While the masses will be tuning in tonight to witness what is shaping up to be yet another glorious MTV Video Music Awards moment for Beyonce, we’d like to take a second and celebrate a prolific VMA performance which holds a very special place in our vault. Performing a medley of ‘That’s The Way Love Goes’ and ‘If’, we give you Ms. Janet Jackson’s 1993 Video Music Awards showing as this week’s From The Vault pick.
Produced and written by usual suspects Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis alongside the diva herself, the two tracks were respectively the first two singles off Jackson’s eponymous fifth album ‘janet.’ which hit #1 with the largest first week sales for a woman at the time of release. The two singles, arguably two of her signature hits, fared extremely well on the Billboard charts too with ‘Love’ claiming the top spot for 8 consecutive weeks in the US and hitting #2 in the UK while ‘If’ reached the 4th position of the Hot 100 and was a UK Top 20 hit.
Closing the ceremony, Janet opted for a slow start with the sultry and sensuous ‘Love’ nonetheless engaging in ample choreography with her female dancers. For the second chapter of the performance, it seems the ‘Feedback’ singer wanted to remind people of the “stage-blazer” status she acquired during her ‘Rhythm Nation days’: extra dancers, wind machines and of course THAT dance-break were all set in motion to ensure the ceremony went out with a bang during the sickening ’If’.
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With Janet reportedly releasing a new album later this year (which would naturally come with edgy visuals), could next year’s VMA ceremony honor Janet the same way they did Justin Timberlake last year and are about to do Beyonce tonight? Granted she already won the Video Vanguard Award over two decades ago, we’re still salivating at the prospect of a 15+ minutes Janet Jackson performance on the grand stage, and we’re convinced MTV could think of something fresh and exciting to justify such an event.
Only time will tell it seems. In the meantime, we’ll heavily replay this performance and will be glued to our seats tonight, hoping for brand new VMA moments as epic as this.
Your thoughts?