I can’t believe that we just saw the last episode of “TRL.” You might think that me being British, I wouldn’t know “TRL,” but I do. It’s an international show that we’ve all been watching.

It was amazing to see so many people — from 50 Cent to Diddy to Beyoncé to Justin Timberlake to Ludacris — come out to pay their respects to a show that obviously means more to them than just a one-hour block on television.

Everyone’s telling me that the studio was the place to be, but the whole night, we were backstage, and every single artist came through to say hello. I was talking to Diddy about his upcoming, very eclectic album, and who interrupts our interview? 50 Cent. Having two of the biggest music-business tycoons standing on either side of me, I couldn’t help but wonder who had more money in his pocket.

Backstage, the artists weren’t just staying in their dressing rooms or hanging out in VIP areas. Everybody was having fun and acting like regular people. It was a beautiful thing to see them interact with each other.

Read about the rest of Tim’s night “Total Finale Live”, plus photos with Good Charlotte, Diddy, Hilary Duff and more…after the jump!
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Right after coming back from Athens for the launch of MTV Greece, I went straight to Washington, D.C. — a few hours’ train ride from New York’s Penn Station — for my next assignment. I was excited. It was my first time ever to D.C., and, most importantly, it was my first time ever meeting an actual student veteran.

Graham Palter is a 24-year-old freshman at George Washington University and a veteran of the war in Iraq. Seeking adventure, he joined the Marine Corps at 19 — and he got exactly what he asked for, and then some. While his fellow students at GWU were firing machine guns and blowing things up on their PlayStations, Graham was serving three deployments in Iraq.

(Watch Graham’s story after the jump!)
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Thirty-six hours later, and the launch of MTV Greece is a wrap.

It’s kind of surreal running the last few days back … I landed in Greece with the perfect team: Ocean and Nick. Drove through the heart of Athens at dawn. Checked into a big suite in a hot five-star hotel (Madonna’s favorite, apparently … she’s got good taste). Ate my first real, full English breakfast in a while (baked beans, hash browns, bacon, sausages) whilst overlooking the magnificent Acropolis on a sunny day. Savored the moment. Met up with my European VJ friends again after a long time. Made new friends (congratulations to MTV Greece’s newest VJs, Nafsika and Alex, on your first show! So good!). Worked with old friends (the real A-Team from all over Europe — you know who you are). Partied well into the night at a well-hidden rooftop bar with Speak & Spells hanging on the wall. Drank Ouzo for first time. Had the best gyro (pronounced “yiro,” as I found out). Climbed to the top of a completely empty Panathinaiko Stadium at midnight the night before the big day — breathtaking, literally. Found a hot little dive bar round the corner that played everything from Oasis to the Rolling Stones. Walked onstage in front of 50,000 people the next day at the historic stadium. Got 50,000 people to scream at the top of their lungs. Kept them entertained for a four-hour live TV show that aired in France, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Greece simultaneously, alongside Europe’s best (and, in some cases, hottest) VJs. Had the absolute pleasure of interviewing one of the best bands ever, R.E.M. Introduced the legends on stage for their big performance. Saw them play a full 90-minute set with all their hits. Shared a celebratory gyro with friends. Hit the afterparty at Venue in style, followed by the after-afterparty. Misbehaved a lot. Saw the sun rise. Made it out in one piece. Next stop … New York.

This weekend the MTV family gets a new addition, and its name is MTV Greece. So this morning, after a nine-hour flight, we touched down in the beautiful city of Athens.

Athens is almost the polar opposite of the hustle and bustle of New York City: The first thing that hits you when you arrive (apart from the abundance of MTV signs all over the airport) is a real sense of calmness and serenity.

It’s all too perfect. As MTV News’ grand poo-bah Ocean MacAdams, resident Greek god Nick Neofitidis and I sit here eating breakfast on the roof of our hotel — with a view that overlooks the city and the magnificent Acropolis — it’s almost too easy to forget that we’re actually here for work.

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Look up the word “cool” in any dictionary, and you’ll see that it has a lot of different meanings. In my book, artists like Bob Marley, the Beatles and Prince are the very definition of the word “cool.” Well, add to that list the name Robin Thicke. It’s a bold statement, I know … but then, so is Robin’s new album.

It hits stores today, so we put the call in and got him to stop by MTV HQ on the eve of his big album launch. Something Else is definitely not what you would call ordinary. It’s not cookie-cutter R&B, it doesn’t have a whole load of big-name collaborations (only one … yes, Lil Wayne on “Tie My Hands”), and it’s undoubtedly the album that Robin always wanted to make. You see, that’s something that’s very important to Thicke. He’s an artist who holds his own musical integrity in the highest regard. Simply put, Thicke would rather busk on the street all his life than put out an album that he had no creative control over.

