how was miley's performance so different ...

... from so many other "sexy" VMA performances?

Isn't that the point of the VMAs (and rock 'n' roll)? To be "outrageous?" It may have been in poor taste, and I don't want my 9 year-old daughter to check it out, but the internet outrage, aimed squarely at Billy Ray Cyrus's little girl, who isn't a little girl anymore (news flash), seems way off balance. What about her partner-in-crime, Robin Thicke? It was his song, and he and Miley obviously rehearsed their gyrations.

Get More:
2013 VMA, Artists.MTV, Music, Miley Cyrus

She's just following in the footsteps of her fellow songstresses ...

What Miley does shares with these other ladies and their performances through the years is being in charge of how she wants to present her sexuality onstage. It might not be your cup of tea — I'm not sure what all the Gene Simmons-like tongue action was about — but Miley was in charge. She and her back-up dancers at least looked like they were having fun, as opposed to the robot-like, typical, objectified dancers and strutters in skimpy spandex who joined Thicke & Co. after Miley twerked herself off into the distance. Best VMA performance ever? Worst? Hardly, either, but it achieved its primary objective. It got everyone talking. And tweeting.

it's the music that matters

Before he got cut off during his rambling but heartfelt acceptance speech at last night's Grammy's for Best Rock Performance, Foo Fighter Dave Grohl urged everyone in the audience at the Staple Center and beyond to get back to what matters — real music made with real instruments. There could be no better illustration of his plea than the performance later in the evening of Rolling in the Deep by Adele, who swept every category she was nominated in, taking home six trophies. Rolling in the Deep was one of the most-played songs of last year, but Adele, in her first performance since her vocal chord surgery, made the song sound fresh and new, as if we were all hearing it and her for the first time. She is a true talent, and provided one of many emotional moments during the course of the evening.

Photograph by: MARIO ANZUONI, REUTERS

The entire Grammy broadcast couldn't help but be touched with sadness, due to the death the previous afternoon of pop icon Whitney Houston. The tributes to the fallen star were woven into the broadcast, and felt sincere and well-placed. There was also a touching tribute to singer Glen Campbell, who recently announced that he is suffering from Alzheimer's and would be putting together a final album and tour before stepping out of the limelight. Campbell appeared onstage and performed his hit "Rhinestone Cowboy" with The Band Perry and Blake Shelton.

Many other people performed, with synchronized dancers and pyrotechnics — Rihanna, Nicky Minaj, Katy Perry, Chris Brown — but it was hard not to be drawn to the more direct performances by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band who opened the show, to the Foo Fighters who rocked out on two songs, to Paul McCartney debuting a new love song and singing some Beatles' classics. Jennifer Hudson's straightforward and touching rendition of Whitney Huston's biggest hit, I Will Always Love You also impressed. The most energetic production number of the evening belonged to Bruno Mars, whose energy and enthusiasm was infectious — and whose major special effect was his pompadour and shiny gold bowtie.

Adele thrills the audience with Rolling in the Deep

Katy's Perry's thinly veiled divorce/revenge song came across as more high school taunting than female empowerment. Nicki Minaj's strange production number combined all the worst pretensions of Like A Prayer-era Madonna and Alejandro-esque Lady Gaga. The Gaga herself, bedecked in her usual kooky couture, looked strangely out of place and uncomfortable. The woman, like Adele, can sing. Maybe she needs to rethink the sideshow.

Not everyone will want to record their next album in their garage a la The Foo Fighters, but maybe this Grammy Awards will help some performers get back to what matters, the music. Dave Grohl has certainly issued a call-to-arms. Maybe Whitney Huston's too-early death (and Amy Winehouse's, whose photo led off the "people we lost this year" tribute) will help prevent some performer from letting drugs take over their voice, their talent, their life. Because it really should be about the music.

you've either got or you haven't got style

We watched the movie Robin and the Seven Hoods last night and it was, as always, a lot of fun. What really struck me as I watched Frankie, Dino, and Der Bingle was the absolute joy and ease they had in performing, which was translated directly to the audience. It's impossible to watch them do this number and not smile.

I don't think that their style should or could really be copied (no matter how many try), or that it would even sound right in today's world as anything contemporary. But it seems that so many entertainers today are so labored, so overdone. So many cheerleader-style synchronized dancing and microphone headsets. It's all such a production. There's lots of pyrotechnics, but little joy.

