Grammy nomination concert cheapens awards

The Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences' decision to air a nomination special and concert for the Grammy Awards is slightly baffling. The Grammys have had ratings struggles (as have most award shows) and are looking to gain viewers. In the last few years, they've expanded upon the nomination announcement, adding an over-stuffed concert to the announcement of only a few nominees. Wednesday's special was another awkward show, in which contractually obligated CBS stars stuffed as much music and bombast into one hour, with little emphasis on the nominations. The nomination reveals were strange, between the odd delay in the song playing and the artists' image on the big screen and the presenters' reading of the song (don't forget missteps like Nicki Minaj's inability to pronounce Bon Iver). I'm disappointed with myself for wasting time on them (especially since it made me forget The Soup, which is now, inexplicably and annoyingly, on Wednesdays now).

When other award shows present their nominees, the announcements are short, sweet and to the point. Here, the award presentations are second to the performers during the concert; I'm sure we'll see many of the same performers at the Feb. 12 ceremony anyway. They aren't going to be as fun come February, because we've already seen the show. A tribute to a song going into the Grammy Hall of Fame (Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five's "The Message")? How special is this tribute if it's not even during the real Grammy Awards? Wouldn't it make more sense to profile the song come February, instead of here? How special is an in Memoriam? And does Lady Gaga really deserve to perform multiple times (I say this as someone who saw her in concert in 2010 and enjoyed it, by the way, so Little Monsters need not attack)?

This concert existed solely to further clutter the TV with concerts that masquerade as award shows. Come on, how many ACMs, AMAs, WMAs, VMAs, etc., do we really need? The way the Grammys present themselves now, the awards are secondary and losing meaning year after year.

CBS, the Academy: If you want to distinguish your awards from others and keep the Grammys' reputation for being the ultimate prize in music, keep the awards fair and a one-time only event. Note: fair does not necessarily mean "outside of the mainstream." But, really, the screech-fest that is Katy Perry's "Firework" is one of the best recordings of the year? Just because it's popular, doesn't mean it's good, but that's another matter. The way it is now, it's just another way to fill multiple holes in the schedule.

2011 Video Music Awards, in a word, awkward

Pictured: Adele, one of the few redeeming stars of the 2011 VMAs.

For some reason, I had high hopes for this year's MTV Video Music Awards. I thought between the stellar performance lineup, Britney Spears receiving the Video Vanguard Award and tribute to one of my favorites, Amy Winehouse, would help boost the show beyond its usual train wreck status.

I was wrong. MTV is so desperate for their show "Awkward." to be a bigger hit, they crafted the entire VMAs around the concept of being "Awkward." Minus a few bright moments, it was a dud.

The awkward began on the pre-show, where co-host Selena Gomez asked boyfriend Justin Bieber (whose haircut, upon certain angles, made his head look like Megamind) what the name of his snake was, to which he replied, "Johnson." Who wants to join me in line for the brain bleach? It then continued with Lady Gaga's weird show opener. Dressed as male alter ego Jo Calderone, she began with a monologue about Gaga that tried to prove she was desperately self-aware of her own hype. Her voice sounded strong during "Yoü and I," especially when she was only playing the piano (I don't care much for the studio version, with instruments that make noise not unlike chewing on ice. Her stripped-down performance was one of the highlights when I saw her in concert in 2010). However, it soon got too cluttered, with unnecessary dancing and more musicians (no offense to the legendary Brian May, any guitarist would have been too much). The biggest letdown? Not seeing Gaga fall down - MTV, why did you cut away from that glorious moment?

Gaga never stepped out of the Calderone character during her multiple appearances that night, which was annoying. I won't lie, I loved her outfits (yes, even the meat dress) at the 2009 and 2010 awards, thought she gave great speeches and a good performance and she was anything but subtle. But this year? Sadly, it was too much on an artist we're accustomed to getting too much from. Adding to the awkward was the will-they-won't-they kiss (that ultimately didn't happen) with Spears. The whole segment was a mess: a random crew of dancers dressed up as Spears, and Gaga's introduction of Spears was crude and rambling.

Then, when Spears finally got the chance to accept her award, rather than let her give a speech thanking people, she was forced into the awkward banter with Calderone (not at the fault of Gaga - it was clearly scripted) and the two introduced (a pregnant) Beyonce's performance. MTV hyped the Video Vanguard Award going to Spears, and then she was barely on stage. I doubt Spears was all that heartbroken about not giving a long speech (as her acceptance speeches are usually pretty rote), but it was still a bit rude on MTV's part. They helped turn Spears' award into the Beyonce show.

Speaking of performances, why were most of them so weak? Gaga's became too cluttered, Kanye West and Jay-Z's was disappointingly lacking charisma and Lil' Wayne's was downright painful.

Young the Giant gave a good performance, but the band isn't big enough and the performance wasn't memorable enough, given their status as rock's sole representation in the performances this evening (although this is more a problem with MTV than the band). The evening's house singer Jessie J can carry a tune, it's simply a shame that her original music is so boring; it's what will keep her from hitting it big in the United States.

The best performance of the evening easily belonged to Adele, who gave us a break from the overplayed "Rolling in the Deep" to deliver a beautiful rendition of "Someone Like You." While Beyonce sounded wonderful, too, her song choice ("Love on Top") was lacking, which is why Adele gets the upper hand.

