MTV’s Video Music Awards have a storied history of sensational and surprising moments that have gone on to become pop cultural milestones. Who could forget Britney’s open-mouthed smooching of Madonna, or Michael Jackson making out on stage with Lisa Marie Presley way back in 1994? How about Prince revealing his pants-less behind in 1991? And then there was last year’s big fiasco and huge shocker, with even the president weighing in—Kanye West crashing in on Taylor Swift and hijacking the microphone during her VMA acceptance speech. It’s doubtful anyone could or ever will top his award for Most Boorish Behavior.
So the expectations were high for the 2010 VMAs. Despite host Chelsea Handler’s admonition for everyone to be on their worst behavior, the only real fireworks during the telecast came at the very end — during West’s much-anticipated performance.
But it was Handler’s performance as host—the first female doing emcee duties at the VMAs in 16 years– that drew the most heat. The New York Times trashed her act, saying “She was among the worst in show’s history — purposefully out-of-touch, with brief, alarming flashes of off-color racial humor.”
The Washington Post, Entertainment Weekly and AOL TV were among those giving her a resounding thumbs down, while the Los Angeles Times took the opposite stance, saying she had “plenty of verve and vinegar.”
In or out of the Chelsea camp, there’s no dispute the show was a smash. It drew its highest ratings since 2002, commanding 11.4 million viewers, up 27% from last year.
Despite all the waves about Chandler, who tweeted that “she had a blast and the show was awesome,” the night belonged to Lady Gaga, who’s in the throes of a really good romance with her fans. And let’s hope the meat outfit got refrigerated—or cooked to perfection. It would be a shame to let one of the most unique ensembles in awards show fashion history go to the dogs.
