August 28th saw MTV (formerly, Music Television) host its 38th annual Video Music Awards show, this time from Newark, New Jersey, of all places. The three hour+ broadcast, not including the 90-minute pre-show, continued the recent tradition of being a blend of boring and quizzically unwatchable, especially depending on the age of the viewer. While MTV’s focus on teens and twenty-somethings is nothing new, the combination of that and the artists which are being embraced by (and in some cases, pushed upon) that modern audience leads to a blend of performances and moments that could range from significant to completely dismissible. Considering it has been over a decade since the channel has regularly included anything related to music (at all), the value and validity of continuing these awards regardless is debatable. Having said that, it seems this year’s show at least reacted to the ongoing complaints about how youth-focused it has become and offered about 25 minutes of content to engage Gen-X viewers around the shows’ half-way point.
Moving beyond discussing the artists with the most nominations or who won the most awards, such as Jack Harlow, Doja Cat, and Harry Styles, the list of those with connections to the world of rock music and rock history remained small. Modern pop-based alternative acts such as Billie Eilish, were focused on less this year, and the trend of broader inclusion (and/or pandering) of artists of varying race, nationality, sexual orientation, and genre continued. More surprisingly was MTV’s recognition for Taylor Swift’s recent output, having now been among nominees for over 15 years putting her past the sell-by date for most artists featured by the channel. The few notable artists among the winners included The Weeknd, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Maneskin, and Nicki Minaj, most of whom also performed during the awards show.
While performances from emerging artists during the
pre-show and during commercial bumpers (from the “Extended Play Stage”) yielded
little interest, a few new artists, such as Yung Gravy and JID, showed
potential, at least compared to their contemporaries and most of the actual
award winners. Performances during the main show varied from predictable pop
and pop fusion acts, such as Lizzo, Khalid, and Jack Harlow, to the Latin pop
of J Balvin and Bad Bunny, and the K-pop of Blackpink, with very little to
offer rock fans in most respects. Italian newcomers, Maneskin, were given just
under three minutes to run through one of their recent singles amid lights,
pyro, and a troupe of dancers that looked out of place next to the band. A “wardrobe
malfunction” had by bassist Victoria De Angelis led to jarring cut-aways and
wide shots to avoid broadcasting full frontal nudity on the live show, but even
casual fans of the band have seen them often perform in various stats of
undress, and after a similar incident occurred last month at Chicago’s annual
Lollapalooza festival, it begs the question of how much of an accident it
really is for this young lady to end up topless on stage, especially during a
high-profile broadcast performance. An overly hyped reunion performance from
Panic! At the Disco closed the show long after it ran out of steam, and even
hip hop as a style was barely represented among the performers, something
almost unthinkable on this show even 8 or 10 years ago. Aside from Nicki Minaj’s
lengthy medley in honor of her receiving the Video Vanguard Award (with Michael
Jackson’s name still attached to it depending on the outlet reporting the
information), only Snoop Dogg and Eminem’s recent NFT-hocking collaboration, “From
the D 2 the LBC” was the only hip hop song performed.
That performance arrived around the show’s mid-point, finally throwing Gen-Xers a bone after years of whining that only the youngest listeners were being represented on the show. Shortly after that, the throw back moments continued when the legendary Red Hot Chili Peppers were highlighted and honored with a Global Icon award (a recognition even above Video Vanguard, which they won over 20 years ago). After a hilariously stoned and out-of-place introduction by comedy duo, Cheech and Chong, legends in their own right, the Chili Peppers performed two songs, “Black Summer,” the lead single from their most recent LP and the winner of the Rock Video of the Year award, and “Can’t Stop,” a classic jam from…wow, even that song is 20 years old. An awkward few moments of acceptance speeches by three of the band’s members concluded with a notice that guitarist John Frusciante says it all with his smile and his amazing guitar playing, to which he smiled and waved without speaking into the microphone at any time. Drummer, Chad Smith, also took a moment to dedicate the award to the memory of his friend and Foo Fighters drummer, Taylor Hawkins, who was celebrated with a 6-hour marathon concert in London a week later.
The tone of the show quickly fell back to a Gen-Z focus
after the old people were ushered off the stage, and thus, any sort of engaging
momentum fell as well. It’s long been discussed that the VMAs no longer serve
the purpose they once did (if they ever did to begin with) and that with MTV
choosing to mostly avoid music altogether, it should either be discontinued or
at least converted into an annual performance special, leaving the awards out
entirely. Regardless of the reasons why the network chooses to still pretend
the need and desire exists to broadcast these awards now as they did decades
ago, it’s clear that everyone involved makes too much money for them to stop
airing it. It almost seems like the VMAs are the one music-related thing the channel
even spends money on over a year’s time, but only time will tell how long it
can be sustained.
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