As we are all pretty much aware by now, the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards were handed out at Radio City Music Hall here in NYC last night in a ceremony that was mired in controversy but also featured heartfelt tributes to the late Michael Jackson as well as a few spectacular performances and on stage appearances. Here are a few photos from the red carpet arrivals last night:
But for a few exceptions, most everyone looked amazing on the red carpet. I loved all the shiny bling that some folks were wearing … particularly Kristin Cavallari who wore a simple vintage dress and looked absolutely amazing in it. The show itself was really fun .. the opening tribute performance to MJ was really very cool and except for Kanye West‘s douchey behavior, the show was very entertaining. Here are a few pics from the show and some deets about what went down:
Planned and random acts of kindness reigned at the MTV Video Music Awards at Radio City Music Hall on Sunday night. Among the planned acts: Janet Jackson’s opening tribute to her brother Michael, whose death at age 50 on June 25 rocked the music world. The production began with Madonna recalling her encounter with Michael and reminding the audience that “Michael Jackson was a hero.” And while “he seemed otherworldly,” she added, “he was also a human being.” And then, the performance began. Dancers crept up on stage with original Thriller video airing in the background. The dancers’ moves duplicated the ones being performed on the video. Then a sequence of Michael’s hits played. Bad and Smooth Criminal led to Scream, his duet with Janet, who broke through glass to make her way onstage and sing along with the video. The loud, almost angry performance had the audience on its feet. After the tribute, Madonna said backstage that “it was good to finally get to say my piece.” And then near the end of the show, in a gracious act of kindness, video-of-the-year winner Beyoncé offered young country music star Taylor Swift a second chance to say her piece with an acceptance speech. The moment came after Kanye West took everyone by surprise early in the show when he went onstage to interrupt Swift’s acceptance speech for best female video for You Belong With Me … The teen country star returned for her live performance of You Belong With Me later in the show. Celebrities reacted backstage. Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong said, “Well, you know, she’s young, I think she’ll get over it. I think he needs to get it over it also. It was very uncomfortable sitting there.” “I feel bad for Taylor,” said Kristin Cavallari. “I think it was really disrespectful” … Other music-related news items had guests talking at the awards show, too. American Idol’s Kara DioGuardi was asked about her new colleague at the judges’ table, Ellen DeGeneres. “I feel fantastic. I feel ecstatic. I can’t wait for January, when we can all be on the panel.” DioGuardi added that she has been in touch with former judge Paula Abdul. “I’ve spoken to her, and she seems to be doing really well, and that’s what matters.” Abdul is set to play host at the VH1 Divas special on MTV’s sister network on Thursday night (9 ET/PT). Faye Dunaway had two divas she was looking forward to seeing on Sunday at the VMAs. “Lady Gaga and Beyoncé. How could you not love Beyoncé?” Dunaway asked. Ne-Yo echoed Dunaway’s sentiment. When asked who he was rooting for, he replied, “Besides myself?” and then added, “I’m here to see Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Pink, everyone. I’m here just to enjoy the electricity.” And the atmosphere was electric, with returning host Russell Brand doling out his brash brand of humor. Among the stars: Jennifer Lopez, Alicia Keys, Eminem, Jermaine Jackson, Katy Perry, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner.
For me, the live performances were the highlight of the entire night. After the jump, check out a few photos from the press room and watch a couple of my fave performances from the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards …
As usual, Beyoncé put on a killer performance … here is video of her performance of Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) which took home the biggest award of the night — Video of the Year:
But as great as Beyoncé‘s performance was, I think I have to say that P!nk‘s performance of Sober was the best of the night. Her ability to sing live and still do feats of high wire acrobatics was really impressive … check it out:
A shout out also goes to our dear Britney Spears who won the VMA for Best Pop Video!! Altho she couldn’t be in NYC to collect her award, she did pretend to be performing in concert elsewhere but gave her thanks anyways (a check of her tour schedule reveals that she did NOT have a concert performance last night even tho she said she did when accepting her award via video) — LOL! Oh, Britney. All in all, I had a great time at the VMAs last night … I’ll have personal photos to share a little later on.
