Lady Gaga Takes All
When Lady Gaga accepted her award for Video of the Year at the MTV VMAs, she wore an outfit made out of cuts of meat. After Cher handed her the award she said, “I never thought I’d be asking Cher to hold my meat purse.” With tears streaming down her face, she thanked her fans before revealing the title of her third album, “Born This Way.” She then sang a few bars of the title track’s chorus: “How beautiful in my way, cause God makes no mistakes. I’m on the right track. Baby, I was born this way.” Gaga won eight awards, including Video of the Year for “Bad Romance.” Her winnigs are the second-biggest haul in VMA history; Peter Gabriel won 10 awards for “Sledgehammer” in 1987.
Eminem had the second-best haul of the night, with two awards. However, he wasn’t there to accept. After opening the show with Rihanna, he left for a flight to New York where he’s performing with Jay-Z tonight. Lady Gaga looked like she was going to cry or hyperventilate every time she won, and actually did tear up when she won Vide of the Year. That yielded a funny moment when she accepted the Video of the Year trophy from Cher, who was wearing a revealing outfit similar to the one from that old video of hers, “Turn Back Time.” Gaga was wearing her most interesting outfit of the night. This one included raw meat. Gaga handed Cher her purse so she could hold the award and said, “I never thought I’d be asking Cher to hold my meat purse.” She also revealed the title of her next album, which will be called “Born This Way”, and she even sang a few lines from the title track: “How beautiful in my way, ’cause God makes no mistakes. I’m on the right track baby. I was born this way.”
Host Chelsea Handler set the tone for the evening by hitting the stage in a mock-Lady Gaga outfit that included a small house over her head. The show opened with an obviously pre-recorded video of Chelsea backstage, being confronted by Lindsay Lohan, who told her, “Do you think anyone wants to work with a drunk? Take it from me, they don’t!”
Video of Lohan, Handler
Taylor Swift Sings A Powerful Message To Kanye
Taylor Swift and Kanye West both made their big VMA return last night. It would have been brilliant if they would have performed together, but that didn’t happen. Instead, they both sang songs inspired by their infamous meeting at last year’s show. Swift debuted a new song called “Innocent” which seemed to be a response to the West debacle when he stole the microphone from her last year. Swift’s performance started with grainy footage of last year’s event where West said Beyoncé deserved to win an award, not Swift, before switching to Swift sitting with guitar in hand. Swift, singing barefoot with a strapless dress sang, “I guess you really did it this time/Left yourself in your war path/ Lost your balance on a tight rope/ Lost your mind trying to get it back.” Swift later stood up, continuing the song. Lyrics appeared behind her like fireworks before disappearing. She closed by singing, “Who you are is not what you did/ 32 and still growing up now/ You’re still an innocent.” The song is from Swift’s upcoming release “Speak Now,” due out in late November. West closed the show with a new track called “Runaway” and his lyrics included a lot of cursing. One line which stood out as an “apologty” to Swift was, “You’ve been putting up with my (crap) for way too long.” The chorus included, “Let’s have a toast for the (D-bags) / Let’s have a toast for the (A-holes) / Let’s have a toast for the scumbags.” The crowd chanted “Kanye” when he was done.
Video link to VMA performances (Warning: Some language not edited):
Complete List of Winners from the 2010 VMAs
Video of the Year: Lady Gaga, “Bad Romance”Best Collaboration: Lady Gaga featuring Beyonce, “Telephone”Best Female Video: Lady Gaga, “Bad Romance”Best Male Video: Eminem, “Not Afraid”Best New Artist: Justin Bieber featuring Ludacris, “Baby”Best Pop Video: Lady Gaga, “Bad Romance”Best Hip Hop Video: Eminem, “Not Afraid”Best Rock Video: 30 Seconds To Mars, “Kings and Queens”Best Dance Music Video: Lady Gaga, “Bad Romance”Best Direction: Lady Gaga, “Bad Romance”Best Choreography: Lady Gaga, “Bad Romance”Best Breakthrough Video: The Black Keys, “Tighten Up”Best Art Direction: Florence + The Machine, “Dog Days Are Over”Best Cinematography: Jay-Z and Alicia Keys, “Empire State of Mind”Best Editing: Lady Gaga, “Bad Romance”Best Special Effects: Muse, “Uprising”
Eminem Making His Way Back
Whenever Eminem is in the house at the MTV Video Music Awards, you know fireworks are in store. And after the promise of a triumphant performance, Slim Shady did not disappoint. Going into the night as the most-nominated male with eight nods — including shots at Best Male Video, Best Hip-Hop Video and Video of the Year for his smash comeback hit “Not Afraid,” he blasted open the 2010 VMAs with another of his legendary spectacles. Though he’s performed in public only a few times since beginning his return to form last year with Relapse after almost four years out of the spotlight dealing with a nearly fatal addiction to prescription medication, Marshall Mathers showed few signs of rust as he opened the night’s proceedings. Eminem emerged on the dark stage wearing a black hoodie and holding a gleaming silver microphone and stared into the camera. He ripped into the redemptive lyrics of “Afraid” on a set that paid homage to the place where it all began, Detroit’s gritty St. Andrew’s Hall, where a then-unknown Shady first made his name more than a decade ago in the dingy brick-walled basement during epic lyrical battles. Rapping the song’s lyrics over a reworked spare piano-and-drums remix, a hungry look in his eye, Eminem was surrounded by a small audience of fans for the first verse until he turned around and descended the grand staircase onto the soon-to-be-legendary 2010 VMA stage.
