My love for Ne-Yo propelled me all the way through the one-minute mark of the musical tribute to Leonard Bernstein and the Video Music Awards’ dubious honors, despite the musical instruments underneath him echoing in such a way that I wondered if they’d been recorded in one of the redbird trains being repurposed as reefs, then piped up to sea level using an intricately designed system of tin cans. But then Katy Perry came in at the 1:18 mark, wielding garden shears and sounding like an unfortunately winded Bjork, and suddenly hearing all about Johan Santana’s bone chips sounded like a somewhat appealing alternative! What about you? [YouTube] More »
This year’s installment of the MTV Video Music Awards—the channel’s annual attempt to wheeze some life into its outdated identity as something that airs music-related programming—is set to air live from New York’s Radio City Music Hall on Sept. 13. In an effort to help people remember that last year’s telecast was “controversial,” the suits at MTV have decided to book the wild-haired British comedian Russell Brand as host once again, despite his getting in lukewarm water for mocking the Jonas Brothers’ devotion to premarital purity. Two performers have been announced: the omnipresent twangy teen Taylor Swift; and the beloved, bombastic British band Muse, who will perform the lead single from their forthcoming album The Resistance. More »
