Slick MTV Videos are now pain in the crass

Back - Index - Submissions - - What is RSS? Date: Aug 22, 2099 Source: The New York Post Submitted By: Jess By ADAM BUCKMAN THE judges for the MTV Video Music Awards will have to pick the winners without me. The deadline for voting came and went yesterday, and I took a pass. Sorry, MTV. Sorry, accountants at PricewaterhouseCoopers. I just couldn't bring myself to fill out the ballot you so graciously sent me (without asking me, of course). It's not that I couldn't choose between KoRn's "Freak on a Leash" and "I Want It That Way" by Backstreet Boys for Best Video of the Year. It's that I couldn't believe I was actually wasting my time poring over this ballot trying to decide which one of these videos was better. What in the world am I supposed to be judging here - which group's record company is better at manufacturing an image for MTV? KoRn and Backstreet Boys may be very different groups, but I don't see much difference in their videos. Yes, KoRn's a body-slamming hard-rock act known for inciting the kind of mosh-pit riots that broke out at Woodstock '99. And Backstreet Boys are clean-cut harmonizers known for inciting riots among pre-teen girls. But their superficial differences can't hide the fact that their videos come out of the same corporate mold. They're superslick, paid for by huge record companies, directed, filmed and edited like commercials for Nike or Gatorade. And that's exactly what they seem to be to music fans who complain that MTV's video playlist really plays like a string of commercials for the acts the record companies are pushing most. You want to talk about commercials masquerading as videos? How about those god-awful videos tied in to movies? One of the worst this year was "Wild Wild West" featuring Will Smith. Naturally, it's been nominated for Best Video of the Year. That nomination alone was enough to make me crumple up my ballot and toss it in the wastebasket. Who are you kidding, MTV? The movie was a bomb and the video was a clone of Will's "Men in Black" video. Asking me to "vote" on "Wild Wild West" is an insult to my intelligence. The impression that MTV is less an entertainment network than a promotional machine in perpetual motion isn't helped any by the way the network is relentlessly hyping this year's Video Awards. The folks at MTV are treating this year's awards like the coming of the messiah. The nominees are played over and over, and listed repeatedly in promo spots, along with the event's airdate - 9/9/99 - which was chosen chiefly because it's all 9's (ooooooh!). What the MTV Video Music Awards really come down to is this: They're a contest between artists that MTV played to death during the past year. Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez, Ricky Martin, Lenny Kravitz, 'N Sync, TLC - they're all nominated and there's not an original piece of work in the bunch. Somewhere out there, I'm sure that original work is being done in music videos. Just don't expect to find any examples on the MTV Music Video Awards. Comment on this item. Next Item: How to work with ticket brokers Prev Item: Growing Pains