'Total Request Live' is returning to MTV with a twist

A promotional image for MTV's "Total Request Live" featuring Carson Daly and Britney Spears. Facebook/trl

Here's some good news for music lovers. "Total Request Live," one of the most beloved and popular music shows, will soon be coming back to MTV.

In a recent interview with The New York Times, MTV president Chris McCarthy announced that it will revive "Total Request Live" after nine years off the air. The music program, which will air daily in an hour-long format, is scheduled to premiere on Oct. 2.

But there is a major twist: Carson Daly will not return to host the revival. Instead, it will feature five new rotating hosts: radio personality Erik Zachary, rapper and comedian DC Young Fly, Lawrence Jackson, Tamara Dhia and Amy Pham.

A brand-new multi-functional studio is currently being built to use as the show's new home. The said studio is approximately 8,700 square-foot and faces New York's Times Square.

"MTV at its best — whether it's news, whether it's a show, whether it's a docu-series — is about amplifying young people's voices," McCarthy said. "We put young people on the screen, and we let the world hear their voices. We shouldn't be writing 6,000-word articles on telling people how to feel."

"Total Request Live" will feature the same in-studio interviews and performances from various musicians, actors and other television personalities. It will also play the 10 most requested music videos of the day, as voted by young studio audiences online or through their smartphones.

While the show's revival will initially run in an hour-long format as part of the afternoon broadcast, it may end up at two to three hours as soon as it develops and becomes more popular.

"Total Request Live," which first debuted in September 1998, is widely viewed as the program that launched the careers of many artists including the Backstreet Boys, 'N Sync, Christina Aguilera, Jessica Simpson and Britney Spears.

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