MTV announced this week that Katy Perry will be hosting the 2017 VMAs on August 27. Katy Perry is also nominated for five awards for her album, Witness.
The announcement that Katy Perry will be hosting the VMAs comes on the heels of her new album release, Witness. The album is nominated for five awards, second to Kendrick Lamar’s album, Damn, and single, “Humble.” So, it’s going to be a big night for Perry.
In a press release, Perry said, “I’ve been training with MTV in zero gravity, eating astronaut ice cream, and I’m on a group text with Buzz Aldrin and Neil deGrasse Tyson.” So, that’s cool. The promotional photos and videos for the show have Perry in a space suit with the iconic MTV flag in hand. “I’ll be ready to be your MOONWOMAN! Brace for impact, kids.”
The Forum in Inglewood California will host the ceremony on August 27. This year, MTV has de-gendered the awards. Like the MTV’s Movie & TV Awards, this year the VMAs have done away with the Best Female and Best Male Video categories. Instead, there will be only one category, Artist of the Year.
The MTV originally conceived the Video Music Awards as a sort of Anti-Grammy Awards. MTV’s counter-cultural image whether genuine or contrived is an integral part of the VMAs. At the very fist VMAs in 1984, Madonna performed her hit “Like a Virgin” in lingerie. More recently Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech to praise Beyonce.
De-gendering the awards fits the ethic considering the rise in acceptance of gender-variance among more radical subcultures. Basically, it’s punk to be queer these days. So, whether it’s pandering to or promoting these gender-variant communities is up for debate.
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Personally, I don’t think MTV’s been cool since Kurt Cobain and Axl Rose got in a fight over some straight man nonsense. Still, progressive ideas are becoming mainstream. Whether or not a multi-national media conglomerate really believes their message is arguably irrelevant. As long as we’re all moving toward a level playing field for all genders, who am I to argue?