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Shambolic showing of the night, no doubt, belongs to Ms. Rihanna. Her rendition of ‘Disturbia’ had all the elements of a great performance (truly amazing stage set-up, overly on-point dancers etc)… that is until she opened her mouth. Billy Goat Gruff at her worst. Terrible, just terrible. Though, I must say she redeemed herself ever so slightly with her performance of ‘Live Your Life’ with T.I. (the faux-hood chick thing wasn’t working, though. No). Rihanna aside, Clifford was on fire.
Christina Aguilera’s first post-pregnancy performance was notable, not least because we were given our first look at her new musical/image direction (seems Xtina has embraced the Electro-Pop sound – jumped on the bandwagon, maybe?), more so the fact that 95% of the performance was lip-synched. She gets a pass, somewhat, as she’s already proven herself to be one this generation’s greatest vocalists. That said, I’m still not entirely sold on ‘Keeps Gettin’ Better’ or this new direction of hers. I guess time will tell.
Is it bad that I haven’t (and don’t intend to) watch The Jonas Brothers or Kid Rock performances? LOL LOL…not enough time in the day…
I feel quite proud seeing Leona getting her shine over in the States, who would have ever envisioned a Lil’Wayne / Leona performance? As for Weezy’s showing with T-Pain, it was kinda ‘samey’ IMO.
Highlights of the night, no doubt, were Pink and Kanye West. Pink’s show-stopping performance of ‘So What’ really has me liking the song even more than before. While, Kanye’s debut of ‘sing song’ new single ‘Love Lockdown’ was great…a much needed spark of energy to close out an otherwise tired show.
One will, in future, be better off expecting exactly what is on the show’s ‘can’, as opposed to any surprises, seeing as the VMA’s ability to shock and awe seems like a distant memory. Having not turned in anything of substance since 2004, it seems the classic moments that made the VMA’s such a staple fixture on the music calendar have all but disappeared – the Michael/Nsync performance, Beyonce’s infamous ceiling entrance, Britney/Madonna/Christina….need I say more?