2015 MTV Video Music Awards

As this is a pop culture blog, I almost feel compelled to comment on the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards, which was held this past Sunday. After all, the VMA’s has been a standard in pop culture for more than three decades. However, it would probably help if I actually cared about this year’s show, which I kind of didn’t. Perhaps this is age catching up with me and I’m just not as cool as I once was…nah, this show just sucks now.

Two factors turned me off long before Sunday’s ceremony even aired – the choice of host (to say I’m not a fan is an understatement) and the list of performers (I can truly say that I had little to no desire to see Justin Bieber, Demi Lovato, Iggy Azalea, Nicki Minaj, etc.).  That said, as this is a pop culture blog, I would be remiss to not talk about some of the biggest moments from the night. And in fairness, I did enjoy The Weeknd and Tori Kelly’s performances.

Top 5 Moments Social Media Was Talking About

Miley Cyrus’ Hosting Performance – Honestly, I don’t care. To be more accurate, I don’t care about her stupid, “desperately attention-seeking” barely there outfits, the constant “look how cool and bad-ass I am because I smoke weed and talk about it” drug references, the horrible, nasally, off-key “singing”, the horrible music…just all of it. I simply don’t care and that MTV clearly seems to think many of their viewers do, so much so that she practically dominated the show, was pathetic and embarrassing for all involved. The schtick is so old it’s moldy at this point – like go take a shower and try to find a note you can actually stay on key with.

Taylor Swift Dominates – Well of course she did. Right now the music world feels like a case of “it’s Taylor’s world and we’re all just living in it.” You know, I’ve already expounded on my love/hate feelings about Taylor. That said, while I don’t necessarily have any major issues with her wins, the one for Video of the Year in particular felt very much like voters went for the “bigger and more famous equal better” mentality. It was certainly an expensive looking video with many a famous cameo and things blowing up, elaborate machines and weapons, etc. However, it was also pretty much vintage Joseph Khan with a basic and frankly boring storyline – girl is betrayed by friend and develops her girl army to fight back. Okay and… In my opinion this award should have gone to Kendrick Lamar’s Alright. It is a powerful video for a brilliant song that in the current social climate of the US, may just be one of the most important songs of the year. Taylor Swift winning Video of the Year was the obvious and safe choice, much like Taylor herself. MTV had the chance to show that contrary to the criticisms of the last few years, they still represent an important voice in pop culture. And well let’s just say they failed.

Kanye West Has A Lot of Feelings – Okay, this is not exactly breaking news to anyone who has been paying attention to Yeezy in the last few years. He has had a lot of feelings about A LOT of things, much of it being Beyonce’s apparent greatness. But his speech, after accepting the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard award, encompassed everything that is Kanye West for the last few years. It was in parts brilliant, cringe-worthy, uncomfortable and rambly. As a viewer you were simultaneously enthralled and very confused. And then he capped it off in the only way that could possibly top everything that had gone before it – an announcement that he would run for President in 2020. I’m not sure we know for a fact if he was joking or not and something tells me he doesn’t either. But it sure made for some great memes. And hey, if people can take that walking tool Trump seriously as a Presidential candidate, why not Kanye West. #Yeezyfor2020

Nicki Minaj Squashes One Beef and Starts Another – In what was supposed to be an “epic” moment I guess, Taylor Swift joined Nicki Minaj in her opening show performance, thus effectively squashing their little twitter feud. Seriously, you must have all heard about this considering it dominated headlines. Even Time magazine got in on the action. But while Nicki was ready to squash her beef with Taylor, she was just as ready to start a new one with Miley Cyrus. The drama started when Miley made some comments in an interview about Nicki’s attitude when complaining about her lack of a Video of the Year nomination for her song Anaconda. In accepting her award for Best Hip Hop Video, Nicki called out Miley for her comments in typical Nicki fashion and immediately, social media exploded with gifs and video clips of the moment. There has since been some debate about whether the whole thing was staged or not. I for one hope it wasn’t. Listen, I am no fan of Nicki Minaj, so I’m really Team No One on this. But I have to say, I kind of liked a celebrity saying “screw it” and just addressing their issue with another celebrity head on. No pussyfooting around, no passive aggressive videos or snide comments on Twitter – just an honest reaction.

Justin Bieber Cries On Stage – So this was the first time Justin Bieber performed at the VMA’s in a while, three years to be exact. It’s also been a while since he’s truly been seen performing and doing what he became famous for in the first place. So I guess that explained why the emotions overwhelmed him so much that he broke down into tears when he was done. Okay, I’m not completely cold so I didn’t totally roll my eyes or dismiss this as a publicity ploy. That said, even if the tears were real, I couldn’t care too much because much of the turmoil of the last few years in Bieber’s life has been of his own doing. So on one hand, it’s great that he’s back doing what he loves but it’s like “eh, you kind of screwed things up for yourself.” That said, I never wish bad for anyone, so hopefully he’s gotten things together and will fully get back on track with his career. As for the performance, it was okay. Nothing particularly spectacular but serviceable.

Pop Culture Rewind

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):

 ✔ @taylorswift13

@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.