It started with pure blackness, the crowd cheering, and then the spotlight started to shine. Eminem began rapping “Not Afraid,” and
the crowd went wild. What appeared to be an enclosed club soon turned into a huge stage filled with thousands of people. It wasn’t long
before Rihanna joined him to sing “Love the Way You Lie.” The Video Music Awards had begun.
According to MTV.com, this year’s VMAs were viewed by 11.4 million people, making it the biggest audience on MTV since 2002.
This year’s host was Chelsea Handler, who is known for not being afraid to say what is on her mind. Let’s just say that she put vagina
and Justin Bieber in the same sentence.
Of course the host’s words were not the only shocking thing that happened. There were also Lady Gaga’s outfits. One appeared to
be a re-imagining of a peacock. One was long and black and included a thorny headpiece. Although it was at the end of the awards
ceremony, when she accepted Video of the Year, where she wore a dress made out of meat. Yes, you read it right: meat. Still,
Lady Gaga was the big winner of the night, walking away with eight awards including Best Female Video, Best Pop Video and Best
Choreography.
Other winners included, Justin Bieber for Best New Artist, Eminem for Best Hip-Hop and Male videos and 30 Seconds to Mars for
Best Rock Video.
This year’s performances included an awesome trio of B.O.B., Paramore and Bruno Mars. Taylor Swift sang a new song inspired
by what happened between her and Kanye West last year. Linkin Park’s performance at Griffith Observatory was also screened at the
VMAs. Usher sang two hits featuring multiple dance numbers. Then Justin Bieber “sang” and did a solo drum set, which, I admit, was
a little impressive. There was also a performance by Florence + The Machine, which was interesting to watch, despite them not being
known by a big audience.
No one could forget the ending performance by Kanye West, who debuted his new song “Runaway.” The lyrics included, “Let’s
have a toast for the douche bags, let’s have a toast for the [explicit word], let’s have a toast for the scum bags.” This song could be
interpreted in many ways and some considered it West’s comeback to the music industry although others probably still hate him.
This year’s VMAs had its share of humor, shock and glamour. Compared with the other years, this one was more entertaining and
definitely more talked about considering it had a great deal of views on television. If you are already excited for next year’s VMAs (some
might be), there is a chance to win tickets, just check it out on MTV.

Timothy Marl/Staff reporter
Timothy Marl can be reached at [email protected]