Do the VMA matter at all? – Steve Perotti

While routinely checking various media connections early Monday morning (email,Feedly,Twitter,Facebook,etc), I was bombarded by a stream of letters forming one single acronym: VMA. Statuses, tweets, articles, postings, emails all focused on one thing and one thing only. And I had an epiphany: DO the VMAs matter at all? What is the importance the VMAs have? Why is the fallout from the VMAs so important to real news? I think, in a nutshell, nothing about the VMAs matters one bit.

Does it really matter, in the scope of world events and serious issues, that Miley Cyrus made herself out to look like a fool on national television by “twerking” on Robin Thicke? Does anyone really care about the one-minute reunion of ‘N Sync and the fact that it was predominantly Justin Timberlake and 4 other guys? Why are we wasting so many hours discussing these things? Does anyone REALLY care more about these “awards” then they do about any REAL NEWS? What, if any, is the damn importance of Cyrus’ attire and who she’s dancing with?

It is entirely possible that I’m blowing the situation out of proportion. Granted, I am of a different generation then the majority of the viewers who watched the VMAs, and I wasn’t even aware of who Miley Cyrus was for the longest time. I didn’t even know that Billy Ray Cyrus had a daughter who was acting/singing. But, in my defense, I didn’t care to know when she did hit the scene. I could care even less now, but I don’t seem to have a choice in the matter anymore. The pictures of not only Miley but the unfortunate audience members who were forced to sit and watch her provocative “dance” have permeated and infected every social media site as well as legitimate blogs and sites of serious news publications. While the facial expressions of Will Smith and his children when looking at Miley dance are hilarious, I don’t see it as being newsworthy or worthy of the shock that seems to be the general public’s reaction.

A positive buzz worthy event? – Lea Naqishbendi

Unsurprisingly, people are talking about Sunday night’s VMAs, including me! I really enjoyed the categories, celebrity reunions and performances, and acknowledgement of talent. A couple of highlights made the overall experience a positive buzz-worthy event.

The VMAs took place in Brooklyn, so it only makes sense that Lil’ Kim, Brooklyn’s own female rapper, would resurface to be one of the first few artists to introduce award winners.
N*SYNC resurrected for the night, and my heart was pounding when all five members met on stage to sing “Girlfriend” during one of the lengthier performances. As celebrities were dancing and singing along, they became human; fans as well as artists.

Another performance I thought was on point was Robin Thicke and Miley Cyrus as they performed together “Blurred Lines.” Cyrus, who got her debut on “Hannah Montana,” is your former Disney “good girl” gone “bad” for the night. Wild and in lingerie, I could have believed Robin Thicke wrote that song for her. The mood was fun and playful just like the song, and the performance, though very sexy, was the most entertaining performance of the night.

As for nominees, I was very surprised that Robin Thicke was the night’s biggest loser– nominated four times and not landing one Moonman! Cyrus, like Thicke, went away empty-handed as well. Drake was shy an award too, but he equaled Thicke and Cyrus’ performance and had the crowd going with his new song, “Hold On, We’re Going Home.” These performers made the night!

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, with guest singers Ray Dalton and Amanda Lambert, won best hip-hop video and best video with a social message, a newer category that reinforced the positive aspect of the music industry. Having won twice as much as the other nominees, it was more exciting for me to see that Ryan Lewis had been nominated for the professional work he did on the videos along with his work as an artist. Nice to see true talent being acknowledged! This could be the very reason MTV holds the traditional ceremony each year.
Overall, the award ceremony was fun and worth skipping “Dexter” for the night.