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Review:
2002 MTV Video Music Awards
Written
By Rick Ellis, August
29th, 2002
Click
Here For A Complete List Of the Winners
Even
at its best, it
helps to have a strong sense of irony when you watch MTV. The
channel pitches itself as some sort of rebel-rousing anti-establishment
bastion of youthful freedom and rebellion. At the same time, it's
owned by Viacom, one of the largest media companies in the world.
Even the music it plays is generally owned, controlled and distributed
by other large, soulless media companies. Rebellion? Hell, MTV
is about as dangerous and independent as the average bowl of oatmeal.
Tonight's
Video Music Awards were a textbook example of the level of corporate
"synergy" and cross-promotion that take place everyday
in the music business and on MTV. Every move seemed calculated
to appear somewhat hip and relevant while at the same time being
as easy to digest as a bread sandwich.
The
show opened with a performance by Bruce Springsteen and The E-Street
Band. On the positive side, their version of "The Rising,"
was the strongest I've seen from the band during their recent
promotional tour. On the downside, since he's already performed
the tune of every show from "Today" on down, it wasn't
exactly a defining moment of rock. Once you've had the song introduced
by Matt Lauer, it's hard to get back the street cred.
Host
Jimmy Fallon then proceeded to do a veeeery extended spoof of
some current bands and videos. While it sometimes hit the mark
(with shots at Nelly, Dave Matthews and Enrique Iglesias), it
mostly wasn't very funny. And not even the appearance by James
Brown managed to elevate it above the "merely okay"
mark.
Then
the show turned slightly surreal. A leather-clad Britney Spears
introduced Michael Jackson, who accepted the award for "Artist
Of The Millennium." The entire segment was an odd way to
begin an awards show, particularly when Jackson thanked not only
various managers and family members, but also magician David Blaine.
Next
up was Jennifer Love Hewitt. She might not have much of a music
career in the U.S., but she is at least being billed by MTV as
a "singer-songwriter." She introduced a live performance
by Pink, who finally managed to kick the show into something resembling
a real music awards program.
To
be fair to Ms. Hewitt, she certainly wasn't the worst presenter
of the evening, since Enrique "I'm Wearing The Clothes I
Woke In" Iglesias couldn't get the phrase "Let's get
busy," out in one piece even with the help of a cue card.
And who can forget the sight of the lovely Mary-Kate and Ashley
Olson painfully attempting to spoof their good girl images by
yucking it up with a prepared "bit" before giving away
the "Breakthrough Video Of The Year" award.
The
show featured the expected bunch of over-the-hill musicians (David
Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar), musicians between releases (Christina
Aguilera) and the occasional "who cares" celebrity sighting
(Donald Trump and his girlfriend).
As
it turns out, the show didn't really kick until nearly the three
hour mark. That's when Eminem found himself in a shouting match
with Triumph the Insult Dog and Moby just before he accepted the
award for "Best Male Video." By the end of his acceptance
speech he was being booed by parts of the audience who apparently
objected to his comments towards Moby, which included the always
tasteful "I'll hit a man with glasses."
The
show then launched into a high gear with a battle of the bands
between rockers The Hives and The Vines and a live performance
by Justin Timberlake, whose debut single is the best song Michael
Jackson never recorded.
This
year's VMA's ended on a rocking odd note as Guns N' Roses hit
the stage to lumber through a few tunes. While the performance
had its explosive moments, Axl Rose seemed to be the sole original
member in attendance, and his vocals were strained and often weak.
Don't ask me to explain the guitarist wearing the KFC chicken
bucket on his head.
Sometimes
I just feel so old.
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