Slick show now emphasizes stagecraft
TORONTO — Teenage reality TV starlets Kylie Jenner and Kendall Jenner presided over a milestone 25th Much Music Video Awards on Sunday that was slick, brisk and almost entirely free of the ramshackle volatility that once defined the annual outdoor bash.
B.C. pop outfit Hedley took home a leading three trophies — including video of the year for their anthem Anything — while absent Toronto rapper Drake won a pair to lead the way. The of-the-moment Jenners provided a competent, if dispassionate hosting presence, mostly ceding the spotlight to a series of splashy performances from international pop stars including New Zealand songwriting wunderkind Lorde and Grammywinning British songwriter Ed Sheeran.
The 25th instalment of the reliably raucous bash illustrated just how much the MMVAs have changed over the years.
This is no longer the show that David Bowie cheerfully remarked in 1999 seemed “like it (was) run by children.” Simulcast for the first time on CTV, the MMVAs have become seamless and sleek. Nowadays the show relies on eye-catching stagecraft to get people talking.
And Sunday’s show certainly had some of that.
Ariana Grande — the 20- year- old Nickelodeon product nicknamed mini-Mariah for her industrialstrength pipes — closed the show with her swaggering song-of-the-summer frontrunner Problem, stalking about surrounded by a battery of torso-baring male dancers who flipped and cartwheeled acrobatically around the stage.
Slick Las Vegas pop outfit Imagine Dragons performed their downcast hit Demons as an appetizer for their ubiquitous Radioactive, which prompted all the members to pound drums while massive streams of pyro danced and rocketed through the air.
Flame- haired Calgary dance breakout Kiesza performed her surprise international hit Hideaway — No. 1 in the U.K., Belgium and Netherlands — with a grimy New York motif, though her fleet feet were the featured attraction.
Seventeen-year-old Lorde stalked the stage during an ominous performance of her moody dirge Tennis Court before contorting her body in knots while singing her frothy smash Team. (She also won for best international video of the year).
Imagine Dragons elicited attention puttering onto the carpet in a modest, dirt-encrusted Toyota. Later, they won for best international video by a group.
Other winners included an absent Justin Bieber for the fan-chosen Your Fave artist or group, Selena Gomez for Your Fave international artist and Sam Roberts for rock/alternative video of the year.