MTV’s Video Music Awards: What You Missed

By Jessica DeRubbo

Well, the MTV Video Music Awards have come and gone yet again, and the celebs in attendance this year didn’t disappoint!  Some of the more notable duos walking the white carpet this year were Justin Bieber & Selena Gomez, Usher & Justin Bieber, Jersey Shore‘s Ronnie & Vinnie and Stephanie Pratt & Lo Bosworth, according to Hollywood Life.  And, of course, there was the much-anticipated awards show participants Taylor Swift and Kanye West.  After last year’s debacle where West barged on stage during Swift’s acceptance speech, he was on his best behavior.  The two stars separately sang two brand new songs addressing last year’s event, “like a pair of dueling attorneys making closing statements in front of a jury,” according to Tris McCall at the New Jersey Star-Ledger.

That’s not to leave out the host of this year’s VMA extravaganza.  E!’s popular comedienne Chelsea Handler took the podium, and  the question is: how did she measure up?  Here are three reviews that seem to sum it up:

1. “As the live portion of the show began, Handler turned in a moderately funny Gaga sendup, appearing amid red-lycra-clad dancers wearing a dollhouse on her head. Though, again, it felt a little like Host the VMAs Paint-by-Numbers – Gaga’s both the easiest and the lamest (not to mention the most willing) target around,” said Jennifer Armstrong in Entertainment Weekly’s PopWatch.

2. “And then there was the awkward plight of the night’s host, Chelsea Handler.  She was among the worst in the show’s history – purposefully out-of-touch, with brief, alarming flashes of off-color racial humor,” said Jon Caramanica of the New York Times.

3. “But there was little smooching or feuding on Sunday, despite some nudging from the host. ‘I want to encourage everyone to be on their worst behavior,’ comedian Chelsea Handler declared in her opening monologue, a string of flat punch lines that felt a few degrees below crass,” said Chris Richards in The Washington Post‘s Click Track.

Although the VMAs usually make for some stories full of cat fights and on-stage duels, the show was pretty tame overall this year.  But with the best ratings since 2002, according to Just Jared, Chelsea Handler can’t complain!