The great thing about awards shows is that there tends to be one for everybody. Fans of film get The Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild Awards, and of course, the Oscars. Fans of TV get The Emmys. The thing is, not everyone is a fan of the types of film and TV showcased at these awards shows. They don’t cater to the public as much as they cater to the film community.
Because of this, music awards shows become the answer to the question, “How can we appeal to the tweens, teens and young adults?” Shows like the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs), the Teen Choice Awards, and even the once-prestigious Grammy Awards cater to the general music-listening public, because all they do is feature performances from every Top 40 artist of the year. Oh, and they might give away an award or two during the three-hour broadcast.
That is not to say that some of the nominees and performers aren’t great musicians. There is no doubt about it. But the actual ceremony has gotten tedious. You know that these shows aren’t about the music anymore as much as they are for the gimmicks. I mean, look at this year’s VMAs. Does anybody remember anything that won, or do they remember the Twitter feud between Nicki Minaj and Taylor Swift, or Nicki Minaj calling Miley out for being obnoxious all the time? Do people walk around talking about how Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” won Video of the Year, or do they take any opportunity to pull out a, “Miley, what’s good?”
Music awards shows are not about the music anymore. And if they are, they are the same artists year in and year out. Justin Emord, bassist for the Los Angeles-based hard rock band, Love and a .38, said, “My main issues with these awards shows is that they don’t accurately portray the music climate. For example, when the VMAs were on, the number one selling album on the billboard charts was ‘Disturbed’, yet there was absolutely no representation of any sort of rock band to be seen at the awards.”
That being said, let’s take a look at a few nominees for this year’s show.
Taylor Swift is nominated a total of six times, including for Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop/Rock Album. Ariana Grande’s name showed up twice, for Artist of the Year and Best Female Artist – Pop/Rock. Nicki Minaj is there three times, also up for Artist of the Year. Ed Sheeran and The Weeknd are nominated four times. One Direction, Drake, and Uptown Funk are all there twice.
Where is the variety? All the pop categories have the same people nominated, whether it be best artist or album. The same goes for the hip-hop categories, and partly for country. The major nominees have been featured in every other music-related awards show this year, and we will probably see them at the Grammys.
Does this mean that awards are given to the same few popular people simply because they are popular or well-liked, regardless of music? Emord speaks to this, saying, “There used to be a feeling of earning these awards based on quality of music and I just don’t feel that way anymore.”
Another thing that makes these teen-oriented music shows so annoying? Social media. There is always nothing but a bunch of opinionated viewers criticizing literally everything that goes on, from the red carpet and the winners, to the speeches and the performances. Nothing puts you off these shows more than everyone in the world ruining your good time.
The only redeeming quality of the show will be Jennifer Lopez’s hosting gig. J-Lo is the most beautiful, genuine and talented person on the planet. We’ve seen her as an actress, singer, dancer and judge. Who knows how great she will be as a host?
The verdict on whether or not you should watch the AMAs? If you love all music awards show, all the nominees and all the songs, then yes. If that isn’t the case, but you love watching Taylor Swift dancing in the front row or want to catch the first televised performance of Ariana Grande performing “Focus,” then watch. If you really don’t find any of this appealing, don’t watch them. The big moments will be on the Internet the next day, and these “highlights” will probably make you roll your eyes.
As for me, I will tell myself to give them a chance and watch them, but I probably won’t. My only incentive might be to watch Jennifer Lopez host. Instead, my roommate and I will probably spend the whole night complaining about why we have to wait another whole week for a new episode of Quantico for this.