MTV Video Music Awards

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Video Music Awards
Logo for the 2007 VMAs
Awarded for	Music Videos and pop culture
Presented by	MTV
Country	United States
First awarded	September 14, 1984 - Present
Official website

The MTV Video Music Awards were established in the end of the summer of 1984 by MTV to celebrate the top Music Videos of the year. Originally beginning as an alternative to the Grammy Awards, the MTV Video Music Awards is now a respected pop culture awards show in its own right. They are presented annually and broadcast live on MTV. Past broadcasts have been held in New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, and Las Vegas.

The statues given to winners is an astronaut on the moon, one of the earliest representations of MTV. The eligibility period for the Video Music Awards currently begins July 1. Before 2002, the VMAs were traditionally held on the first Thursday of September. It was decided to move the awards back a week so that it wouldn't conflict with the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Contents 1 Notable Moments 1.1 1980s 1.2 1990s 1.3 2000s 2 Host cities 3 Current Award Categories 3.1 Previous Award Categories 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Notable Moments

Part of a series on MTV   in the United States   MTV channels VH1 · MTV2 · MTV Tr3́s MTV shows TRL · VMAs · Real World MTV personalities Criticism of MTV Censorship on MTV

[edit] 1980s

• Madonna's performance at the First Annual MTV Video Music Awards in 1984 is considered to be an iconic performance in music history. She took the stage to sing "Like a Virgin" wearing a combination bustier/wedding gown, which included her trademark "Boy Toy" belt. During the performance, she rolled around on the floor, revealing lacy stockings and garters, and made a number of sexually suggestive moves.^[1]

• Controversial comic Andrew Dice Clay's appearance on the 1989 Video Music Awards to promote his new movie, The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, earned him a "lifetime ban" from the network due to his sets excessive use of vulgar languaga and references.^[2]

• After performing on the 1989 VMAs with Tom Petty, Guns N' Roses guitarist Izzy Stradlin was assaulted by Mötley Crüe lead singer Vince Neil, leading to a verbal battle between Vince and Guns N' Roses lead singer Axl Rose when Axl stood up for Izzy.^[3]

[edit] 1990s

• Conflict between Poison's Bret Michaels and C.C. DeVille culminated in a fistfight at the Video Music Awards in 1991, provoked by DeVille's live performance which was perceived as inept. DeVille was fired and replaced by Pennsylvanian guitar virtuoso Richie Kotzen.^[4]

• The 1991 VMAs included the first public appearance by Paul Reubens after his lewd-conduct arrest earlier that year. Taking the stage in costume as Pee Wee Herman, he received a standing ovation, after which he asked the audience, "Heard any good jokes lately?"^[5]

• In 1992, MTV had requested Nirvana perform their smash hit "Smells Like Teen Spirit," while the band themselves had indicated they preferred to play their new songs, "Rape Me" and "Tourette's". This did not go over well with network executives, who continued to push for "Teen Spirit." Finally, offering a compromise, MTV executives offered the band a choice to play either "Teen Spirit" or "Lithium," which the band appeared to accept. However, at the actual performance, Nirvana began to play, and Kurt Cobain played the first few chords of the song, "Rape me" much to the horror of MTV execs. The band did finally return to their regular performance of "Lithium." Near the end of the song, frustrated that his amp had stopped functioning, bassist Krist Novoselic decided to toss his bass into the air for dramatic effect. Unfortunately, he misjudged the landing, and the bass ended up bouncing off of his forehead, forcing him to stumble off the stage in a daze.^[6]

• Guns N' Roses' hit ballad "November Rain" became the most requested video on MTV, eventually winning an MTV Video Music Award for best cinematography in 1992. During the awards show, the band performed "November Rain" with singer Elton John. Because of the dispute Axl had with Cobain, moments before the "November Rain" performance, Cobain spat on the keys of what he thought was Axl's piano. Cobain later revealed that he was shocked to see Elton John play on the piano he had spat on.

