Separating the Artist from their Music

Ugh, sounds like the Grammy broadcast might have been worth watching this year. Everything I have read says that Amy did a fine job at 4 a.m. from London, but maybe that’s the UK press playing favorites. I’m looking online for a clip of the performance so I can judge for myself. Looking at the list of winners, I had some thoughts, and a lot of them relate to my ability (or inability) to separate the artist from their work.

1. Amy Winehouse – If the focus was back on her music, then bravo. I am glad to see her record be honored this year. The UK press here has made it difficult to remember that it should be about the music.

2. Foo Fighters – In spite of being smitten with all things Dave Grohl, I’m not crazy about this album. There, I said it, trying desperately to separate the artist from the work. I do, however, think The Pretender is a great single.

3. Kanye West – The man has had an extremely difficult year, so I am going to go gently, but usually when I see him win or not win an award, all I can think about is what a sore loser he is. Is it just me or is it also difficult for us rock fans to tell how really talented a hip hop star is? I mean so much is production, isn’t it?

4. Alicia Keys – I dig the instrumentation on No One, but her voice on that song. The word “caterwaul” comes to mind. Since it seems like she is always photographed with the powerful Clive Davis, I always wonder if she would dominate the airwaves in true payola fashion even if people didn’t like her.

As Dennis Miller would say, “of course that’s just my opinion, I could be wrong”. --J

Fighting Jetlag and LOL'ing, Judakris watches the 2007 VMAs

I will not be one of the many that makes fun of Britney after her VMAs opening last night. I realize she's fucked herself over the past few years, but I couldn't help but feel kind of sorry for her. I was totally annoyed that MTV agreed to let her open because they knew viewers would tune in to see the train wreck. Of course she agreed to do it, she would probably have done anything to get herself back on stage and in front of that audience. I don't care how damaged she is, I don't like watching a person basically self-destruct onstage. (By the way, who in the hell made the decision to open with a close-up of her hair extensions?) To me it was just too easy and unnecessary. With TMZ and Perez coming on the air, I guess MTV felt that they needed to jump on the bandwagon and feed the public's hunger to shoot a celeb while they're down.

Listen, while I was annoyed with MTV, I can't defend Britney. I may feel sorry for her, but she just needs to buck up. J told me she heard talk that Britney missed rehearsals for personal reasons (in other words, she had been partying too hard, which is indeed totally unprofessional). As a result she seemed comepletely stressed during the performance, forgetting lyrics and steps. Regardless, my beef is still with the channel I have loved my whole life. Any class MTV had seemed to go out the door along with all the music videos they used to play. It's just sad.

To be honest, while J and I agreed that the editing of the live performances were quick and wonderfully devoid of boring commentary, I felt as though the opening performance cast a dark cloud over the entire show and thereafter nothing seemed quite balanced. Despite this, there were two things that cracked me up: 1. anyone else notice that Beyonce's boob was on its way out? As she walked up onstage that boob seemed determined to say thank you as well.

Check out Kanye's face.

And, 2. Travis McCoy was totally loaded at some point. Not really able to say thank you since members of Fall Out Boy and other suite folks screamed and crowded around the band when it was announced that Gym Class Heroes won Best New Artist, Travis decided to chug his drink. Good boy. Actually, a lot of people seemed to be in a festive mood. Maybe it was Vegas, maybe it was to forget the opening.

I have a question. Who dresses Alicia Keys? The woman is talented and gorgeous, but that ensemble she had on during her performance was so unfortunate. I think J described the lower body section resembling "sausages." Very true.

I LOVE that Kid Rock and Tommy Lee got into a scuffle. That's so rock n roll. I've heard that Kid Rock gave it to Tommy pretty good.


I also love that Justin kept taking every opportunity to tell MTV they needed to play more videos- even in front of some girls from The Hills. Right on, JT.

I dug that Rihanna opened Shut Up and Drive by jumping on the bed in a Hot Topic-like outfit. So cute.

Thankfully, the Foo Fighters rocked it out. Someone needed to. I wish we could have heard more of the Cee-Lo/FF cover of Darling Nicky.

I have no clue who Peter, Bjorn, and John are.

Finally, thank CHRIST J is back in town, if only for a week! -K