I Want My MTV

VJs were required to identify Michael Jackson as "The King of Pop" at least twice a week. To coax Jackson into appearing on an anniversary show, he was given an award in the form of a six-foot statue of the MTV Moon Man.

via TV Guide

Twitter Hearts Live TV

Just finished reading this Fast Company's article about Twitter driving people back to must-See, live, appointment TV, and I have to say, I wholeheartedly agree. A lot of emphasis is given to the whole DVR, watch-it-online, streaming-thru-Hulu-or-Netflix phenomenon that is going on out there, but live TV is not dead.... thanks to social media.

 “[In the last 18 months], I think we actually saw the pendulum swing back toward things like shared experiences, back toward live TV. I think Twitter, of course, is one of the things that drove this." 

-Robin Sloan (who can be found here)

I love my DVR, really I do. But when I'm watching Hawaii Five-0 and tweet about Kevin Sorbo making a cameo or blast out via GetGlue that Christian Shepard is romancing Nora on Brothers and Sisters it is a little less exciting when I'm watching the episode days later. Not to mention, sort of irrelevant.

I've always loved TV, duh, and it is probably one of the reasons I started loving social media too. My first @ mention came from Becky Buckwild (of VH1 Reality TV). Some of the first 'strangers' I started following were people who were talking about Real World/Road Rules Challenges or America's Best Dance Crew. I saw the power of live tweeting during the 2009 VMAs.

Am I going to give up my DVR? No way, Jose. But I will say my heart breaks a little when I can't watch (and tweet) about my favorite shows as they are happening.

Does that make me addicted to television? Yep, probably.

VMAs... or Kanye and Taylor show?

"No, no, no, don't applaud They're the reason MTV doesn't play your videos." 

-Chelsea Handler announcing the cast of Jersey Shore

This is embarrassing to admit, considering I was up for a job at MTV, but I never thought I really liked the MTV VMAs (and then I backtracked and realized I've watched it religiously at the Deeg the last four years). In fact, I didn't even see Kanye-gate live last year (I just heard abou it via Twitter and then changed the channel to MTV). I don't know why the VMAs never really appealed to me- maybe I get bored watching performances, maybe I don't keep up on new music enough to care.... maybe it's a good thing I didn't get that job at MTV.....

But this year, I watched. And so did more than 11 million other people. And I will admit, I was entertained. Yes, even during performances I didn't really care about (I'm looking at you, Eminem).

The Good:

• The stage. It was sick.
• Lady Gaga was... well, a lady. Last year, she was kind of crazy (remember that blood everywhere? Kermit on her shoulder on the red carpet?), but despite a dress made out of meat, she actually seemed down to earth while accepting her (numerous) awards. Plus, I'm super happy she swept the competition. Let's face it, her stuff was the best.
• Cher coming out just proved that some performers are legends for a reason. She was so at ease on stage
• Florence and the Machine's performance was my favorite of the night. Awesome vocals, awesome stage, awesome dancers.
• Linkin Park's stage - the Griffith Observatory - was a-maz-ing. 
• Kanye.... see below. 

The Bad:

• Not getting to see Gabi on the red carpet! I missed the pre-show :(
• The host..... not Chelsea Handler in particular, but really, do we even need a host? What is the point to have someone introduce the people who are introducing musical acts? Can't it just be a voice over? Does the host serve any purpose except to give an opening monologue and do dumb gags on stage?
• A note to Justin Bieber. You failed. This was your chance to prove to me you actually had talent, and you decided to lip sync. Not cool, man boy.
• Taylor Swift.... See below. 

My opinion on Kanye vs. Taylor Swift:

Kanye wins. Kanye always wins. Say what you will, but Kanye took the high road here. Last week, he apologized via Twitter and you know what Taylor said? That she thinks he was just doing it to sell records and that she wishes he would stop talking about it and stop 'using her name' to make money. And then how does she open her performance at the VMAs? By showing footage from that night!! WTF. She then proceeds to sing a sappy song about how Kanye needs to grow up....

Who you are is not what you did

32 is still growing up now ... you're still an innocent

Everyone of us has messed up, too

I hope you remember today is never too late to be brand new

If she would have sang the song alone, people would have just assumed it was an answer to Kanye, but by showing the footage before, she made it clear who/what she was singing about. Kanye, on the other hand, sang a song about the douchebags, the assholes, and the scumbags.... aka himself. Maybe if Taylor's song had been about her, about her struggle, about her pain, instead of about someone else, I would have felt better about it. 

Plus, Kanye looked gooooood. 

MTV VMA Sunday = most dramatic night of television. EVER.

If you were on Twitter or Facebook last night, you probably noticed these trending topics-
Kanye West
Taylor Swift
Lady Gaga
Pink
Shakira
Rhythm City

Yes, MTV was dominating the social networks last night with everybody talking about the drama at the VMAs and on ABDC.

