New award proving popular at VMAs (AP)

NEW YORK – When Chicago-based rock act Rise Against began writing a song about suicide among gay teens, the band's lead singer tried to block out the event that inspired the tune — the death of a gay friend.

"His loss was something big to me," said Tim McIlrath.

But the band members wanted to get out the message, so they made a gripping video for "Make It Stop (September's Children)" featuring three teens bullied and at the brink of suicide.

Now the video is competing in a new category at the MTV Video Music Awards: the best video with a message award. It highlights music videos sending messages of positivity and self-empowerment and raising awareness about social issues that affect today's youth.

"I hope that category sticks around and I hope it gives artists something to aim for," said McIlrath, who teamed with the It Gets Better Project for the music video.

MTV President Stephen Friedman says the new category is proving popular among voters this year.

"I have to tell you in the voting, this category catapulted. It was among the top three or four categories — millions and millions of people voted on this," Friedman said. "It shows not only an interest from the artist, but also more importantly for the audience."

Other nominees in the category include Lady Gaga's "Born This Way," Taylor Swift's "Mean," Katy Perry's "Firework," Pink's "(Expletive) Perfect," and Eminem and Rihanna's "Love the Way You Lie."

Friedman says he hopes "this will be an ongoing category from here on out."

McIlrath said he thought about writing "Make It Stop" when a gay fan told him she wasn't sure where the band stood on gay rights.

McIlrath says the song — and the MTV nomination — is helping raise their profile.

"We're not a band who really aims for the VMAs, I'll be honest. Like, we're not really a band that traffics on the Billboard chart and MTV and VMAs and that kind of thing, we never really relied on that," he said. "When the video came out, CNN called me and Fox had me on, NBC had me on, like these little news blips, and I've never even done that type of stuff before."

Dave Meyers, the music video director of the Pink and Perry videos nominated in the new category, said making a video with a message can be difficult.

"What's challenging for me is I don't want to seem like I'm talking down to the audience — that I'm not preaching the message, that I'm asking them to come on a ride that is not one-dimensional," he said. "Sometimes I think message-y videos can be too message-y."

Meyers, who has directed videos for Missy Elliott, Dave Matthews Band and Britney Spears, says taking home the moon man for the message award would be more gratifying than some of his other wins.

"After 15 years of nominations and countless wins, this actually has a lot of meaning to me," Meyers said. "This is MTV saying, `We as an organization think these videos deserve special acknowledgment' versus a popularity contest, which is what a lot of the other categories tend to be."

The Perry, Eminem and Lady Gaga videos nominated for best video with a message are also up for other awards. Perry leads the pack with 10 nominations at Sunday's show, which will be held in Los Angeles.

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Online:

http://vma.mtv.com

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Mesfin Fekadu covers entertainment for The Associated Press. Follow him at http://twitter.com/musicmesfin

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Festival held for increasingly popular ukulele (AP)

HONOLULU – When Roy Sakuma first rounded up ukulele players for a festival at a Waikiki Park, he gathered 50 musicians and had an audience of 100.

This year, some four decades later, 900 people strummed and plucked their wooden four-string instruments in front of several thousand people lounging on benches and under tents on a sunny day at Kapiolani Park.

"That sweetness and charm of this instrument, just attracts you," said Sakuma, on the sidelines of the 41st Annual Ukulele Festival on Sunday.

The players ranged from novice five-year-olds attending Sakuma's ukulele schools on Oahu to stars like Jake Shimabukuro, who first performed at the event as a child decades ago.

The musicians were also international, including artists from Thailand, Italy, South Korea, and the U.S. mainland.

Sakuma said many people have long failed to take the ukulele seriously because they thought it was a toy. But he said that's changing as more people encounter it.

Mainstream artists, like Eddie Vedder, the leader singer of the band Pearl Jam, have taken up it up. Vedder was recently been on tour to promote his solo album, "Ukulele Songs."

Shimabukuro, who is in Hawaii only briefly between U.S. mainland and Japanese tours, said Internet sites like the video sharing service YouTube are helping spread the popularity of the kulele.

"It's so easy to watch and copy, and you can learn right away," he said.

He also attributes the instrument's appeal to its sound, which he said resembles children laughing.

"When people hear that it makes them feel young, it makes them feel like a kid," he said. "That's wonderful because it brings a different type of joy to you and that joy is infectious."

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Black's popular 'Friday' video pulled off YouTube (AP)

By DERRIK J. LANG, AP Entertainment Writer Derrik J. Lang, Ap Entertainment Writer – Fri Jun 17, 12:25 pm ET

LOS ANGELES – Rebecca Black's official "Friday" music video has been taken off YouTube.

The page where the video starring the 13-year-old singer once played now says it "is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Rebecca Black."

Black's spokesman says her team sent a takedown notice to YouTube because of a dispute over the video with Ark Music Factory, the company Black's parents paid $4,000 to produce the song and video.

Earlier this week, the firm began charging viewers $2.99 to watch the clip.

Lawyers for Black and Ark Music have been haggling over who owns the rights to everything associated with "Friday" since it became a sensation earlier this year.

The video had amassed more than 160 million views and more than 3 million "dislikes."

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