2015 MTV Video Music Awards Nominations
The nominations for the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards (VMA’s) were announced earlier today and not surprisingly, Taylor Swift led the pack with nine nominations, including one for the biggie, Video of the Year, for her song Bad Blood featuring Kendrick Lamar. Some of her other nominations included Best Female Video and Best Pop Video for the song Blank Space.
It’s always amusing to me that the VMA’s even still exist, seeing as music videos virtually don’t exist anymore on MTV. Yes I know, if you get the whole cable package including MTV Hits, MTV 2 and who knows what else, they show videos but it’s still ridiculous that a channel that was created on the basis of music videos have all but eradicated it from said channel. And yet every year it has an award show that celebrates achievement in music videos.
But back to the nominations. I was very pleasantly surprised to see Kendrick Lamar’s Alright nominated for Video of the Year. Not only is the video amazing but that song is without question one of the best songs in any genre, of the year. Check it out if you haven’t heard it or seen the video.
Meanwhile, because MTV clearly believes it is mandatory to nominate Beyonce every year, the very mediocre 7/11 and equally mediocre video for it, somehow gained a Video of the Year nomination, as well as Best Pop Video and Best Female Video nominations. Other big nominees this year was Ed Sheeran who earned Video of the Year, Best Male Video and Best Pop Video nominations for his stunning song, as well as video, Thinking Out Loud. See the full list of nominees here.
However, let’s talk about what’s really important here – the twitter drama between Nicki Minaj and Taylor Swift that erupted a few hours after the nominations were announced. It all started when Nicki sent out a few tweets expressing her unhappiness that her song and video Anaconda, did not get more nominations particularly one for Video of the Year (it was nominated for Best Female Video and Best Hip Hop Video)
If I was a different “kind” of artist, Anaconda would be nominated for best choreo and vid of the year as well. 😊😊😊
— NICKI MINAJ (@NICKIMINAJ) July 21, 2015
When the “other” girls drop a video that breaks records and impacts culture they get that nomination. 😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊
— NICKI MINAJ (@NICKIMINAJ) July 21, 2015
If your video celebrates women with very slim bodies, you will be nominated for vid of the year 😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊
— NICKI MINAJ (@NICKIMINAJ) July 21, 2015
Apparently, likely due to Nicki’s tweet about videos celebrating women with slim bodies getting rewarded, Taylor Swift decided Nicki was throwing shade at her and responded with the following (incidentally the tweet has since been deleted as well as the folllow up):
@NICKIMINAJ I’ve done nothing but love & support you. It’s unlike you to pit women against each other. Maybe one of the men took your slot.
And it was on. Nicki basically responded by saying she said nothing about Taylor, who then quickly tried to backtrack, by inviting Minaj on stage with her if she wins (how magnanimous of her). Of course the media had already picked this up and ran with it, only inciting Minaj even more with some of their coverage.
I have to say, I’ve been waiting for a situation like this to occur with Taylor Swift. Let me be very clear that I’m no huge fan of Nicki Minaj and frankly I found the constant tweeting about nominations she didn’t get a bit whiny – like it’s a VMA for crying out loud. That said, I’ve already mentioned before my love/hate relationship with Taylor Swift and it’s exactly for stuff like this. I think Taylor Swift is an amazing songwriter, a great producer and probably one of the most intelligent women in the music industry (note I did not say good singer because um, well…no).
However, I have never seen someone that successful who is so overly defensive and quick to play the victim like her. Something is only a feminist issue and women fighting women down when she feels like her precious feelings are attacked. So she jumped on this without even properly reading Nicki’s tweets because I’m sure her blind stans rushed to tweet her with the assumption that Nicki was throwing shade. And god forbid one person in the industry not completely love and kiss her ass. And so a completely unnecessary drama occurred over something that wasn’t even directed at her. And of course some in the media ran to make it like Nicki was the angry black woman attacking poor innocent and delicate Taylor. Good times – I so look forward to the show. Although not really since Miley Cyrus is hosting and I can’t think of anyone I’d rather see less.
2015 ESPY Awards
American sports’ biggest night was held this past week. To be perfectly frank, I am by no means the biggest sports fan. Unless it’s tennis, I’m not really that knowledgeable about sports. That said, I did watch an hour or so of the show and did enjoy it for the most part. I also followed the results and discussion on social media.
My favorite moment of the night was probably Ben Affleck, true blue Boston boy and by that token a life-long Red Sox fan, showing up to pay tribute to New York Yankees legend Derek Jeter. I thought that was a very sweet and classy gesture. And on a very shallow note, Derek Jeter looked gorgeous. I may not be a baseball expert, but I do know Derek Jeter and I thought the tribute, as well as his speech were both perfect.
Obviously though, the most buzzed about moment of the night, was Caitlyn Jenner being awarded the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage. Okay, let me preface what I’m about to say with a few things. One, I am in no way a fan of the Kardashian/Jenner “brand”. I don’t hate them because I don’t care enough about them to hate them but I’m simply completely and utterly uninterested in their entire “brand”.