[Photo credit: Wireimage; Source, Source]
There is no way Pink was singing live. It was not hard to tell at all that the music was prerecorded. Nice try.
Observing Mr. West’s behavior over the years, convinced me that Kanye possibly has ADHD. His impulsivity is typical of a teenager with ADHD, he needs to have his Ritalin or to get some coaching to deal with his emotional behavioral issues before he gets himself into more problems again.
@Dr. E — I think his problem is too much ego + too much booze. He was drinking a bottle of cognac on the red carpet, still had the bottle in had when MTV kicked his ass out.
I CAN NOT WAIT to go see P!NK live on Friday!!
@Trent…in Britney’s defense, that award was given to her before the show as evident by the dancers watching it on TV in one of the many hotel rooms here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSVv6w1OQH0. So as far as the pretending to be performing in concert someplace else, she actually was performing in concert when she filmed her acceptance speech. Correct me if I am wrong though.
@Larry — Actually, I think you’re right. Still … it would’ve been awesome if she would’ve popped up as a surprise on the show. I’m not sure what you feel you need to defend?
Yeah, Trent, what was up with Lil Mama? Did she randomly run up there? All I know is one second I was watching J and Alicia Keys, and then she is up there posing. Was she there the whole time, and I’ve gone crazy?
Hands down, Pink’s performance was THEE BEST of the night. And Beyonce’s was a very-close second.
I was never a fan of Taylor Swift before, but I admire her now for handling things so well. I’ll be listening to her with a new ear and I already like what I hear.
I hope I never have to see or read about Kanye West ever again.
I loved Jack Black’s “Brutal Legend”, I’d love to have one of my own.
Madonna’s jacket was HOT, I’d love to have one of my own of those as well!
The Michael Jackson tribute was just so amazing to watch. It musta been tough for Janet Jackson to get through it, but it was great to watch.
BIG UPS to Beyonce for handing Taylor Swift the mic at the end of the night. At least the show ended on a good note.
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@Trent – I’m curious, did you see Kanye West drinking on the red carpet? (I know I just said above that I don’t ever wanna read about him ever again, but I think this guy needs to visit AA or get some kind of help, he’s outta control)
@Kent — This is why we are virtual BFFs :) Yes, Kanye was carrying a half empty bottle of cognac … he was a mess. I’m way over him.
@Trent — I guess, to me, you made it seem like you were calling our girl out on something which wasn’t true. However, you’re right, there is no need to be defensive about it. I am with you on the surprise appearance though, that would have been awesome. Glad you had a good time.
@Larry — dude, I love Britney so much … she is my girl. I was only kidding around, I love her!!
@Monique — LMAO i thought the same thing. WTF are you doing up there. No one even paid any mind to her.
I really liked Lady Gaga’s performance. She sings full out, and always is surprising. I literally gasped! When everything seems played out, it is refreshing to be surprised. I thought Beyonce did a good job, she always puts 100% into her performances, but I wish she would have sang a little bit more. She is such a strong singer, and we have seen her do all of those moves before. I thought that P!nk was amazing…and yes, she IS very fit and trained so I doubt she was lip synching. She does that in her tour (highest grossing tour in Australia EVER), and she has been on tour for months now. I bet she is used to that by now.
Trent, what didu think of russel brands hosting? I’m watching it now and just don’t know what to think!!
I’m also glad you caught the fact that once again Britney disappoints her die hard fans and decided to not show up for a show that could have been a staple in her already huge comeback. I do not understand her team and those that have a say in what she does…Just because she shows up at the show doesnt mean she cant celebrate her kids birthdays. The VMAs are basically her time to shine and she blows it for the second time. if anything it needed to be the perfect opportunity to showcase her talent and why she “deserved” (even the she didn’t) the awards she won last year. She brought her “A “game with the Womanizer and Circus videos and her noms were proof of that so it was her time to showcase it through performance. I’m baffled by her too much and thats just such a let down
Wow. I’m totally stunned by Pink’s performance. I don’t really listen to her music, and I don’t have MTV or anything, so I don’t see videos unless I look for them online….. But DAYUM… that was a beautiful song and her ability to perform the way she did AND SING AT THE SAME TIME – just blows me away. That was awesome. It’s hard enough to sing and dance at the same time, but doing what she was doing – wow.
