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And the award goes t 0...
VMAs
by Jen Carroll
staff writer
MTV rocked Radio City Music Hall
in New York City last Thursday as the
biggest and best names in music and
television collided for the 2000 MTV
Video Music Awards. The ni:ht was
filled with music, comedy, and some
very interesting surprises.
Last year's show was a hard act to
follow with Chris Rock as the host, but
the 2000 VMAs had Shawn and Marlon
Wayans. Using their comedy to help
liven things up, they introduced a count
less number of presenters and 10 live
performances.
The night kicked off with a high-en
ergy performance by Janet Jackson.
The audience went "Nutty, Nutty,
Nutty" for Janet when she sang and
danced to her new hit single "Doesn't
Really Matter." Sisqo was "shaking his
thang" during the live performance of
his first single, "The Thong Song."
One of the more interesting perfor
mances of the night was Britney Spears.
She entered with a version of "Satis
faction" and stripped--literally--into her
hit song "Oops. . .1 Did It Again." The
most courageous performance, how
ever, was Eminem's "The Real Slim
Shady." The rapper led over a hundred
look-a-likes in from the street as he
marched down the aisle of Radio City
Music Hall in perfect time to serenade
TN SLOYIIIO
ties
Concert Setr
Couldn't be there?
We've got the next
best thing--reviews.
Here's a comprehen
sive guide to what you
O missed during this
summer's concert
ex tra vangan za. Look
for more reviews, in
cluding Dave Matthews, No Doubt
and Faith Hill/Tim McGraw, in the
weeks ahead.
Counting Crows: Darien Lake, NY, August 31, 2000
To accent the release of their new al
bum, This Desert Life, Counting Crows
is now finishing up the final leg of their
summer concert tour, in which they co
headlined with Live. Fronted by lead
singer Adam Duritz, Counting Crows
is one of the best groups that I've ever
seen live. As with their past two tours,
each show had a life and atmosphere
of its own. Almost every show that took
place during this summer tour was in
an outdoor setting —Toledo Zoo Am
phitheater, the Blossom Music Center,
outside of Cleveland, and the Darien
Lake Amphitheater just to name a few.
All of the shows this summer were
opened by Galactic, a New Orleans
techno funk band which helped to en
ergize the audience before the headlin
ing acts came. Counting Crows is a
group that enjoys being on tour, and
they are a great band to see live.
Whether Adam is bantering with the
Movies
Bait
9/15
Birthday Girl
9/15
* Release date is 9/19
Arts &
gt;
his favorite pop target, Christina
Aguilera.
N'Sync said "Bye Bye Bye" to the
competition as they performed a med
ley of "Bye Bye Bye," which won three
awards, "This I Promise You," and "It's
Gonna Be M.e." The performance has
been dubbed "technologically impres
sive" even if you don't like the boy
Emmys by Deanna Symoski
If you were one of the few people
who didn't get an award last week, don't
worry—your Friends didn't get one ei
ther. The 52nd Emmy Awards, hosted
by Gary Shandling, showcased an ar
ray of new shows that trampled over the
old favorites.
Sex and the City fell to Will and
Grace for Outstanding Comedy Series
Sunday night. The dynamic duo's sup
porting actor and actress, Sean Hayes
and Megan Mullally, both picked up
statues in their respective categories.
Mullally beat out previous shoe-ins
such as Jennifer Aniston and Lisa
Kudrow, while Hayes outshined both
hopefuls from Everybody Loves
Raymond and Frasier's favorite, David
Hyde Pierce.
There was no debating the absolute
power of The West Wing when it picked
up the coveted Outstanding Drama
award. The rookie drama also picked
up Emmys for Outstanding Supporting
Actor and Actress and for dramatic writ-
ing and directing.
FOX's golden child, Malcom in the
Rolling Rock: Latrobe, PA, August 5, 2000
One of the most anticipated events
of this past summer was the Rolling
Rock Town Fair. Some of those who
attended had their tickets almost four
months in advance. Tickets were
selling on eßay for somewhere around
$2OO a piece. Still, all this hype led to
a show that had to be over by 7 p.m.
and left many of the audience's
expectations unanswered.
The headliner was the Red Hot Chili
Peppers, but technical difficulties and
bad communication with the roadies led
to a bit of an incoherent set. The songs
are always fun to sing along to, but the
whole live aspect was a bit lackluster.
Flea, the wonderful bass player, was
crowd or is performing a 10 minute ver
sion of "Angels of the Silences," a
Counting Crows show is an experiment
not to be missed.