We chopped it up about his new album; the lead single, “Magic” (and why it wasn’t his first choice); collaborating with his lovely wife, Paula Patton (who starred in “Mirrors” with Kiefer Sutherland and “Déjà Vu” opposite the legend that is Denzel Washington); and of course, my new favorite song right now, the excellent “Dreamworld.” This album might be his best yet. Trust me — go buy it, call over your “special friend” and press play. By the fifth track, it’s pretty clear: A lot of babies are going to be made to this album.

We’ll have much more from this interview in the coming days.

I’m sad today. It always amazes how bad news can just hit you so unexpectedly and put a damper on even the brightest of days.

I’m sad at the news I received on a BlackBerry alert this morning with the message “Travis Barker and DJ AM critically injured in plane crash.” The news totally sideswiped me - as bad news always does. Read more…

At last year’s Video Music Awards, one of my MTV News colleagues, who shall remain nameless (John Norris), was asked to do an interview with a massive L.A. news channel. I won’t lie: I was very jealous. It was clear I wasn’t a big enough name to represent MTV News.

Well, this year, sh– is different.

When the boss called and asked me to take KTLA red-carpet legend Sam Rubin on a tour of the VMA set here on the Paramount Studios backlot, I accepted gladly — until I found out the interview was booked for 7 in the morning.

Now, I had a very late night last night, and my eyes were tired, so I needed to find an excuse to wear sunglasses without looking like a wannabe rock star. I grabbed two pair and — just as Sam was doing his very professional open — I said, “Sam, you’re at the VMAs, loosen up!” And I handed him a pair.

Later, in one of the sets, there was a roomful of fur coats, so I took two off the hangers. And Sam totally played along! We did the rest of the interview in sunglasses and a white fur coat that would’ve made Snoop proud. And, to be honest, he totally pulled it off.

Sadly, our cameras weren’t rolling on the set. But I nailed my first L.A. TV interview, and snagged these three red-carpet tips from a red-carpet legend to boot. Check it out!

Back in March, on the night of the Texas and Ohio primaries, we were invited down to the NYC headquarters of FOX News to see first-hand how FOX does it up on primary night. To cut a long story short…we were introduced to Bill Hemmer and his equally-famous ‘Bill Board’ — in essence, a plasma screen on steroids!

Well, about a week after that piece aired, we got a call from none other than rival mega-network CNN — casually asking us if we’d like to come pay them a visit and see how they do it!

So yesterday, on the night of the Pennsylvania primary, myself, cameraman Brendan Kennedy, and producer “Monty” Montalto headed down to the impressive CNN Election Center. We soon found ourselves face-to-face with John King and his “Magic Wall.” And in all seriousness, his plasma screen gave FOX a run for their money.

At 81 x 48 inches, the touch-screen plasma is an impressive piece of kit (a stripped-down version will set you back $100,000). Originally created for use by the military (yes, the military), the screen has become a popular feature in their election coverage. As the legendary Wolf Blitzer (who does an hour everyday on the treadmill: FACT) rehearsed his lines behind us, King gave us an impressive demonstration as to what the “Magic Wall” was capable of.

The same size and color as FOX’s bad boy (the screen that is!), the CNN touchscreen didn’t seem all that different, aside from the software — and, of course, the guy standing beside it!

And yes, after having gotten close to the “Bill Board,” I insisted on playing with the “Magic Wall.” But it would be impolite to tell you which was a better time.

Tuesday night, the nation was glued to their TV screens as John McCain became the presumptive Republican presidential nominee and Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton continued to duke it out.

With the election race more dramatic than ever, we thought we’d take a look at how other news organizations work — and Fox News was kind enough to extend us an invitation. So producer Daniel “Grizzly” Montalto, cameraman Brendan “Tintin” Kennedy and myself headed over to the channel’s headquarters in midtown Manhattan to get a first-hand look at how it was gonna go down on primary night.

First stop: the Decision Desk. Upstairs from the main Fox newsroom, news correspondent Bill Hemmer and his giant plasma touch-screen — “Bigger than CNN’s,” he boasted — were both hard at work trying to stay on top of the night’s results.

Here’s how it works - After the Jump.

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So that was the Oscars! I feel shattered. What a night! I don’t think the gravity of what we were about to do really hit me until we were literally 10 seconds away from going live on the red carpet for the biggest event in the Hollywood calendar.

It was the first time I had ever hosted anything like this. I’ve done live shows for years and my fair share of high-profile events, but what we did today was unprecedented. Normally, when we’re shooting a red carpet event things move pretty fluidly, and if they’re not you always have the ability to shut off the cameras and stop recording even if it’s just for a moment. But not tonight! Tonight wasn’t just any red carpet event, this was the Oscars and tonight we were going live for an hour with no commercials.

Continued at the MTV Movies Blog…