DAVID BIANCULLI

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2014 MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS
August 24, 2014  | By David Bianculli

MTV, 9:00 p.m. ET

 

This year’s VMAs will have no shortage of scene-stealing diva moments – the opening number alone features Nicki Minaj, Ariana Grande and Jessie J teaming up for a live rendition of their new collaboration, “Bang Bang.” Taylor Swift also will take the stage tonight, and Iggy Azalea and Rita Ora will team up, and Miley Cyrus will be featured prominently as an audience member. But the night will, or should, belong to Beyoncé, who receives the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, and is set to perform to cap the tribute. The awards themselves, of course, mean next to nothing, especially since finding videos on MTV is like finding tofu at a pulled-pork cook-off. But for the record, the most inventive video of the year, Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball” gyrations notwithstanding, was “Chandelier” by Sia, who doesn’t even appear in her own video. Instead, she’s represented by Maddie Ziegler, an 11-year-old dancer from the Dance Moms reality series who spends the video dancing around in a Sia-like white wig, and interpreting the song in a series of dance moves that are innovative and athletic without stooping to being at all provocative.

 
 
 
 
 
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