VMAs go political, Britney goes sober

Britney Spears won three big awards at Sunday's MTV Video Music Awards. It will be called a comeback. And at the same time, she got revenge against John McCain for running an attack ad vilifying Britney and Paris Hilton for being "celebrities."

Paris claimed vengeance last month when she made a response video, calling McCain "that wrinkly white-haired guy" from "the olden days."

At Sunday's VMAs, host Russell Brand (a British comic) pleaded, "Please elect Barack Obama." Britney clapped approvingly. So there you go. Britney supports Obama, apparently.

Then, the VMAs gave Britney statues for video of the year, best pop video and best female video for "Piece of Me." She was calm. She merely thanked God, her "boys," her family and fans. She didn't perform as viewers might have expected.

If you remember, a year ago, she self-destructed at the VMAs here in Las Vegas in a fit of messy hair, a fluffy body (for her) and a floppy dress while she performed like a drunk goat.

She took no chances this time. As the show's first stage talker in a Hollywood studio, she barely said a thing in less than a minute, even though MTV's whole promotional campaign centered around her.

If you think it's dumb that Britney, Paris and the VMAs went political, remember that McCain started it. And Sunday's VMA host spread the response to cover McCain's running mate Sarah Palin's pregnant daughter's 18-year-old boyfriend.

Brand said he felt sorry for the "poor teenage father-boy" because one minute he was having "joyful unprotected sex" and the next, he was whisked away as a prop at the Republican National Convention.

"I think that is the best safe-sex message of all time. Use a condom or become Republican," Brand said.

Britney aside or included, this was maybe the worst VMAs, celebrating its 25th anniversary. Brand was no Chris Rock or Kathy Griffin. Award presenters and winners weren't interesting or funny. And some singers seemed to be lip-syncing, though it was hard to tell.

The only good stuff? Christina Aguilera sang "Keeps Gettin' Better," a great song, while prancing around in some kind of Catwoman outfit. Kanye West sounded great on an excellently stark, dark stage -- even though he claimed last year, after losing, he'd never do the VMAs again.

And Pink performed "So What" well, while sliding down a Cirque du Soleil-type curtain from the second floor window of a Hollywood studio façade.

Other performances seemed small, including the Jonas Brothers' playing their dinky lullaby, "Love Bug."

Katy ("I Kissed A Girl") Perry eeked out a cover of Madonna's "Like a Virgin" but used a cheat sheet to nail the lyrics.

The Pussycat Dolls won best dancing in a video, then one of the Pussycats resurrected decrepit street lingo: "We want to thank (director) Joseph Kahn for doing this dope video."

The red carpet was also a terrible bore of attendees saying nothing ("I'm wearing Gucci") while constantly plugging a mobile phone sponsor. Only MTV News correspondent Jim Cantiello made one complete thought worth hearing:

"I am so relieved that there is an elephant on the red carpet. There was this distinct odor. I was worried that Amy Winehouse was stumbling down the carpet somewhere."

And so it seems that the formerly funny and fascinating MTV Awards has devolved into being like a red carpet at a Las Vegas nightclub. Musicians mostly are expected just to make an appearance, to show up. Look at Britney, all grown up and sober. Couldn't she have fallen down or something?

Doug Elfman's column appears on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Contact him at 702-383-0391 or e-mail him at delfman@reviewjournal.com. He also blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman.