VMA Side Story- Page 2

[AwesomeDanny]

Posted: 8/25/09 at 7:51pm

They should have gotten the casting directors of "Chicago" to find celebrities who can actually sing. They've been doing that for the last decade.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 8/25/09 at 7:53pm

They should have done this in the day of Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 8/25/09 at 7:57pm

Amen SporkGoddess! Could you imagine Whitney, Mariah, Cyndi Lauper, Taylor Dayne and Heart, and women who could wail! Stunning!

My sister's husband is a bass guitarist and studio musician and he said it gets worse every year. Money put into records(on musicians and great sound) is less and less and the time spent on vocal correction is huge.

[Kad]

Posted: 8/25/09 at 7:59pm

Well, at least we'll always have Cher's one-woman West Side Story.

[scott68]

Posted: 8/25/09 at 8:01pm

Cher Side Story is the single greatest achievement in human history, bar none.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/25/09 at 8:07pm

Agreed!

And Cher sounds like the greatest vocalist in the world compared to these people.

They can't even yell on key.

All you need to be a pop star today in the "music business" is an appealing look and a terrific agent. Nothing. Else.

Updated On: 8/25/09 at 08:07 PM

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 8/25/09 at 8:10pm

In her defense, Taylor Swift is a good song writer. IMO, anyway.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 8/25/09 at 8:14pm

She is. But she should stick to that.

[kchenofan]

Posted: 8/25/09 at 11:49pm

Taylor can sing the songs that she writes because she writes them specifically for herself. She didn't write WSS, so she can't sing it. I love her music, but if she doesn't write it, it shouldn't come out of her mouth.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 8/26/09 at 12:08am

While I agree with what people are saying about the singers' voices (Kerry Perry is not so shocking since I thought her voice sounded incredibly awful when she performed live at the Grammys), I think it's a great homage to WEST SIDE STORY. It's a commercial, how are the lyrics awful? Writing for the people who tunes into the VMA's is not writing for a Broadway show, hence why none of the showtunes from RENT that they keep trying to release as singles truly work.
I, for once, love that a show as iconic as WEST SIDE STORY was part of the concept of an award show whose audience is so young.
I think Katy Perry was trimming hedges because she's in a garden in her album cover, though someone who has actually seen her videos would probably know better. I also thought it might have been some reference to weed, but maybe because I just finished watching last night's episode of WEEDS.

[scott68]

Posted: 8/26/09 at 12:23am

It's definitely an homage, and (in my mind) the best they could manage on a tight budget/schedule. Yes, theoretically they might have gotten more talented people, but considering what they had to work with, I think it's about as good as they could have hoped. (I don't mean to stan Lady Gaga, but she at least has the vocal prowess to kill one of these promos.)

The lyrics are borderline awful, but they are at least reminiscent of the originals, which can't be TOO bad. Anyway, the Cobra Starship and Neyo bits stand on their own, and the rest, aggressively mediocre as they are, fit into the finale.

[Hanna from Hamburg]

Posted: 8/26/09 at 1:10pm

Katy's hedge trimming reminded me of that weird bikini-trimming razor commercial that's on these days:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgtMskfX8iw

EDIT: LOLOL

Then I found this one!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QC0uGcorAl0&feature=related

Updated On: 8/26/09 at 01:10 PM

[CSonBroadway]

Posted: 8/26/09 at 1:18pm

scott68- I don't if that was a diss or compliment to Lady Gaga, but, she CAN sing. She has talent. She writes her own music and she has written for Britney Spears.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I05faOgq1UA

[scott68]

Posted: 8/26/09 at 2:07pm

Sorry, I'm cross-pollinating my online forum lingo - a stan is someone who rabidly defends/praises one performer in particular. (Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Lady Gaga, and Beyonce are the main stan-worshipees.)

I know Lady Gaga can sing, I own everything she's ever done. I almost think they would have been reluctant to put her in this promo because her voice is so much better than the others that they'd look even worse than some of them do already.

[CSonBroadway]

Posted: 8/26/09 at 2:23pm

Why not get Aguilera for this promo?? She is amazing.

[kristin_bernadette]

Posted: 8/26/09 at 3:14pm

Like a lot of people have been saying, I like the video as a whole, but I'm not a huge fan of the individual pieces. Katy Perry reminds me of Edward Scissorhands, and Russel Brand reminds me of Willy Wonka for some reason.

[byebyebaby12]

Posted: 8/26/09 at 4:05pm

I HATE the way Katy sings "broke" WTF? BRO-OH-OH-OKE? Couldn't she just hold out the "oh" sound?

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 8/26/09 at 4:41pm

I think it's like an "uh oh" in reference to her screwing up the hedges. I'm not sure though.

[OtherDaryl]

Posted: 8/26/09 at 7:12pm

Love it.

[alightinthedark23]

Posted: 8/26/09 at 7:45pm

"Why not get Aguilera for this promo?? She is amazing."

I think the whole point of this was to use the artists who have had a big year in music. Obviously Katy Perry has had a huge year and Cobra Starships "Good Girls Go bad" has been a top ten single. It would make no sense to put Christina Aguilera in this promo.

[jamoca5]

Posted: 8/26/09 at 8:16pm

Actually not as bad as I thought it would be. I do agree that the people producing this promo should at least try to make these artists sound good.

Shame I could barely hear Ne-Yo at the end. His and Cobra Starship's parts are pretty much the only tolerable pieces on here.

I wonder if there will be an ongoing Broadway theme at the VMA's this year. I hope so.

~Ash was here

[i am the one]

Posted: 8/26/09 at 10:05pm

I just rewatched it again. I was shocked at how they all sounded utterly horrific, but I think it was the sound designer's fault more than anything. AutoTune was way overused and it gives a horrible sound to everyone not wanting to sound like T-Pain.

Taylor and Katy have at least decent voices. But ironically, Brand's "Tony" sounded the best. See what I mean?

I think the other major problem was the tempo! The whole thing was extremely drawn out, and I lost track of Miranda's muddled lyrics as people tried to hold syllables for way too long. I'm saddened Lin-Manuel isn't furthering his career in an upward direction after he peaked with ITH. I do still love that show, but it makes me wonder about his talent is all...

[singtome8]

Posted: 8/28/09 at 11:23pm

They should've used Disney Channel stars. As much as I loathe them at least Demi Lovato can scream to Jesus...

[WishingOnlyWounds2]

Posted: 8/28/09 at 11:42pm

I saw Taylor Swift last night and I gotta say, she impressed me live. I was expecting some shaky singing but she really blew the roof off the Garden!

[xoangel2789xo]

Posted: 8/29/09 at 12:49am

I actually liked Brand's bit.