I flipped it on and the Raconteurs were playing Steady As She Goes, and it was great, and not even 1/3 of the way through they cut to show Pink, Christina Aguilera and someone else backstage and then went to commercial. That was totally pathetic. I don't blame the Raconteurs, though, for showing up and getting publicity.
Saw T.I. perform, defining the triumph of Diddy-esque bombast over substance. Diddy Jay-Z 50 Cent (by making money rather than quality the goal of hip-hop culture - even if they have been attached to certain quality tracks) and the ATL have done untold damage to hip-hop. Folks are making money, but the glorification of nursery rhymes + lifestyles of the rich and famous fantasies has gotten completely retarded.
Jack Black as host was surprisingly flat and not funny. The writing was awful. Then he did the I'm Jack Black and your Jack White thing with Jack White which made Letterman's Oprah / Uma thing look like comedy gold.
Then the guy from Linkin Park won for "best ringtone" and gave a 10 minute acceptance speech. That said a lot about a lot.
That's about all I saw (so far).
The VMAs are like a sh*tstorm of the modern popular music culture. . . some may connect to whatever the hell is going on and survive intact (teenage girls? pre-schoolers? immigrants who think it makes them more american to like this?), while others will be repulsed and fall by the wayside realizing this has passed them by (thank g*d). Of course I say that every year, and always watch . . . . and yeah, always perversely enjoy it.
