Voluminous Anonymous Awards ‘08; Boredom. Music. Boredom.
Seriously, I never thought something once remarkable such as the Video Music Awards could become so blatantly weak. Starting up from the beginning, the red carpet was nothing too special but like always it got you tuned waiting for something big on the VMA’s itself. The disappointment started with the guy who was doing the red carpet interviews when he was saying “oh, my God, Britney’s doing the opening scene!! Is she going to sing? Is she going to dance? What is she going to do?!” (all that coming like the faith of the earth depends on what Britney does).
Then Britney comes on stage and makes a very short, very plain brief announcement about VMA celebrating their 25th anniversary. No kissing another female? No Jannet-style nip slips or anything else shocking? How can they actually include the word “mayhem” in the VMA ads? I’ve seen bigger “mayhem” in the Disney channel games! She could’ve at least let Jonah Hill from Superbad kiss her, so the VMAs could get at least a little close to being shocking. When later Russel Brand announced that neither Britney or Mariah Carey have ever won on the VMA got me thinking that it’s time for a consolidation – and yes, Britney got it (along with two more Moonmen). While the number of awards she has won is debatable; we may have to accept the decision as only fair, seeing she’s been for so long in the music industry without getting anything from the VMA’s.
Speaking of Russel Brand, before the show I was hoping that his potty mouth and witty jokes might mean we’re in for a great entertainment, but it wasn’t to be. Him mocking the Jonas Brothers and the political talk was something I was far from impressed about. I don’t think he was given as much creative freedom as did Sarah Silverman’s hosting of the 2007 Movie Awards; seeing how limited his performance was. In fact, I think that it was Sarah Silverman’s anchoring of the 2007 awards that made the MTV so cautious about having people like her and Brand on the show. If they didn’t want to let him say whatever he wants, why get him as a host anyway? Sarah Silverman is mayhem, a censored Russel Brand is not.
Something I really got hyped about was Miley presenting an award and eventually winning one. First came the disappointment with her presenting – the announcer said something about Bon Jovi’s “Living On A Prayer” and that got me excited that she might actually sing it. Like the rest of the announcements, it was just an innuendo – Miley was backstage playing “Rockstar” and singing to that song. As every other appearance by celebs, it wasn’t anything special except for the fact they made her look like an already spoiled star. What followed, though, was a trully amazing Pink who made a great performance and also showed everyone how hot she still is.
The biggest disappointment was the Best New Artist award. The possible nominees were – Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Jordin Sparks and Tokio Hotel. Anyone amongst the first four would’ve been a great choice, all have shown amazing progress in the last year. But Tokio Hotel? The manager-told-them-to-be-emo band is only new to the US where they had a late forced entry onto the market this year. Their highlight was a 39th spot on the billboard 200, not exactly the stuff dreams are made of. In comparison Miley Cyrus scored three number one albums within two years and she doesn’t win. It’s ridiculous that an award like Best New Artist goes to a band like Tokio Hotel. It seems that the emo kids have way more time on their hands than the legions of Miley fans. Thumbs up for Miley’s fans, because this shows that they actually have a life outside the Internet – I’m proud of you!