• RuPaul caused a bit of controversy at the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards when he was given the opportunity to present an award with legendary actor Milton Berle. The two had conflicts back-stage, and when Berle inappropriately touched RuPaul's breasts, RuPaul ad-libbed the line "So you used to wear gowns, but now you're wearing diapers." The press picked this up as a crack in the "love everyone" message RuPaul presented, and depicted the incident as a young newcomer treating a legend poorly. ^[7]

• At the 1994 MTV Video Music Awards on September 8, shortly after a profanity-laced appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman, Madonna was announced to present the award for Best Group Video. She came out arm-in-arm with an unannounced David Letterman, to a wild ovation. At the microphone, Letterman told her, "I'll be out by the car. Watch your language," and then left. Madonna has made several appearances on Letterman's show since, the two now treating the incident with humor.

Main article: Madonna on Letterman

• On September 4, 1996, the four original members of Van Halen made their first public appearance together since their infamous break-up in 1985, presenting an MTV Video Music Award. Backstage, after presenting an award to Beck, David Lee Roth and guitarist Eddie Van Halen reportedly nearly came to blows. Several weeks later, the public learned that Van Halen would not reunite with Roth, to much outrage. Roth released a media statement apologizing to fans, stating that he was an unwitting participant in a publicity stunt to sell more copies of the greatest hits album, and that he had been led to believe that he was rejoining Van Halen. The following day, Eddie and Alex Van Halen released a media statement, stating that they had been honest with Roth, and never led him to believe that he had been re-hired.^[8]

• In 1997, Puff Daddy released his debut album No Way Out, featuring the successful tribute single "I'll Be Missing You", dedicated to the recently murdered Notorious B.I.G. The song featured Puff Daddy, Biggie's widow Faith Evans and R&B group 112. The song sampled the melody of The Police's hit song "Every Breath You Take." All these artists performed the song with former Police vocalist Sting during the 1997 Video Music Awards.

• While accepting the MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist Video of 1997 ("Sleep To Dream"), Fiona Apple appealed to her audience not to be enamored of celebrity culture. Referring to the MTV/Music Industry she proclaimed "this world is bullshit". Though her comments were generally greeted with cheers and applause at the awards ceremony, the media backlash was huge; host Chris Rock made a derisive comment about her speech. Some considered her remarks to be hypocritical, seeing a contradiction between her appearance in a risqué music video in only her underwear and her telling young women to ignore celebrity culture. However she was unapologetic: "When I have something to say, I'll say it." ^[9]

• At the 1998 VMA's, Brandy and Monica performed The Boy Is Mine together live for the first time, putting an end to the media speculation that the two were rivals.

• Lil' Kim showed up at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards with an entire breast exposed and only a tiny piece of fabric over the nipple. Kim's outfit became even more controversial later that night, when she appeared on stage with Mary J. Blige and Diana Ross to present an award, and Ross reached over, cupped her hand under Kim's exposed breast and jiggled it while both laughed heartily.

• Two of the presenters at the 1999 VMAs were Afeni Shakur and Voletta Wallace, the mothers of the recently slain Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G., who met for the first time. ^[10]

[edit] 2000s

• At the 2000 Video Music Awards, D'Angelo and Jennifer Lopez presented the award for Best Rock Video to Limp Bizkit. As Fred Durst was making his speech, Tim Commerford, the bassist for Rage Against the Machine, climbed onto the scaffolding of the set and threatened to jump. Fred Durst began to egg Commerford on by saying "Stage dive, dude" and "Take a dive." By this time the crowd had started a small "Jump!" chant. The show soon went into a commercial break. Commerford, along with his bodyguard, was sentenced to a night in jail, though he later claimed the stunt was intended as a joke. Zack De La Rocha, the lead singer for RATM reportedly left the awards after Tim's stunt. Many people speculated that this further fueled the ongoing tension between the band which eventually led to their break up.

