Thoughts on the MTV Music Awards (from what I saw):
Michael Jackson must be a genius after all because appearing onstage with NSYNC was the single greatest career move he could have possibly made. To anyone under 20 who doesn't remember the '80's, MJ is a plastic-faced freak who sleeps with animals and little boys (actually, it's the same for everyone over 20, but at least the over 20's will still remember "Thriller" as well). He hasn't released an album in six years, the guy is forgotten, he has NO cred. All of a sudden, you've got the self-proclaimed "King of Pop" in the same sightlines at the present-day Kings of "Pop", and even a two-year old could see that connection, and it smacks positive of a bona fide musical "event". Even I marked out for it, and I hate all of them.
What's with all the obvious screw-ups? The power outage right before U2's performance, Jamie Fox introducing Jay-Z instead of Moby and Gwen Stefani. Should we be expecting these proceedural unpredictabilities instead of the increasingly predictable unpredictablility of the show as a whole? Then again, the most predictable thing was the steady stream of presenters who were using their air time as a vehicle for pimping their upcoming albums, boosting the shows' running time from "too long" to "insanely f***ing long" in the process.
Britney wore next to nothing and put on a performance that inspired descriptions such as "alluring" to "unrationally extravegant prog-pop". Come on -- snakes? dry ice? jungle and wild animal motif? Maybe ELO should have asked her to tour with them this fall, THAT would have rescued the tour for sure and they could have split on the production costs. Incidentally, there have now been two ELO reunion tours cancelled due to embarrassingly low ticket sales. One, maybe, but TWO -- is that some sort of record? I actually feel a bit sorry for them, but then again, ELO kinda suck, so the feeling is fleeting.
Finally, allow me to re-stir the Britney vs Christina pot. You just KNOW that Christina had to be FUMING throughout the show because Britney had the prestigious final performing slot of the evening, along with the incessant hyping of said performance that comes with such an "honour", not to mention how she was on camera every ten seconds because of the 392 awards won by NSYNC. Christina had to feel like the #1 Queen Bitch when she got to on stage at the bitter end for winning Video of the Year. Oh, and then she got to act like it because she thanked Patti Labelle for letting them cover "Lady Marmalade", when in fact she should have thanked All Saints, who gave Christina + friends the template for that success by covering the same song in the exact same manner only three years ago. Luckily, her fans have short memories, which of course bodes ironic for the future longevity of her career.
