Attention!!!
Well August has been a very interesting month for the music industry and we have the much anticipated theatrical MTV Video Music Awards to discuss about as well as the usual charts and news.
The 30th MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) was held on August 25, 2013 in New York and the Video of the Year went to Justin Timberlake for his exceptional work on "Mirrors". However, the showstopper was none other than Hannah Montana gone bad Miley Cyrus as her performance of We Can't Stop mashed up with Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines and the twerking that ensued drew varying comments from social media and fellow artistes which were either highly critical or entertaining. I of course believe that a personality with an influence of such magnitude among young girls and boys should have literally kept her nude underwear in her pants. This sudden drastic hair chopping change of Cyrus won't hopefully influence the already deteriorating generation in the US by advocating partying, drugs and experimenting with sexual orientation. Although she and Robin Thicke were nominated for four awards each, neither won in any category.
The other amusing drama at the VMAs was the neverending saga of Taylor Swift vs. Harry Styles. After the infamous breakup between Swift and Styles, Swift went on to write We are never ever getting back together and I knew you were trouble inspired from the bitter heartbreak she suffered. However, this was not a waste as her biggest singles up to date are those two as well. Although Swift did not perform at the VMAs during her acceptance speech for the Best Female Video (I knew you were trouble) she said "I also want to thank the person who inspired this song, because he knows exactly who he is, because now I've got one of these". However, even before this when the Best Pop Video was being presented by One Direction, Swift mouthed the words "Shut the Fuck Up" to Selena Gomez who smiled awkwardly and moments later Gomez went on stage to accept her award for Come and Get It.
Other performers at the ceremony included Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, Katy Perry and Justin Timberlake with a surprise entrance by former fellow band mates of 'N Sync who performed a mashup of Girlfriend and Bye, Bye, Bye. Some of the other award winners worth mentioning are:
Best Male Video: Bruno Mars - Locked out of heaven
Artist to Watch: Austin Mahone - What about love
Best Rock Video: 30 Seconds to Mars - Up in the air
Best Hip-Hop Video: Macklemore and Ryan Lewis ft. Ray Dalton - Can't hold us
Best Collaboration: Pink ft. Nate Ruess - Just give me a reason
Best Song of the Summer: One Direction - Best song ever
Moving on to the UK Charts the first week was dominated by Avicii with Wake me Up only to be replaced by Miley Cyrus with We Can't Stop. Thereafter Ellie Goulding moved onto No.1 with her new single Burn which would hang on to this position even in early September. Burn is a great synthpop song with brilliant vocals by Goulding. However, Goulding will meet her match as Katy Perry's Roar will enter the charts on September 1, 2013.
In the US Billboard Hot 100 Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines has been reigning supreme for the past 11 weeks. No doubt it will end up as the Year End Numero Uno. Katy Perry's Roar has been struggling at No.2 but will possibly surpass the "Lines" once her video comes out. However, one thing that we should all should be glad about is that One Direction's Best Song Ever failed to claim the No.1 spot in the UK or the US. Lady Gaga's Applause failed to impress anyone except for her ardent fan base as the song fell short of peaking either in the UK or US. We will just have to wait and see if her latest album Artpop will produce anything at all along the lines of Poker Face or Just Dance.
Other songs worth mentioning that made the Top 10 in either the UK or US in the past month are:
Zedd ft. Foxes - Clarity
Anna Kendrick - Cups (Pitch Perfect OST)
Capital Cities - Safe and Sound
Lana Del Rey and Cedric Gervais - Summertime Sadness
Klangkarussell ft. Will Heard - Sonnentanz (Sun don't shine)
DJ Fresh and Diplo ft. Dominique Young Unique - Earthquake
Sean Paul - Other side of love
The Wanted - We own the night
Tinie Tempah ft. 2 Chainz - Trampoline
Naughty Boy ft. Emeli Sande - Lifted
Til the next Beat...
At Ease!!!
