Ladies and Gentlemen, Lady Gaga presents Jo Calderone! In what may be a first for the MTV show, its opening act took the stage not as herself but as her alter ego. Jo, dressed in black trousers and jacket and looking a bit like Ralph Macchio in The Outsiders, played piano and danced to “You and I.” Gaga remained in character as Jo throughout the broadcast.
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Chris Brown promised a dance-heavy routine, and delivered. While he may have been lip-synching, he wowed the crowd with intense dance moves, and some aerial tricks. He danced to a compilation including his own “Yeah 3x,” Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” and Wu Tang Clan’s “Protect Your Neck."
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Though it was Britney Spears who received MTV’s annual Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, Lady Gaga stole the singer’s spotlight by introducing the show’s song-and-dance tribute as her character for the night, alter ego Jo Calderone. And, Spears didn’t do anything to steal it back in her acceptance speech, which consisted of a thank you before transitioning into an introduction of Beyonce, the next performer.
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The pop star won her first ever VMA for her “E.T.” music video, which featured Kanye West. And, as the duo took the stage to accept the award, Perry made light of West’s infamous interruption of Taylor Swift’s Best Female Video acceptance speech in 2009, joking, “Now this is a time you want to interrupt me right, Kanye?"
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Adele, who was nominated for seven VMAs, amazed the audience with a powerful performance of “Someone Like You.” With a simple set design and dark lighting, there were no bells or whistles needed because Adele’s talent was so explosive on its own.
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Beyonce, who revealed Sunday that she is expecting her first child with husband Jay-Z, took the stage to perform "Love on Top." At the end of her performance, the singer unbuttoned her jacket, giving her belly a rub as an elated Jay-Z cheered her on.
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After being quietly added to the lineup a few days before the awards show was set to take place, Watch the Throne duo Kanye West and Jay-Z took the stage for their semi-surprise performance of their song "Otis." For the starpower, the performance — which came near the beginning of the telecast — was anticlimactic. A bigger question was: Why didn't MTV advertise the team-up?
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Russell Brand took the stage to say a few words about his late friend, recalling the “daft, dopey person” she was, and his surprise at hearing her “timeless” voice. Likening the singer to Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday, Tony Bennett also said a few words about his incredible recording experience with Winehouse before unveiling a never-before-seen video of their March session at Abbey Road Studios. For a musical tribute, Bruno Mars put his own spin on her wildly successful cover of The Zutons’ “Valerie” – an odd choice, considering her outstanding songwriting contributions to the Grammy Award winning Back to Black album.
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Eight-time Emmy award winning actress Cloris Leachman joined the ladies of Jersey Shore to introduce the “smushable” Best Female Video category. The ladies joked about mistaken identities, and Leachman admitting to heeding the booty call of DJ Pauly D. For those not up on lingo at the Shore, Leachman proudly proclaimed herself as “DTF” – or “Down to F***.” All-in-all, a classic VMA moment.
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It is one of the most highly-anticipated films of the coming year, so when MTV announced that it would air an exclusive world premiere clip from the film, starring Jennifer Lawrence, it was big news. But when the clip aired near the end of Sunday's telecast, it didn't exactly match the hype. The network milked the premiere for all it was worth, sending out two one-second teasers last week teasing the actual teaser. Though it was the first true moment viewers, and fans alike, got to see Lawrence in action as Katniss, seeing her running through the forest probably wasn't at the top of their list.
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