Bruno Mars also helped to bring down the house during the tribute to Amy Winehouse. Singing "Valerie," a Zutons song Winehouse and producer Mark Ronson covered. Mars gets a lot of flack, especially from rapper Tyler the Creator (winner of the evening's Best New Artist award), but he delivered a vocally strong performance that stayed true to Winehouse's style. Let's hope he's learned from his 2010 cocaine arrest and Winehouse's struggles with drugs, and he can continue to perform well in the future.

Regardless, all in all, it was mostly a waste of two-and-a-half hours. As usual, who won the awards was irrelevant to the spectacle that was the show itself. Katy Perry won the top award, Video of the Year, for the video where she shoots stuff out of her boobs. No, not that one. The other one.

If you missed any of the awards, MTV.com has them on demand as well as plenty of coverage. Am I being too hard on MTV? Were there other highlights or awkward moments that should be addressed? Do you know why Cloris Leachman was there? Leave a comment, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

And now, one last nice moment: Kanye West's sweet, happy moment with daddy-to-be Jay-Z as his wife showed off her growing belly onstage:

MTV Video Music Awards are the definition of lackluster

Last week, I blogged about how Lady Gaga would make the VMAs great. Well, Gaga's impressive eight wins last night, including Video of the Year, did yield some highlights in the show, including her so-called "meat dress":



Sadly, the rest of the show was fairly boring. Gaga did not perform, which took away some of the mystique in the evening. Justin Bieber sounded off-key, and nearly every other performance involved Auto-Tune and lip syncing. Not to mention, they were fairly boring.

Was Taylor Swift's performance really necessary? I understand that it would have been awful for something like that to happen to her. However, I just feel as though it was completely tacky to compose and (poorly) perform such a maudlin song over something that, in the grand scheme of her career, didn't exactly hurt. I feel like a cover of Natalie Merchant's "Thank You" would have been more fitting, because Kanye West's interruption of her speech made everyone elicit an outrageous amount of sympathy for her. Then again, why fault her for believing the hype?

However, no matter whether one thought harping on the past was necessary it's difficult to argue that she didn't sound great. Which is what is sad about the VMAs and music as a whole: we complain that people lip sync and use AutoTune. But why do they do that? Because they sound like Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift. Minus the very talented and charismatic Florence and the Machine and Robyn, each performance was rather lacking.

Host Chelsea Handler wasn't give a whole lot to do, but when she was on stage, she had some good one-liners. I think Kanye West's Twitter account should have hosted the show.

Usually when it comes to late summer-early fall award shows, the Emmys are far superior to the VMAs. Last year with the travesty of Jon Cryer winning an Emmy and the overall boring nature of the presenters, the VMAs were quite entertaining. However, this year things went back to normal. MTV just can't capture the magic they used to have. The show wasn't terrible like June's Movie Awards, just boring.

Lady Gaga holds the key for VMA greatness

The MTV Video Music Awards air next week, and it will be interesting to see what spontaneous (see: Kanye West last year) or orchestrated (see: Madonna/Britney/Christina kissing in 2003) controversies will take place. Like the rest of the music industry, MTV is struggling and the VMAs are awarding something that is becoming increasingly rare and irrelevant on the network and the musical climate as a whole: music videos. Unless one is a night owl or has MTV Hits, the network's digital cable, 24-hour music video station, televised music videos are a rarity.

That's why MTV needs to rely on shocking moments to get people talking about the show. They need performances to remind people why the artists MTV shoves down viewers' throats are worthy. Normally, I find myself complaining about the VMAS; they're an award show I watch purely out of habit. Yet, last year's show was actually wonderful to watch. The Kanye/Taylor Swift debacle was a true shocking moment even MTV couldn't fathom happening. The performances, from my personal favorites, Green Day to even acts I'm not normally fans of (Jay-Z and Alicia Keys, for example) were strong.

However, the key moment for me? Lady Gaga. She was absolutely ridiculous and engrossing to watch. Her performance was so anticipated by fans and haters alike, curious to see what she would come up with. She certainly delivered.



This performance was off-the-wall and outrageous, and that's what made it so perfect for the VMAs. Yet, it also proved that she had talent, and that's why it was good for the VMAs, because it proved that not everything on MTV is awful. Personally, it made me a fan of hers, just because I was in awe of how ridiculous it was, yet it didn't feel as though she was trying to force controversy (like the aforementioned kiss).

At the moment, MTV does not have her performing or even appearing at this year's show. Without her, the show will lose a major power force. She is the most nominated artist of the night and anything she does will be so analyzed by the press and the office water cooler, it can help make the VMAs seem relevant. Without her, who will the big draw be? Rihanna? Justin Bieber? They certainly have their fair share of fans and haters, but they do not posses anywhere near the same public interest or controversial matter as someone like Gaga. Even someone formerly controversial like Eminem has become more mainstream.

Looking at Gaga's tour schedule, she has a break this weekend that would coincide perfectly with a VMA appearance; I hope MTV is just holding off on announcing her appearance to build hype. Because without her, they will really be missing out this year.


On a side note, I saw Lady Gaga in concert Saturday. It was such a spectacular party atmosphere, it was impossible not to walk away feeling good afterward. Yet, it also proved that she has legitimate talent beyond her costumes and crazy nature. Even though I was in the upper section of the Palace of Auburn Hills, it was great. My photos from the event are here. I'm not a great photographer, but I still got some good shots!