Would someone kindly explain to me the whole Rihanna phenomenon?

That was perfectly summed up, Lauren.

1) Why was Heavy D there??? Does he have an album coming out or something?

2) X-Tina=Donatella Versace

3) Not quite Stereohyped fodder, but why was Demi Moore there? Does she have a movie coming out?

@Chynadoll: Rihanna's hot (in looks and music). Quit hating. She does needs to learn how to dance a bit… lol.

I could barely watch the awards. It sucked (seems like MTV in general is following that path). I too was pissed that Lupe was performing as they were going to commercial. And WTF was Britney Spears winning awards for???

Cosigning with Lauren on her first 2 points about the show.

makes me gain some appreciation for the BET awards….

@Ike: You still failed to explain to me the 'Rihanna phenomenon'. And please retire the word 'hating'.

Chynadoll, Rihanna is hot.

I saw the first performance and stopped watching at the stupid Jonas Brothers performance.

Several points:
1) Russell Brand doesn't offend me. MTV offends me. They booked him after seeing his stand-up act which is absurdly raunchy. And really, the only way to top Sarah Silverman is to get a bipolar, recovering Amy Winehouse and admitted sex addict to host the show. Whatever MTV. I kid you not. The man is bipolar… and had a horrible heroin problem… and a horrible drinking problem… and that awful hair… and a sex addiction. This is public knowledge.
2) Thank you for reinforcing the stereotype that Christians are self-righteous and judgmental, Jordin. I'll blame it on being 18. There are many people who choose to be abstinent and a very small percentage of those opt for these chastity rings. Three teen boys shouldn't be chided for choosing to not have sex, but the inference shouldn't be made that 90+% of Americans are sluts for choosing not to wait until marriage to have sex.
3) Jaime Foxx needs an intervention
4) To say that they are not good anymore implies that there was a time when they were good. Things seem a lot better when all the stars are older than you and seem super human.

Christina and Kayne were great!
Ignored Rhianna, lil wyane and TI
Russel Brand was his funny, random, outlandish self.
Congrats to Brit Brit- they were more like life time awards
Pink was fire
Katy Perry and The Ting Tings should have got stage performances.
The Jo Bros were hot
and I did not appreciate being judge by Jordan Sparks.
Sluts unite!

The MTV awards have been lame for years, with each year getting progressively worse.

Britney looked great, but her "awards" were totally given out of pity. She's never been a video artiste, but "pieces of me" is pure garbage, even by her own standards.

Rihanna is hot, but has the stage presence of a dead frog. She can neither sing or dance. I still sort of love her though.

Russel Brand needs to be on a plane back to the UK. his humor does'nt work so much here.

The outfit Christina was wearing was hideous, and made her look like she has grandma hips. Not flattering at all. I'm digging the new track though.

Thank god katy Perry, and the ting tings were relegated to the commercial breaks. They SUCK

Lupe Fiasco should have got some proper airtime though.

The Jonas bros are really cute, and incredibly LUCKY.

I finally stopped watching this trainwreck when Kanye started performing.

T.I feat. Rihanna and Pink were the only good "main stage" performers of the night IMO.

Was I the only one who caught it when Russell Brand called George Dubya Bush a "retarded cowboy", I am still chuckling at the comment this morning.

Continent, yeah. It was an accurate description.

Saying he's unfit for the U.S. is like saying that every comic who uses political humor and is raunchy should exit the country. There's a time and a place for everything. He always courts controversy and that's exactly what MTV wants. Perez Hilton is hosting the European version. Yeah, have a guy whose offended everyone nominated host the show. They hope the fireworks will convert into higher ratings. For goodness sake, that's what Britney's presence was all about.

Me,

I don't get the RiRi hype either!

I can't believe Jordin Sparks. First her comments on abortion, and now saying that people who choose to have sex before marriage are sluts, she is just turning me off. She giving a bad face for christians.
I'm glad Britney won three awards and her skit in the opening of the show was hilarious.

agreed….really WTH? Distrubia sounds even worse live…it came on and i turned the TV off and read a book…had a good time

@Chynadoll:

Rihanna is hot mainly bcuz of her music. She came into the industry at the right time. She came out with "pon the replay" right when "island"/dancehall music was phasing out and then completely changed her sound with that "story of my life" song (4got the title). Then she changed it up again with "SOS" and gained univeral recognition with "Umbrella, ella, ella, ella, ella, ella… " (lol). I like her voice, it sounds different (probably cuz of her accent). I give most of the credit to her producers/song writers. She's like the female Kanye, her style and sound are a mix of genres (pop/hip-hop/electronica/r&b). She also kinda makes it okay for black kids to dress "punk", despite the fact that some of "us" have been doin it for years already.

I give Rihanna credit for 1) using her real hair. No weave or wig (Yay!) 2) No unatural blond hair color ( thank the Lord for that) 3) has a great stylist 4) great producers 5) trying to be different 6) she out models everyone including Tyra Banks( who I’m starting to believe was never a Supermodel)

I am probably the only person left who actually enjoys industry awards shows. I think this is because I don't really use youtube and other vehicles for music. I like that multiple genres are on display. I love that (for example) people who only listen to R & B have to listen country music during the show and vice versa. Last night, I learned there's group named Tokio Hotel. I will probably never buy their music, but exposure is a good thing.

am i the only one disappointed by lil wayne appearing with kid rock on "sweet home alabama"? that song, originally by lynrd skynrd, was a direct response to neil young's condemnation of southern racism, and even has lyrics supporting segregationist governor george wallace. im sure confederate flag loving kid rock got a kick out of lil wayne coming to drop lyrics about "fried chicken and watermelon".

FUCCKKKKK MTV!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

@ Fri: that's disturbing. I expect nothing worse from white trash scumbags (Kid Rock).

Britney has always been wooden and she has always been tacky. What's really important is that the whole thing be a more acceptable, clean, and expensive looking tacky created by professional stylists and handlers. I can't remember the last time she pulled it off. Congrats to Brit-Brit.

Also, cut Jordin some slack. She's dumb.

I thought Russell Brand was pretty funny. I guess Jordin was pissed because 1) her dress was too tight. We have the same body type and strapless doesn't suit everyBODY. 2) people probably forget she won AI.

Plus, her songs are pretty stupid.

I didn't mind Brand so much. Jordin Sparks certainly did not help make things better!

I liked Leona Lewis's appearance with Lil' Wayne. T.I. and Rihanna were also pretty good. I was pulling for Britney ost of the night (even though I wish Mariah would have won something).

As for the rest, I'm over the VMAs!

Didn't see it.

Wondering why folks are so salty at Jordin Sparks.

*off to search the web*

@ FRI. I didn't know that about Sweet Home Alabama. WTH!

I think Jourdan's comment was directed at the host.

I ditto on the points made in the OP. But I did like the concept of the VMAs last year with all the performers in different rooms at The Palms in Vegas…I didn't bother to watch this one past the pre-show.

The show was wack. Last year was way better. They had more music and more variety.

We all know why Riannah is where she is. She can't sing. She is light and right for the moment. She sounded out of tune. Period.

Where is Estelle and Jazmine Sullivan, the real talent?

Music has been sucking, you have to search long and hard for quality.