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MTV has still not released information on where the Video Music Awards will be held this fall. It’s been speculated that there is hesitation about returning to Las Vegas for the 2008 awards after receiving some bad reviews for the award show that was held here in 2007. MTV has always been the authority when it comes to what’s hot for the teen to mid-twenties crowd. After several successful award programs airing live from cities like New York, Los Angeles, and Miami, MTV decided to take on Las Vegas. However, the show didn’t just take place in a concert venue; the show switched locations several times. The entire Palms Hotel was swarmed with a mix of celebrities, MTV employees, and loitering tourists. Different performances aired live from several of the Fantasy Suites inside the Palms. The actual awards were given out from inside the Pearl Theatre, and other performances were filmed at Rain, Moon, and ghostbar. With so much going on, it was amazing that MTV could even pull it all off. Considering the show airs live and there were very few delays while switching locations. Some critics thought the show was lively and a nice way to keep things interesting, while others called the show “manic” and “too much to keep up with.” Although the format for the award show may have changed, the performers did not. VMA veteran Britney Spears received some negative attention for her uneventful and almost obvious lip-sync performance that many critics deemed “unrehearsed” and “amateur." The show was also criticized because Kanye West performed several times leaving almost no room for other performers. MTV’s response to the negative criticism was simply that critics need not take their award show so seriously. The Video Music Awards are not the Grammys, nor does it pretend to be. The VMAs is really just a big televised party and that’s all it has ever strived to be. What makes the VMAs so interesting to watch is the fact that the celebrities are able to let lose and express themselves. The informal nature of the broadcast is exactly what has made the ceremony so successful in the past. Let us also keep in mind that the average person wants to see celebrities having fun; because this is, in truth, the way that fans really want to view their favorite rock stars. So hopefully our favorite stars will save their stuffy gowns and long speeches for the bigger award shows and let MTV have their fun. As for Britney, she may have had an off-night. (But did you really expect anything different?) So blame Britney for putting on a bad performance or blame Kanye for stealing the show, but don’t blame MTV because the problem is not the venue. MTV got it right when they chose the Palms Las Vegas for their show and hopefully they will choose Vegas again for this year’s festivities. Who knows, maybe this year MTV will even broaden their horizons and shoot the show from different casinos all over the city. So, why does this format work so well? Because everyone still wants to believe the clichés: that rock stars really do trash hotel rooms, break their guitars, and throw wild parties that go on long into the night inside lavish Las Vegas suites.
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