Borrowing from the back-from-the-precipice theme of the “Afraid” clip, Shady paid tribute to the record-setting year he’s had with Recovery by blowing the song up to mega-status with a full string section, chorus of Taiko drummers and a gospel choir that gave the through-the-fire anthem a soaring, majestic feel. Backed by his hype man, Mr. Porter, Shady spit hard on the lyrics, “I been through the wringer, but they can do little to the middle finger/ I think I got a tear in my eye, I feel like the kind of my world/ Haters can make like bees with no stingers, and drop dead,” punctuating the lines with karate-chop hand gestures and a nimble stroll across the gleaming black stage, which was accented by the glittering lights of a cityscape in the background. Pointing to the sky, he signaled the night’s first big shock, as Rihanna kicked into the chorus of their smash hit “Love the Way You Lie.” Wearing a white gauzy dress and a flaming red wig bisected by a silver headband, Rihanna did a slow walk toward Marshall as the set turned into a sea of red flames and she locked eyes with her musical foil. The pair ended the performance back-to-back as the music faded, hugging it out before walking off the stage and leaving the audience electrified and primed for the rest of the night’s festivities.
Video link to Eminem’s performance
Lyrics to Swift’s New Song
I guess you really did it this time
Left yourself in your war path
Lost your balance on a tightrope
Lost your mind trying to get it back
Wasn’t it easier in your lunch box days?
Always a bigger bed to crawl into
Wasn’t it beautiful when you believed in everything
And everybody believed in you?
It’s all right, just wait and see
Your streaming lights are still bright to me oh
Who you are is not what you’ve been
You’re still an innocent
You’re still an innocent
There’s some things you can’t speak of
But tonight you’ll leave it all again
You wouldn’t be shattered on the floor now
If only you would sing only what you know …
Wasn’t it easy you’re in your firefly-catching days
And everything out of reach, someone bigger brought down to you
Wasn’t it beautiful running wild till you fell asleep
Before the monsters caught up to you?
It’s all right, just wait and see
Your streaming lights are still bright to me oh
Who you are is not who you’ve been
You’re still an innocent
It’s OK, life is a tough crowd
32 and still growing up now
Who you are is not what you did
You’re still an innocent
Time turns flames to ambers
You’ll have new Septembers
Every one of us has messed up too
Mind change like the weather
I hope you remember today is never too late
To be brave (ohh)
It’s all right, just wait and see
Your streaming lights are bright to me oh
Who you are is not where you’ve been
You’re still an innocent
It’s OK, life is a tough crowd
32 and still growing up now
Who you are is not what you did
You’re still an innocent
Lost your balance on a tightrope
It’s never too late to get it back
Videos:
Article on Taylor Swift and Kanye West – video of Swift’s song in the middle of the article: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1647666/20100912/swift__taylor.jhtml
Lady Gaga Meat Dress Photos
Bieber’s Debut VMA Performance
On Sunday night Justin Bieber’s fans showed up with super-high Bieber Fevers for the teen star’s debut VMA performance. Not only did Bieber get Kim Kardashian to introduce him and poke fun at their, “romance”, but he managed to get VMA host Chelsea Handler out of the Nokia Theatre for his set with a sign that read “Chelsea Loves Bieber.”
B.O.B Performs Big At VMAs
Selena Gomez and Ne-Yo introduced, B.o.B. And for his 2010 MTV VMA performance, he brought along Bruno Mars and Hayley Williams of Paramore. First up was Mars, who played the opening to “Beautiful Girls” and introduced B.o.B. Then Hayley Williams descended the stairs, signing the stirring opening to their hit, “Airplanes.” You could see the B.o.B. and Hayley were genuinely psyched to be playing together. The two only met for the first time the other day, during their rehearsal for the performance. But you’d never know it; B.o.B and Hayley’s chemistry was awesome. After performing most of “Airplanes,” it was Paramore’s turn to shine, as the Tennessee group played a restrained and beautiful version of their track, “The Only Exception.”
Drake Gets “Fancy”
At his arrival at the 2010 MTV VMA white carpet, Drake promised MTV host Tim Kash that he was planning something special for the ladies during his performance at the 2010 MTV VMAs. And he wasn’t kidding. Along with producer Swizz Beatz, Drake performed his sultry track, “Fancy,” from his smash debut album, Thank Me Later with special guest Mary J. Blige.
Usher Lights Up VMA Stage
Performing “DJ Got Us Falling In Love” and his smash hit “OMG” Usher was and a flock of dancers turned the stage into a club with his amazing dance skills aided by an epic light show.
Eminem Opens In A Huge Way
Eminem opened the show with his hit “Not Afraid” and got a little help from a full band. When he segued into his current smash, “Love The Way You Lie,” a surprise guest, Rihanna, joined Eminem on stage and gave an emotional rendition to a standing crowd.
