The stage was alive with energy as Rihanna and A$AP Rocky opened the Video Music Awards by singing a medley of “Cockiness/We Found Love.” According to Enstarz, the Video Music Awards, or VMA’s, are shown every year on MTV and award the best music videos over the past year. This year, the VMA’s were aired live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California on Thursday, September 6, 2012 with comedian Kevin Hart as the host. Sophomore Sierra Patterson found Hart to be a great fit. “It was a good choice having someone with comedian experiences,” said Patterson. “He can make awkward situations funny.” Hart made jokes about Snooki and the fight Drake and Chris Brown got into earlier this year at a nightclub.
Katy Perry presented the best pop video award for the night with One Direction winning for “What Makes You Beautiful.” According to the VMA website, One Direction also won best new artist and most share-worthy video for “What Makes You Beautiful,” and they performed “One Thing.” According to Enstarz, other live performances included: P!nk, Frank Ocean, 2 Chainz and Lil’ Wayne, Green Day, Alicia Keys and Nicki Minaj, and Taylor Swift. Senior Samantha Leslie found Taylor Swift’s performance to be her favorite. “I’m a really big fan of hers, and it was the first time I had seen her perform to that song. It just made me want to go see her in concert,” Leslie said. According to the VMA website, Minaj won the best female video for “Starships,” and Chris Brown won the best male video award for “Turn it Up.” The best hip hop video award went to Drake for “HYFR.” Patterson believed that all of the nominees deserved to be nominated. “I think that pretty much any celebrity nominated did something within the past year to get where they are,” she said. “They had perseverance because many artists get turned down.” According to Enstarz, along with the awards and performances, the “Twilight” cast introduced a 90-second trailer for “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn-Part 2.” Pertaining to the future of music videos, Video Productions teacher, Timothy Hare, believes they will stay around for a while. “I don’t think [music videos] will ever die out. I think you might just see kind of a transformation as [to]how they’re used. …I think you’ll just see it …morph or transform into something a little bit different,” Hare said. Therefore, the MTV Music Video Awards will probably be around for a while as more artists make noteworthy music videos.
Sources:
-http://www.enstarz.com/articles/6319/20120906/vma-winners-2012-results-and-list-of-winners-one-direction-wins-3-awards.htm
-http://www.enstarz.com/articles/6328/20120907/vma-2012-winners-mtv-full-recap-results-details.htm
-www.mtv.com/ontv/vma/2012/
