I was largely underwhelmed by this show. I fast forwarded a lot. No offense to any Bey/RiRi/Britney fans intended. Here are my thoughts:
Rihanna’s dance party medley: singing over the track, but
not very loudly and not very often. Not much of singer, not much of a dancer.
She just does not impress me live—unless she’s doing slower songs (“Stay,” “Diamonds,”
“Love on the Brain”). The dance songs are good too, but I don’t need to see her
perform them.
Ariana Grande with Nicki Minaj: still rocking a high
pony(tail) but now with bangs. She’s singing while leading a spin class—no
seriously, she’s riding a stationary bike. Exceptional vocal range aside (and
she’s singing live!), I still can only understand about 40% of what she’s
saying. Why are her vocals so indecipherable?
Did MTV sanction Kanye’s rambling speech?! (eye roll)
Rihanna midtempo medley: the singing is better. The dancing,
not so much. And there’s still a lot of track playing for the chorus, which she’s
not even singing over.
Beyonce: I’m a fan though I don’t always understand her,
especially the visual stuff. I didn’t buy “Lemonade” because I didn’t really
care for “Formation” (sorry hardcore Beygency members.) Now I don’t know this
song she’s singing. Costume change to a black leotard. She must really hate
performing in pants. She is showing and shaking a lot of a** tonight. Remember
when she used to wear leotards that modestly covered the majority of her ample
rear? A more innocent time. How long is this performance?! 16 minutes
confirmed. Wow. Wind machine and hairography in full effect.
Kim Kardashian is so thin (not from behind, I imagine, but
everywhere else). She lost all that baby weight and then some.
Britney is back. I kinda like this song, but that’s because
it doesn’t sound like recent Brit at all. It does, however, sound very much like
current radio hits. But why does she even bother holding a mic? Does she
actually think she’s fooling anybody? Maybe she’s singing over a track, but you
can’t hear her at all if that’s the case.
The US girls’ gymnastics team (minus Gabby) presented an
award to Beyonce, who is an Amazon next to them.
Rihanna again: more RiRi than I can handle.
Beyonce wins Video of the Year. She beat Kanye. Luckily
there’s no one he’d rather lose to. LOL.
Rihanna AGAIN: singing “Stay.” I approve! Finally. Singing
for real this time without a track. Not as good as when she performed it at the
Grammys a few years back, but girl is just better standing still and singing
slow. Shouldn’t have reached for a few of those high notes though. Ouch. Fittingly,
they saved my 3 RiRi songs until the finale (“Stay,” “Diamonds,” and “Love on the
Brain,” as mentioned in my very first comment). It’s like I’m psychic. Good
choice, MTV.
