Top 5 TV: Kanye for President and ‘Hannibal”s Last Meal
3. Nicki and Taylor kick off the VMAs with a little “Bad Blood,” before Kanye throws his hat into the ring (MTV)
When it comes to MTV’s Video Music Awards, does anyone really care about the actual trophies? The moon-men are just an excuse for the kids to put on a show — and to talk about themselves. This year’s VMAs featured a pro-pot Miley Cyrus as the host, with trippy melting rainbows as her appropriately lysergic design motif. But the night belonged to Nicki Minaj, who was joined onstage by her recent Twitter sparring-partner Taylor Swift to duet briefly on “The Night Is Still Young” and “Bad Blood.” A cynic might say that this was simply phony, choreographed moment, intended to capitalize on a trumped-up controversy and generate clickbait headlines. But what’s pop music without a little fakery and fantasy? When the two women smiled at each other across the stage, they looked for a second like they were actually having fun, and were happy to see each other. (Which is more than you can say for Nicki and Miley. Ouch.) It was, y’know, nice. And almost real.
Even realer: Kanye West, who took advantage of his Video Vanguard award to give a long, rambling, sweetly heartfelt speech about awards shows, entertainment, Millennials, MTV, and his presidential ambitions. He was joking (maybe?) about that last part, and sure, the thrust of Kanye’s “stay true to yourself” message is mostly applicable to the small circle of millionaire musicians that he hangs with. Regardless, it was still clear that the man was honestly wrestling with something, in front of millions of fans and haters, while speaking live and off-the-cuff. For 10 minutes, he was the most mesmerizing thing on television. West 2020, people!