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With four huge, high-profile releases hitting record stores last week, Metallica's run at #1 was expected to expire Wednesday morning (October 8), when Nielsen SoundScan released the latest album sales figures, gleaned from retailers all across the nation. And as predicted, rapper T.I.'s Paper Trail has, indeed, dethroned the heavy metal icons' Death Magnetic to take control of next week's Billboard top 200. With sales registered at 568,000 and change, Paper Trail also marks the best first week of any of the rapper's releases.

While Paper Trail becomes T.I.'s third-straight LP to open at #1, he managed to shatter his own sales record, eclipsing those generated by 2006's King, which opened on top with nearly 522,000 sold, and 2007's T.I. vs. T.I.P., which entered the chart at #1 with about 468,000 scans. T.I. managed to outsell Oscar-winning "American Idol" alum Jennifer Hudson's self-titled debut, which bows at #2 with 217,000 sold, and the latest from Robin Thicke, Something Else. That album follows at #3, having sold 137,000 units. James Taylor's Covers is also new to next week's chart, debuting at #4 with 95,000 sold.

That means Metallica's Death Magnetic slides to #5 on next week's chart, with week-four sales reported at 86,000. The good news for Metallica is that that figure pushes total sales of the disc past the 1 million mark, making the album one of the year's best-selling rock sets. Ne-Yo's Year of the Gentleman follows at #6 with 70,000 scans, while Kid Rock's Rock N Roll Jesus holds at #7, selling another 56,000 units. Jazmine Sullivan's Fearless lands at #10 with 42,000 sold.

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Lykke Li

She gave the enthusiastic crowd pretty much what it expected off her album, including the overseas hits "I'm Good, I'm Gone" (also the first single here) and "Little Bit," as well as such standout tracks as the dreamy "Dance, Dance, Dance" (a song which isn't exactly what you might assume it to be). Every now and then she whacked a tambourine, smacked a cymbal and turned her boot heels into a very persuasive rhythm instrument. People were eating it up.

Halfway through the performance, she scanned the room and announced, "It's all right to kiss at my shows." Sweet. I doubt if anyone took her up on that, though. All eyes were, and who knows, may remain, on Lykke Li.

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Seglund Peder Billboard: But then Beyoncé lets it slip that it was a joint decision with her husband to keep quiet. "We decide everything," she told the magazine. "My word is my word. What Jay and I have is real. It's not about interviews or getting the right photo op. It's real."

But the writer persisted. And normally, this would be just the thing to get Beyoncé to shut down or call off the interview or find some excuse to change the subject. Instead, she groaned. "You're gonna get me in trouble," she complained, and then launched into a slew of details about the couple's private wedding that the public has been craving for her to acknowledge — to the point that some have referred to it as a secret wedding, despite the very public-record nature of these things.

Beyoncé tells the magazine that the wedding was very small and intimate, because she's not a "traditional" woman and having it be "her day" wasn't something she needed. Being a star and walking the red carpet has diminished the need for that over the years. "It's been my day so many days already," she told the magazine.
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Rihanna opened the show with a spooky take on "Disturbia," preceded by a procession of zombies as she was rolled onto the stage in what looked like a giant metallic wedding cake, wearing a black bustier and looking like a robot from the postapocalyptic future. A short time later, T.I. returned to the VMA stage to perform "Whatever You Like." Escorting a fine young lady in a hot-pink dress, the dapper rapper walked his friend across the Paramount backlot, taking her to a fur shop, a club and in a ride in his Phantom, all the while explaining the lengths of his largesse, which included, in order, stacks of cash, Patrón on ice, popped bottles and a private jet.

There were also some awards handed out. Picking up her first Moonman, for Best Female Video — which she won over another VMA lady-in-waiting, Mariah Carey — Britney called the moment "an honor" and thanked God, her fans, her family and her "beautiful boys." She repeated those thanks later in the show, when she took the Best Pop Video, also for "Piece of Me," professing to be "speechless" but saying, "This means a lot. Thank you."

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Peder Seglund The Artist: So who does Demi dig? Well, she's a fan of Maylene and the Sons of Disaster, Abigail Williams, Lamb of God and Dr. Acula, to name just a few. "I love the Devil Wears Prada; they're more hardcore, but they're awesome," she said. "And Job for a Cowboy is another band I love."

What is it about metal that drew Lovato? She respects the musicianship that goes into crafting brutal tracks. "It's so completely different from anything else," she said. "You've got vocals that I can't do, the double bass drums, the incredible guitar solos ... every part of the band does more difficult stuff than your average rock band does. I listen to these bands, and I wish I could do all of that, but I can't."

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Rolling Stone Contributing Editor Vanessa Grigoriadis, who wrote a cover story on Spears' downward spiral for the magazine earlier this year, said she felt the singer did the one thing she most needed to do Sunday night to prove that she's ready for her close-up again: cooperate.

"That is a big deal, because she was so completely, utterly, totally out of control a year ago at this time," Grigoriadis said. "Obviously, she has it in her DNA to learn a song and choreography and do that as well as anybody — as long as she's willing to."