vmas-related stories
Posted Oct 3rd 2009 4:29PM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: OpEd, Music and Variety, Celebrities
Hey,
I didn't call Kanye West a jackass, the
President did. But he's still a jackass either way. I'm sure he's been called much worse since he
yanked the mic away from Taylor Swift at MTV's Video Music Awards in September.
When I heard that West and Lady Gaga would be touring together, I thought, what a horrible blow for Gaga. Not that she's any stranger to controversy, what with her blood-spattered performances and all. Actually, these two might be perfect to tour together.
But alas, the show will NOT go on, at least not with West. Apparently, he's being dropped from the tour, whether,
as he told Jay Leno, he needed to take some time off, or whether he was
asked to take some time off (I vote for the latter).
Gaga told
Billboard, "Kanye's going to take some time off. But the good news is that I'm going on tour in a few weeks."
Ironically, the ill-fated tour was named "Fame Kills."
Posted Sep 14th 2009 10:30AM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: Video, Music and Variety, Watercooler Talk, Celebrities, Awards, Reality-Free
By now you've probably heard about the giant Kanye West brouhaha that happened at the VMA awards last night. I actually heard about it when I got on Twitter right after it happened, and it felt as though the very Internet was going to melt from the inside out, leaving us all twitching in a puddle of rage directed at people whom we will never meet.
I tried to piece together what had happened, and from the responses I was reading, it seemed as though Taylor Swift went up to get her VMA, then Kanye West set her dress on fire, ripped off his clothes, and showed everyone his "Beyonce 4 EVA" tattoo located in a very family-unfriendly place. Then, I'm pretty sure he peed on like, a statue of Jesus or something.
So once I saw the video of what actually happened, imagine my surprise when it turned out all he did was make an ass out of himself on live television. Because, you know, the fact that Kanye West would do that is the BIGGEST SHOCKER OF ALL TIME.
Continue reading Is Kanye West MTV's biggest monster, or is it all for show?
Posted Aug 29th 2009 11:35AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Video, Music and Variety, Celebrities, Awards, Reality-Free
How do you pump up the viewership for a music award show on a network that used to be all about music but lately has been all about reality TV and nasty scandals? Well, apparently MTV has decided to go retro and keep it funny. To promote the upcoming
2009 Video Awards, MTV has created a West Side Story parody, not too different from the brilliant solo turn by
Neil Patrick Harris at last June's Tony Awards.
The commercial is a mixed bag. Taylor Swift proves that she has the real goods as a singer, doing the toughest part of the "Tonight" quintet. Ne-Yo's dance turn is more of a salute to Michael Jackson than an homage to composers Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim. And Katy Perry's rooftop bit reinforces the fact that she's funny and playful.
Continue reading MTV's star-studded West Side Story parody
Posted Aug 28th 2008 5:25PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: OpEd, Music and Variety, Awards
There's a difference between cheap, tawdry publicity stunts that are (pop) culturally significant and those that are just, well, cheap and tawdry. An example of the former is
Madonna's infamous VMA performance from 2003 in which she performed and locked lips with not only
Christina Aguilera, but
Britney Spears as well. An example of the latter would be basically anything involving
Katy Perry.
if you've walked past a TV, into a retail store or gotten into a car this summer, chances are you've heard Katy Perry's single, "I Kissed a Girl." There's an even bigger chance that if you just read that sentence, "I Kissed a Girl" is now going to be stuck in your head for the rest of the day. Perry is performing that song during this year's
VMA telecast on September 7th, and if you haven't already guessed, she's looking for a girl to kiss.
Continue reading Katy Perry plans to make out with a female celeb at the VMAs
Posted Aug 27th 2008 10:42AM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: Programming, Celebrities, Awards
Look, I'm just going to go ahead and take credit for this one. Obviously Britney listened to me when I praised her for
her awkwardly funny VMA promos with this year's host, Russell Brand, and agreed that that was enough for this year. Her manager,
Larry Rudolph, has confirmed that despite reports, Brit will not be picking up the sparkly underwear from the cleaners in order to perform at this year's
VMAs.
Fans of unruly extensions and gum-smacking need not fear, however: there is still a good chance that Ms. Spears will make an appearance at the fête. Britney is nominated for Video of the Year for her single, "Piece of Me." Even though
Britney Spears has been nearly synonymous with MTV and the VMAs for most of her career, she's never actually won one of the coveted moon men, so I'm not sure how good her chances are of actually making an acceptance speech. Regardless, I wouldn't be surprised if producers still find something for her to do during the show; if there's one thing for which Britney can always be relied on, it's creating buzz. Well, that and
single-handedly keeping Cheetos in business.
The MTV Video Music Awards air on September 7.
