The VMAs Deliver, Finally

Last night’s MTV Video Music Awards was broadcasted from New York’s Radio City Music Hall and what a show it was. Russell Brand hosted for the second consecutive year and was better received by the VMA attendees proving that unless you’re well-known people won’t cheer for you no matter how talented you are.

The evening kicked off with a tribute to Michael Jackson. Madonna said some kind words about her time spent with him and then came the dance numbers. It was nice to see professional dancers tackle the moonwalker’s legendary moves instead of big named imitators who would have done a so-so job but since they’re famous we would have all been fooled to believe it was great. After the electrifying dance medley Ms. Jackson took to the stage and performed alongside her late brother (with his portion of the video projected behind her on a giant screen) their duet “Scream.” It was touching, moving and entertaining as hell. Bravo.

The performances were great, Beyonce put on a spectacular show with her “Single Ladies” while Taylor Swift took her performance to the underground and performed via a subway station and then on a moving F train that transported her back to the front steps of Radio City. P!nk performed acrobatic moves along to her hit single “Sober” while Lady Gaga performed a theatrical piece, a cross between Madonna’s VMA “Vogue” performance and Phantom of the Opera, the “Poker Face” singer bled on stage and ended her performance with flashing light bulbs and the sounds of paparazzi photographing her as she hung from a noose.

But undoubtedly the most blogged, talked and tweeted about moment came when Kanye West took the mic away from a stunned Taylor Swift as she accepted her moon man for “Best Female Video” for her single “You Belong With Me,” he stated, “Hey Taylor, I’m really happy for you, but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time.” Camera crews cut to their next skit leaving Taylor Swift in the dark onstage and unable to finish her acceptance speech. She then later got her moment to shine after a classy Beyonce accepted her moon man for “Video of The Year” stating how she remembered being 17 years old and being at the VMAs for the first time with Destiny’s Child and how important it is to have your moment. She then called out Taylor Swift who hugged her immediately then took a shot at her acceptance speech.

Closing out the evening was Jay Z with Alicia Keys as they performed “Empire State of Mind” off Jay’s new album “The Blue Print 3.” This year’s VMAs was far better than previous years it didn’t try too hard, i.e. Britney fiasco of ‘07 and the multi-camera and multi-performance locals of ‘08 which provided snippets of many of the big named performers in odd locations.  This year’s VMAs were performance driven and didn’t appear to have any outlandish stunts. It got back to the core of what the VMAs are all about, a platform for performers to cut loose, put on a show and have a great time.