One major theme of most of the
shows this tour was rain. Almost every
show took place during some form of
precipitation. From the light rain that
drizzled down all throughout the Toledo
Zoo show to the torrential downpour
that accompanied the show at the Blos
som Music Center, rain seemed to be
stalking the entire tour. Adam com
mented to the crowd at the Blossom
Music Center that it had rained at every
tour stop for the past two weeks. While
I have seen bands that can't play when
it's raining, playing in the rain just
added to the experience for a group that
has a song named "Rain King." You
can't truly get the Counting Crows ex
perience until you hear "Rain King" in
the middle of a thunderstorm. Watch-
Video*
Gundam Wing:
Showdown in Space
Way of the Warrior
Little Mermaid II: Re
turn to the Sea
Pokemon:
Hang Ten Pikachu
Po-ke Corral
band. Employing monitors to replace
their heads, the five-some danced and
sang a routine full of precision and un
disputable talent.
Nelly went on to teach us lessons in
"Country Grammar" and Blink 182
ended the evening with a controversial
performance of "All the Small Things,"
as "little people" rode scooters on stage
Middle, won two awards for Outstand
ing Writing and Outstanding Direction
in a Comedy Series, while Michael J.
Fox picked up the statue for Outstand
ing Lead Actor in a Comedy for his
work on Spin City. Fox accepted the
award to a standing ovation.
But enough about awards. The show
was also full of other emotional mo
ments, showcased in standard montage
form. A touching video memorial paid
tribute to the talent of those actors and
actresses who have passed on during the
year. Another kleenex-invoking tribute
to love remembered those awe-inspir
ing moments of the past television sea
son. Highlights from Ally Mcßeal,
Friends, and Frasier were just some of
the special clips.
Gary Shandling may just rival Billy
Crystal in his hosting ability, running
with great ad libs and backstage skits
that were so cheesy, they were actually
funny. The entire show ended only a
couple minutes after 11 p.m., but enter
tained the whole night.
very entertaining as usual. The Chili
Peppers played the recent top hits from
Californication, but also pulled a few
from the old standard of Blood Sugar
Sex Magik. Still the entire performance
fell short of the hype.
The performers who stole the show
were Fuel and Moby. Fuel went on in
the 3 o'clock hour when the traffic to
go get a drink was backed up beyond
belief. Many watched the group from
the hillside, turning their attention to a
large screen for a close-up view. Fuel
played some new songs from the album
slated to come out later August 19th.
In the words of a supreme rock fan,
"Fuel rocked hard."
ing half naked people go body sliding
down the middle of the lawn seating
adds so much to the concert-going ex-
penence
With three albums-worth of songs to
choose from, Duritz and company play
a great blend of their classic songs with
tracks from their newest release. Some
staples of this tour have been "Mr. Jones
2000," a more upbeat version of their
original hit; "Monkey," for Duritz's new
girlfriend; and "I Wish I Was A Girl,"
one of the best songs off of the their new
album. Amazingly absent from this tour
was "Round Here," one of the Count
ing Crows best known songs, and was
performed at every show up until they
teamed up with Live.
The highlight of every Crows show
has to be the playing of their newest hit
song, "Hangin' Around." In the video
for this song, Counting Crows is shown.
jamming with their friends to sing this
Music *
Madonna
Music
Barbra Streisand
Timeless--Live in
Concert
Fastball
The Harsh Light of Day
Bjork
Selmasongs
and hung from above.
As for awards, Eminem and N'Sync
tied for most honored. Both went into
the night with six nominations and
walked away with three awards each.
N'Sync received Best Pop Video,
Viewer's Choice, and Best Choreogra
phy, while Slim Shady won Best Male
Video, Best Rap Video along with Dr.
Dre, and Best Video of the Year. Other
winners included Blink 182, Jennifer
Lopez, Macy Gray, Aaliyah, Sisqo,
Limp Bizkit, and Destiny's Child. The
Red Hot Chili Peppers received the
Video Vanguard award along with one
other award after they tore up the stage
with "Californication."
The night was not all awards and per
formances, though. Several unscripted
surprises popped up along the way.
During Fred Durst's acceptance speech
the bassist from Rage Against the Ma
chine climbed onto a large prop on stage
and began shaking the scaffolding. He
was escorted out by police and later re
leased. Other surprises of the night in
cluded some of the unique match ups
for presenters. There was Britney
Spears and Christina Aguilera, The
Rock and Kid Rock, Jim Caney intro
ducing Eminem, and Carson Daly who
dared to bring Sean Fanning creator of
Napster and donning a Metallica shirt.
up on stage.
The 2000 VMAs certainly followed
in the great tradition of MTV award
shows, creating raucous and contro
versy. Laughs and surprise. And oh
yeah, some people won some awards.
However, a non-rocker seemed to be
the real headliner of the whole
afternoon. Moby used his techno beats
to subdue the crowd. He made fun of
Republicans, "frat boys," and the staff
on hand at the Town Fair. He asked
what "staff - was anyway and replied to
his own question with an inquisitory,
"an infection?" "Honey" and "Go"
seemed to keep the crowd moving and
literally kept one fan moving as he was
invited to break dance on the stage.