1. Kanye West/Taylor Swift
Taylor wins for best female video, beating out HUGE contenders like Beyonce and Lady Gaga. As she is accepting her award, Kanye comes up and stage and takes the mic (I'm pretty sure he did say 'Excuse me' if that counts for anything), and said that Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time and deserved to win. Chaos ensued.
But let's be honest people. Wasn't he right? Beyonce's Single Ladies video was a cultural phenomenon. I guarantee you will see people in black leotards on Halloween. I bet someone you know knows at least part of the Single Ladies dance. And who hasn't seen the SNL spoof with Andy and JT?! It was pretty much one of their biggest skits of the year!

And who has seen this Taylor Swift video?

Blame it on MTV for not showing enough videos, but whatev. Kanye is nuts, and a douche, true. But he is also a genius. 'He talks like this cuz he can back it up.'

2. Lady Gaga
She showed up in a mask and neck brace, kissed Kermit the Frog, and had a really weird performance with blood involved. She is insane. That pretty much sums it up.
3. Pink/Shakira

Picture this. It is the VMA pre-show. Sway is interviewing Shakira. She is wearing a black and silver dress. Commercial break. Now, Pink is arriving on a firetruck (cool?). And she is wearing... GASP! The same dress.

4. Rhythm City

I might have to stop watching ABDC. Last night, with just four crews left, the bottom two happened to be the two best- Massive Monkees and Rhythm City.

For the VMA challenge, Monkees did a decent performance to *NSync's Tearin Up My Heart, complete with their usual awesome stunts. Shane loved it. JC said it was a great performance, but also noted that one of the guys was behind in the choreography (even I noticed this, it was that bad).

Then, Rhythm City performs to Chris Brown. Another decent performance. Shane does not like it. He says they aren't 'bringing' it, but does show a clip of the stunt they did that he liked. JC loves it. Like really loves it. And then he calls out Shane.

Let me note that I usually hate JC and love Shane, but in this case, I was totally team JC.

JC pretty much says that Shane only likes crews if they can do stunts, but this is a show about choreography, about dancing. And in that regard, Rhythm City killed it. Shane responds, saying that ABDC is about battling to be the best; about saying 'Massive Monkees and what they just did is whack.' JC interrupts and says, "I disagree. I think this show is about entertaining the audience."

All the while, Lil Mama is keeping it cool, smiling and clapping in the middle of the two judges; Mario is on stage trying to intervene and go to a commercial break; and Rhythm City is just standing on stage hoping that JC just saved them.

But they still got kicked off. Bologna.

Take a look-see for yourself and watch these two videos. The first is of Massive Monkees, the second is Rhythm City, and the 'disagreement' that followed.


So what do YOU think of all the drama on MTV last night? I bet you love Taylor Swift and think we should boycott Kanye, right? No thanks.

Bad deja vu?

In case you haven't heard, Russell Brand is again hosting the VMAs. Super. AND, Britney got seven nominations this year.

Hmm, sounds like last year. This is what I had to say following that debacle.

Okay, so now I love Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and think Brand is hilarious in it- but that still does not change how I felt about last year's show. I will not be tuning in.

But in case you want to waste your Sunday night, the show airs Sept. 13, and will most likely repeat 24/7 after that...

MTV wasted my Sunday

I just wasted two hours of my life watching the MTV VMAs. I knew they would be a waste of time anyway- I have homework and paperwork and cleaning and laundry to do- but I never guessed they would be as bad as they were.

Lowlights?
1. Britney Spears won THREE awards. Yep. Three. Best Female Video, Best Pop Video, and, the big one, Video of the Year. She beat out people like Chris Brown, Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, the Jonas Brothers- WTF? Rigged.
2. Britney Spears did NOT perform. Technically, yes, she did 'open' the show, as they said she would. But coming on stage and saying, "Welcome to the VMAs," should not be publicized as her 'opening' the show. Tsk tsk MTV.
3. Rihanna's super creepy 'Disturbia' performance. I saw the video for the first time the other day and it scared the hell out of me. Check it out here. I am too frightened to post it here.
4. The host. Seriously? Someone in the room said, "Who is that guy?" And our only response was, "Exactly." I guess he was a character on Forgetting Sarah Marshall, but that movie wasn't even that popular. Weird choice. And there was a lot of political blabbering in his opening monologue I could have done without. Agree or disagree- this is the VMAs. Maybe I just don't like to piss people off.
5. Christina had a lumpy midsection/thigh/bottom area. I know she just had a kid, but no one forced her to wear those pants.
6. Lil Wayne likes black briefs obviously. Pull your pants up and put on a shirt.
7. Lots of crotch grabbing going on tonight. Strange.
8. Where was this show? It looked like they set up folding chairs in a parking lot.
9. Tokio Hotel is creepy (see picture as reference) and I never thought they would win. But their accents are funny.
10. I kept hearing all week how Katy Perry was performing. Um, what was that? They barely gave her a time slot. She just sang during commercial breaks.
11. I do not read the Twilight books, but if I did, I would be pissed because Edward Cullen didn't get to speak. Stupid host.
12. Word to Rihanna- if you are going to wear a cropped jacket with no bra underneath and unzip it mid performance, you had better own it. She stood there the whole time holding it together like she was totally uncomfortable.
13. Kanye's closing performance. Good. By far, better than anything else that night. Yet, still disappointing. And I love me some Kanye.

Highlights? Barely. But the Jonas Brothers were super cute.