Don’t believe the cranks when they say today’s youth are Twittering their lives away. Plenty of young adults are applying themselves in a major way, making a real dent when it comes to helping others.  Take Maggie Doyne: the 22-year-old Jersey girl was recently celebrated at NYC’s Apollo Theater for building housing for orphans in Nepal - with her own life savings. She wasn’t alone. Four other heroes were recognized as well. Check the VH1 News clip above.

The Do Something organization has been helping volunteers realize their dreams of changing the world. Thursday night’s show celebrated a number of hard-working and creative activists, along with Usher, Akon, and other celebs.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE DO SOMETHING ORGANIZATION HERE.

You know how Akon toiled in a Georgia jail for four years for his illegal work as the head of a car-heist ring? His tales of thievin’ and fighting behind bars after facing up to 75 years for a felony charge are a common theme in his songs and interviews, but it turns out it never really happened! The Smoking Gun did a whole lotta research on the Kon’s shady past, and while the rapper does have a lengthy rap sheet, the only felony he ever received was for a gun possession charge, for which he got just three months probation. In fact, the longest Akon’s ever spent in jail was just a few months, after he was busted for stealing a BMW. His rep as a “ringleader of a notorious car theft operation” - which he loves to boast about - is a total sham, presumably created by the rapper to appear tough to his millions of fans. Turns out that after all his bogus tales of life as a notorious felon, this might be his biggest con job of all. [Smoking Gun]

Akon, the buff African-American superstar with the dulcet voice and penchant for, uh, escalating interactions between artist and audience, had the privilege of duetting with the Gloved One on “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” for Thriller 25, the anniversary edition of Michael Jackson’s storied album. The record won’t be out until February 12th, but we’re streaming that track for you, here and now. And since we’ve had the privilege of listening to it, let’s just say that it’s a real duet, not one of those that stop with backing vocals added to the chorus. Between this and Rihanna’s “Don’t Stop the Music,” the lyrics “Mama-se, mama-sa, ma-ma-koo-sa” have rarely had so much exposure.

Some gossip stories are too big to forget. We’re counting down the 20 biggest, baddest, most ridiculous and saddest celeb scandals of the year. You’ll get a new one posted every day.

Remember when Akon was just a dude with a hit record, a rap sheet and a few wives? That was before he was busted for taking his on-stage antics way too far. Back at a concert in April, Konvict brought up a 15-year old woman from the audience to accept a “trip to Africa” she was to be awarded for winning an earlier dance concert. Turns out her prize was a just a ride on the Akon crazy train, and the singer proceeded to mount and violently hump the teen all around the stage. How sexy! The girls are swooning! The incident caused Verizon to pull out of the Gwen Stefani tour it was sponsoring (Akon was the opening act) and he eventually apologized a few weeks after it all went down, saying “It was never my intention to embarrass or take advantage of my fans in any way, especially those under the age of 18.”

Yeah, like that makes it any more appropriate, pal. If you can stomach the grossness, check out the video above of Akon’s hump-nasty spectacle.

We can’t get enough of these gems from an interview with Rachel Ritfield, the woman who was to be Akon’s fourth wife. Sadly, when push came to shove, the model just couldn’t force herself to walk down the aisle with the polygamous rapper. Rachel said, “I want a man who thinks that I’m God’s gift to creation and I can think the same of him.” Well then what was she doing with Akon in the first place? Isn’t he a notorious man ho? Apparently dry-humping underage fans can really turn a woman on. Rachel was not freaked out by the whole plural marriage thing at first, claiming “Akon was honest with me about his mutiple wives from the start, which never got in the way of our relationship because his wives live in various parts of the world, so I thought why fix it if it’s not broken?”

Fix what? Our culture’s attitude toward men who marry multiple women? Akon’s screwy relationships? Sadly, Rachel didn’t get the hint until Akon had kid number five with one of his wifeys. Rachel finally realized that Akon was still boning other chicks even though he acted like she was the only piece of ass in his life, and she bailed. “The one thing I wanted from Akon was for him to be monogamous to me but he could not grant me my wish,” she lamented.

