You don’t have to be a Justin Timberlake fan to know that he put on an absolutely incredible performance last week at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs). He sang his heart out, showing viewers that after nearly two decades in the music industry, he’s still one of the top players in the game.
After 15 solid minutes of singing and dancing, including a much-anticipated reunion with *NSYNC, Timberlake took home the award for video of the year for his hit single “Mirrors,” as well as the Michael Jackson Vanguard Video Award.
As if his solo performance, which featured old-school crowd pleasers like “My Love,” “Rock Your Body,” and “Cry Me A River,” wasn’t enough, it’s safe to say that loyal *NSYNC fans everywhere were beyond excited to see the ’90s band hit the stage to perform a medley of their classic hits “Girlfriend” and “Bye Bye Bye.” The man deemed “President of Pop” by Jimmy Fallon put on an all-around fantastic show.
So many amazing moments from Timberlake this year at the VMAs, and yet, the performance that the media continues to focus on is that of the “We Can’t Stop” singer and twerker Miley Cyrus.
It’s a negative but honest reflection of our culture that what is considered controversial and shocking seems to outshine what is positive in the media. Timberlake may have demonstrated his exceptional talent as a musical artist, but Miley Cyrus, 20, twerked onstage wearing next to nothing with Robin Thicke, 36. Naturally, her performance is the one “we can’t stop” talking about.
This is sad. All jokes and moral debates aside, Cyrus barely even sang. She did, however, visibly horrify audience-members including Rihanna, out-weird Lady Gaga, and change the way we look at foam fingers forevermore.
Whether viewers disapproved of or enjoyed her provocative performance, the fact of the matter is that this excessive amount of attention does not need to be put on the former Disney star.
She didn’t win the Michael Jackson Vanguard Video Award. She didn’t win any award, actually. Nevertheless, according to Rolling Stone and Twitter, her performance was a show stealer.
“Show stealer” seems to be the most appropriate way to describe her raunchy routine, since the most impressive performance of the night has been widely overlooked in contrast to the controversy surrounding her. Judging from the massive amount of post-VMA Miley backlash, it is clear that the mainstream media celebrates shock value over talent or achievement.
This is not the first time something like this has happened after the VMAs.
Think back to 2009, when Kanye West infamously stole Taylor Swift’s moment onstage as she accepted her award for Best Female Video, claiming that “Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time.” The tragic mid-speech interruption shocked Swift, Beyoncé, and viewers everywhere.
Of course, it was all the media talked about for the following weeks to come — with hardly any mention of actual award-winners like Lady Gaga, who took home three Moonmen, or of the epic Michael Jackson tribute that kicked off the show.
It seems that post-VMA skewed media coverage has been around for a long time — think back even further to 2003. Timberlake took home three Moonmen that year, and Beyoncé did as well, but that’s not what we remember of the night. Do a Google search of “2003 VMAs,” and pretty much all you’ll find is media coverage of Britney Spears and Madonna locking lips during their iconic “Like A Virgin” performance.
The perpetual sensationalized media coverage of the VMAs reveals a negative side of our culture and our values with respect to entertainment. Here’s to hoping that next year we’ll hear a little bit more about those who deserve to be recognized, rather than those simply looking for attention.