the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards

the whole night was suppose to be about Michael Jackson. it was...at first. Madonna gave an awesome speech about the King of Pop. it was heartfelt and it can really drive people to tears. ever since Michael Jackson died, i've been wanting to hear her thoughts about the event. i know she gave brief comments and i know she gave small tributes to the King of Pop during her concerts but they were never seem to be enough. i mean, she rules the pop world in behalf of Michael Jackson, after all she's the Queen of Pop, so it means, she got more to say, right? good thing, her speech was worth the wait.

then there was a medley of Michael Jackson's songs and unforgettable dance moves - Thriller, Bad and Smooth Criminal. then Janet Jackson performed her duet with her older brother, Scream. IT WAS AMAZING! they even cut Janet from the music video that was playing behind her at the part when she and Michael were dancing. again, AMAZING!

to be honest, i expected them those performances and tributes. i mean, MTV is MTV because of Michael Jackson. but i must admit i wasn't excited that much. the last time i've been excited of watching the VMAs was during the year when Britney Spears performed Satisfaction and Oops! I Did it Again. so when twits about Kanye West, Taylor Swift and Beyonce began to appear on my Twitter homepage, i got so curious. i quickly opened a new tab and went to OMG!, i read an article on what Kanye West did at the VMAs and i have to say...THAT WAS SUCH A SHIT!

Taylor Swift won the Best Female Video award against Lady Gaga (Poker Face), Katy Perry (Hot n' Cold), Pink (So What), Kelly Clarkson (My Life Will Suck Without You), and Beyonce (Single Ladies). she was obviously shocked when her name was called and she was so excited when she got onstage to give her speech. just then, Kanye West appeared out of nowhere and took the mic from Taylor Swift, saying that Beyonce should've won the award. the camera went onto Beyonce and she was completely shocked as well. after that, Kanye took his leave but Taylor was not able to finish her speech anymore. nonetheless, the crowd gave her a standing ovation.


it was reported that Kanye was kicked out of the show after that. well...he should be! c'mon, that's just downright rude! even though Taylor may not deserve the award, she doesn't deserve what Kanye did to her. to think that it was her first VMA award, like what everyone has been saying, she should've had her moment. a lot of people were obviously turned off on what he did, Pink (it was said that she wanted to charge at Kanye but the security stopped her, haha, that sucks if that's true:p) and Katy Perry even cursed Kanye on their Twits (since i've been following them and Taylor, i was able to realize how much the two ladies love Taylor Swift). Kelly Clarkson also gave her piece on her blog (it can be seen here: http://www.rickey.org/?p=22610) and so far, i have to say that's my favorite yet.

Kanye also posted something on his blog but c'mon! does he really think he can be forgiven easily? maybe if he's an underage teen but no! he's a complete bully! to think that Taylor Swift is one of (or probably) the sweetest female artist there is! maybe if he did it to a total bitch, people may be able to let that slip (NOT!). he's also blabbing about loving pop culture blah blah. i've spent the last two years of my college life studying popular "pop" culture and it is a culture that appeals to the majority. Taylor may be a country singer but she was able to penetrate the mainstream and international scene! hence, Taylor is part of that pop culture...now i wonder, what pop culture is Kanye talking about???

honestly, all of his stints are getting annoying to the extreme already. he doesn't seem to get enough. he's been doing it ever since who-know-when. well, all the previous events can be excused - i mean, he just think that he should've won the award instead of those people. but this time, no way! he wasn't even nominated at the same category, for goodness sake! he loves Beyonce, fine! but that doesn't mean he already have all the right in the world to do that on a young girl who's just so happy that all of her dreams are coming true. to think that she's just 19!

even though i'm a Taylor Swift fan, i was also surprised that she won and if i were to predict, i may even think that Beyonce could've won that award easily. but the people voted for Taylor and so be it. even though i think Beyonce could've won that award, Taylor also worked hard to where she is right now and she still deserve all the things that she's been accepting for that hard work. shame on you, Kanye!

Beyonce won the Video of the Year award and it's so nice of her to give the stage to Taylor Swift. it was just so amazing, she called Taylor to come out of the stage and gave her the moment that she deserves. it was the sweetest thing ever! it was also cute that the two of them are wearing red dresses. haha. i'm not a huge Beyonce fan but i couldn't help but love her for what she did. after all, at that moment, she probably knows that she's the only person who can fix the mess that Kanye did. what a classy woman=)


now, all i know...Taylor will keep on going higher (Taylor may look like a pushover but she's a strong girl with grace and poise - her performance of You Belong with Me was amazing!)...

[picture from Yahoo!]

taylor swift

yesterday, i luckily watched "MYX Presents: Taylor Swift". the special showed Taylor Swift performing her songs in acoustic in an acoustic show called "Stripped", the second half, on the other hand, was the making of the "White Horse" video (i didn't even know that it was finally released here!).

it was year 2008 when i first heard "Teardrops on My Guitar", i was listening to my radio and i totally started to love the said song. i didn't know who the singer was at first, i have to memorize a line or two from the said song in order for me to find the whole lyrics in the internet. when i found the lyrics and the name of the artist, i quickly went to Youtube hoping that there might be a music video. fortunately, there was and that was the first time i saw Taylor Swift, i also went to watch her other music videos like "Our Song" and "Picture to Burn".

while watching her videos, i intently look at her and listen to the melodies of her music and then that's when i realized that she was a country artist but not quite. yeah, there was the country vibe but there is something different. i quickly went to Wikipedia to search for her biography and stuff (back then, there was nothing much about her) and i learned that she was from Pennsylvania and its not definitely a state where country music is at large.

i, then, downloaded her songs - not only those that were released as singles but also songs like "Should've Said No", "I'd Lie" and "I'm Only Me When I'm With You". back then, there aren't enough people in the Philippines who knows her (her songs were not even being sung by actors and actresses in the variety shows) until she released "Love Story" and the news that Joe Jonas broke up with her surfaced. well, Filipinos are more about the Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus during that time.

fortunately, "Love Story" is a bigger noise than the said breakup. MYX began airing the song's music video and local artists and actresses began singing her songs. as one of her early fans here in the Philippines, i'm happy that people here are starting to listen to her (because, for me, she's more worth listening to than Miley Cyrus).

i admire the way she writes her songs like "Love Story" - it was completely a story, i love the words and the lines she used. her songs may be simple in terms of the way they were sang, well, i have to admit that she does not have the best vocals but it doesn't really matter. her sign as a true artist is seen on how she wrote her songs. they may not be written with very 'flowery' words, they were so simple and straight to the point but it still forms something beautiful. her style of writing reminds me of the kind of writing my Literature professor taught us - she always tell us to clearly put picture in our poems and avoid using symbolisms that can cause to blur the image that we want to show.

i can't wait for her next album and i hope that it will do well just how "Fearless" did. honestly, the sophomore album success (which was very rare) may have added pressure on the third album whatever it might sound. i mean, "Fearless" is a multi-platinum album, hence, a very huge success. it might take a lot in order to surpass it or to even reach its level. but who knows, Taylor Swift have demonstrated the impossible - she was able to make country music despite not being a country girl, she was able to capture a lot of music listeners despite being young and that second album was definitely not something everyone expected.

[picture from Yahoo! Images]