Posted Aug 12th 2008 12:25PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: OpEd, Video, Music and Variety, Celebrities, Awards
We all know the story:
Britney Spears got divorced, shaved her head, beat a car with an umbrella, went to rehab for a little while, and generally acted in an unstable fashion in front of the paparazzi. Then, last year, she was supposed to put all of that behind her and reclaim her rightful crown as a pop princess by performing her new single, "Gimme More" at the
MTV Video Music Awards.
So she opened the show--but her performance was more befitting a zombie stripper than a multi-platinum artist. Things continued to go downhill for a while, until her dad stepped in. After that, it was better extensions, visits with her kids and guest spots on
How I Met Your Mother. It was good all around.
Now, after several months of relative stability, Britney may be ready for a comeback from her comeback. Along with VMA host
Russell Brand, Spears is starring in a couple of promos for the VMAs. The videos are after the jump.
Continue reading Don't call it a comeback: Britney's VMA promos - VIDEOS
Posted Jun 27th 2008 6:07PM by Kristin Sample
Filed under: Industry, OpEd, Reality-Free
I'm one of the many people who laments the
"channel drift" that has affected MTV. A network that started out as, well, "music television" has clearly become "anything but music television." There's even a graph now on GraphJam the depicts how
The Real World caused the downfall of MTV. The graph shows how the airtime for music videos has decreased as
The Real World grew in popularity. Perhaps it should also measure how the cast of
The Real World became more attractive and subsequently less intelligent.
The graph posits that by 2010 music videos will be nonexistent on the channel. Also, interesting is the rise of what the graph calls simply "other crap" that coincides with the rise of shows like
The Real World and
Road Rules. I assume "other crap" refers to shows like
The Hills,
My Super Sweet Sixteen, and
Made -- shows that have replaced music videos in primetime (and replaced music videos with their incessant reruns in daytime).
Continue reading Proof that The Real World caused the downfall of MTV
Posted Jun 23rd 2008 3:04PM by Kristin Sample
Filed under: Industry, OpEd, Music and Variety, Awards, Reality-Free
MTV has decided that after a ten-year absence from the west coast, the
Video Music Awards will be held this year in Los Angeles. The ceremony will be held on Sunday September 7th at the Paramount Pictures lot in Hollywood.
What? No Kodak Theatre? No Nokia Theatre? So, why the choice to hold the ceremony at a Hollywood studio lot?
Entertainment Weekly says, "Expect executive producer Jesse Ignjatovic to make use of many of Paramount's stages, rooftops, and camera-ready city streets for the star-studded show, which will only air once in its original incarnation."
Continue reading VMAs go back to L.A.
Posted Sep 9th 2007 9:00PM by Jay Black
Filed under: OpEd, Celebrities, Awards
When my editors here at TV Squad asked me if I wanted to live-blog the VMAs, my response was "hell yea!" I then put on a banana suit and danced around the house, singing "It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time" until my wife threatened a divorce.
I've been itching to live-blog
something since coming on board here at TVS, and even though doing it with the VMAs means giving up the first game of Sunday Night Football (and consequently giving up the little that's left of my maleness), I'm okay, When it comes to live-blogging, I have the same standards as a drunk girl at the end of a party.
So, without further ado, let's get to it!
Continue reading Live Blogging the MTV Video Music Awards
Posted May 1st 2007 8:55PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Music and Variety, Awards
MTV likes trying new things every year with their Video Music Awards. Of course, some ideas are better than others: two years ago, they held the VMAs in Miami during hurricane season, and had to scramble when Katrina hit the area the day before the show.
At least they won't have to worry about hurricanes this year; we've just received word that MTV has decided to hold the award show in Las Vegas, at the Palms Hotel and Casino. In fact, the network is planning an entire weekend of events around the VMAs, all to be broadcast on their channel. Some other interesting wrinkles: parts of the show will take place in different venues throughout the hotel, the show will only be shown in its original form once, and the "remixes" of subsequent airings (which I'm sure there will be many) will be programmed by viewers.
Continue reading MTV Video Music Awards to be held in Las Vegas
Posted Sep 3rd 2006 9:07AM by Annie Wu
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, FOX, Talent, Industry, OpEd, The O.C., Celebrities
During the MTV Video Music Awards, Chris Brown (whose song "Run It" has been playing on loop in my head, fighting strong against my attempts to drown it out with Radiohead) revealed that he has
landed a role in the upcoming season of
The O.C. He said that he will be playing a "band geek" in his seven episode stint, but I think it's just a weak cover-up by FOX. Something tells me that he's actually playing the mortal vessel that ends up carrying Marissa's ghost, occasionally speaking in her voice and pitching Neutrogena products. It'd be brilliant because no one would see it coming. Except me.
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