Pulling up to Miami’s American Airlines Arena in a mint green convertible fresh from their “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” video, Green Day bounded down the white carpet and proceeded to mop the floor at the water-themed (and hurricane-soaked) VMAs, picking up seven of eight moon men for which they were nominated. “We’ve been a band for sixteen years,” Green Day frontman Billy Joe said, glowing. “This is what you dream about.” The Bay Area punk rockers were the most dominant rock band at the VMAs since the 1996 Awards where Smashing Pumpkins mopped the floor with seven wins.
Billy Joe also commented on the omnipresence of hip-hop on MTV these days, and hip-hop did make up a large part of the VMA performance schedule. Hip-hop mogul currently-known-as Diddy hosted the event and a jail-bound Lil’ Kim made an appearance. Ludacris took a big step into the next level with his wildly amusing performance, but chart-topper 50 Cent and his G-Unit posse simply pranced around the stage, chanting out their various Top 10 singles. And does any human on this planet grab himself more than Fiddy? It’s like his package was on loan from Jacob the Jeweler or something. While we’re below the belt, R. Kelly’s predictably bizarre behavior surfaced during a hokey lip-synched performance of his epic cuckoldry ballad “Trapped in the Closet,” replete with a bedroom set straight out of Days of Our Lives.
The most sensational event of the Miami weekend took place away from the show itself, though, when Death Row honcho Suge Knight was shot at a Kanye West party late Saturday night. No arrests have been made in the shooting; of course, no one saw anything after six shots were fired in the middle of a packed, VIP-only affair. Yo, Chris Rock: time to update your material.
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Rock’n’roll did have some fine moments in Miami, and not just during Green Day’s frequent romps to the podium. The Killers beat out My Chemical Romance for the Best New Artist award, though reportedly Diddy called MCR his favorite band of the year, and Gwen Stefani walked away with two awards last night (although she’s a lot less rock these days). Performances by Green Day, the Killers, and MCR were among the night’s emotional highlights, as was Coldplay’s rousing rendition of their hit “Speed of Sound.” Fall Out Boy took home the MTV2 Award for “Sugar, We’re Going Down,” and animated rap rockers Gorillaz snagged two trophies.
And now, back to your regularly scheduled Laguna Beach reruns.
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