— At most awards shows, the tension is typically reserved for the
envelope moments — Who will win? Who will lose? — but at the 2010 MTV
Video Music Awards on Sunday the drama was bottled up in two different
questions: What would she wear? What would he say?
The “he” of course was
the petulant, tweeting prince of hip-hop culture, and the “she” was
Lady Gaga, the plasticized fashion plate of pop who has taken Madonna’s
costume art one step further with something close to wardrobe
architecture. When Gaga first hit the stage Sunday (to accept a trophy
for best video by a female artist for “Bad Romance”), everyone at the
Nokia Theatre leaned forward to see her costume, which looked like a
fossil-era zoological exhibit with a feathered headpiece. When West
finally walked into the spotlight, at the end of the show, much of
America presumably leaned back and waited for his latest ingot of hot
topic.
Amid a surprising cascade of boos, the
native didn’t ask for forgiveness. Clad in red, he sauntered to center
stage to “toast” his critics (not the word he used, by any means) and,
by the end of the new number, if there were any catcalls they were
inaudible amid the ovation and the cheers of “Kanye, Kanye!”
Pop music is in a strange jumbled state these days and, with the recording industry and
searching for brands amid the digital-age fiscal rubble, the scene is
something akin to a supermarket aisle after an earthquake. On Sunday
there was almost a quaint (or nervous) look to the past when things
made sense.
In the venue, the proceedings opened with a
thunderous Led Zeppelin song, and Eminem’s opening performance, with
simple black hoodie and raw street ethos, felt like a return to “Eight
Mile” or even LLCool J’s brawny, old-school simplicity. More than that,
Usher lit up the place with a moonwalking number. It reminded everyone
that, in many ways, the victory tour of
the only real representative of the guitar nation, seemed out of place
in the live national broadcast and, appropriately, their performance
was beamed in from nearby
Eminem, the class clown of a decade ago, came off as
the world-weary elder statesman on this night, not that he hung around
long. A private plane awaited to whisk him to
tour date, and his quick exit was a reminder that this is an awards
gala where the trophies don’t matter. He won two — well, someone can
Fed Ex them to him later. Gaga led the field on the night by winning
eight awards in total.
The host,
author and late-night talk-show host, had plenty of verve and vinegar.
She is known for ribald audacity and an unflinching candor about her
own escapades — she is someone, like so many of her insult targets —
that has a sex tape pinging around the Internet. Handler was a game
presence all night, hopping in a hot tub with the cast of “Jersey
Shore” (and emerging with a fake pregnancy belly), trading rehab gags
with
Early in the show, Handler demonstrated a
kick-to-the-groin defense for any award winner who had their speech
interrupted. It was a reference of course to West’s crass and boozy
stage invasion last year when he interrupted the acceptance speech by
young country music star
The sweet-faced country star used the opportunity to
premiere a new song. Using part of her speech last year as the intro to
the song that seemed informed by the sonic Southern style of Dixie
Chicks although the lyrics seemed to be looking West. “Thirty-two and
still growing up, who you are is not what you did, you’re still an
innocent.”
Gaga, meanwhile, made so many costume changes she
actually conjured up the ghost of Cher — oh wait, that really was Cher,
who noted that she was around when the newcomer was “Baby Gaga.” For
her last stage appearance, Gaga appeared to be wearing a meat-slab
dress. Earlier in the show, she admitted that she had put a lot of
thought into her wardrobe but not so much in the winning of awards.
“I didn’t quite think through all the wins,” she
said, explaining why she had a team of wardrobe-assistance people help
her reach the trophy up on stage.
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