Los Angeles “Times” Writers’ Wits Fall Victim To The Power Of Scherzinger
For better or worse, no one covers the innumerable amount of awards given to producers of cultural product than the Los Angeles Times, and this weekend, two of their bloggers made their predictions for Video Of The Year award at this Sunday’s MTV Video Music Awards. However, some sort of gas must have been leaking into the Times‘ cubicle farm that day, since both of them picked the Pussycat Dolls’ scaffolding-happy clip for “When I Grow Up” to pick up the top prize.
Sure, the nominees this year aren’t terribly exciting, but still, this particular Pussycat Dolls video? (Note: The last time the public got to vote in this process, in 2006, the then-exclamation-pointed Panic! At The Disco won with “I Write Sins not Tragedies.”) Here’s how the Times experts call the race:
Darrin “DoubleD” Dortch:
1) Pussycat Dolls, “When I Grow Up” 2) Chris Brown, “Forever” 3) Jonas Brothers, “Burnin’ Up” 4) Britney Spears, “Piece of Me” 5) The Ting Tings, “Shut Up and Let Me Go”
David “Guru” Schnelwar:
1) Pussycat Dolls, “When I Grown Up” 2) Chris Brown, “Forever” 3) Britney Spears, “Piece of Me” 4) The Ting Tings, “Shut Up and Let Me Go” 5) Jonas Brothers, “Burnin’ Up”
Both predictors admit that the best video doesn’t always win (unless you consider “Waterfalls” to be superior to “Buddy Holly” in some manner), but still, what’s going on here? Why is the video apparently such an artistic breakthrough that the mysterious panel of experts that picks the nominees for the awards’ professional categories for needed to drop another four nominations into the Dolls’ lingerie-clad laps? The legions of JoBros fans can’t tip this one for “Burnin’ Up”? Frankly, if the Pussycat Dolls pull off some sort of sweep, someone should check on Maura afterwards.
On a related note, I really miss the International Viewer’s Choice award, last given out in 2003. Who can forget the joy we shared when Rise with Spread Beaver took the MTV Japan award in 1999 for “Pink Spider”, after the tragic death of singer Hideto Matsumoto? Instead, we’ll just get reaction shots of Nicole Scherzinger all night. Life can be so unfair.
MTV Video Music Awards: Pussycat Dolls will beat Britney Spears and the Jonas Brothers for top prize [LA Times]
