The VMA's featuring the usual suspects

Turn on the radio and you're likely to hear Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Eminem, Rhianna, Kei$ha, Taylor Swift or one of the many hip hop crooners such as Usher, Bruno Mars or B.O.B on loop. Those are pretty much the only artists making the rounds at last night's MTV Video Music Awards. Yawn.

Chelsea Handler stepped up at the first female host in around 10 years; too bad she isn't funny. I might be one of the only girls I know who finds her dry and irritating. She did, however, encourage guests and award recipients to be on their worst behavior. That failed, unless you take great offense to Lady Gaga's meat dress.


The 2010 VMA's were not the craziest to date but there were some good parts. Eminem is back and he opened the show with a powerful performance with a surprise appearance from Rhianna (who was slightly off key). Too bad Eminem bailed to go perform on the East Coast with Jay-Z. I would've liked to see him humbly accept his awards.

Bieber blew the young ladies away with his outside performance. That kid can dance. Bieb's mentor Usher blew the ladies away inside with this major choreography.


Taylor Swift seemed petrified to be on stage again after last year's Kanye catastrophe. Her song was good; but Kanye's was better. He toasted all the 'scumbags'. Both Swift and West had hidden messages behind their performances; but what I think we were all waiting for was for the two of them to appear on stage together.

It's pretty clear the VMA's are all in good fun. I get sick of the favoritism but I tune in for the performances. Maybe I'm getting old but I remember the days where rock bands used to scale the stage apparatus and Britney Spears used to wear snakes.

Here's a roundup of the winners:


Collaboration: Lady Gaga featuring Beyonce, "Telephone"

Female video: Lady Gaga, "Bad Romance"

Male video: Eminem, "Not Afraid"

Hip-hop video: Eminem, "Not Afraid"

New artist: Justin Bieber featuring Ludacris, "Baby"

Pop video: Lady Gaga, "Bad Romance"

Rock video: 30 Seconds to Mars, "Kings and Queens"

Dance music video: Lady Gaga, "Bad Romance"

Art direction: Florence and the Machine, "Dog Days Are Over"

Choreography: Lady Gaga, "Bad Romance"

Cinematography: Jay Z and Alicia Keys, "Empire State of Mind"

Direction: Lady Gaga, "Bad Romance"

Editing: Lady Gaga, "Bad Romance"

Special effects: Muse, "Uprising"

Breakthrough video: The Black Keys, "Tighten Up"

Video of the year: Lady Gaga, "Bad Romance"

Courtesy of the AP