The MTV Video Music Awards may not be the most prestigious ceremony in music, but every year they see legendary and iconic moments that live on in music history. This year certainly had a lot to live up to.
Lady Gaga was set to open to show, but instead we got her male alter-ego, Jo Calderone, who after a several minute monologue, broke out into Gaga’s current single “You and I,” featuring a special guest appearance from Brian May of Queen. Despite being one of the strangest performances in VMA history, it may just have been one of the best. Some of the less successful performances included Pitbull, Ne-Yo and Nayer’s “Give Me Everything,” Lil Wayne’s “How To Love”/”John” medley, which failed to live up to the hype, and Chris Brown’s poorly lipped medley, which had some pretty cool choreography, but became kind of repetitive after a while.
However, the night still had some great moments including Jay-Z and Kanye West’s “surprise” performance of “Otis,” and Young The Giant’s energy-filled take on “My Body.” Adele stripped things completely down for “Someone Like You,” letting her voice work its magic and proving why she is one of the most talented artists out today. Probably the best performance of the night came from Beyoncé, who had announced her pregnancy before the show. Singing her album track “Love On Top,” Queen B totally owned the stage, and ended by throwing her mic down, undoing her jacket and revealing her baby-bump to the world.
This year featured two tributes, as well. The first of which was the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, presented to Ms. Britney Spears. The tribute performance featured a swarm of young girls dressed in Brit’s most famous outfits dancing to a speedy medley of her hits. Lady Gaga (still dressed as Jo) presented her with the award, almost reenacting the famous Britney/Madonna kiss, before Britney nipped it in the bud and claimed she’s “already done that.”
The second tribute was to the late Amy Winehouse. After speeches from her friend Russell Brand and Tony Bennett, who revealed a clip of him and Amy in the studio, Bruno Mars perplexingly performed “Valerie” in tribute. The question really was, why have Bruno, who was neither a friend nor someone who was directly influenced by Amy, perform and why sing “Valerie,” which although a hit, was collaboration with Mark Ronson and a cover? Why not perform one of her many great originals?
The awards were pretty predictable. The increasingly strange Justin Bieber took home Best Male Video for “U Smile,” while Gaga (still dressed as Mr. Calderone) took home Best Female Video for “Born This Way.” Britney Spears took home Best Pop Video for “Till The World Ends,” The Foo Fighters won Best Rock Video for “Walk,” and Best Hip-Hop video went to Nicki Minaj’s “Super Bass.” Tyler, The Creator shockingly won Best New Artist, beating out the likes of Big Sean, Foster The People, and Wiz Khalifa. However, the big winner of the night was Katy Perry, who won Best Collaboration for “E.T.” with Kanye West and the biggest award, Video Of The Year for “Firework.”
Overall, this year lived up to expectations. Here’s to another great year in music videos!
