Welcome freshman, welcome books, welcome Diddy’s many looks. Amidst what seemed like 300 wardrobe changes, this year’s MTV’s Video Music Awards allowed Diddy to drop the “P” and host a memorable show including surprise celebrity appearances, incredible performances and a particularly spastic “presentation” by Mr. R. Kelly.The theme of the 2005 VMAs according to Diddy was “anything can happen.” I assume that by “anything” he meant an unnecessary amount of water all over the place and random dance breaks. Did anyone enjoy Omarion and Diddy’s little hip-hop duo? Diddy got served.
Not to worry; there were plenty of other memorable moments to repair the scarring Diddy’s soft-shoeing left on many young minds. At one point in the show, he tossed his “watch o’ bling” to a nearby audience member. Not but three commercials later Diddy had to apologize to the poor guy because security snatched it away from him. The gracious host gave him back the watch with which this lucky MTV-lover could use to pay for college.
A watch wasn’t the only thing Diddy gave away. He rewarded the two best-dressed celebrities $100,000 to give to a charity of their choice.
Snoop Dogg and Gwen Stefani walked away with that glorious chunk of change. Excuse me, Gwen? Can I be your charity? Oh, wait, maybe you should give it to Britney Spears so that she can hire another nurse to tack onto the eight she already has for her single newborn.
What would the VMAs be without musical performances? Well, a lot shorter for one thing, but definitely less entertaining.
This year Green Day, My Chemical Romance, Coldplay, Kanye West, Ludacris, The Killers, Kelly Clarkson, Shakira and Mariah Carey proved exactly why we love them. R. Kelly, on the other hand, only proved why he shouldn’t be allowed in a studio.
The “follow up” of his latest song(s) was presented quite theatrically by the controversial performer, and made everyone watching his or her television that night look around saying, “Huh?” Kelly put himself on display for public mockery when he decided to lip-synch a song with no lyrical structure and plenty of confusing “twists.” Did anyone else raise their eyebrows when they found out that the leading man in this story-song was named “Rufus?” No offense to all you Rufuses out there, or should I say “Rufi.” And how about the part when Rufus’ man-mistress was going to “cut” his wife, or when R. Kelly started flailing his body all over in his crazed performance as if he was being torn between two invisible friends?
And of course the most important part of the VMAs isin fact, the moon men. Green Day’s “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” won them Video of the Year, Best Group Video, Best Rock Video, Best Direction, Editing and Cinematography in a Video and “American Idiot” granted them the Viewer’s Choice Award, which is the most important award of the evening.
Kanye West took home Best Male Video while Kelly Clarkson was shocked to win Best Female and Best Pop Video. Best Rap Video went to Ludacris for “Number One Spot,” and Alicia Keys’ “Karma” earned herthe award for Best R&B Video. Missy Elliot’s “Lose Control” featuring Ciara and Fat Man Scoop landed the Best Hip-Hop and Best Dance Video awards.
Best New Artist in a Video went to The Killers for “Mr. Brightside,” and their performance showed us why. Fall Out Boy humbly received their award for the MTV2 Award saying that My Chemical Romance truly deserved it. Breakthrough Performance was given to The Gorillaz for their upbeat “Feel Good Inc.” In between the presenters’ horribly scripted jokes, the random dance and rap performances, Dane Cook’s comedy bit, and Shakira’s belly dancing, Diddy pulled off a night that really lived up to its theme. Anything and everything really did happen at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards.