vma - Page 2

MTV’s Booking People Will Not Let You Forget About Jennifer Lopez

noah | September 10, 2009 2:30 pm
noah | September 10, 2009 2:30 pm

braveIn addition to letting slip that Jay-Z and Alicia Keys would grace this year’s Video Music Awards with a performance of their collaboration “Empire State of Mind,” MTV has announced more additions to its roster of presenters for Sunday night’s broadcast; among them are Canadian cutie Justin Bieber, Shakira, Pete Wentz, Gabe Saporta, Jack Black, and… Jennifer Lopez. Jennifer Lopez, really? I guess she still counts as a music-related celebrity—and who knows, maybe she’s prepping for a very belated deluxe reissue of the floptastic Brave! The night’s roster of performers and presenters after the jump. More »


Beyoncé Flies Into The Video Music Awards’ Orbit

noah | August 27, 2009 3:00 pm
noah | August 27, 2009 3:00 pm

71747973AJ197_2006_MTV_VideBeyoncé has been added to the lineup of the Sept. 13 Video Music Awards, where she’ll join her husband Jay-Z, as well as Green Day, Muse, Taylor Swift, P!nk, and Lady GaGa. Also, the VMAs are bringing back that “house band” idea where lesser lights of the music galaxy collaborate with one act as the show goes into interstitial moments—the house band is the D.C. go-go outfit the Uncalled 4 Band (a.k.a. UCB), and it’ll be led by tourmate and fellow Washingtonian Wale while collaborating with with The All-American Rejects, Pitbull, and 3OH!3 over the course of the evening. (See what I meant about “lesser lights” there?) A performance of the UCB and Wale collaborating on “Sexy Lady” after the jump. More »


MTV’s “West Side Story” Promos Even Less Original Than We Thought

noah | August 26, 2009 5:45 pm
noah | August 26, 2009 5:45 pm

mtvabDave Itzkoff at the New York Times notes that the Video Music Awards aren’t the first 2009 awards show to incorporate the classic musical West Side Story: “Didn’t we see a “West Side Story” parody, complete with topical satirical lyrics, performed on another award show at Radio City Music Hall (by a singer who doesn’t need any assistance from Auto-Tune) like two months ago?” he asks, referring to the Tonys. Host (and recently minted American Idol guest judge) Neil Patrick Harris did, in fact, close out the show with his own version of “Tonight,” which can only lead this observer to wonder if that parallelism is a sign that we’ll be in for a Very Special Semi-Accidental Decapitation Of Bret Michaels on Sept. 13. [ArtsBeat / Earlier] More »



There’s A Place For Taylor Swift, But It’s Probably Not In Musical Theater

noah | August 17, 2009 10:30 am
noah | August 17, 2009 10:30 am

taylorI really do enjoy Taylor Swift. “You Belong With Me” is a lovely little pop song; the lyrics on “Fifteen” crystallize adolescent heartbreak in a potent yet understated way. But oh, her voice is so not made for the rigors of The Big Number In The Musical, as evidenced by this latest West Side Story-themed ad for the rapidly approaching Video Music Awards. Her voice… it’s just… well, let’s just say that she probably should stick with the more delicate songs out there; going for the big brassy ones results in everything coming apart, like a particularly weak store-brand aluminum foil. Clip after the jump. More »


Looks Like The Video Music Awards Are Really Serious About That “West Side Story” Theme

noah | August 14, 2009 12:00 pm
noah | August 14, 2009 12:00 pm

cobra-starship-140x105The just-released ad for the Video Music Awards placed after the jump, featuring Cobra Starship and Gossip Girl starlet Leighton Meester, will apparently be the “first of many West Side Story-inspired VMA promos,” according to the clip’s caption. Is it super-condescending to ask how many members of the MTV target demo have even heard of the Laurents/Bernstein/Sondheim musical about inter-gang and racial tensions? Probably. But that doesn’t make the decision to theme this year’s Video Music Awards after a 52-year-old musical any less strange. Perhaps there will be a Very Special Episode of Parental Control in order to bridge the generational gap. More »


Which Pop Star Will Lady GaGa Rip Off At This Year’s Video Music Awards?

noah | August 12, 2009 3:30 pm
noah | August 12, 2009 3:30 pm

lady-gaga-lady-gaga-picture-500x331An article from the still-vaguely-interested-in-music channel MTV’s news arm runs down a few potential sources of “inspiration” for the Video Music Awards performance of kleptomaniacal pop star Lady GaGa, who along with Jay-Z was just announced as a performer on the Sept. 13 broadcast. More »



Didn’t Like The Video Music Awards? Too Bad, There’s More Where That Came From

Dan Gibson | September 9, 2008 1:30 am
Dan Gibson | September 9, 2008 1:30 am

vmalogocropped.jpgSure, many people with access to the Internet might agree that this year’s Video Music Awards were among the worst ever. But it looks like whoever is sitting in a cubicle arbitrarily making up television ratings (or, possibly, the scientific data collection method that actually determines these things) disagrees. This year, ratings were up, up, up!

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T.I. Did Not Fake Out The Leakers

noah | September 8, 2008 12:30 pm
noah | September 8, 2008 12:30 pm

Surely I’m not the only person who thought that the O-Zone-inspired “Live Your Life” was T.I.’s attempt to put one over on the Internet and leak a fake single that pushed the right memetic buttons, and that the recently house-incarcerated rapper would premiere his real new single at the VMAs last… More »


Courtney Love Explains Why She Didn’t Brighten Up My Red-Carpet Experience

noah | September 8, 2008 12:00 pm
noah | September 8, 2008 12:00 pm

I was sad that Courtney Love didn’t show up to the Video Music Awards’ red carpet as promised, because I would have loved to hear her take on some of the “luminaries” in attendance (cough cough, Joe Francis, cough cough). But at least her just-blogged excuse note for the evening makes (relative) sense: “theyre not the “VMAS” and they never will be again – i had ZERO desire to watch let alone go and thats one of my very favourite people ive ever known or had the honour of being friends and fiends with hosting it so i feel horribly rude that my desire not to watch assholes with chastity rings- oh for fucks sake ive had some great conversations but not ONE has ever ended in an Orgasm, y’all need some pussy and some cock and shut the hell up..” Now see, wouldn’t she have proven a great foil to Jordin Sparks? More after the jump!

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VMA Wrapups Reveal That This Year’s Ceremony Didn’t Really Have A Big Watercooler Moment

noah | September 8, 2008 10:00 am
noah | September 8, 2008 10:00 am

AP0809080781.jpgFrom time to time, we like to round up the all-important, all-summarizing last sentences of the biggest new-music reviews. After the jump, we look at other publications’ reactions to last night’s Video Music Awards, the “meh”-ness of which we are still trying to process.

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