Notes on the VMAs
Being born in the 80's I feel compelled to watch MTV's Video Music Awards each year. I can remember that the VMA's were always after the first week of school (but for some reason I remember it being on a Tuesday) and I was always sure to have homework done so I can stay up late and watch it.
But of course the last few years I have grown out of touch with MTV - or at least the music associated with the VMAs. (I can't deny that I watch the reality shows) So this year I figured I should see what's new and check it out. And I heard Britney was performing so I had to see what that would be all about. (How could you have been a teenager in the 90's and not be interested in seeing Britney perform?)
First off - I did watch the opening pre-show that interviews all the red carpet celebs and I just can't believe how many people talked about Britney. I mean seriously even the Foo Fighters were excited for Britney. Could there be more anticipation? You know this is all setting the bar way too high for Britney. And I have to admit that I am SO jealous that the red carpet was in a casino - I think I saw my favorite game "Wheel of Fortune" behind John Norris and I so wanted to jump through the screen and throw in a dollar!
So on to the show...
Before any awards or monologues we got Britney. And if you watched it or went to any news site today or even opened up your AOL email you will see that Britney totally phoned it in. She was detached, possibly drugged, unemotional and walking through the performance. She barely danced and for the most part she didn't even try to lip-sync. It was pretty much a slap in the face to all the viewers who were excited to see Britney's big comeback. We are all pulling for this girl who has fallen on hard times. We were ready to put everything we thought about Britney aside if she could just pull off a great three minute performance. She could have made millions off of getting this right. But instead she half-assed it and pretty much lived up to the expectations we should have had for her all along. And the outfit...I could have a blog post about how wrong that was in itself.
And then there was the rest of the show. What a freaking chaotic mess. There was the main show and then four penthouse suites where other performances were going on all night. Fall Out Boy, Justin Timberlake, Foo Fighters and Kanye West all had suites. The show kept on cutting to one of those suites and sometimes other performers were there (like 50 cent, Rhianna, Cee-Lo) but the show never told us who was performing. We would jump into the middle of a song and we would get a minute and a half performance that would be cool if you were there, but did not translate well onto TV.
On top of the multi-suite performances, there was some band playing in the corner with guest singers the entire night. Each time they cut to commercial or came back from commercial this band would be playing with some random singer (like Adam Levine of Maroon 5). Of course you would again get like a one minute performance by someone you didn't know singing a song you couldn't understand. It was just a mess.
My favorite moment of the night was Alicia Keys. I always have love in my heart for that girl. She always brings it when it comes to her performances. But my question is - what was that headband thingy on her head? I wasn't feeling it. But otherwise, her whole performance was hot and makes me want to hear more of her.
Oh and a great surprise was to see a super jacked up beefy Dr. Dre. What happened to him? Seriously those muscles around his neck were bigger than Kanye's ego. I thought we would get a little performance out of him - but it's all good. It was just nice to see him.
Other highlights: Chris Brown (who I have no clue who he is) performed some Michael Jackson dance moves which was a nice trip down memory lane. Oh and Alicia Keys singing George Michael's "Freedom" was a great throwback, too.
Gossip from the night - Kid Rock and Tommy Lee got into a big fight possibly over Pamela Anderson. We didn't get to see it but there is a video around the internet. Check it out.
Also, Kanye is really pissed he didn't win one award out of the 5 categories he was nominated for. Why is he even taking the VMA's so seriously, obviously they mean nothing when it comes to music sales or how good of an artist you are. Well, he has made promises not to return next year because each year he loses.
There was also some secret joke going on between Jamie Foxx and Diddy which I would have liked to be in on. And Jamie Foxx was just a nut on stage with Jennifer Garner (who looked amazing, by the way). He just started saying random things and beat-boxing and I think he expected Jennifer to shake her ass. But she was having none of that and stuck to announcing the winners.
Oh and speaking of awards, was there like 8 awards in total? What is up with the new random awards - the "Quadruple Threat" and the "Monster Single of the Year". Anyway all the awards were pretty lame. Most people gave a half hearted acceptance speech. The best part was when the girls from The Hills gave an award to Justin Timberlake and he went up there and said how MTV should play more music videos and less reality tv shows. I think he also said something about not wanting to see the Simpson sisters (Jessica and Ashlee) on reality tv. He must really be out of touch - those girls haven't been on MTV for a few years now. But anyway, way to diss the Hills' girls right to their faces. I actually felt bad for them at that moment. And I bet they were sad they didn't get even a hug from Justin.
Oh and I can't forget Gym Class Heroes accepting their award for Best New Artist. They just got shitface drunk instead of accepting the award. All you can see are drinks being poured down throats and a lot of screaming and chaos.
So all in all, the show blew. No surprise there. At least I recorded it and didn't watch it live so I could fast forward through all the boring and annoying crap. Oh but one thing, my recording ended as Dr. Dre was speaking and Rihanna won some award - did anything happen after that? I was actually pissed I couldn't see how the show ended - anyone want to clue me in?
