Posted on Monday, 14th September 2009 by Interloper
Here I am, back again to welcome another Monday morning. I’m pleased so far with how this bold new Shrine is coming together, so thanks again to everyone that has taken the time to sign-up to the forum or join us in chat and contribute a little of their own insanity with the rest of us.
But that’s enough of that. I’m riding high on the caffeine from a second coffee I shouldn’t have had and trying to think about what to write. In future weeks you can expect me to delve into the murky refuse of monday morning news in order to discern whether or not anything has happened over the weekend that’s actually worth knowing about.
Today though, I’m ignoring that by talking about something that’s more shiny than it is important. Because it’s that time again for the annual MTV Video Music Awards!
GMM #2: Everyone Loves Shiny
I can’t ignore this, because I’ve been getting live twitter updates about it all morning (also, if you’re a twitmaniac follow @insaneshrine to recieve all your insanity in tweet-sized chunks). The VMAs are always exciting for me, because they represent the ongoing legacy of popular culture in the West.
Chances are you’ve enjoyed at least one VMAs performance over the years, as the various VMA stages have played host to acts ranging from Guns N’ Roses and Nirvana, to Eminem and Britney Spears.
The awards are often controversial, creating as they do such a volatile mixture of personality types and expansive egos, it’s like adding a bunch of revealingly-dressed bacteria into a petri dish and watching through a microscope.
One such controversy occured in 1992, when a feud between Axl Rose and Kurt Cobain culiminated in Cobain spitting on the keys of a piano that he thought Rose would be playing. Later, Cobain is said to have been shocked to discover Elton John playing on that piano.
Sometimes the shows have been used to promote positive messages, like in 1999 when the mother’s of rival rappers Tupac Shakur (2Pac) and Christopher Wallace (The Notorious B.I.G.) met for the first time, on stage, in order to honour the memories of their sons.
And of course, I’ve somehow managed to make it this far without mentioning the 2003 awards, in which Madonna “passed the tongue” as they say, to a whole new generation of pop tartlets. For many, that was the single greatest moment in TV history. Who needs a moon landing when you can have a moon man?
Traditionally the MTV Video Music Awards were held on the second thursday in September, but after the September 11 attacks that date was moved back one week so that the date of the VMA’s could never coincide with the anniversary of the attacks.
So what’s in store for this years VMAs? There’ll undoubtedly be some time taken to honour the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, who it has been announced will officially be awarded the “Artist of the Millenium” award that Britney Spears unwittingly awarded him in 2002. Host Russell Brand (who you might have seen in movies like Forgetting Sarah Marshall and St. Trinians) is sure to be hilarious.
Will it turn out to be a good decision to sit Taylor Swift behind Eminem? We won’t know until it’s over. But whatever happens, it’s certain that the VMAs will continue to be one of the most colourful, unpredictable and shiniest shows on television.
And surely everyone loves shiny, even if they don’t like to admit it.
Good morning, Monday.
Posted in Gossip, Insanity, Music | Comments (0)
