Love was in the air this year at the MTV Video Music Awards. While couples graced the black carpet and stage alike, the biggest deal of the night was surely the Carters’ surprise. Beyoncé arrived on the black carpet in a beautiful orange one-shoulder gown and revealed her happy news — she’s expecting!
The mommy-to-be killed her performance of “Love On Top” off of her newly album 4. But before leaving the VMA stage, the Queen Bey unbuttoned her sequined and sparkly purple jacket to reveal her pregnant belly. Proud papa Jay-Z smiled from ear to ear in the audience while pal and collaborator Kanye West congratulated him with a pat on the back.
But that wasn’t the only thing that happened at the 2011 VMAs. A lot of artists’ wardrobes these days are chock full of flashy outfits and Lady Gaga is the “Mother Monster” of that, if you will. This time Gaga got grunge with a male alter ego who she dubbed Jo Calderone, who she performed and accepted Best Female Video for “Born This Way” as all night. Gaga also won Best Video With A Message.
Not to be forgotten are teen royalties Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez. Selena helped host the pre-show before the awards were handed out and she got the pleasure of interviewing her beau herself. Before she could ask about Bieber’s bright red pants or cheetah print shoes, she had to inquire about the snake in his hand. “Please explain this,” Selena said with a laugh.
Turns out it was a pet snake named — get this — Johnson. Biebs thinks he’s funny, with his innuendos and whatnot.
Of course that interview wouldn’t have been complete without a smooch (cue ‘awwwwwww’s!), which the Biebs laid on his girl pretty thick. He planted another one right on her lips before strutting up on stage to accept his Best Male Video award for “U Smile.” He didn’t forget to thank God and Jesus individually, either.
Chris Brown also made an appearance (sans bleached mane, yay!) with a stellar performance of a “Yeah 3X/ Protect Ya Neck/ Teen Spirit/ Beautiful People” medley, complete with flying acrobatics across the crowd. Kanye West and new dad Jay-Z also took the VMA stage, performing their brand new project “Otis” live for the first time.
Britney Spears was honored with the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, which Lady Gaga presented to her after an amazing tribute to her decade of MTV dominance. Perhaps the most controversial moment, Gaga tried her hand at a lip lock with Britney — it was unsuccessful, in case you were wondering. But they came pretty close. Britney also took home Best Pop Video for “Till The World Ends.”
Best New Artist went to Tyler, The Creator and Best Collaboration went to Katy Perry and Kanye West for “E.T.” Nicki Minaj won Best Hip Hop Video for “Super Bass,” and she gladly thanked Lil Wayne for all he’d done for her with a quick peck on the lips. The Foo Fighters took Best Rock Video for “Walk”. Frontman Dave Grohl encouraged us all to never lose faith in real rock ‘n roll; I think it’s right in front of us!
The most prestigious award of the night is always Video of the Year and Katy Perry swept all nominees for her inspirational hit, “Firework.”
Unfortunately it’ll be another year before the VMAs come around again. Beyoncé’s baby will be born, Bieber will be 18 and Nicki Minaj and Lady Gaga will have to come up with more outfits to shock us. It’s always worth tuning into MTV at the end of the summer.
The LG Blog 