But of course the last few years I have grown out of touch with MTV - or at least the music associated with the VMAs. (I can't deny that I watch the reality shows) So this year I figured I should see what's new and check it out. And I heard Britney was performing so I had to see what that would be all about. (How could you have been a teenager in the 90's and not be interested in seeing Britney perform?)
First off - I did watch the opening pre-show that interviews all the red carpet celebs and I just can't believe how many people talked about Britney. I mean seriously even the Foo Fighters were excited for Britney. Could there be more anticipation? You know this is all setting the bar way too high for Britney. And I have to admit that I am SO jealous that the red carpet was in a casino - I think I saw my favorite game "Wheel of Fortune" behind John Norris and I so wanted to jump through the screen and throw in a dollar!
So on to the show...
Before any awards or monologues we got Britney. And if you watched it or went to any news site today or even opened up your AOL email you will see that Britney totally phoned it in. She was detached, possibly drugged, unemotional and walking through the performance. She barely danced and for the most part she didn't even try to lip-sync. It was pretty much a slap in the face to all the viewers who were excited to see Britney's big comeback. We are all pulling for this girl who has fallen on hard times. We were ready to put everything we thought about Britney aside if she could just pull off a great three minute performance. She could have made millions off of getting this right. But instead she half-assed it and pretty much lived up to the expectations we should have had for her all along. And the outfit...I could have a blog post about how wrong that was in itself.
And then there was the rest of the show. What a freaking chaotic mess. There was the main show and then four penthouse suites where other performances were going on all night. Fall Out Boy, Justin Timberlake, Foo Fighters and Kanye West all had suites. The show kept on cutting to one of those suites and sometimes other performers were there (like 50 cent, Rhianna, Cee-Lo) but the show never told us who was performing. We would jump into the middle of a song and we would get a minute and a half performance that would be cool if you were there, but did not translate well onto TV.On top of the multi-suite performances, there was some band playing in the corner with guest singers the entire night. Each time they cut to commercial or came back from commercial this band would be playing with some random singer (like Adam Levine of Maroon 5). Of course you would again get like a one minute performance by someone you didn't know singing a song you couldn't understand. It was just a mess.
My favorite moment of the night was Alicia Keys. I always have love in my heart for that girl. She always brings it when it comes to her performances. But my question is - what was that headband thingy on her head? I wasn't feeling it. But otherwise, her whole performance was hot and makes me want to hear more of her.
Oh and a great surprise was to see a super jacked up beefy Dr. Dre. What happened to him? Seriously those muscles around his neck were bigger than Kanye's ego. I thought we would get a little performance out of him - but it's all good. It was just nice to see him.
Other highlights: Chris Brown (who I have no clue who he is) performed some Michael Jackson dance moves which was a nice trip down memory lane. Oh and Alicia Keys singing George Michael's "Freedom" was a great throwback, too.
Gossip from the night - Kid Rock and Tommy Lee got into a big fight possibly over Pamela Anderson. We didn't get to see it but there is a video around the internet. Check it out.Also, Kanye is really pissed he didn't win one award out of the 5 categories he was nominated for. Why is he even taking the VMA's so seriously, obviously they mean nothing when it comes to music sales or how good of an artist you are. Well, he has made promises not to return next year because each year he loses.
There was also some secret joke going on between Jamie Foxx and Diddy which I would have liked to be in on. And Jamie Foxx was just a nut on stage with Jennifer Garner (who looked amazing, by the way). He just started saying random things and beat-boxing and I think he expected Jennifer to shake her ass. But she was having none of that and stuck to announcing the winners.
Oh and speaking of awards, was there like 8 awards in total? What is up with the new random awards - the "Quadruple Threat" and the "Monster Single of the Year". Anyway all the awards were pretty lame. Most people gave a half hearted acceptance speech. The best part was when the girls from The Hills gave an award to Justin Timberlake and he went up there and said how MTV should play more music videos and less reality tv shows. I think he also said something about not wanting to see the Simpson sisters (Jessica and Ashlee) on reality tv. He must really be out of touch - those girls haven't been on MTV for a few years now. But anyway, way to diss the Hills' girls right to their faces. I actually felt bad for them at that moment. And I bet they were sad they didn't get even a hug from Justin.Oh and I can't forget Gym Class Heroes accepting their award for Best New Artist. They just got shitface drunk instead of accepting the award. All you can see are drinks being poured down throats and a lot of screaming and chaos.
So all in all, the show blew. No surprise there. At least I recorded it and didn't watch it live so I could fast forward through all the boring and annoying crap. Oh but one thing, my recording ended as Dr. Dre was speaking and Rihanna won some award - did anything happen after that? I was actually pissed I couldn't see how the show ended - anyone want to clue me in?
Labels: MTV, Music, Recap, Television
posted by Shawn at 8:41 AM
2 Comments:
Chris Brown stole the show for me. He seemed to be the only one that remembered there's a big difference between an awards "performance" and your average show. The Michael Jackson thing was awesome, too.
yeah chris brown was awesome and i also enjoyed alicia keys. i was surprised when she began by strutting down the stage while singing. i'm so used to seeing her sing at a piano. i can't wait for her new album. my only criticism is that the outfit (and headband, good catch!) made her look awful.
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