I really enjoy Lady Gaga, but was exhausted after watching her recent special on HBO with all of the elaborate stage sets and back-up dancers. I realize that's what a concert is these days, but the most powerful moments of the program were the a capella version Gaga and her company did of "Born This Way" over the closing credits. She has been doing some more soulful renditions of her songs lately, without all of the sturm und drang, so she must realize too, that sometimes simple and easy is best.

And if any of today's performers would like to see how a relaxed performance can yield high results, all they have to do us take a look at these three guys:

the way we listen to music changes ... again ... except, maybe not

iTunes revolutionized the way that most people listen to and purchase music. Personal music players fueled with downloaded tunes are now the norm. Yesterday, in a one day only promotion, Lady Gaga gave a major gift to her fans and nudged the music industry at the same time by offering her entire new album, Born This Way, one of the biggest new albums on the pop music horizon, to be purchased and downloaded on Amazon.com new MP3 cloud player for a mere 99 cents.

Plenty of folks will still fork out the full-price (15.99 on iTunes) for the album, but it sent a strong message that social media is a great marketing tool — the cut rate offer was tweeted and picked up and spread across the twitterverse like wildfire. Folks that probably never would have bought a Gaga album, might not have downloaded even one tune from it, signed up to pay just shy of one dollar. Why not? People love a bargain.

I was intrigued that this could signal be a new way for folks to buy music, and maybe even give iTunes a run for its money — that is until I checked my 99 cent download and only was able to get two songs from the album. And I'm far from the only one. According to Amazon: "Amazon is experiencing high volume and downloads are delayed. If customers order today, they will get the full Lady Gaga, Born This Way album for $0.99. Thanks for your patience."

I'm still unable to download more than track 13 and 14, but Amazon was quick and efficient when it came to emailing me my .99 bill of sale. Oh well. It was a nice idea, this cloud player thing. Call me, Amazon, when you get your act together. And when the rest of my album turns up. Until then, iTunes still rules.

sometimes i feel like i live in grand central station

Sorry, I cannot hear you,
I'm kinda busy.

K-kinda busy
K-kinda busy
Sorry, I cannot hear you, I'm kinda busy.

Stop callin', stop callin',
I don't wanna think anymore!
I left my hand and my heart on the dance floor.

Stop telephonin' me!




Sometimes I feel like
I live in Grand Central Station.
Tonight I'm not takin' no calls,
'cause I'll be dancin'.

'Cause I'll be dancin'
'Cause I'll be dancin'
Tonight I'm not takin' no calls, 'cause I'll be dancin'!

glum

Still missing LOST, I surfed the channels last night and ended on Glee. I've tried to watch this show quite a few times before. I love that Broadway divas like Idina Menzel and Kristen Chenoweth stop by. I was excited to see how they would do Gaga last night. But the damn show is so affected. If only the kids would shut the hell up and just sing. The plotting and camera-work is horrific and the characters are frankly, pretty annoying. That excludes Jane Lynch, who can do no wrong. But so far she is not enough to make me get over the queasiness I feel every time I watch this show.

The two examples which stand out the most from last night are:

1. The speech by the dad of the young gay kid. I'm sorry, although I like this actor and his characterization, I cannot remember the names of any of these people. They just don't make an impact. Anyway, the dad made a wonderful speech to the dumb jock about how he loves his gay son and that anyone who can't deal with him and the way he is better hit the highway. A great sentiment. I can overlook that most folks don't speak so eloquently. What left a sightly uncomfortable feeling after his dad/love speech was the fact that even though the show may have its heart in the right place, by making such a big (preachy) deal about the fact that the kid is gay, they may also be making him more of a stereotype. I'm not sure. But I loved the room he decorated and the enthusiasm with how he presented it. I just felt that the actor and the character are more comfortable with who they are supposed to be than the scriptwriters.

2. The main girl (Rachel?) discovers that her mother is Idina Menzel and they do a duet to Lady Gaga's Pokerface. They can both sing and the song is great. The arrangement was a little weird, but I went with it. But to have the mother and daughter crooning to each other about their "muffin" and "glue-gunning" - give me a break already. This show is trying too damn hard. Trying too hard to be hip or quirky. It's one thing for Lady Gaga to sing those lines, but it just made the song and the show seem silly to have these two gals do it. Something that could have been easily fixed with repeating the chorus.

I'm sure I may flip past this show again if they are covering some songs by an artist that I like, but I doubt I will become a regular viewer, and certainly not devoted. And by the way, the KISS costumed number was the pits. They should have called in Glambert.