Sue Sylvester isn't typically one to dole out praise, but the character's real-life alter ego took to Twitter to compliment the moving tribute episode written for co-star Cory Monteith, who died on July 13 at the age of 31.

"Just read Cory Monteith memorial episode. Most beautiful thing. Thank you, @MrRPMurphy @BFalchuk Ian Brennan," Jane Lynch tweeted Wednesday.

The actress told E! News that filming on the episode would likely begin Friday, and that it would no doubt be a struggle saying goodbye to Monteith and his character, Finn Hudson.

"It's gonna be awful," she said. "It's gonna be terrible. It has to be done but it's gonna be awful."

Although Fox president Kevin Reilly originally said the episode would "deal directly with drug addiction and with the circumstances surrounding Cory's death," showrunner Murphy later told Deadline in an interview that Finn's death would not be drug-related.

"There were a lot of things that we had to decide — how are we going to deal with his death? At one point, we were going to have his character die after an accidental drug overdose — that was something we had considered. But we have decided that we're not going to have him pass from that," Murphy said. "Basically, what we're doing in the episode is we are not telling you yet, or maybe not at all, how that character died. The idea being, how somebody died is interesting and maybe morbid, but we say very early on in the episode, 'This episode is about a celebration of ...

It's ironic that a group named Flatbush Zombies are helping to breathe life into Brooklyn's hip-hop scene. Meechy Darko, Zombie Juice and Erick Arc Elliott began to make a name for themselves last year after their video for the wildly dark "Thug Waffle" spread across the Internet.

Now they the trio represents a new and diverse generation of BK MCs that include the likes Troy Ave, eXquire and Dyme-A-Duzin. Before MTV takes the 2013 Video Music Awards to the Barclays Center on Sunday, August 25, we hit the streets of Brooklyn to soak up some culture from the borough's emerging hip-hop talent. Every day this week, we'll spotlight a brand-new artist for our Brooklyn Hip-Hop Week, and the Zombies are next up.

They couldn't be more excited. "I feel made pompous when I tell people that it's the best place on earth. It's the most cultured, there is no place like this, there really isn't," Darko told MTV News.

Where I'm From
"Brooklyn; possibly means everything to me. I learned everything I need to learn from this place. From the streets to the people, words can't even describe how I love this place." — Meechy Darko "Flatbush has every culture — Haitian, Jamaican, Dominican, Puerto Rican, Trini, Jews." — Zombie Juice

The Brooklyn Influencers
"Mos Def, to me, his first album is the most influential hip-hop album to me." — Erick Arc Elliott

"[Fabolous'] embodiment to me is swagger; he got the tracks for the bitches... That's a core Brooklyn rapper, he can rap his ass off and he has the total ...

It's ironic that a group named Flatbush Zombies are helping to breathe life into Brooklyn's hip-hop scene. Meechy Darko, Zombie Juice and Erick Arc Elliott began to make a name for themselves last year after their video for the wildly dark "Thug Waffle" spread across the Internet.

Now they the trio represents a new and diverse generation of BK MCs that include the likes Troy Ave, eXquire and Dyme-A-Duzin. Before MTV takes the 2013 Video Music Awards to the Barclays Center on Sunday, August 25, we hit the streets of Brooklyn to soak up some culture from the borough's emerging hip-hop talent. Every day this week, we'll spotlight a brand-new artist for our Brooklyn Hip-Hop Week, and the Zombies are next up.

They couldn't be more excited. "I feel made pompous when I tell people that it's the best place on earth. It's the most cultured, there is no place like this, there really isn't," Darko told MTV News.

Where I'm From
"Brooklyn; possibly means everything to me. I learned everything I need to learn from this place. From the streets to the people, words can't even describe how I love this place." — Meechy Darko "Flatbush has every culture — Haitian, Jamaican, Dominican, Puerto Rican, Trini, Jews." — Zombie Juice

The Brooklyn Influencers
"Mos Def, to me, his first album is the most influential hip-hop album to me." — Erick Arc Elliott

"[Fabolous'] embodiment to me is swagger; he got the tracks for the bitches... That's a core Brooklyn rapper, he can rap his ass off and he has the total ...

From the puppet strings in *NSync's "Bye Bye Bye" to the Backstreet Boys' synchronous pelvic thrusts, a boy band wasn't a boy band without killer choreography. But in their upcoming 3-D documentary, One Direction are cutting the strings off that tradition and letting loose.

The fivesome just released a brand new clip for the film, which finally hits theaters August 30, just five days after they make an appearance at the 2013 Video Music Awards, where they are up for the coveted Moonman for Best Song of the Summer for "Best Song Ever."

The guys recently told MTV News the Morgan Spurlock-directed documentary will show "a bit more" about them, and the new sneak peek proves that. It takes fans inside a day of 1D rehearsals -- and not a gram of blood, sweat or tears is shed.

In fact, the guys don't seem to be getting much of anything done. Harry -- shirtless, of course -- gallops around aimlessly in a beanie, Liam teaches his bandmates the art of the Dinosaur dance move -- not to be confused with the more feminine Chicken -- and Niall keeps doing some sort of weird thing with his arm.

In essence, it's 1D being 1D. And it's met by both frustration and amusement from their choreographer. "They hate dancing with a passion," he said. "It really takes it to a whole sort of different level."

