MTV is bringing the VMA’s back to Los Angeles this year and what’s more, fans will have a say in who gets nominated. Last year’s Video Music Awards took place in Las Vegas and in previous years it’s been in New York and Miami. Not since 1998 has the awards show taken place in Los Angeles.
According to MTV’s website, the show will take place at Paramount Pictures Studios, using soundstages, rooftops and city streets. Of the location, MTV Networks Music Group president Van Toffler said, “With Paramount Pictures as the ideal setting, the glamour and musical heritage of L.A. are sure to be catalysts for creating explosive pop-culture moments that the VMAs are known for.”
The 25th annual VMA’s will air live on MTV at 9:00 p.m. on September 7th. Few details about the actual ceremony have been revealed yet but they should be announced over the coming weeks. Meanwhile, it looks like MTV will be allowing fans to pick the nominees (or at least, some of them). It says on MTV’s site, “This year's event will mark a first in VMA lore: The channel will be turning to its audience, asking them to executive-produce the big show. MTV will give fans a chance to decide this year's nominees, helping to create an awards show with the music they love (details on this will be coming soon!).” I’ll be honest here: I’m so out of touch with “today’s music” (unless you count American Idol) that the fans deciding the nominations will probably have little effect on the VMA’s for me as a viewer. As for “explosive pop-culture moments,” I’m wondering if they’re going for the good kind of explosive or the bad. For example, I’m thinking a live performance by NKOTB (I heard they’re back together) could fall under either category, right? So far there are no clues as to who is set to perform though. Guess we’ll have to wait and see what MTV announces in the coming weeks.
