Haunting ballad, penned by Ne-Yo, seems to refer to an abusive relationship.

By Jocelyn Vena

Yes, the wait was ova on Tuesday (October 20) at 11:23 a.m. when Rihanna released her first single from her forthcoming album, Rated R. The song was written and produced by Ne-Yo, who’s worked on several of Rihanna’s hits, including “Hate That I Love You” and “Take a Bow.” Their previous efforts together have always been about the ups and downs of love, but fans won’t be able to listen to this single without thinking about her former relationship with Chris Brown.

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Show’s professional dancers pay tribute with routine set to MJ medley.

By Jocelyn Vena

On Tuesday (October 20), “Dancing With the Stars” featured a performance by Norah Jones and the elimination of Olympic swimmer Natalie Coughlin and her partner, Alec Mazo. But the real highlight of the night came when the show’s professional dancers took time out of their busy competing schedules to pay tribute to Michael Jackson, who had a tremendous influence on dance culture during his career.

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Domestic-violence intervention organization among nonprofits receiving portion of ticket sales.

By MTV News staff

Chris Brown’s forthcoming tour, which the singer began publicizing weeks ago, was confirmed by his label on Tuesday (October 20). According to a press release, the trek will be “a small, 19-city ‘Fan Appreciation’ tour to acknowledge and thank his fans for their ongoing support. The tour is conceptualized for and with ‘fans only’ in mind, so intimate venues were selected for these concerts.”

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B dons flashy clothes and finds new ways to contort her body in her newest clip.

By James Montgomery

Beyoncé in "Sweet Dreams"

It all started with “Ring the Alarm,” then picked up steam with subsequent singles (and videos) like “Get Me Bodied,” “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)” and “Diva.” The theory that, somewhere beneath her media-trained demeanor and her well-buffed veneer, Beyoncé was harboring the soul of a wild woman, one who yearns to break free and run screaming through the streets and burn up dance floors and take hostages and drink the blood of her detractors.

Or, you know, something like that.

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Video: Sweet Dreams

Cash-strapped city had to pay for law enforcement, sanitation, traffic control.

By Gil Kaufman

a portrait of Michael Jackson displayed at the Memorial at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Tuesday

Tuesday’s memorial service for Michael Jackson cost the cash-strapped city of Los Angeles $1.4 million, a figure that includes paying for more than 3,000 police officers (nearly one-third of the entire force), trash pickup, other sanitation and traffic control.

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Total is less than Obama inauguration, about the same as ‘American Idol’ finale numbers.

By Gil Kaufman

ans hold up messages outside the Michael Jackson Memorial at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Tuesday

With 18 U.S. TV networks and cable outlets broadcasting the nearly three-hour Michael Jackson memorial service on Tuesday, just over 31.1 million people tuned in. Nielsen Media Research reported that despite the global attention paid to the death of the pop icon and the breathless anticipation of his final sendoff, the U.S. numbers for the event were lower than the figures in this country for the 2004 funeral of ex-president Ronald Reagan (35.1 million), the 1997 funeral of England’s Princess Diana (33.3 million), the inauguration of President Barack Obama in January (37.8 million) and the president’s first White House news conference in February (49.5 million).

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Plus: Def Jam exec Lenny Santiago explains Ghostface Killah’s upcoming ‘R&B’ album, in Mixtape Daily.

By Shaheem Reid

Executive Decisions: Power Moves Behind The Scenes

Lenny Santiago has a rich history in the rap game. His hands have been in almost all Roc-A-Fella Records releases (sans Kanye West’s), and now he’s running things over at Def Jam as vice president of A&R. He signed DJ Khaled and also spearheaded the A&R work on Jadakiss’ The Last Kiss and Fabolous’ upcoming Loso’s Way (due July 28), and his big fall project is the new one from Ghostface Killah.

Jay-Z and Fabolous

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