Posted on September 13, 2007
What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, right? That seems to be the case for this year’s MTV Video Music Awards. The show aired live on Sept. 9 from the Palms Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas for one time, and one time only.
In the past, MTV has been known for constantly re-playing the outrageous awards show. However, this year is a bit different. The re-runs of this year’s show are being remixed by viewer input, so every time it re-airs, it includes footage picked by viewers.
This year’s show certainly had its memorable moments, but was it a success? Differing opinions have been flooding the ranks across the country. The idea for this year’s show was to give the Palms Hotel and Casino a “make over” — MTV style.
“We may not own Las Vegas yet, but for one weekend the VMAs will rock this town,” MTV President Christina Norman said before the show.
This year’s show tried to create memorable experiences by having performances all along the famous strip, at locations like Club Rain, Beacon Theatre and the Playboy Suites.
The celebrity suite parties turned out to not be as groundbreaking and successful as MTV had hoped. The terrible acoustics and packed crowd made it difficult for the performances to fully suceed. The collaborations were unique but a little much; there was too much talent on stage at once to really make it work. Many people love hip-hop, but having T.I, 50 Cent, Justin Timberlake and Timbaland all on the mic at once was a little chaotic and hard to follow.
On a better note, there were still some great performance to talk about, but first we have to discuss “you know who.” Britney Spears’ opening performance at the Beacon Theatre was weak. She just didn’t have her old moves or presence on stage.
Chris Brown’s performance of “Wall to Wall” and then his cover of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” received high praise from the crowd. He crushed his dance routine and showed the world “the new generation,” as Timberlake said. Rihanna’s performance of “Umbrella” was marvelous like always.
Timbaland acted as “Maestro,” working the soundboards and dropping beats all night as the VMA’s musical director. His intro into Linkin Park’s latest hit, “Bleed It Out” at Club Rain, was a pleasant surprise, along with the lighting equipment.
However, the best performance of the night, by far, was the triple threat collaboration between Justin Timberlake, Timbaland, and Nelly Furtado. Furtado started off with her hit “Do It,” then Timbaland went into “The Way I Are” with Keri Hilson. Finally, Timberlake upped the ante by going into “LoveStoned” and tearing up the stage with his renowned dance moves.
While the performances made the show (excluding the opening act), a factor that brought the VMAs down was the fact there was no host besides an opening by Sarah Silverman. She tried to be funny by making fun of people in the crowd and then ended up being extremely vulgar and inappropriate.
Finally, what is a good award show without some drama? MTV promised to “blow the roof off The Palms,” but that was not the case. The roof wasn’t blown off, but Kid Rock’s temper definitely blew up. Tommy Lee provoked Rock with some choice words when he went over to Lee’s table, which ended up in a physical altercation that led to them being escorted out of the show. Ah, the drama. So, did MTV try a little too hard to make this year’s VMAs an extravagant, unforgettable event? It seems that throwing a bunch of the year’s hottest celebrities into packed suites and giving them microphones doesn’t always cut it. Life in Las Vegas is always a roll of the dice, so maybe MTV should stick with performances like Nelly Furtado’s or Chris Brown’s in an ordinary venue because in the end was it really worth the gamble?
About Us | Supplements | Advertising | Contact Us
Website design by Erik Pitzer ('07)
