The Video Music Awards: They’re Coming! Get Ready!

noah | September 5, 2008 5:00 am

We have about 52ish hours until Britney Spears trades on her recent notoriety to open the 25th-anniversary installment of MTV’s Video Music Awards, and like last year, you are all invited to watch with Idolator as we break down the goings-on–and, maybe, break down–in real time. So do come back at 8 p.m. ET for the pregame show and the live broadcast, which starts at 9! Sadly, I will not be handling live-blogging duties as a) I was only given a red-carpet pass, and not access to watch the broadcast being simulcast; and b) even if I did high-tail it back to my hotel room really really fast, the damn thing doesn’t air on the West Coast until 9 p.m. PT. But I’ve handed over the task to someone who’s more than capable: Our own Dickdogfood, who pioneered the art of the MTV liveblog all the way back in 2001, which is like forever ago in Internet time.

As I’ve alluded to in a few posts, I spent part of yesterday afternoon on the Paramount Studios lot, where Sunday’s show is taking place, and where a preview of sorts was given to the press. Russell Brand hosted and his all-tangents brand of comedy had me in stitches, I have to be honest. I watched Kid Rock perform “Werewolves Of Alabama” “All Summer Long” while wearing pedicure slippers, and I even danced a little bit, thanks to the cajoling of a pal. (And I was not ashamed, because, well, fuck it.) I saw T.I. descend a fire escape. I realized that Xtina is xtiny. I felt a little part of me shrivel up and die when I heard that Katy Perry would be re-creating Madonna’s performance of “Like A Virgin,” a performance that was already re-created some five years or so ago by performers who, even though they’ve had their share of issues over the years, can still wipe the floor with the ex-Christian warbler. I found out that Kanye West’s “boycott” of the VMAs didn’t even last long enough for one installment of the show to happen. (He’s closing Sunday night’s festivities.) I wondered whether or not, given the number of non-music-related celebrities on the roster of presenters, Sarah Palin and/or Barack Obama had been invited. I got sunburned.

When I got back, I found out that the technical awards had already been announced. Why this wasn’t done while the press gaggle was assembled is beyond me; chalk my confusion up to Why I Work In Editorial Part Eleventy Bazillion. The winners:

BEST ART DIRECTION Gnarls Barkley, “Run”

BEST CHOREOGRAPHY Gnarls Barkley, “Run”

BEST DIRECTING Erykah Badu, “Honey”

BEST EDITING Death Cab For Cutie, “I Will Possess Your Heart”

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY The White Stripes, “Conquest”

BEST SPECIAL EFFECTS Kanye West, “Good Life”

Not a Pussycat Dolls victory among them! And the PCDs haven’t been announced as performers or anything yet, either, which leads me to believe that the only thing they’ll be taking home Sunday night is a goose egg.

Anyway, come back Sunday for our coverage! And feel free to conjure up your own dream VMA scenario here.

2008 Video Music Awards Nominations