But "different," according to Louis, is exactly what they strive for.

"Right from the start, we were always very vocal we couldn't do the boy-band stereotypes ...

When it comes to pampering guests at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, we go all out. From a plush red carpet to arrive on to a big basket of gifts, celebrities like One Direction, Lady Gaga and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis will get a special treatment. And with one simple tweet, you can get in on the action too.

To win the same goodies the stars are getting, watch our All Access live stream and tweet @MTVNews with music video suggestions for us to play. You're the VJ during our 24-hour live stream, from Wednesday through Saturday. Just make sure your video requests are VMA-nominated (check here for the whole list). Use the hashtag #VMAallaccess, and you are in the running for a gift bag.

(Don't forget to read the rules here!)

Since the VMAs are in the great borough of Brooklyn this year, all the items in the gift bag are BK-themed. You'll get official Brooklyn Nets apparel, H. Fox & Co. chocolate flavor syrup, Ovenly bar snacks and a certificate to indoor cycling studio SoulCycle, all of which call Brooklyn home. From shoes to skincare to salty snacks, we have you covered. Now start tweeting!

Here's the complete list of stuff:
» Ballasox Shoes
» Ending Addiction for Good (Mastel) book
» Blue-Glue Bikini
» Brooklyn Nets apparel item
» H Fox & Co chocolate syrup
» Harvest Snaps snacks
» Hello Breath Spray
» Invitation Consultants notecards
» Junk Food Clothing Yo MTV Rocks t-shirt
» Coty Killer Queen- Katy Perry fragrance
» Koehler showerhead
» KSH Couture pocket square
» Logitech Color Collection Eye Candy Color ...

On his VMA-nominated "Started From the Bottom" Drake boasted: "I could turn your boy into the man" and on the cover to his upcoming album Nothing was the Same Drizzy illustrates that very lyric — literally.

It was a busy Wednesday (August 21) for Drake, who announced on Twitter that he will be performing at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday August 25. The Young Money cash king also announced a new release date for his LP, which will arrive September 24, one week later than originally planned. If that wasn't enough, the "Successful" MC also revealed two NWTS album covers on his new website OVOSound.com.

The first cover is a profile painting of a baby Aubrey, with a full afro and a pick in his hair. With a childlike wonderment in his eye, young Drake gazes toward the right with a white-clouded picture perfect, blue-sky in the background.

The second cover depicts a current Drake gazing to the left, with a full-beard, part in his hair and two chains around his neck. When positioned side-by-side, the two covers make it seem that Drake is staring at himself — past and present.

Both covers were designed by Kadir Nelson, who also created the album cover for Michel Jackson's 2010 posthumous compilation Michael. On Sunday, Drizzy will give his first television performance of "Started From the Bottom," his first release from NWTS. The album's smooth-sounding second single, dropped earlier this month and has been quickly climbing up the charts.

Right after performing at OVO Fest in his ...

When Big Sean signed with Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Music, the Detroit kid got a very special signing bonus.

"For me, when I got my first chain, Kanye gave me my first Jesus piece," he told Sway on Wednesday (August 21) in the kick-off to MTV's four days of livestreaming leading up to Sunday night's 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, live from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn (9 p.m. ET/PT). As long as he was feeling nostalgic, Sean also talked about how the Nas and Kid Cudi-assisted track from his upcoming album, Hall of Fame, transported him back to his time growing up on D-Town's crumbling avenues.

"It also takes me back because I talk about being in high school [and] how my mom ... I used to hate when your parents had to come pick you up and you had a busted-ass car," he said. "You had to hop in there and you're friends was right in front of you. So it takes me back to those times and how I manifested being able to buy my mom a new car, the car she wanted."

Times are better now for the 
 MC, whose name has gone global recently thanks to the intense attention drawn to Kendrick Lamar's verse on the song.

Feeling that there wasn't really a young black male voice from Detroit who could tell the city's story, Sean said "Hall of Fame" is his way of creating a platform to get the word out. "I'm not on the highest platform, but I'm still on a platform to ...

Over the past three decades, there has been the odd installment of the MTV Video Music Awards where an underdog shocks the world by winning Video of the Year ... think Panic! at the Disco in 2006, or Jamiroquai in 1997. Though it's safe to say that won't happen at this year's show.

Mostly because there are no underdogs in the 2013 Video of the Year category. Instead, it's five of the biggest names in the business going head-to-head for the ultimate prize. The guy with the year's best-selling album? He's in the running. The group with the year's best-selling song? They're here too. So is a guy with five #1 singles, the undisputed champion of the Summer Jam sweepstakes and the girl who had the biggest album debut in a decade.

Simply put, it's superstars only. So who's got the best shot at winning? Shoot, your guess is as good as ours (how can there be a favorite when they're all favorites?!?) Here's a look at the five nominees for Video of the Year ... any of which could take home the hardware on Sunday night. And be sure to check out MTV's VMA All Access Experience on vma.mtv.com where our experts will weigh in on the closely watched category.

Justin Timberlake, "Mirrors"

Not only has he won 14 Moonmen over the course of his career, but JT is tied with Macklemore & Ryan Lewis for the most nominations at this year's show. Oh, and he's getting the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, too. made its ...