i will agree, Brand's political comments were a little random and a bit much, esp for a VMA. but i find it very close-minded of you to say he shouldn't have an opinion because he's not voting in the election. American politics is pretty important worldwide, as a lot of decisions here affect decisions made overseas, voluntary or mandatory. Too bad its not reciprocal, because not nearly enough Americans follow international politics.

There was a show on CNN yesterday afternoon, i think a panel of international political analysts and leaders discussing the election. The host said "We will talk about the presidential election, but we will talk about other things because there ARE other things happening in politics."

How bout that?

If you have seen "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" then you are familiar with Russell Brand. I'd say that movie targets a lot of the MTV's target range which is 18-25. Even I went to see it (against my will) and really enjoyed his character. I don't think America was ready for him and vice versa. He did fall flat, but I did appreciate what he was trying to do. I just think maybe he was trying to approach a foreign audience a little too differently. Also, the show sucked because it sucked in general from malfunctioning host jokes to terrible performance concepts to poor planning of relevance in artist performance, etc. He alone did not make it fail. Although, I do feel that they should have stuck with someone more known in the U.S. If we are familiar with them they'll at least get pity laughs & forgiveness, you know?

Did anyone notice how MTV is trying to add in more acts by sticking them in before and after commercials for the past two VMAs? I think that is a major part of why the "feel" is lost. Also, moving the artist from the main stage...not working. If it feels like we're watching a music video then it doesn't feel like we're watching an awards show. They are trying too hard. Too much innovation perhaps.

What are some of the other issues causing the awards to lose their appeal that you have noticed? What would you change? What changes do you like?

The surprises use to make the VMAs. You couldn't wait until you found out what the big surprises were. Madonna kissing Brit and Xtina, Michael kissing Lisa Marie, Prince and the buttless pants, etc.

i think this is just it - MTV has always try to out-do itself year after year, esp after being the *only* network to do an awards show of its kind. but i think a lot of its appeal being lost isnt all on them. music artists are not the same as they were before--at least IMO. the performances aren't the same, and there are way more chances to see your favorite artist perform live (or over and over via youtube or buying concert DVDs). and videos arent the same either. i don't think people look forward to music videos of their favorite artist when there are videos of them doing all sorts of other stuff, from dodging papparazzi, shopping for groceries or... well the more explicit.

remember when "world premieres" of videos were something to look forward to? pshaw. there are some videos of songs that i couldnt even point it out to you on a screen (ie. "Pieces of Me") but older songs, you could mute the video and still sing it on beat.

also, award shows aren't doing so hot overall. i dont know the reasons behind this, but arent the Grammys, Emmys, AMAs doing awful in ratings lately?

AMAs is another awards show that has gone down big time. A lot of the big acts don't even show up. And moving it from January to November (partly because of the Oscars being earlier in the year) doesn't help either. It's almost to the point that I want to tell Dick Clark to give it up.

And they stop televising the Billboard Awards (but if you follow the charts, you figure out who wins anyway) and the Soul Train Awards (another one no one was showing up for and was going down hill).

I've actually enjoyed the Grammys the last few years.

I guess a lot of the stuff I'm gonna say is just agreeing with other stuff already posted, but here I go:

Wtf was up with the venue? I know the VMAs aren't as huge as the Grammy's, but the venue was tiny and ridiculous. A lot of the show looked unrehearsed and unprofessional.

Britney...oh Britney...yes, she looked good, but she really didn't deserve those awards. I think Katy Perry totally got ripped off. And like Nikki said, who the hell is Tokio Hotel?

What else was I gonna bitch about? I dunno, it was just lame. Oh, Christina was pretty hot. You go, girl!

MTV needs to wake up and realize they are almost 30 years old. They are to today's teenagers what CBS and NBC were to teenagers in the 1980s. They're not the "young renegade network" anymore. They've pimped themselves, diluted themselves and split themselves into so many channels that their relevance is nil.

I think the reasons the awards shows are doing terrible is twofold:

1. Lots of viewers are much more savvy than they used to be and realize how much is a popularity or $$ making contest, rather than the best performance artistically.

2. We see celebrities all the freaking time. It used to be late night talk shows & awards, that was it. Now there are whole networks w/ nothing but shows on celebrities 24/7.

i sadly admit i voted for jesse camp back in the day. i was like 14 and thought he was hot. but seeing the picture posted in this thread all i can wonder is "what the hell was i thinking?" yeesh.

back on topic, the VMAs were lame. I liked the use of the backlot for pink's performance, but that was the only "big" performance that was any good. xtina's rates second. katy perry was good, but she did get shafted. and the freaking jonas brothers suck. i will now get even madder when they're compared to hanson, because at least hanson has talent. and yes i'm serious. :p