Early word on nominees for the MTV Video Music Awards—taking place Sept. 13 around New York—has Beyoncé and Lady Gaga leading the pack with nine nods each, according to People. (Side note: is there any phrase more noxious than “confirms exclusively”? Are we supposed to be thankful that you have a relationship with a PR person? Ugh.) Also out are the nominees for the Video Of The Year category, and only one of the picks is really egregiously bad: Eminem’s “We Made You,” which is stuffed with jokes that are so moldy, they probably sailed over the youngest members of MTV’s target demo. The full roster of Best Video nominees after the jump. More »
Green Day and Pink are the latest additions to the “featured performers” lineup at this year’s MTV Video Music Awards, taking place on Sept. 13; they join Muse and Taylor Swift on the evening’s bill. Pink will continue to flog Funhouse, which only came out a year ago (it feels like forever!); meanwhile, I am wondering if Green Day will bring out Stephanie, a fan in attendance at the band’s Madison Square Garden show the other night who hopped onstage and performed “Jesus Of Suburbia” with the band on guitar while clad in a Misfits T-shirt, and who had the crowd eating out of her hand by the time she was done. (Hey, the VMAs are in New York this year!) Clip of what is, I hope, the first of many incredible moments in this young woman’s life after the jump. More »
So far, the responses to MTV’s Twitter query over whether or not Britney Spears should perform at this year’s Video Music Awards, thus completing the “horrifying spectacle to redeemed (if slightly faded) pop star” narrative that began in Las Vegas two Septembers ago, are running about 40-to-1 in favor of her appearing on the telecast. I mean, is there any way this isn’t going to happen? It’s self-referential and it has a good chance of having a happy ending! Win-win-win! [Twitter via Vicki] 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This year’s installment of the MTV Video Music Awards—the channel’s annual attempt to wheeze some life into its outdated identity as something that airs music-related programming—is set to air live from New York’s Radio City Music Hall on Sept. 13.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 »
