MTV's Video Music Awards is by far the most exciting, provocative, and culturally relevant awards show each year, so there's always plenty to learn from each year's broadcast. Here are eight things we learned from last night's VMA's.
1. Ed Sheeran Understands That The Musicians Don't Deserve The Awards
I thought it was really nice that Ed Sheeran brought the director of his "Sing" video on stage with him for his acceptance speech, because it probably reminded (or even taught) a lot of people that musicians usually aren't the creative forces behind their music videos, and that most of the time, they don't truly deserve the VMA.
2. Iggy Azalea Is Apparently Pop, Not Hip-Hop
I don't know if it had to do with sexism or racism or even both, but the fact that Iggy Azalea was nominated for best pop video instead of best hip-hop video is pretty strange to me. She's a rapper, so why wasn't she put up against other rappers?
3. Moments Of Silence Are Pretty Difficult To Command On MTV
Common's tribute to Ferguson, Missouri was a wonderful reminder that at its best, hip-hop can be a great force for social justice, but asking for a moment of silence from a rowdy VMA audience is like telling a pack of dogs to keep it down.
4. Usher Can Play Bass
It's not that I doubted Usher could play bass, but I didn't expect him to be proficient enough to actually play it on live TV. Either that, or he's great at faking how to play bass.
5. MTV Doesn't Know (Or Care) What Rock Music Is Anymore
The best rock video category was inexplicably the only one where the presenters listed off the nominees, leaving Trey Songz to call the Black Keys "the Black Eyes." The messy presentation, coupled with the fact that Lorde won (let's get this straight, people: she's minimal synth pop, not rock), goes to show that MTV isn't even trying anymore when it comes to rock music.
6. Going Without A Mic Stand Isn't A Good Idea
On at least two occasions that I noticed (Ed Sheeran's win and Lorde's win), the presenters walked away with the microphone instead of handing it off to the winner. It would be less confusing to just bring back the mic stand or podium like they used to have.
7. 5 Seconds Of Summer Is Influenced By Green Day, Apparently
Actors Chloe Grace Moretz and Dylan O'Brien introduced 5 Seconds of Summer by saying that they're influenced by Green Day, but based on the song they performed, it sounds like the only Green Day song they know is "Wake Me Up When September Ends." Maybe the rest of their album is more traditionally pop punk (I haven't heard it), but the song they played definitely wasn't.
8. Miley Cyrus Is Pretty Wonderful
I'm not going to lie: I teared up a little bit when Miley Cyrus had that homeless guy make her acceptance speech for her. I've never really hated Miley Cyrus or anything like that (I think she tries way too hard to shock people, though), but using her speech to raise awareness about homeless youth made me respect her 1,000 times more, especially because she didn't make the speech herself. I'm truly glad that she won.
© 2024 MusicTimes.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
