i fear i'm getting old.

Dear MTV:

What has happened to you, old friend? I mean, I know that you've been going downhill for the past few years. Even though we've all complained about the lack of actual music on "Music Television," you still haven't changed your programming and have in fact become far worse than we could have ever imagined. The bad reality programming, constant product placement, and lack of knowledge about anything that should/could be actually considered music has become painful to watch. At first I chalked my disgust with you up to the fact that I was getting older and was less and less into mainstream music. Looking back, I wonder if my shift into the more indie scene was a direct result of your shittiness. I believe that you are, at least in part, to blame for pop music's deterioration into such mindless drivel. It was once cool to watch TRL and hang out at MTV Spring Break. Not so much anymore. Pop music used to be good. Even the stuff that wasn't good was at least entertaining and the "singers" could perform the shit out of it. For example, see below:



And that brings me to the main point of this letter: last night's VMA show. It was, in a word, pathetic. While I could spend the remainder of this letter railing solely on Britney's performance, I know that it is not your fault. Sure, you should have known that she would have flopped, but I imagine that you were looking for the ratings and figured that Britney would be the best bet for an opener. Fine. I can deal with you wanting to exploit her.

My main beef with the awards show was the horrible production. It was complete amateur hour: microphones weren't turned on, people didn't know what they were doing, cameramen and stagehands were running around like crazy, and people weren't introduced properly. An absolute shitshow. You've been running this show since 1984 and you'd think y'all would have it together by now. Apparently not.

Furthermore, this wasn't much of an awards show. According to my count, there were only 5 or 6 awards passed out all evening-- pretty worthless. Far too much time was dedicated to stopping in on the random "parties" taking place throughout the hotel. All in all, not a cool idea. Following Kanye around a packed VIP room is not my idea of good television. The absence of many of the awards simply supports your obvious drift from presenting music videos as an art form. You added lame-ass categories like "Quadruple Threat" and "Monster Single" and took away actual art awards like Best Direction, Choreography, Editing, and the Video Vanguard Award. Finally, the graphic/light display that was used on the stage, between commercial breaks, and to present the nominees was absolutely mindboggling. I would not be surprised if people broke into seizures after watching those for a mere 10 seconds.

In essence, this was a deplorable year for your award show and I hope you sincerely "kick it up a notch" for the movie awards and next year's VMAs. I know that you're network is struggling and you've made it obvious to everyone why. Start playing videos again. Invest in some more classic design work. Get the artists back on your side. I'm all for new things, but sometimes it's best to go back to the basics.

We've had some good times together, friend. I want you back. The old you.

xoxo,
Kiki