We were all watching, and we all saw who took home the moonmen. But who really came out on top at last weekend’s awards show?
It was two and a half hours of pure madness, but the 2013 VMAs certainly had everyone talking. But not everybody got good reviews for their appearance in Sunday night’s broadcast. Let’s take a look at how it all played out.
The Winners
Macklemore, Ryan Lewis, and Mary Lambert
Macklemore and Ryan Lewis were real winners Sunday night, taking home three moonmen: Best Hip Hop Video and Best Cinematography for “Can’t Hold Us,” and Best Video with a Social Message for “Same Love” (Ft. Mary Lambert). They also performed “Same Love” with Lambert, and special guest Jennifer Hudson.
Their acceptance speech for Best Video with a Social Message was beautiful. Macklemore said the success of this song “is a testament to what is happening right now in America on the forefront of equality.” He went on to add that, “Gay rights are human rights, there is no separation.” As true class acts, they brought Mary Lambert up on stage with them to accept the award, which is not always the case with other artists.
The performance of “Same Love” was one of the most memorable of the night. Starting with a curtain of American flags, the performers emerged to sing so passionately, it raised the energy level of the Barclay Center, and got everyone’s hearts beating. Not to mention Macklemore, flailing around in his mint green suit, was a ton of fun to watch.
It was a great night for Mary Lambert as well, responsible for the catchy hook in “Same Love,” she looked beautiful in her sparkly dress, and sounded great onstage. Better yet, she was joined by Jennifer freaking Hudson. What a thrill it must have been for her to have the diva sing her words, and to sing them along with her!
The pre-show artists
Those of you tuning in to the MTV VMA pre-show were treated to some bad wig tape from Gaga, some bike tricks from Pharrell and his pals, and a lot of awkward interviews and awards presented by some random MTV VJs. (Are they even called VJs anymore?) But the awkwardness was broken up by a few performances from some promising new acts presented as “The New Faces of Pop”: Austin Mahone and Ariana Grande.
Sporting what may have been a leather tracksuit with a red kangaroo pocket, Mahone danced his way across the gigantic red carpet in all his carefully-choreographed glory to his hit “What About Love.” It’s nothing we haven’t seen before, but it is pure pop catchiness. And if we can trade Bieber in for this guy, I’m totally on board. Plus, his fanbase calls themselves “Mahomies” which is a magnificent fandom name second only to the Cumberbitches.
Though the tiny songstress looked like she showed up at the wrong venue for her sweet sixteen birthday party, Ariana Grande out-sang almost every other performer we saw for the rest of the night. Singing a medley of her hits “Baby I” and “The Way,” she impressed anyone tuning in to watch the more established performers. She has that Mariah Carey whistle register that we’ve all missed so much from Mariah’s early years. If this is the future of pop music, maybe we’re not doomed after all.
Jimmy Fallon
This is not Jimmy Fallon’s first appearance on the VMAs, nor is it his first time paying tribute to Justin Timberlake. But his introduction of Timberlake, and the presentation of the Video Vanguard Award, was one of the best intros ever.
Fallon’s giddy enthusiasm for everything is what makes him so likeable, and he was just about jumping out of his skin at the chance to present this award to his buddy Justin. Shouting and sweating his way through the introduction, he called out all of Timberlake’s biggest hits, from NSYNC to “Dick In A Box,” and even claimed “Cry Me A River” was written about him. It makes you want Jimmy Fallon to wake you up in the morning, and cheer you on through your difficult workday.
The other four guys from NSYNC
Guys, we all know that Justin had a huge night: he took home three moonmen and the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard lifetime achievement award, and performed for, like, five hours straight. But let’s be honest: most people tuning in for Justin’s performance were waiting with bated breath to see those four lesser-known faces: JC Chasez, Lance Bass, Chris Kirkpatrick, and Joey Fatone. The rumor of a potential reunion basically broke the Internet, and desperate fans rallied around their television sets to see their wildest dreams come true. There was a 66% increase in ratings over last year’s VMAs, and that was most likely due almost entirely to NSYNC fans.
People tuned in not knowing what to expect: would it be a train wreck? It’s been 10 years since the boys last performed together, and they haven’t exactly been filling their days with exercise and elaborate choreography in the interim. Would they still sound the same, their voices blending in perfect harmony? Would they still be just as dreamy as they used to be? But when our old friends rose up from under that stage, everyone’s fears were squashed. They were still looking handsome in their fancy suits, and they sounded just as wonderful as they always did.
What a great night for all of the guys. They could have just gone up there on stage, sang a few notes, and people would have been thrilled. But they actually learned choreography, and bounced around the stage for a few minutes, just like old times! They certainly reminded America of why we loved them in the first place, and they made the most of their brief time in the spotlight (Lookin at you, JC.)
After a decade that has seen its share of disappointments for everyone in NSYNC not named Justin, this was the world’s opportunity to prove to the other guys that we still love them. Hopefully they got the message loud and clear.
It’s nights like this one, with a big awards show or television event, where so many of us take to Twitter to live-tweet our thoughts and reactions, because subjecting our friends and loved ones to them in person is just not enough. Miley Cyrus, the star of the evening, proclaimed on her Twitter feed that there were 306,000 tweets per minute during her performance alone.
It’s times like this where Twitter truly serves it’s ultimate purpose: to prove that someone else across the country was also surprised to see that Lil’ Kim is still alive. It’s a melding of the minds, like we’re all together watching this mess of pop culture unfold, and we can all gossip about around the giant water cooler of the Internet.
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