2009 MTV VMA Predictions

The 2009 MTV VMAs take place in New York, Radio City Music Hall this Sunday, after being staged in Los Angeles last year and Las Vegas the previous year. Radio City Music Hall was where the first VMAs were staged, and this will be the 10th time it has played host to the biggest, most culturally important music awards show. Let's hope it's a return to form.

I'm also hoping it will take on a more traditional approach, with the majority of the performances taking place on the main stage in the same hall. Last year's show took place at the Paramount studios and the performances made use of the film sets and moved around the various soundstages. It was an interesting idea, but it lost the grandeur of performing in front of a massive audience.

I'm looking forward to the performances this year. Right off the top of the list is Janet's dance tribute to MJ, which will open the show. She will be performing alongside top choreographers including Wade Robson (a close friend of MJ who performed alongside him on various occasions), Travis Payne (he worked on the HIStory and This Is It tours), Chris Judd (ex Mr J-Lo) and Gil Duldulao (the Creative Director, chief choreographer for Janet's All For You and Rock Witchu tours).

But to me, the most fascinating addition to this talented group is Tina Landon. It's fascinating because it will be a reunion between Janet and her. Tina came up with some of Janet's best moves during the janet., Design Of A Decade and The Velvet Rope eras. But they apparently had a fallout and Gil took over the reins from the Damita Jo era onwards. Apparently it was so bad that they refused to talk to each other. I would say Tina's choreography was much more iconic and memorable, so I'm glad they're back together again. Let's hope this will be a new beginning for Janet.

Besides Janet's show opener, I'm also looking forward to Muse, as it will be their first ever US television performance. They will be performing Uprising, taken from their new album The Resistance, which will be released on Monday. I love the song, so I hope it's good live.

There's also Green Day, who should be performing their new single 21st Century Breakdown. Things have been a little quiet for Green Day since they launched their album in May. Know Your Enemy was a catchy ditty but didn't last that long. Follow-up 21 Guns was featured heavily in the Transformers sequel soundtrack, but personally, I think the song is just so-so. 21st Century Breakdown is one of my favourite tracks on the album so let's hope it's good too.

Beyonce will also perform, and I hope it's Single Ladies, though I think she will do a medley of that plus a newer single like Sweet Dreams. Hubby Jay-Z will also perform, and he will be sharing the stage with Alicia Keys, another VMA favourite. They will be performing Empire State Of Mind, from Jay's new album The Blueprint 3, which just dropped this week. It's a fitting song to do at the Big Apple.

Then there's a triple bill of ladies - Lady Gaga (seriously over-rated), P!nk (didn't she perform last year already?) and Taylor Swift (let's hope it won't be a snooze fest). Eminem, Katy Perry, Cobra Starship, 3OH!3, Ne-Yo and Nelly Furtado will also make appearances.

The performances will no doubt overshadow the awards themselves, which have become a sideshow in recent years. Thank goodness they removed most of the superfluous awards, except for this new category which is also quite redundant - Best Video (That Should Have Won A Moonman).

Since the awards don't really matter that much anymore, why should I care? Cos I'm old school at heart, and it's still important to me who wins, though the past few winners have been largely undeserving. So let me just list out my predictions...these are nto who I think are deserving but who I think will win.

VIDEO OF THE YEAR

My pick: Beyonce - Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)

Other nominees:

Britney Spears - Womanizer

Eminem - We Made You

Kanye West - Love Lockdown

Lady Gaga - Poler Face

BEST FEMALE VIDEO

My pick: Katy Perry - Hot N Cold

Other nominees:

Beyonce - Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)

Kelly Clarkson - My Life Would Suck Without You

Lady Gaga - Poker Face

P!nk - So What

Taylor Swift - You Belong With Me

BEST MALE VIDEO

My pick: Kanye West - Love Lockdown

Other nominees:

Eminem - We Made You

Jay-Z - D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)

Ne-Yo - Miss Independent

T.I. featuring Rihanna - Live Your Life

BEST NEW ARTIST

My pick: Lady Gaga - Poker Face

Other nominees:

3OH!3 - Don't Trust Me

Ahser Roth - I Love College

Drake - Best I Ever Had

Kid Cudi - Day N Nite

BEST POP VIDEO

My pick: Britney Spears - Womanizer

Other nominees:

Beyonce - Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)

Cobra Starship featuring Leighton Meester - Good Girls Go Bad

Lady Gaga - Poker Face

Wisin y Yandel - Abusadora

BEST ROCK VIDEO

My pick: Kings Of Leon - Use Somebody

Other nominees:

Coldplay - Viva La Vida

Fall Out Boy - I Don't Care

Green Day - 21 Guns

Paramore - Decode

BEST HIP-HOP VIDEO

My pick: Jay-Z - D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)

Other nominees:

Asher Roth - I Love College

Eminem - We Made You

Flo Rida - Right Round

Kanye West - Love Lockdown

BREAKTHROUGH VIDEO

My pick: Death Cab For Cutie - Grapevine Fires

BEST VIDEO (THAT SHOULD HAVE WON A MOONMAN)

My pick: Foo Fighters - Everlong

BEST ART DIRECTION

My pick: Coldplay - Viva La Vida

BEST CHOREOGRAPHY

My pick: Beyonce - Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

My pick: Green Day - 21 Guns

BEST DIRECTION

My pick: Beyonce - Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)

BEST EDITING

My pick: Beyonce - Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)

BEST SPECIAL EFFECTS

My pick: Beyonce - Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)

So there you have it, Beyonce to be the big winner with 5 moonmen. Let's see if it comes true.