I didn’t like her costume, but her performance totally made that not matter!!!!
on another note, although fans have their say, they should not have a say as to what is REALLY considered the best videos for each category other than a peoples choice award. Artists should not be given those types of awards because they have annoying 12 year old fans that constantly vote for their favorite artist, when other more deserving artists should win. If anything fans should only be able to vote in order to figure out what videos should be nominated. Single Ladies took a very simple concept and created a dance revolution unseen since the macarena and for that it should have gotten best female video, as well as video of the year which it won. It seems stupid that a video can Win for Video of the year and not win for female video of the year…it makes no sense, isnt it technically considered the best video?????and she is a female so it should go to her…Both Taylor Swift and Kelly Clarkson should not have had those nominations, especially because Britney Spears was shut out of that Category altogether when we all know that Circus and Womanizer were killer compared to Taylor and Kelly. Although this entire situation isn’t all that serious, it makes you wonder…Do the majority of people that watch music videos or MTV even know what Taylor Swifts music video is like? As a huge music fan and even a fan of some of Taylors stuff, I have personally NEVER watched the video for which she won that award for and I know that I’m not alone in this, so why is she so deserving of her award. Kanye was absolutley right about his rant, given it was not his place to showcase his opinion on stage, well other than maybe him coming up to the stage to accept his own award but still, come on, it’s common sense that Beyonce deserved that award and if nothing even Britney who wasnt even nominated should have won that award. As for Gaga, it was her very first VMA’s and she owned it, people have been saying her outfits are too outlandish and whatnot, but isn’t that was pop music is all about, it’s about dressup. When we see ridiculous outfits on designer runways we ask, why do they make that? who on earth would ever wear that? And now, when we see those outfits our first thought is, thats so Gaga…she wears Art and therefore she IS art. She knows exactly what shes doing and although I love me some Beyonce her performance was nothing compared to Gagas…Gagas had everything that one could imagine doing, whether you like her or not she had you captivated, I can guarantee that noone changed the channel when she was on the screen and thats what a true artist is, so props to Gaga for holding her own on her very first VMAs.
Hello!
Wow Janet and JLO. GReat Janet Jackson is back. Leave Britney alone dud huhh?
also, just to be a nit picky bastard, for the record Kanye drank a bottle of HENNESSY all night…which may be a good excuse for his douchebag behavior, even though he’s usually a douche. Taylor should be sending him a bouquet of flowers this morning because this puts her further on the map and made her more so buzzworthy and all anyone can talk about tonight as well as today, had it not happened people would have thought, oh how cute, good for her and thats it…I actually am a fan of hers but she’s nothing special at all, and then she went on to sing in a mediocre way, one of which she always has and always will…although the concept was super original and cool, her vocals are always freaking lacking…so she should thank her lucky stars it happened to her and she gets the sympathy for his actions as opposed to man, taylor really sucks live…and I know it would be really hard to sing live and well under those crushing circumstances but her vocals were on pare with how they usually sound, traumatic event aside
loved pink!!! best of the night, my opinion. beyonce also got some brownie points from me. i’m not a huge fan of hers but after her performance last night and giving the mic to taylor, she def. gained points… i also thought Jay-Z and Alicia Keys perfomance was amazing. i love how Jay-Z acknowledged Beyonce and pointed at her in the beg of the song. I would love to see those 2 perform together. i have to say that these were one of the best VMA’s i’ve seen in a long time. i never watch the whole show and last night, i watched it from beg to end. i usually dont like russell brand but i think he did a good job. he was entertaining and not very disrespectful….
@danielthegreat
“Just to be a nit picky bastard” … Hennessy IS congac. If you’re going to rant, get your facts straight.
@danielthegreat:
If you have that much stuff to whine about… get your own blog
Karma is a bitch. I really enjoy reading about all the backlash. I don’t wish ill on people, but Kanye deserves to lose a few fans. Even the usually sweet Kelly Clarkson tore him a new one on her blog.
Off to see Beyonce tonight in Melbourne, she’s such a tremendous talent, her performance was outstanding at the VMAs.
“All the singles ladies, all the single ladies…”