Hang in there girl! There are plenty of other creepy-ass rich dudes just yearning for a hot model like yourself. You’ll get your wish! [Image: Rachel's MySpace]

Movie premieres, awards shows, benefit concerts, and plain old clubbin’ – even though most of us are at home, the beautiful peeps are living it up somewhere. About Last Night puts you in touch with all the action.

Rihanna, Celine Dion, Avril Lavigne, 50 Cent, Ciara, Mika, Shaggy, Akon, and Patti Labelle attended the World Music Awards in Monaco.

Sarah Michelle Gellar, The Rock, Bai Ling, and Michelle Trachtenberg hit the red carpet at the AFI Fest 2007 screening of Southland Tales.

Rachel Weisz, Elizabeth Banks, Shannyn Sossamon, Vince Vaughn, Jonathan Lipnicki, Ludacris, and the Rosso twins (in coordinating outfits, as per usual) strolled down the snow-covered red carpet for the premiere of Fred Claus.

Fortunately for us, what happens in Vegas doesn’t stay there. On Sunday night, MTV will broadcast the 2007 Video Music Awards live from the Palms Casino, with absolutely scorching performances from this year’s hottest artists. Will Britney’s performance be a disaster? Will the 50 and Kanye beef erupt at the show? Will Akon dry-hump someone on stage? Get answers to these pop culture conundrums on Sunday night at 9 p.m., and check back after to see our coverage of the show.

Not sure who’s performing? Check out shots of stars scheduled to appear, and their videos.

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- Akon finally releases the video for “Sorry, Blame It On Me.” We would, Akon, if we could remember what the hell we’re blaming you for. [Sandra Rose]

- Jay-Z is named one of the best-dressed men by Esquire. So that whole “Change Clothes” thing no longer applies? [CONCRETELOOP]

- This up-skirt shot of Katharine McPhee is the most entertaining thing to come out of her career, ever. Seriously, she should give up singing and just walk onstage bottom-less and, like, stand there. [IDontLikeYouInThatWay.com]

- Are Brad and Angelina trying to hold their relationship together for the sake of their children? Or is it just that they haven’t yet reached their goal of building a soccer team yet? [Popbytes]

- Kimora Lee releases a Barbie-esque doll in her likeness. She’s finally gotten around to giving little girls an impossible image to live up to, because, clearly, she hasn’t terrorized pop culture enough. [Rhymes With Snitch]

[Image credit: Getty]

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- Didn’t it seem like Lauryn Hill was sane for a second there? Turns out we’re the crazy ones for ever believing that. [Crunk + Disorderly]

- Maddox Jolie-Pitt apparently doesn’t like it when Brad and Angelina fight. Maddox has no future in publishing. [Dlisted]

- You could stand under Parker Posey’s umbrella, but good lord, why would you want to? [A Socialite's Life]

- Jennifer Hudson looks like a corpse in her print campaign for a new Avon fragrance. Is it safe to assume that it smells like formaldehyde? [CONCRETELOOP]

- Akon says he’d sign Paris Hilton to his record label. And if the music thing doesn’t work out, he could always hump her for everyone’s entertainment. [Bossip]

[Image credit: Getty]

There’s some question as to the level of impact that tomorrow’s Live Earth shows are going to have on the cause at hand: saving energy. Here a pro and con story where Al Gore says this is the first step in a three to five year campaign to make citizens aware of global warming’s dangers.

In other Live Earth news, a Washington, DC venue has been added to tomorrow’s concerts, and a Brazilian judge says the Rio gig can take place after all.

What we’re interested in is your opinion. The Austrailian performances start tonight. Absorb all the action through the evening, and come here tomorrow at 1 pm EST to chime in on which artist was most impressive. Akon, John Mayer, the Beasties, the Police - who’s going to rock the house? We’ll be live blogging the action through the afternoon. Hang out with us.

- Saaphyri attends the BET Awards looking hot. See what Charm School can do for your image? [CONCRETELOOP]

- It’s official: Eddie Murphy is the father of Melanie Brown’s baby. He’s going from Father Dolittle to Daddy Day Care. [Dlisted]

- Akon is named the highest-selling ringtone artist of all time. Next up? Customized cell-phone vibrations for the ladies. You know how he gets down. [Idolator]

- Matt Lauer looks like he’s interviewing Pam Anderson’s crotch. It’s home to much more insight than her mouth. [CityRag]

[Image credit: Getty]