BEIJING, Sept. 10 (Xinhuanet) -- Suffering from poor
reviews and declining ratings, MTV moved its awards show to Las Vegas, got rid
of a host or hostess, threw in some suite parties during which singers sang
their songs and accepted awards, and managed to present a pretty good show
despite the opening act: Britney Spears.
Unlike her last VMAs appearance when she lip-locked
Madonna, Spears had a difficult time moving her lips in synch to "Gimme More,"
the song supposed to launch her comeback. Then there was the paunchy tummy where
abs used to be, poorly choreographed dance sequence, plus moments when she
seemed to give up and just stop singing.
"It (Spear's peformance) definitely could have been a
lot better," the hitmaking singer and producer Akon commented afterward. "She
seemed nervous ... you could tell by the expression on her face. Instead of just
blocking everybody out and doing her thing, you could tell she was thinking
about it."
After Spears vacated the premises, the changes to the
show worked, leading to several exciting performances including an off-camera
fight between Pamela Anderson exes Kid Rock and Tommy Lee that led Jamie Foxx to
quip: "Stop all this white-on-white violence."
Justin Timberlake was the night's big winner, with
four trophies. After accepting the award for Male Artist of the Year, scolded
MTV for not playing enough music videos: "We don't want to see the Simpsons on
reality television."
Earlier in the show before accepting the
Quadruple Threat of the Year award at his suite, Timberlake said: "I want to
challenge MTV to play more videos!" Then he was whisked away by bodyguards and
disappeared.
Rihanna won the coveted Video of the Year award, plus
Monster Single of the Year for "Umbrella." The Best Group was Fallout Boy, and
Gym Class Heroes won Best New Artist.
Beyonce and Shakira won Most Earthshattering
Collaboration for "Beautiful Liar." Beyonce's shimmering gold dress barely
contained her breasts; immediately after she picked up her trophy she asked an
assistant backstage to help fix her dress, apparently to prevent a wardrobe
malfunction.
Alicia Keys brought the house down, debuting her new
song "No One" and then an inspired, choir-backed cover of George Michael's
"Freedom."
While performances like Keys' and Spears' were
delivered on the main stage, others came in bits and pieces: Akon crooned a bit
of his "Smack That" before an award was announced, while the cameras zoomed in
on Fall Out Boy and the Foo Fighters mid-performance in their suites, giving
viewers the sense that they had happened upon an intimate concert.
Cee-Lo delivered a rocking version of Prince's
naughty classic "Darling Nikki" in the smoky Foo Fighters suite (where a beer
bong was in operation as Dave Grohl danced, sang Cure songs, played air drums
and posed for snapshots); Soulja Boy was showing Kanye West his "Crank That"
dance in West's suite.
Though the suites appeared to be chaotic parties, the
MTV-cast revelers were carefully organized, strategically placed and encouraged
to imbibe for the cameras.
TV viewers never got full views of those shows,
though MTV promised more via its website and other "remixed" versions of the
show.
(Agencies)
