Oak, Butch Walker (REPEAT)
TBS: Conan: Seether (REPEAT)
Friday, December 30
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Young Jeezy (REPEAT)
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: My Morning Jacket (REPEAT)
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Foster the People (REPEAT)
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Kylesa, Cliff Martinez (REPEAT)
Saturday, December 31
ABC: Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest: Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj, Florence + the Machine, Blink-182, Justin Bieber, LMFAO, Pitbull, Will.i.am, OneRepublic, Taio Cruz, Gym Class Heroes, Hot Chelle Rae
NBC: New Year's Eve with Carson Daly: Drake, Jessie J, Cee Lo Green, The Roots, Tony Bennett
PBS: Coldplay New Year's Eve: An Austin City Limits Special: Coldplay

Ear on TV: Week of 06.21.10: Courtney Love / Drake

What should be the crown jewel of the re-launched VH1 franchise Behind the Music debuts this Monday, and it just might be required viewing. Courtney Love has always had a reputation for being a bit crazy and the two hours spent watching this do nothing to dissuade one from that opinion. In fact, she just might be even more INSANE that we originally thought. Train wrecks like this make for good TV, but at a certain point, it becomes kind of sad. Take a look below at this uncensored clip pulled from the spectacle and form your own opinion:



Meanwhile, plenty of rap artists have had their debut release go through the hype machine, but how many arrive with songs already complaining about the price of fame? 23-year old Toronto native Drake (and I fully admit to being partial to that name) might just be the first, as his popularity is already through the roof thanks mostly to the song and corresponding video for "Best I Ever Had."

Drake's debut release, Thank Me Later, dropped last week to critical raves and features a star-studded guest list, with the likes of Kanye West, Jay-Z, T.I., Young Jeezy and Lil' Wayne. To promote the release, the former DeGrassi High star is making appearances on The Tonight Show on Wednesday, Jimmy kimmel Live on Thursday and a special performance on the 2010 BET AWARDS on Sunday night. On top of that, MTV is airing a documentary Wednesday night entitled Drake: Better Than Good Enough. This week is turning out to be just like my life -- all Drake, all the time.

Finally, this Friday marks the one year anniversary of the death of Michael Jackson, so there will be a few (too many) pieces on the former King of Pop, including the debut of a documentary called Gone Too Soon on TV Guide Network. The two-hour special comes from writer/director Ian Halperin, who predicted Jackson's death six months prior and wrote the 2009 New York Times best-selling book Unmasked: The Final Years of Michael Jackson.

Playlist: Picks for the week
Monday, June 21
ABC: The View: 50 Cent
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Herbie Hancock
MTV.com: Unplugged: Phoenix
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Citizen Cope (REPEAT)
VH1: Behind the Music: Courtney Love
Tuesday, June 22
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue
IFC: Dinner With the Band: My Brightest Diamond
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Robert Randolph
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Herbie Hancock
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: RJD2 (REPEAT)
Wednesday, June 23
ABC: The View: Macy Gray
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Bettye LaVette
MTV: Drake: Better Than Good Enough: Drake
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Drake
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Macy Gray
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Sia, Holly Golightly (REPEAT)
TBS: Lopez Tonight: Kid 'n Play
Thursday, June 24
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Drake
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: MGMT
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Daniel Merriweather (REPEAT)
SYNDICATION: Live With Regis and Kelly: Cyndi Lauper, Jonny Lang
Friday, June 25
ABC: Good Morning America: Alicia Keys
ABC: Michael Jackson: After Life: Michael Jackson
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Sia
CBS: The Early Show: Alicia Keys
NBC: The Today Show: Maxwell
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: David Gray (REPEAT)
SUNDANCE: Live From Abbey Road: Yousuf Islam, White Lies, The Fray (REPEAT)
TV Guide: Gone Too Soon: Michael Jackson
Saturday, June 26
BBCAMERICA: The Graham Norton Show: Fyfe Dangerfield
NBC: Saturday Night Live: Bon Jovi (REPEAT)
VH1: Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage: Rush
Sunday, June 27
BET: BET Awards 2010: Drake, Kanye West, DJ Khaled, Eminem, Alicia Keys

'Breast I Ever Had' now Breastier

Kanye's 'director's cut' for the Drake joint ("Best I Ever Had") appears to just be an excuse to show more closeup of breasts in super slow-mo. And just like that, #Drake is trending again on Twitter. Am I milking the name connection too much? Quite possibly.
Drake - Best I Ever Had - Director's Cut from kwest on Vimeo.

Previusly: Kanye directs Drake (Major Boobage)

Kanye directs Drake (Major Boobage)

If you're going to lose (91-14!) at least look good doing it. Those new uniforms for Team Drake definitely show off their best 'assets.' (And yes, stretching is an important part of the sport.)


Drake "Best I Ever Had" from kwest on Vimeo

Ok, not sure how much mileage I'll pull out of the name confluence here, but you have to admit... as a director, Kanye sure knows how to slow-mo the jiggle.

Bracket busted

You already knew who I was pulling for...

Song: "The Drake Went Courting"
Western Kentucky Buzzer Beater Shocks Drake in Overtime Thriller (WKU 101, Drake 99 OT)