Sizzle: When The Media Sizzles, You’ll Find It Here!

AFTER 10 YEARS AND A 3-HOUR FINALE, TOTAL REQUEST LIVE IS OFFICIALLY OFF THE AIR.

The last TRL, renamed Total Finale Live for this special event, was a jam-packed celebration of the show that defined our childhood afternoons.

SOME THOUGHTS

Carson Daly returned to emcee the event with current host Damien Fahey.

The show actually started with a performance by Beyonce.

Weird that it was held on a Sunday night, and not a weekday, like the normal TRL.

Appearances from celebs ran the gamut from Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, Jonathan Davis, Snoop Dogg and…Samuel L. Jackson?!

First on-air (and live!) interview with Travis Barker post-plane crash.  Very subdued, not that we blame him.

Diddy pretended to (or perhaps really??) choke up when he was honored for making the most appearances on TRL.

Awkward moment: Carson referring to ex Jennifer Love Hewitt.

Co-hosted by all the former VJs, including three of our faves: Hilarie Burton (yay One Tree Hill!), Dave Holmes and Jesse Camp, from the very first I Wanna Be a VJ contest.

Fall Out Boy performed…minus Pete Wentz.  He later called into the show and said he was in California prepping for imminent fatherhood.  Will it really be that soon?!

Soundbyte: “I bought Twilight on bootleg and watched it like 72 times”–Pete Wentz.  Setting a great example, as always.

Did Hilary Duff run into ex Joel Madden?

Kid Rock insisted on smoking a cigar on stage.  And here we thought it was illegal to smoke in New York venues…

Justin Timberlake and JC Chasez represented NSYNC but it would’ve been cool if the whole band returned AND performed.

X-Tina, Chris Brown, Ben Stiller and others spoke via satellite.

Disappointing moment: Eminem, on the phone, refuses to give any details about his upcoming album, Relapse.

Quintessential window references and segments with the Times Square crowd.

KoRn was hailed as the first rock band of TRL; brought back memories of the KoRn (number 3) spot.

A short segment looked back at the top MTV News moments, giving due respect to 9/11.  Wish they also mentioned Aaliyah.

Many shameless plugs: Bolt, Diddy’s new cologne (who was made fun of for hyping the most stuff over the years), Last Call, FNMTV and more.

East Coast and West Coast rap/hip-hop came together in medley featuring Nelly, Snoop and Ludacris.

Unnecessary moment: knocking LFO.

Soundbyte: “One of the finer moments of my life”–JT recalling when Halle Berry surprised him on a TRL ep.

Backstreet Boys given lots of praise, though we wish former member Kevin returned for the performance.

Soundbyte: “They outlived all the other boy bands and they outlived TRL“–Carson on BSB.

Noticeably absent: 98 Degrees, Jessica Simpson, Destiny’s Child, Mandy Moore, Jay-Z, Avril, Sum-41, Linkin Park and others.

Are all the TRL employees without jobs now?  After all, MTV (and parent Viacom) are doing lay-offs…

Soundbyte: Britney is “the queen of TRL“–Carson on Brit Brit who “couldn’t be here.”

Loved that some of our favorite moments were re-aired: the debut party for BSB’s Millenium album, Mariah and her ice cream truck, countless others.

Speaking of counting, the TRL finale wouldn’t be complete without a final countdown. The Top 10 videos from TRL history, as decided by the producers: Hey-Ya (Outkast), What’s My Age Again (Blink-182), Yeah (Ludacris, Usher, et. al.), Crazy in Love (Beyonce), Bawitdaba (Kid Rock), Dirrty (Christina Aguilera), Bye Bye Bye (NSYNC), I Want It That Way (BSB), The Real Slim Shady (Eminem), and, at number one, Baby One More Time (Britney).

Soundbyte: “Goodnight from New York and goodnight TRL“–Carson.

TEAR!