The Video Music Awards (VMAs) are over for another year and they were surprisingly…ordinary. There were no meltdowns, no hijinks, none of the stuff I usually tune in for! There was a rant by host Russell Brand (yeah, I know – who?), but I will get to that in a minute.
(Public Domain photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Chief Warrant Officer 4 Seth Rossman)
The show was held last night at the Paramount Studios and its lots in Los Angeles. After last year’s oddly unpolished opening performance, many people probably tuned in to see how Britney Spears would do this year. As it turns out, she did great. Britney was not her usual poptart self, but more of a resurrection of the old Britney. She looked refreshed and put together. She didn’t perform, just did a short skit and introduced the awards, but the introduction got her a standing ovation. She also took home her first three VMAs – Video of the Year, Best Pop Video, and Best Female Video for “Piece of Me.” She thanked God and dedicated the awards to her fans.
Russell Brand is a British comic who is relatively unknown in the U.S. Of Britney’s appearance, he said “Consider this the resurrection of Britney Spears” and “If there were a female Christ, it’s Britney.” I am thinking more of a modern day Cher, but okay. Brand did strike up a comical feud with the Jonas Brothers about celibacy. Thankfully, American Idol winner Jordin Sparks came to their rescue, saying “I just wanna say, it’s not bad to wear a promise ring because not every guy and a girl wants to be a slut, OK?”
Brand also decided to rant about the upcoming U.S. presidential race. He begged the American public to elect Barack Obama, saying that it was a wild idea to elect a black man as president, but Americans were open minded. After all, he said, we elected “that retarded cowboy fellow,” in reference to President Bush. While many in the audience cheered that reference, Britney was among those that sat silently.
Lil’ Wayne took home the award for Best Hip Hop Video (for “Lollipop”), Chris Brown took home Best Male Video (for “With You”), Linkin Park won Best Rock Video (for “Shadow of the Day”) and the Pussycat Dolls won the Best Dancing in a Video award. Best New Artist went to the rock band Tokio Hotel.