'Insanity' rules at virtually lifeless Video Music Awards

For all the endless commercials and hours of airtime MTV spends year after year hyping its biggest annual event, the Video Music Awards, the station could at least once put on a decent show. Alas, MTV has again proven to underwhelm, as the 1997 Video Music Awards ceremony was three hours of mostly boring live performances, annoying presenters reading idiotic banter off the teleprompters and generally weak nominees.

Comedian Chris Rock hosted the 1997 VMA, held at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan, and made the best of the situation as possible. Hell, he made fun of the Spice Girls twice with them sitting in the audience, as well as countless musicians who won't be back next year for the 1998 VMA, given the "here today, gone today" fickle tastes of the music-buying public and MTV programmers.

The evening got off to a rather conspicuous start when No Doubt won the award for Best Group Video, for its song "Don't Speak."

The ubiquitous, sample-happy and mediocre Puff Daddy was going nowhere fast in his live performance for the Notorious B.I.G. tribute "I'll Be Missing You" before he was joined by the elegant-looking Sting, whose vocals were, as usual, quite stirring.

In a sure sign of the apocalypse, the Spice Girls beat out the Chemical Brothers and the Prodigy for Best Dance Video. Mel C's dedication of the award for "Wannabe" to the late Princess Diana was touching, but then Geri interrupted, saying Di had "Girl Power," cheesifying a poignant moment.

Madonna then introduced her Maverick signees the Prodigy, who played "Breathe" via satellite from England. After the Prodigy's performance, Rock deadpanned, "I'm always a sucker for a good melody."

Let's see, what next? Oh, yes, Will Smith won Best Video from a Film for "Men In Black," Sublime won Best Alternative Video for "What I Got" and Fiona Apple won Best New Artist. Then U2 played a stirring rendition of "Please," off its relatively poorly-selling new album, "Pop," but nobody in the audience seemed to care.

Beck deservedly won Best Male Video for the super-cool "Devil's Haircut," defeating such musical luminaries as Babyface, R. Kelly and Will Smith. After LL Cool J won a Video Vanguard award, Puff Daddy (with Faith Evans and 12) won Best R&B Video for "I'll Be Missing You." At least Sting is making some more money off the whole deal.

Beck then charismatically performed "The New Pollution," doing all kind of splits and twists, before Sheryl Crow interviewed the soon-to-be-touring Rolling Stones. Asking Mick Jagger if the group will be working with Puff Daddy in the near future, Mick said, "Only if he gets his teeth fixed."

After Jamiroquai played a solid version of "Virtual Insanity" (complete with the video's flat escalator/conveyer belt effect), the Prodigy won the Viewer's Choice award.

Jewel defeated such musical heavyweights as Meredith Brooks and Paula Cole to win Best Female Video before Jamiroquai took home the grand prize, Video of the Year, for "Virtual Insanity." While this is entirely more acceptable than, say, Celine Dion's victory at the Grammy Awards for Album of the Year, all it did was wind up a boring evening.

Actually, it didn't. Marilyn Manson finally did, performing a tuneless rendition of a tuneless song, "The Beautiful People." After the song ended and Marilyn Manson removed his buttock-exposing self from the stage, Rock articulated that it might be good for viewers to run to church. They should - to pray for a decent show next year.

The lads of Jamiroquai took home four awards at Thursday's MTV Video Music Awards for their groundbreaking funhouse video, "Virtual Insanity," including a surprise win for Video of the Year

Host Chris Rock unsuccessfully attempted to keep this year's VMA's alive with his witty quips and video parodies.

09-08-97