Britney Spears: I didn't know comeback was spelt BOMB! From queen of pop to queen of faux pas Britney Spears bombs VMA performance Britney Spears failed to re-invent herself properly at 9/9's MTV VMAsThere once was something undeniable about Britney Spears: The girl could perform.
Sure, her singing ability was mediocre at best. Her lyrics were simplistic (but catchy). Her music was predictably formulaic. But throw the blond bombshell on a stage and she'd light it up. Her performances pulsed with raw energy. She moved confidently and quickly through choreographed moves. She was so fast and focused, one could almost forgive her lip synching. She worked hard. She was a professional. She cared.
On Sunday's MTV Video Music Awards, Britney was a shadow of her former self. She sleepwalked across the stage. She seemed confused and tentative. In her trance, she missed many of her own lines. It was like watching a karaoke version of dancing — with an unwilling participant. Her ripped abs and toned arms are distant memories, but still she wore a black sequined bikini and knee-high boots.
Word is she spent the three nights before partying in Vegas until dawn. Did she think she could pull it off without proper rehearsal? Did she pop an illicit substance before she took the stage? We all know what a bizarre mess Brit's personal life has become. The 25-year-old hasn't released an album since 2004, and huge hopes are riding on the one due in November.
Meanwhile, MTV was looking for huge ratings by having the will-she-bomb or will-she-pull-it-off songstress open its show. But what the network got was a sad reflection of both itself and Spears. The VMAs have endured a four-year ratings slump. Last year's drop was 28 percent. The network barely plays videos anymore, and even mtv.com draws less than half of Yahoo Music's visitors.
Still, this year's show was the most entertaining in years. A new format cut to several different live "suite parties" featuring performances by the Foo Fighters, Justin Timberlake and Kanye West. MTV bagged the host/hostess tradition, and instead, let the raunchy, but hysterical, Sarah Silverman give a brief monologue to kick off the show.
Silverman was prophetic. Of Spears, she said, "She's 25 years old and she's already accomplished everything she is going to accomplish in life."
This show was either a rock-bottom wake-up call for Spears or the end of an era. If she doesn't pull herself together, she'll soon be ripe for a spot on "Celebrity Fit Club."
A look at Brit's most notable VMA appearances:
1999: The break-out pop star sang "Baby One More Time" in a school-girl uniform.
2000: She marched down a spiral staircase while singing a cover of the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction." Later, she ripped off much of skin-tight suit to reveal expertly placed sequins. Her song? "Oops! ... I Did It Again."
2001: She opened the act in a cage with a live tiger, and later gyrated with a massive snake straddling her shoulders. Her song? "I'm a Slave 4 U."
2003: Spears and fellow former teen-star Christina Aguilera crooned Madonna's "Like a Virgin" in skimpy, tattered bridal-like clothes. Later, Spears and Madonna shared an open-mouthed kiss.
I guess Madonna is still the queen of re-invention and the queen of pop.
Kid Rock and Tommy Lee have yet another fall outLuckily for her, Britney Spears' lip-synching disaster is quickly being usurped as the VMAs primo water-cooler fodder.
Tommy Lee and Kid Rock battled it out at the MTV Video Music Awards Sunday night, though neither of them was up for a Moon Man. The duo wound up coming to blows during the Las Vegas ceremony, a fight that ended with Lee getting kicked out of the show and Rock getting cited for misdemeanor battery.
And we thought Spears had a rough night.
The tussle kicked off during Alicia Keys' performance, while MTV's usually controversy-honed cameras were unfortunately otherwise engaged. It remains unclear what provoked the fisticuffs, though the punches flew shortly after both men's ex-wife, Pamela Anderson, appeared as a presenter on the show.
MTV veejay Sway did his best to give viewers a post-fight play-by-play at the VMA Post Show.
"Tommy Lee was sitting by Diddy," he said. "[Kid Rock] just walked up and decked him!"
Rap producer Rich Nice, who had a front-row seat to the melee, told the Associated Press that the Mötley Crüe drummer was the instigator of the fight, though it was the "Bawitdaba" singer who landed the only connecting punch.
"It looked like Tommy Lee initiated it because Kid Rock was ignoring him," he said. "And Tommy Lee kind of antagonized him. And then when Tommy Lee stood up, it looked a little weird, like, 'Yo, what?'
"When Tommy stands up is when Kid hit him the first time with a backhand," Nice told the wire service. "And then Tommy Lee looked like he was trying to get at him to aggressively retaliate and then Kid Rock hits Tommy Lee again—bong. And then security grabs Tommy Lee in a headlock and pulls him off."
After the fight, security allowed Kid Rock to remain in his seat for the remainder of the show, though Lee was thrown out of the ceremony and deposited in the hotel's main casino amid a throng of fans.
Prior to the fight, Rock helped Superbad's Seth Rogen and Bill Hader introduce the Best Viewer's Choice artists, appearing as one of the category's losers from years past. Lee's participation in the show, meanwhile, seemed to begin and end with seatfilling duties.
Rock was cited by Sin City's finest just after 10 p.m., when LVPD reported to the Palms Hotel and Casino.
"A little after 8 p.m. last night we received a call that a disturbance had occurred at the MTV Video Music Awards," the police said in a statement. "We had a lot of officers working in and around the awards so they got there fairly quickly. We determined that the altercation was between Kid Rock and Tommy Lee. After our investigation, Kid Rock did receive a citation for misdemeanor battery. Everyone involved was interviewed."
While the brawl was unfortunately not televised, plenty of mention was made of the battle throughout the remainder of the show, with the ceremony's hip-hop contingent seeming to take particular pleasure at their change in beef-holding position.
"We need to stop the violence in rock 'n' roll," Diddy said while announcing the evening's final performers, Justin Timberlake with Timbaland and Nelly Furtado—an announcement the rapper claimed he was supposed to be making with one of the tusslers. "I was supposed to be doing this with Kid Rock, but you know, we got to stop the violence. It's not just hip-hop artists that fight."
Jamie Foxx, who took to the stage with Jennifer Garner, also referenced the fight, imploring the audience to "stop all this white-on-white crime."
"Tommy Lee and Kid Rock fighting like black folks—it's hilarious," he said. "Who won? I was in the bathroom...Pamela Anderson has got a hard choice to make."
As does the Las Vegas police. Kid Rock could face up to six months in jail for his misdemeanor battery charge, though it's unlikely he'll do the time.
While the publicity stemming from his battle royale may not do him any personal favors, professionally, it can't hurt. His first new album in three years, Rock and Roll Jesus, is due out Oct. 9.
