MTV Awards Show Rocks The House
A mooning, profane jokes that tested the censor's trigger finger and a winner who admitted she hated making videos — the annual MTV Video Music Awards lived up to a reputation for unpredictability Thursday night.
Along the way, profane rapper Eminem — the subject of a pre-show protest over his violent lyrics — won best male video for The Real Slim Shady. He was nominated for six awards overall.
Eminem performed the song marching in off the street with an army of lookalikes, frequently grabbing his crotch. He rapped a second song he said was addressed to his critics, saying, "I am whatever you say I am."
The teen band Eminem has ridiculed, 'N Sync, won best pop video for the marionette clip, Bye Bye Bye. 'N Sync had also been nominated for six awards.
Slinky soul star Aaliyah won two awards, including best female video, for Try Again.
Hosts Shawn and Marlon Wayans had profanities bleeped out in an opening monologue that also featured a mooning, and the evening's first award presenter, Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, had a lewd joke about an MTV personality partly censored.
It was typical for the annual awards ceremony, where making a dramatic impression is more important than taking home an award.
One of the best jokes was unspoken: Napster founder Shawn Fanning appearing on stage in a Metallica T-shirt. The heavy metal band is leading the fight to stop Fanning's Internet song-sharing service.
"Nice shirt," said MTV's Carson Daly. Metallica's Lars Ulrich, sitting in the audience, feigned sleep.
Macy Gray won best new artist in a video for her breakout hit, I Try, which showed her carrying a flower and chasing after a lover. "I hate making videos," she said when picking up her trophy.
Eminem's The Real Slim Shady and 'N Sync's Bye Bye Bye were nominated for video of the year, along with D'Angelo's steamy Untitled (How Does it Feel), Blink 182's All the Small Things and Red Hot Chili Pepper's Californication.
With MTV airing fewer videos, the annual Video Music Awards is less about artistry in the form and more about celebrating the pop culture stars of the moment. Fueled by the teen pop explosion, last year's show was the top-rated entertainment program in cable television history.
Throngs of fans crowded the streets around Radio City Music Hall. They watched the entrances of celebrities like Survivor winner Richard Hatch. He was dressed in a black suit, not taking the chance of walking around naked like he did on Pulau Tiga.
Another bit of spectacle occurred when an unidentified man clambered onto the scaffolding onstage and waved to the crowd for several minutes until security officers got him gone. MTV's Carson Daly later identified him as the bass player for the rock band Rage Against the Machine.
Richard probably summarized the whole affair best:
"Is this weird or what?" he said.
Spers, meanwhile, took a chance by going from wearing a dark suit to wearing almost nothing. Her music and dance routine made the crowd gasp when she tore away the suit she was wearing to reveal a bikini top and what looked like flesh-colored pants. Yowsa.
Security was tight, particularly after taping for another music awards show — the Source Hip-Hop Music Awards — was halted by a melee in California last month.
Before the show, members of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation protested against MTV, angry at the network's support of Eminem. They say his lyrics promote violence against homosexuals and women.
GLAAD said it asked MTV not to let Eminem perform at the Video Music Awards, but was refused. MTV's agreement to run a public-service advertisement discouraging violence against gays is "a very small consolation," said GLAAD's Scott Seomin.
MTV, in a statement, said Eminem's "homophobic and misogynistic lyrics" have never appeared on the network.
"While many people find his lyrics offensive or irresponsible, including many of us at MTV, he's obviously struck a chord with our audience," MTV said. "We think the most honest and effective thing to do is offer a forum for all of these viewpoints on our network."