This is why I have avoided speaking on the whole Caitlyn Jenner media blitz on this blog and frankly anything Kardashian related. It is also why you will NOT see posts about anything to do with that show, their relationships, magazines, etc. As I said, I don’t care about them and have little interest in the whole sideshow. So if you’re looking for gossip or posts about them here, then sorry, this is not the pop culture blog for you.
Two, I am not going to argue whether or not Jenner deserved the Arthur Ashe Award. As I’ve stated, I am no expert in sports and sports related events and so I do not think I know enough to speak on who may have been more deserving. I will say, the cynical side of me does think there may have been some element of going with something current and hot in pop culture right now, which would ensure big television ratings, on the part of the ESPY committee when they picked Jenner for the award. So that said, I see both sides of the argument and understand where both sides, whether you felt she deserved it or not, were coming from.
However, what I have an issue with, are the individuals who reduced their argument against Jenner receiving the award to hateful, transphobic, violent and angry rhetoric. There are many ways, many calm and intelligent ways to argue and state one’s feelings on why they disagree with something that does not include dehumanizing and debasing another person. Once you’ve done that, for me personally, any legitimate point or argument you may have had becomes null and void because I’ve stopped paying attention. Anger and hate is never the answer to dealing with and addressing anything. And this is the last I am going to speak on that. Coming off my soap box now.
2015 Primetime Emmy Awards
Nominations for the annual Primetime Emmy Awards were announced this past Thursday. As usual, my favorite shows, specifically Hannibal and Bates Motel, were completely shut out. You would think by now I would give up the dream but hey, what can I say, I’m a glutton for punishment. Well that and I fervently believe that both Hugh Dancy and Freddie Highmore consistently deliver amazing performances every week on their respective shows and it is almost criminal that they keep being ignored in favor of the same tired, repetitive nominees.
Which speaking of, this has often been the biggest complaint about the Primetime Emmy Awards for years. That is, they rarely reward anything new. You tend to see the same shows and same familiar faces for years, often either until the show ends or it is on so long and the writing level drops so much that even the Emmy voters can no longer justify nominating them. But for the most part, watching the Emmys tend to create a strong feeling of déjà vu, as in “didn’t we see this last year?” A few more quick observations about this year’s nominees:
Big Bang Theory Almost Shut Out – I guess in an attempt to prove they’re not always so repetitive, Big Bang Theory, a perennial favorite in the Best Comedy category was left off the list this year. More shocking, was the exclusion of Jim Parsons, a constant favorite and last year’s winner, in the Best Actor – Comedy, category. The show’s only major acting nomination came via Mayim Bialik, who was nominated once again in the Best Supporting Actress – Comedy category.
Downton Abbey Again…Seriously – Lest we all get too excited about Big Bang Theory’s snub and start thinking the Emmys were really going to take chances this year, the inexplicable continued nomination for Downton Abbey in the Best Drama category eliminated that. I don’t get it – albeit I haven’t watched the last two seasons of this show but the first few seasons were enough to convince me that it’s nothing more than a glorified soap opera with characters in period pieces. There is no way that this show is one of the best dramas on television. I got the nomination love a few years ago – there was a lot of hype around the show and everyone was Downton Abbey obsessed and so the Emmy voters jumped on the bandwagon. But for crying out loud, most have moved on. You would think the voters would get a clue and do the same. What makes this nomination more frustrating is the following.
The Americans Snubbed Once Again – I don’t get it. You would think this show would be right up the Emmy voters’ alley, but for some reason they clearly are just not feeling this FX drama about two Soviet spies posing as a suburban American couple. Despite huge critical praise, this show continues to be criminally ignored both in the Drama category and lead acting categories for its stars Matthew Rys and Keri Russell. It’s so bad that even the mainstream media is taking notice and writing about it. See this brilliant piece from the New York Post about the snub. All I can say is the same thing I say every year about Hannibal and Bates Motel’s continued snubs – *sigh* maybe next year.
Tatiana Maslany Finally Gets Some Love – Proving that very vocal support and outrage can eventually force Emmy voters to do the right thing, Maslany, who had inexplicably been ignored in the Best Actress – Drama category the last few years, finally got a nod for her brilliantly complex and riveting performance in BBC America’s Orphan Black. So maybe the cast and producers of The Americans shouldn’t give up hope. Maslany was quick to thank the fans on twitter, for all their continued vocal support, in response to the nomination.
No Love for Empire – Without question, the biggest and most talked about show this year was FOX’s surprise mega hit Empire. Set in the world of hip hop music, the Taraji P. Henson/Terrance Howard driven drama was all the talk for its brilliant music, soap opera like drama and very high ratings. And a lot of that talk centered on its deserving award recognition. So going into last Thursday’s nomination announcement, many predicted at least a Best Drama nod, along with nods for Henson and Howard and possibly one for writing, for the show. In the end, the show’s sole nomination was for Taraji P. Henson in the Best Actress – Drama category. Naturally there was some outrage among fans. However, I hold the possibly very unpopular opinion that I see nothing Emmy worthy about this show. Is it a fun, soapy hot mess in all the right ways with great music to boot – without question. However, award worthy, no, not in my opinion. And frankly, I’m equally baffled by the Taraji P. Henson love as well but something tells me comes September, she’ll win.
See here for all the nominees.
PoPnOgR@PhY 