Pop Shots - The VMAs... and Some Other Stuff

Welcome to your weekly dose of pop world musings. Covering all things pop culture, this week Pop Shots is hitting you with thoughts on everything from Beyonce’s big announcement at the VMAs, to Adam Levine’s gripe with the VMAs, to one very odd winner at the VMAs. And did I mention I’ll have something on the VMAs? Well, I also have news on a potential superstar hookup for you if you’re a sex starved middle aged man. Yes, you read that right, and yes, you should be scared. Of course, since this is Pop Shots you know everything is seasoned with a little bit of attitude.

* The news that couldn’t be avoided this past weekend was the VMA announcement by Beyonce that she is with child. Yes, the spawn of Jay-Z is going to be let loose into the world in just a handful of months. I wholeheartedly expect the baby to be the most famous baby in the world after all the other famous, more talented, babies have died.

* The VMAs also featured two tributes this year, one to the recently deceased Amy Winehouse, and one to the “we all thought she was about to be deceased when she did that awful performance of ‘Gimme More’ back in ’07” Britney Spears. The tribute that seemed most appropriate, however, came at the Leeds Festival this past Friday when Pete Doherty, who’s a charter member of the Keith Richards Drug of the Month Club, honored Winehouse by covering her “Tears Dry on Their Own.” The industry is searching crack houses nationwide to find someone who can do a tribute to Doherty when he eventually kicks the bucket. As of now they have Whitney Houston on speed dial.

* One artist who probably wasn’t watching the VMAs this year was Maroon 5 lead singer, and The Voice coach, Adam Levine. The superstar tweeted, “the VMA's. one day a year when MTV pretends to still care about music. I'm drawing a line in the sand. Fuck you VMA's.” His fan base seemed to agree with him, re-tweeting the sentiment hundreds of times. Something tells me the Vegas odds for “Moves Like Jagger” getting nominated for an award next year have changed radically. Vegas has odds for things like that, right?

* In non-VMA news, Sinead O’Connor is looking for a new “You” that “Nothing Compares to” and she’s not shy about advertising that fact. Saying she’s still in her sexual prime, she is looking for “a very sweet sex-starved man” who is “no younger than 44.” My guess is he also should be a fan of Irish lager and ripping up pictures of The Pope.

* If you loved the movie Ghost, and who didn’t, boy oh boy are you going to hate this next story. Because Broadway is devoid of actual creativity and knows people will flock to just about anything that even remotely resembles pop culture history, they’re going to be running an adaptation of Ghost starting in April of 2012. The Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart will be writing it, but in this day and age wouldn’t it make more sense to involve the cast of Jersey Shore? Nobody puts Snooki in a corner!

* Did you think I was really done with VMA news? Ha! Beyonce’s baby wasn’t the only interesting thing to be announced at the VMAs. The unexpected win by Tyler, The Creator in the Best New Artist category was also a bit of a shock, and a big win for shock-rap. The Odd Future leader has been the object of the hipster world’s affections for quite some time and MTV recognizing an act such as Tyler, along with having Kreayshawn involved with the festivities, might be a small indicator that they’re attempting to get back in touch with what’s happening in the music world on a level that’s deeper than simply what’s on Top 40 radio. Let’s hope that this is more than just a one time thing.


And with that, my time is up for the week, but I'll be back next week with more shots on all things pop.