• Also at the 2000 VMAs, Britney Spears gave a memorable live performance of "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" and her own hit "Oops!... I Did It Again". While she began her segment in a black suit, she shocked the media while, at only the age of eighteen, ripped that off to display a revealing, flesh-colored stage outfit.

• The next year, at the 2001 Video Music Awards, Britney Spears again shocked the nation when she took the stage to give a performance of her then-new single, "I'm a Slave 4 U." Along with dancing in a very revealing outfit while wet, the performance is probably most remembered for featuring the singer 'charming' a yellow snake. The inclusion of a snake in the performance bought a great deal of criticism from PETA. ^[11]

• U2 had been set to perform a medley including "Elevation", "Beautiful Day" and "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of." However, the riser they were performing on lost power and MTV had to cut to several minutes of promos while everything was setup again. However, they lost power again and finally the band was lowered to the ground and performed without the riser. Lead singer Bono made reference after the performance that MTV "forgot to pay the electricity bill." ^[12]

• Also at the 2001 awards, Michael Jackson made a surprise appearance at the end of 'N Sync's performance of "Pop" and, surrounded by members of the group, performed some of his trademark dance moves to the beatboxing of member Justin Timberlake.

• The 2002 VMAs opened with Britney Spears presenting a birthday present to Michael Jackson (His birthday coincided with the award ceremony). Upon introducing him, Spears referred to him as the "artist of the millennium". This lead Jackson to believe that he was the recipient of the Artist of the Millennium Award, saying "When I was a little boy growing up in Indiana if someone told me I'd be getting the artist of the millennium award, I'd have never believed it" ^[13]. A year later, this was parodied by presenters Fred Durst and Jack Black.

• Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog appeared at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards and had a confrontation with Eminem (which MTV later removed from rebroadcast airings). Eminem also had a confrontation with Moby, who had called the rapper's music misogynistic and homophobic. Eminem challenged Moby to a fight while he was on stage with which the audience gave a downpour of boos directed at Moby.

• At the 2002 VMAs, Axl Rose unveiled the new lineup of Guns N' Roses. The band's set was the show's finale, and although the performance was meant to be kept a secret, some New York radio outlets announced the performance earlier in the day. The band played a set consisting of "Welcome to the Jungle," "Madagascar," and "Paradise City."

• At the 2003 Video Music Awards, Madonna caused a great deal of controversy when, at the end of their performance, she kissed Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. ^[14]

• The 2004 MTV Video Music Awards were held at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. This was the first time the awards show was held outside of New York City and Los Angeles. It was also the first video music awards to not have a host.

• At the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards, Fat Joe made a disparaging comment about G-Unit during a performance: "I'd like to tell the people at home I feel so safe tonight with all this police protection courtesy of G-Unit. . ." Later in the show, after G-Unit's performance, 50 Cent addressed the crowd with a profanity-laden criticism of Fat Joe. ^[15]

• At the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards, R.Kelly performed his Rap opera, "Trapped in the Closet".

• The 2007 Video Music Awards is best known for Britney Spears's infamous performance of her comeback single Gimme More. Spears, who had been going through personal problems throughout most of 2007, failed to live up to the pre-show hype about her appearance, with poor lip-synching and dancing. ^[16]

