Baby One More Time

MTV's Video Music Awards are famous for last year's hapless performance by an out of shape (and visibly out of mind) Britney Spears. Cut to last night and this year's show. Set in Hollywood's Paramount Studios, this year's show was hosted by relatively-unknown UK comedian, Russell Brand, and featured performances by the Jonas Brothers and Lil' Wayne.

Two NEWSWEEK reporters, Oscar Raymundo and Tina Peng  -- former TRL fans -- watched and discussed the show and, despite being a decade older than MTV's target demographic, still got shocked by all the boy-band mania, Bush-bashing, and most surprising, by Britney sweeping the house.

Oscar:  Alright, first things first, can you believe that Britney got a standing ovation for just being composed enough to give a 15-second introduction?

Tina:  Dude, or that she got three VMAs for a music video in which she looked like her soul was completely dead? I mean, obviously everyone was rooting for Britney, because how could you not? The awards she was given must have been out of pity for last year's debacle, right?

Oscar:  Yeah, something MTV would totally do though. It wasn't really surprising. Russell Brand on the other hand... I can't believe they let him get away with all the Bush-bashing and Palin family drama comments.

Tina:  Or the Madonna like-a-virgin baseball-bat joke??

Oscar:  Or that joke about how the Jonas Brothers should wear their purity rings around their genitals.

Tina: I didn't watch the VMAs last year but was totally shocked at how forced the whole event seemed. Nothing seemed to mesh together:  Russell made fun of the Jonas Brothers; Jordin Sparks got huffy; and then Pink and Christina Aguilera -- who all seem pretty irrelevant to the High School Musical demographic -- showed up and it's like, who's your target audience here? You had to wonder if people in the audience even knew Demi Moore past the Kutcher connection.

Oscar: I think they're trying to figure that out right now. It's like the changing of the guard of pop stardom. But I thought Russell did a great job, actually. Someone needs to have the courage to call out these celebrities on all their fluff, and he had nothing to lose. So that was kind of refreshing.

Tina:  I loved most of his jokes, just couldn't believe he was allowed to say them on a show on which Miley Cyrus also appeared!

Oscar: I loved that Miley rolled up with Katy Perry, who we all know is not anywhere near trying to be a role model.

Tina: Ha! Good point. Also I kind of loved the banana dress. Why did Pete Wentz seem so nervous?

Oscar:  And why did Ashlee Simpson seem like she was about to explode?

Tina:  Is she due soon?

Oscar:  I think she's 6 months going on 13 months pregnant. I really liked the performances though, and how they incorporated the studio lots. Pink and T.I. did this really well, it was like watching a live music video, kind of like that show "Making the Video"-another MTV classic.

Tina: I think I laughed the loudest when Jamie Foxx asked T.I. not to shoot him. Have you seen the Jonas Brothers live before? That was ridiculous. It went from Sesame Street to Backstreet Boys mania in two seconds.

Oscar:  Yeah, that was a little insane. A friend commented that they couldn't perform unless they had a legion of screaming girls crowding the stage. They're too squeaky clean to be rock stars, though. They need to go away.

Tina: If it had been six years ago and they'd been the Backstreet Boys, I would've been one of those girls--this time around I was totally bemused. I thought it was kind of funny how many burly guys started rushing the stage too.

Oscar:  I guess they take what they can get. Overall, I liked the show. Yeah, it was forced but c'mon, MTV is the biggest advertisement disguised as an entertainment company. And if anything, at least finally Britney's back! The universe is back in order.

Tina:  Yes! And I got to listen to both "…Baby One More Time" and "Genie in a Bottle."

Oscar: It's crazy to think that those songs are now classics.

© 2008