The VMAs 2009: A Return to Form

I always watch The MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) every year and sadly the last few years have been a tad disappointing. Last year's sojourn in L.A. with Britney being showered in awards was a marker improvement but it still didn't feel like a killer show. With the news that this year was to see the show return to Radio City Music Hall in New York, the place where the show started, then I got excited. When the list of nominees was announced there was also some excitementan. Beyonce, Lady Gaga and Britney competing for trophies meant that finally some genuinely huge videos (Single Ladies, Poker Face, Womanizer) were go to go up against each other. Also the line up of performers was suitably diverse and lead me to believe some prime entertainment was on the way.

And thankfully, the show didn't disappoint. A slick, entertaining and brilliantly judged piece of pure pop spectacle, this years VMAs was a true return to form. From the decent spread of winners (Best Pop Video for Womanizer felt just right and Single Ladies, in its all conquering glory, was a well deserving Video of the Year winner). Obviously Kanye West and Taylor Swift stole most of the show in their respective ways but everybody brought their A Game.

Madonna's opening speech was a fitting tribute to Michael Jackson and a great way of reminding of us why he was so loved and what he meant to others. The following tribute was eye popping but the lack of introduction for the dancers made it feel a little anonymous until Janet turned up. Although she seemed a tad rusty, her mix of emotion and pure charisma was a joy to watch and the audience reaction was priceless.

The rest of the performers uniformly gave their all. Taylor Swift was a tad cheesey but effectively showed us why the US teens have taken her to heart with her subway,out door dance fest, Beyonce felt a little bit rehashed but THAT dance will always be a show stopper, Pink reminded us why she is still a consistent and brilliant popstar giving plenty of emotion while flailing about the arena during a visually stunning "Sober". Green Day were enjoyable, if run of the mill and Muse were hard to resist as they worked their magic on a spellbound bunch of eager US fans and Jay Z and Alicia Keyes closing the proceedings was a powerful and glittering event bursting with star power. At this stage enough has been said about Kayne but needless to say he provided the defining moment of this years show even upstaging Russell Brand who did a good job even if his humour seems to fly high above the heads of most Americans.

To me though Lady Gaga brought the killer (no pun intended) performance of the night. A gothic meets Britney extravanganza she managed to cement her position as THE popstar of the last 12 months with a simple snarl. The re-arrangement of Paparazzi was epic and powerful and a canny reminder of what a great song it is. Also after all her talk of "The Fame: Monster" and her new fascination with horror movie images this performance places it all in context. It says alot that when the blood appeared on her stomach as I watched the performance for the first time that I actually gasped and for a second felt frightened. Gaga sold the emotion so much that you went on the journey of the bashed and beaten starlet been devoured by the fame machine. The little catch in her voice as she staggered around the stage was powerful stuff. And given how the whole ceremony focussed on the passing of a great pop icon it felt timely. The price that Michael Jackson paid was written all over the tableau Gaga brought us. And all this while busting out the dance moves and layering some lovely harmonies together. Fierce. Watch it here

Overall it was a fantastic show and easily the most talked about in years. The ratings for this years show are particularly strong and I can only hope that MTV continue to reach for the stars and make next years show even better

Death of Michael Jackson

To be honest, I don't know what I can really contribute that hasn't been said a hundred times already since Thursday night but suffice to say the fact that one of the most iconic popstars ever is dead is really a shame. At least this will have people digging out classic albums, videos, memories etc and reflecting on how one global popstar can touch so many people.

I do think its interesting how little has been made of the fact that in Ireland Jackson was known to be working on new material with Will.I.Am, Akon, Ne-Yo etc. I'm sure this new stuff will crop up at some point.

And given that I am a huge Janet fan, I am a tad worried about how nothing has been said about her. I hope her and the entire family are holding up OK.

The latest rumour, and the one I find the most interesting is that the show Jackson intended to perform will now be turned into a giant tribute concert featuring various big names. Given that Madonna's manager had confirmed her plans to join Michael on stage, presumably she will be among the line up. I could easily see modern day talent like Justin Timberlake, Ciara etc wanting to pay tribute and pretty much everyone else who is in the music industry.

Regardless of this though, the enduring legacy of his best work will live on I am sure.

And this will always be my favourite video of his (Scream is a close second!)

Irish Chart Update

I'm going to assume next week will be full of the greatest MJ hits but still interesting to check out the current Irish Top 40, which can be viewed here (top 50 in this case, and yes there are some people who still don't own Just Dance. IN JUNE. I mean really.)

The biggest surprise is Industry getting to number one with "My Baby's Waiting". I had pegged this as too cheesy and old fashioned to take off but apparently :

"a string of daily performances in record shops around the country has generated enough CD sales to take their independent debut release ‘My Baby’s Waiting’ straight to No1."

There you go. Interesting though, to see a pop act slog it out for a top spot, especially this market which is obviously tiny. I'm still not a fan of the song at all but it is nice to see a pop act do well in Ireland home of the "mid 30s and over" radio playlists.

The top 10 is actually quite exciting, having Battlefield by Jordin Sparks and Bulletproof by La Roux enter the bottom reaches (despite In For The Kill peaking at number 13, hugely different to it's long standing top ten run in the UK earlier this year) and the new Cascada single, which whatever you think of them is hugely enjoyable, opening up so strongly. Interesting moves outside of the top ten aswell with Pixie Lott climbing to number 13. I still think its so funn how a song can top the UK charts and only hit the mid teens here.

This week feels a bit more interesting then recent ones on the chart where you would see the same top 5 songs unmoved for what felt like an age. Of course this time next week should be interesting. Industry will struggle to keep that lead of a second week I'd imagine and given the small size of sales needed to get a hit song here, I wouldn't be shocked if we had a Michael Jackson number one along with several top ten entries.

Keep an eye on chart-track.co.uk for more.