There were a lot of small flaws that
can be worked out. The groups were
good enough for a memorable show but
if the Town Fair does continue, there is
indeed room for improvement.
by Doug Smith
song, and this carries over onto the stage
performance. All of the other groups
touring with Counting Crows come back
on stage to perform this song with them.
Along with Adam, the lead singers of
Live and Galactic both take a turn sing
ing verses of "Hangin' Around." At this
point, that song degenerates into a
barely-controlled riot with Duritz and
company singing part of TLC's "No
Scrubs" to the "Hangin' Around" mu
sic. The crowd even gets into the song
by clapping to the beat of the music un
der direction of Adam Duritz.
All in all, the Counting Crows sum
mer tour consisted of great concerts.
While many people have called me
crazy for going to three shows of this
tour, I think it just goes to show the
greatness of their performances.
by Mike Frawley
DVD*
28 Days
Gundam Wing:
Operation 3
High Fidelity
Little Mermaid 11.
Return to the Sea
ic' Em
R S D°
by Deanna Symoski
PEEP SHOW:
A glimpse
into Real TV
I'm taking a rather informal survey this week. I was just wondering how
many of you in the course of your lifetimes, have been marooned on a
deserted island. Also, if any of you are currently in a boy band I would
recognize from TRL, please let me know. I ask because I am afraid my life
might be terribly boring compared to the "reality-based" shows I now see on
television. And if this is real life, I want to know what I'm doing wrong.
Obviously this editorial has been a long time coming. Maybe I should
have addressed the whole "real TV" craze when 58 million of you were
watching the last episode of Survivor. At the time, however, I just couldn't
bring myself to question your new religion when you looked so cute huddled
in front of your television watching Richard collect his cash.
But now that we're a few weeks beyond the historic event and your "real"
heroes have moved on to making milk ads, I thought maybe we could look
back and perhaps gain a little perspective.
Ever since reality-based television started gaining popularity a few years
hack with shows like COPS and The Jerry Springer Show, I've had to
question the term "reality-based." I understand that it is meant to signify a
lack of scripted action or actors, but reality? All right, maybe for that cross
section of the population comprised of trash and criminals.
Fast forward to recent endeavors like Survivor and Making the Band,
however, and the term reality completely gets lost in the shuffle. Shows such
as these have put such emphasis on spectacle, turning the average person into
a contestant, that reality is all but sacrificed to the ratings gods. Real TV has
now evolved into some hybrid of bizarre programming that combines game
show with psychological experiment.
A more appropriate term for these shows may be "fish bowl" television. It
started out simply with the documentary, An American Family. It was just a
small piece examining the everyday occurrences in the average American
home. But that went well and a couple of decades later, MTV wanted "to see
what happens when people stop being polite and start getting real." So along
came The Real World. A little kinky, but not too harmful.
But just as all things develop, the envelope got pushed in this genre and too
soon the extreme had become the norm. Simply watching how people live
wasn't enough. We wanted to see how they lived when deserted on an island
or after they married a strange millionaire. It is this warping of circumstance
that now makes reality so interesting.
But then that isn't exactly real, now is it?
"Real" is a show like CBS' other reality program Big Brother. I'll explain
the concept because according to ratings none of you are watching. It goes
like this: A group of strangers lives together under continuous surveillance to
compete for a cash prize by avoiding "banishment." Sounds a little like that
island show with the old guy...what was that one?
But Big Brother is failing. While the circumstances were warped in this
case too, the contestants adjusted much to the dismay of producers. None of
you are watching because apparently there is nothing to watch. No dysfunc
tion, no illegal activity, and no rats to fall back on. In fact, standard reality
can be so boring, that last week CBS attempted to bribe house members off
the show. (Something about being too normal.) In a desperate move to boost
ratings, producers hoped to replace one of the members with a 22 year-old
up-and-coming nymphomaniac from Florida, just to spice things up a bit.
But this, again, is where reality turns into experiment.
The real truth is that while these shows may be wildly entertaining, they
certainly do not represent real life. Few people's lives consist of being filmed
on a deserted island, (unless you're a swimsuit model), and few others give
companionship to strange millionaires for cash (unless you're a prostitute).
And it worries me to think that anyone believes the majority of the popula
tion lives like this. Real life is a single parent trying to raise two kids on his
or her own. Real life is a teenager struggling with obesity. Real life is a
college student trying to graduate on time. But apparently these stories aren't
interesting enough for the average person to watch, unless the single mom is
beating her ex-lover with a chair on Springer, or the fat kid is crying on
Mann,.
Reality-based television does nothing but exploit the individuals who take
part in it and bring out the voyeuristic tendencies of those who like to watch.
I'm proud of myself for not watching Survivor until the last episode, and that
was only so I could write about it later. I had better things to do, I guess, like
hang out with friends, earn some extra summer cash, or play with my dog.
Those may not be activities any of you would tune in to see, but maybe that
means I did something right.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2000
THE