Here we have the MTV Video Music Awards from 2022 and this ceremony took place in late August, so almost three weeks ago now. Still pretty fresh and current, but only in the sense that it has not been a long time since then. In terms of the quality, "fresh" is really almost the last word I would use here sadly. Then again, previous editions showed us the poor state that the music industry is in, but even if that state was much better, then the exact execution of this awards show we have here would still be close to catastrophe level. An absolute embarrassment. It ran for 2.5 hours, so maybe three hours including commercials, and there was so much wrong with it that it is almost impossible to mention everything. Gee what MTV has become. Also makes me a bit sad to see LL Cool J host an event like this, but he has been part of this posse for a long time anyway, so I should not be surprised. With Nicki Minaj, I am not surprised at all as I never saw any talent or creativity in her, so no surprise she does what she has to do in order to please the mainstream and stay relevant. Jack Harlow I am not familiar with. I see there are a total of three directors here, one of them in charge of the show overall and the other two apparently rather in charge of specific inclusions and segments. What everybody from this trio has in common is that they are quite experienced and prolific when it comes to running events like this. That is even worse then as you can see how they managed to build a prolific career for years, if not decades, when apparently there is, gently-speaking, not a lot talent to them. One of them has also a solid history with the Primetime Emmys which shows that once again, this almost means nothing today and it surely says nothing positive about the biggest award show in American television. Those also took place very recently, but we will elaborate on them on a different occasion with another review.

Now, I will just take the brainstorming route here pretty much for this massive show. Needless to say that they were throwing around superlatives from the very start on how this is the biggest night in American music etc. The shocking thing is that they did not even get the facts right. I mean I am not too familiar with all these new faces and performers, but one thing I do know is that Dove Cameron is absolutely not a newcomer. What was up with that? Very strange. She was introduced by Avril Lavigne and I read that Lavigne got her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame recently? There goes this walk's credibility. Embarrassing. Anyway, there were also basically two newcomer categories with different names. Extremely strange. Another inclusion that makes no sense there. And both were presented by Lavigne, who on both occasions was not hesitant to let us know she won the award like 20 years ago. I have no clue honestly why she is still relevant, but then again she blends in well with this mess of an event we have here. You can also call this show a bit of a commercial, not only because of the long commercial breaks, but especially because of the fact that some categories were sponsored by certain companies. One was a chewing gum producer I think and another was Burger King. Indeed. I do not want to judge this company's business model and take on human and animal health, but it was especially bizarre because they gave an award to Taylor Swift and I read there was some bad blood (no pun intended) between her, or rather her fans, and Burger King in the past because of a tweet they made about her music. Oh well, I guess if they get featured there, it is alright and she also knows better than to publicly speak out against such a gigantic company, even if I have to give them somehow props that they focus more on vegetarian nutrition now too. Not that the animal conditions got any better, but to expect this from the likes of McD or Burger King would be absurd, even if I am sure they would love people to think that way and preferably in a scenario where they would not have to change a thing, but just get the convenient propaganda out to the masses.

Back to the ceremony now: There was a situation when one fella announced that his new show or film or something includes a cast that entirely consists of actors or even people working on it altogether that have a connection to the LBGT community. I wonder how accurate this statement was if you take a deeper look in there, if maybe somebody just has a gay brother or good friend, but let's not discuss that now. I forgot about the details anyway because I would never watch a film that intentionally shuts out heterosexual cast members. There is a word for that: Discrimination. Of course, you are also 100% correct if you ask why such a statement is made during a music awards ceremony. Let me tell you something: If you still think you were watching a music ceremony here, then you could not be any more wrong really. Like the Grammys, like previous VMA Awards editions, all this has nothing to do with awards anymore. Of course, they are given out and also the obligatory Taylor Swift win is included as always, but these are concerts with two kinds of interruptions. First is commercials, second would be awards and acceptance speeches. Truly embarrassing. The idea that the awards should be at the center of all this vanished a long time ago with American music awards ceremonies. What a shame! It would have been a much better choice to keep this at 100 minutes, two hours max, and really focus on the awards, have maybe those with the most nominations perform a song, just one, or those that are nominated in the biggest category/categories, but this should be it in terms of music. You can always watch a concert DVD or some live performances on Youtube if you want to see this kind of stuff. I think it would be appropriate if there was some governing body ready to step in and make sure that this ceremony would only be allowed to name itself awards if the awards had far more screen time percentage-wise than anything else included. But there is no such governing body or they just go with the flow and do not care at all anyway. I had some respect for MTV in the past, but with every new edition of this mess, it is getting less and by now it maybe has even reached zero again already.

Back to specific inclusions: There is an astronaut featured during this show here and there, but I had no clue why though. Maybe because Johnny Depp is a global superstar? I mean I like him a lot more now than I did ten or twenty years ago, but even I had no idea what he was doing there and it felt so awkward. Honestly, I did not even know it was him before I read so on the imdb page. Cheech and Chong being included here was pretty interesting and one of the better moments of the night without a doubt, also because they were introducing a lifetime achievement award to Red Hot Chili Peppers and I really adore their music. At least their old stuff, not so sure about what they worked on recently. But even all of this felt somewhat lukewarm and was only among the better parts because everything else really sucked and not because it was actually memorable. Kiedis looks more and more like Mercury these days. His interactions with his band mates were fun though. Pity though Frusciante was not really featured too much there, but then again he is the only one from the current band members that has not been there for a long time without interruptions, so it is all good. Eminem was included too and he performed a duet with Snoop Dogg. I like Eminem's old stuff, but nowadays and also for a long time now he could not really be any more well-adjusted to the mainstream than he is. What a disappointment. Snoop is always kinda funny somehow, but let's be honest here: He is also not really an independent and talented musician, but mostly a gimmicky character. The drug abuse that is always linked to him is not helping matters, even if most liberals are completely fine with that, even approve of it.

Oh yeah, it also became a bit of a political show again, but not so much. The Russia/Ukraine situation for example was not included at all. Not a thing in America I suppose. Maybe not too bad this way. One example of an inclusion, however, was when Lizzo (it was her wasn't it?) made a statement linked to going to vote. Of course, the liberal entertainment industry does not only want you to vote, but vote for the "right" person. But compared to other previous editions, it was harmless this time. This will change when the next presidential elections come closer. 100% it will change. I think on one occasion there was hate speech used against Clarence Thomas, but I am not 100% sure anymore as I watched it the other day, but I think it was here and of course it was not bleeped. Why respect the highest lawyers of the country? Not if they do not support your agenda. Oh well, there we have another example of how this was pretty much everything except what the title says it is, namely an awards show. Anything else? Oh yes, I guess it was not a bad night for Asian acts, they keep succeeding in America and now it is not only BTS anymore. I hope the girls are more talented. Blackpink or whatever their name is with Anitta. Also, the hypocrisy in terms of women could not be any more obvious and embarrassing here. When Rosalía goes on about he she will not leave the stage without having twerked, how we literally see a gigantic statue move that focuses on nothing but female buttocks, admittedly covered and also same can be said about many of the dancers there. I am sure it is exactly those applauding all this the most who otherwise complain that women lack equality in so many fields. What a charade. And let's not even compare American (or European) women to those in the Middle East, the region where people say everybody has to be oh so tolerant and understanding with the main religion. Okay, enough now. Major thumbs-down for this messy awards show.