[edit] Host cities

Date	Venue	City	Host
September 14, 1984[17]	Radio City Music Hall	New York City	Dan Aykroyd and Bette Midler
September 13, 1985[18]			Eddie Murphy
September 5, 1986[19]	The Palladium, Gibson Amphitheatre	New York City, Los Angeles	MTV VJs
September 11, 1987	Gibson Amphitheatre	Los Angeles	MTV VJs
September 7, 1988			Arsenio Hall
September 6, 1989
September 6, 1990[20]
September 5, 1991[21]
September 9, 1992[22]	UCLA's Pauley Pavilion		Dana Carvey
September 2, 1993[23]	Gibson Amphitheatre		Christian Slater
September 8, 1994[24]	Radio City Music Hall	New York City	Roseanne Barr
September 7, 1995[25]			Dennis Miller
September 4, 1996[26]			Dennis Miller
September 4, 1997[27]			Chris Rock
September 10, 1998[28]	Gibson Amphitheatre	Los Angeles	Ben Stiller
September 9, 1999[29]	Metropolitan Opera House	New York City	Chris Rock
September 7, 2000[30]	Radio City Music Hall		Marlon Wayans and Shawn Wayans
September 6, 2001[31]	Metropolitan Opera House		Jamie Foxx
August 29, 2002[32]	Radio City Music Hall		Jimmy Fallon
August 28, 2003[33]			Chris Rock
August 29, 2004[34]	AmericanAirlines Arena	Miami	No official host
August 28, 2005[35]			Sean "Diddy" Combs
August 31, 2006[36]	Radio City Music Hall	New York City	Jack Black
September 9, 2007	The Palms Hotel and Casino	Las Vegas	No official host
September 1, 2008	Metropolitan Opera House	New York City	Mike Myers

[edit] Current Award Categories

• Video of the Year
• Best Male Video
• Best Female Video
• Best Group Video
• Best New Artist
• Best Direction
• Best Choreography
• Best Editing
• Monster Single of the Year
• Quadruple Threat of the Year
• Best Collaboration
• MTV Video Vanguard Award

[edit] Previous Award Categories

• Best Overall Performance in a Video (1984-1987)
• Most Experimental Video (1984-1987; replaced by Breakthrough Video)
• Best Concept Video (1984-1988)
• Best Stage Performance in a Video (1984-1989)
• Best Post-Modern Video (1989-1990)
• Best Long Form Video (1991)
• Best Alternative Video (1991-1998)
• Best Artist Website (1999)
• Best Video from a Film (1987-2003)
• International Viewer's Choice (1990?-2003; awards for individual regions were created and eliminated in different years)
• Breakthrough Video (1988-2005)
• Best Rap Video (1989-2006)
• Best R&B Video (1993-2006)
• Best Hip-Hop Video (1999-2006)
• Best Dance Video (1989-2006)
• Best Rock Video (1989-2006)
• Best Pop Video (1999-2006)
• Best Special Effects (1984-2006)
• Best Art Direction (1984-2006)
• Best Cinematography (1984-2006)
• MTV2 Award (2001-2006)
• Viewer's Choice (1984-2006)
• Best Video Game Soundtrack (2004-2006)
• Best Video Game Score (2006)
• Ringtone of the Year (2006)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Access All Areas.net.au MTV Australian Video Music Awards Coverage News, Photos, Reviews & all things MTV Awards!
• South Beach Magazine Article on MTV's Video Music Awards in Miami, with photos.
• The MTV Video Music Awards Web Site 2006
• The MTV Video Music Awards Web Site 2007

Memorable moments in VMA history

v • d • e MTV Video Music Awards Years 1984 · 1985 · 1986 · 1987 · 1988 · 1989 · 1990 · 1991 · 1992 · 1993 · 1994 · 1995 · 1996 · 1997 · 1998 · 1999 · 2000 · 2001 · 2002 · 2003 · 2004 · 2005 · 2006 · 2007 · 2008 Awards Video of the Year • Male Artist of the Year • Female Artist of the Year • Best New Artist • Best Group • Most Earthshattering Collaboration • Quadruple Threat of the Year • Monster Single of the Year • Best Direction • Best Choreography • Best Editing • Video Vanguard Award Defunct Best Alternative Video • Best Art Direction • Best Artist Website • Best Cinematography • Best Concept Video • Best Dance Video • Best Hip-Hop Video • Best Long Form Video • Best Overall Performance • Best Pop Video • Best Post-Modern Video • Best R&B Video • Best Rap Video • Best Rock Video • Best Special Effects • Best Stage Performance • Best Video from a Film • Best Video Game Score • Best Video Game Soundtrack • Breakthrough Video • International Viewer's Choice Awards • Most Experimental Video • MTV2 Award • Ringtone of the Year • Viewer's Choice Award

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