By Courtney Linde

Staff Reporter

When the MTV VMA pre-show began at 8 p.m. this past Sunday, there was a palpable sense of both excitement and anticipation in the air. The red carpet was spread over the casino floor at the Palms Resort and Spa in fabulous Las Vegas. Just like any other award show red carpet, the only aspect more important than who takes home the awards was how the celebrities were dressed. The phrase used during the pre-show to describe the celebrity attire was “Jackpot” or “Jacknot.” Well, it seems as though that phrase was not only appropriate when choosing the fashionable versus the completely heinous but also to describe the awards show as a whole. Did MTV hit the jackpot in its new location in Sin City? Jacknot!

The show began with the most anticipated performance of the evening: the return of Britney Spears. The question around town was whether this performance would be the starting point of her career comeback or if it would be the demise of the pop princess. I think it is safe to say … Oops! She did not do it again. When comparing this performance with Britney’s VMA performances of the past, this was not even comparable. Was it the outfit? Was it the lack of energy? Was it her inability to successfully lip sync? No one will really know the answer to that; however, we do know that this performance set up one disappointing evening.

The show was different this year. Even though there were live performances on the stage, a majority of the performances were held in fantasy suites in the Palms. However, minus the Britney blunder at the top of the hour, there were fantastic performances from Rihanna, Chris Brown, Alicia Keys, Timberland, Nelly Furtado and Justin Timberlake. J.T. and Rhianna were the big winners of the evening, each receiving two awards.

For those of you who missed the awards show this year, you need not be disappointed. Even though it was a great idea to move the awards to Las Vegas to get a change of scenery, the VMAs truly belong in New York City. This is an awards show that many people look forward to watching due its reputation for spontaneity. This year, however, the anticipation was not about excitement of any kind. On the contrary, viewers were anticipating the show’s end. Step it up, MTV; you disappointed a lot of fans.