MTV Video Music Awards (VMA) 2010 - Best and Worst Moments

Last night MTV aired the Video Music Awards live from California. There was a lot of energy in the room, some really good performances, a few dull ones, one jerk (Kanye West), and overall it was a good night for entertainment. I would have enjoyed it more had there been some rock on the performance agenda. Linkin Park did play Catalyst, but it was not a rocking performance. A bit dull for them.

Maybe next year they will cut out some of the unnecessary R&B/Hip Hop. I hope. Rock music gives a much better performance and has actual instruments, unlike the rappers.

Most VMA Awards Won:

Lady Gaga scored 8 VMA's including Best Female Video, Video Of The Year, Best Pop Video, Best Collaboration, Best Dance Music Video, Best Choreography, Best Direction, and Best Editing. Her hit Bad Romance earned her award after award. Telephone, featuring Beyonce won for Best Collaboration.

Eminem won two VMA's for his latest hit song Not Afraid. He won Best Male Video and Best Hip Hop Video. Not Afraid has been hitting the charts ever since it was delivered fresh off of Eminem's album Recovery. He is getting better and better as a performer and it is always exciting to see what he's going to do next. He left immediately after his Rhianna performance. Em is on tour and headed back to New York for a scheduled performance. He isn't the most social artist out there, so it made sense for him to not wait around.

Best Performances of the Night:
My very favorite moment was seeing Eminem perform his latest hit 'Not Afraid' from his latest album Recovery. He has such energy and presence, especially when performing his own songs. They are always written with passion and that makes a good song great.

Eminem was joined by Rhianna in a duet of I Love The Way You Lie and it's a great song. Rhianna was a surprise performer that had not been announced prior to the show. The song is so real and powerful that a lot of people are put off by the realness of the lyrics. But those are my favorite kind of songs. A song with a message is the best type of song, in my opinion. Songs are meant to make you feel, whether happy, reflective, joyous, melancholy, this song makes you think of real life situations. And it makes you want to learn and grow, and not put up with that type of toxic relationships. I love lyrics that are so passionate that you feel the power of each word. You believe the song and understand and learn from it. True to life, growth is essential. And Eminem is growing as a performer.

B.O.B, Hayley Williams (Paramore), and Bruno Mars performed the hit song, Airplanes. Hayley had recorded her part of the song for B.O.B's album, but had never met him face to face. So, they never had the chance to sing the duet together in reality. Just goes to show how much singing ability she has. They sounded great together. It's always an unexpected surprise when a singer can sound as good, or better live, than they did on the radio version. Now that's talent. Most any artist can make the radio version sound good through voice, or equipment. Her vocals are impressive, as was the performance from each of the artists.

Usher put on a good show and the most interesting performance of the night. He had around 50 dancers in his entourage. Which is only cool if you can sing and dance, so that they don't upstage you. Since he is a good singer and great performer it was interesting to watch the performance. Because the dancers added to the performance, unlike the Justin Bieber performance that seemed to have dancers there just to make up for what his voice and age lacks.

There was also a quirky and new act on the stage called Florence & The Machine. They made their VMA debut singing Dog Days Are Over. I don't consider it rock, though they were nominated in the same category as 30 Seconds To Mars, but still they have a unique quality that stands out. Their performance was unforgettable and just quirky enough to stand out. It's nice to see a performance that seems more like art, and the chick singer didn't try to dress all cute girlish. She gets extra props for that. Her voice stood out because of that.

Taylor Swift sang a new song off of her upcoming album. This is the first time she has performed anything off of her new album. She had a serious look through out the performance, and it was nice to see her change it up from bubbly to pensive. Growth is a natural part of becoming a better artist and singer.

Worst Moments of the Night:

Kanye West performed in a bright red suit, he does like to stand out, doesn't he. Again, not his best song, in my opinion. He sang about assholes and douche bags (seriously I am not making this up), and I couldn't help but wonder if he was singing about himself. After what he did last year to Taylor Swift I don't have any respect for the man. But sometimes his music blows me away. But not tonight. In his defense, at least he didn't bring out a 50 person dance posse. And he does have some impressive music. The audience stood up calling out "Kanye, Kanye" and he was gone, just like that. Maybe he did learn something from last year's Swift incident. Not according to his songs lyrics that talks about having a toast to all the assholes. What is wrong with that dude? No, really. He didn't have to bring up the Taylor Swift VS. Kanye is arrogant topic again. Guess he is trying to show off and get some extra hip hop sales, by being a jerk. Not cool at all.

Hearing Justin Bieber sing was weird for me. He seems too young to be at the VMA's and too young to sing about love and having lost it. However, he won the award for Best New Artist, and apparently the teenage girls love him. And voted for him. Oh and when he won the award, he couldn't find the stage - it was very amusing. Guess he wasn't expecting to win, but maybe he should have thought ahead, just in case.

Sources:
MTV
My perspective of the VMA broadcast.