I watched the MTV Music Awards the other night. I took in almost the entire show. The DVR recorded until 11:00 p.m., so I missed the last few awards. Had to find those on the Internet. Here are a handful of observations from this experience:
- Emily is a very patient woman to do this with me.
- Generally speaking, I don’t like rap music as much as I don’t like country music.
- I typically think our arts programming at Granger is very cutting edge. It is for a church in Granger, Indiana, but it’s still nothing compared to "MTV Land."
- Video is important. By my count, there were a minimum of seven big screens in use at all times and sometimes more.
- Jack Black was a flop.
- I was ultra-disappointed with the All-American Rejects. Their performance was horrible. The vocals stunk. They acted like idiots.
- I was very impressed with Christina Aguilera. She’s a very talented vocalist and performer.
- Emily agreed, Shakira’s hips don’t lie.
- The treadmill performance may have been my favorite part of the show.
- Today’s top music styles don’t sound much like the music styles I hear in churches.
- I couldn’t understand most of the lyrics. I’ll bet some of the messages were actually worth hearing. Makes me glad we almost always display the lyrics to songs at Granger.
- There are very few men that want to look like men in the music industry today.
- I have very little patience for the "dumb blond" ploy no matter how physically attractive the woman may be–it’s not attractive to me.
- Awards shows would be a lot better if the artists just received the awards and weren’t allowed to say anything.
- This was a learning experience for me. I don’t know today’s culture as much as I thought I did.
Great thoughts. I agree after watching it that the church is still WAY off in knowing our culture. It convicted me.
And you are correct about Shakira, her hips don’t lie for sure. :)
Thoughts on your review -
1. If you couldn’t understand the lyrics to most of the songs (or interpret the messages – which, btw, I doubt many were worth interpreting anyway) than why would we want to mimic that in our church?
2. What percentage of society does MTV really represent, esp. outside of the 13-23 demographic? There are still huge segments of people who like country music and don’t do everything on video. The church needs to reach that group of ‘culture’ as well.
“I typically think our arts programming at Granger is very cutting edge. It is for a church in Granger, Indiana, but it’s still nothing compared to ‘MTV Land.’
…Today’s top music styles don’t sound much like the music styles I hear in churches.”
To preface my remarks, let me say that I am a major proponent of cutting edge, culturally relevant, excellent music in our churches. Furthermore, I lead a church that works hard at excellence in this area. So, my question is not meant to be antagonistic or anti-cutting edge ministry. Yet, as I read these comments, I was struck by the question: How do I/we know that unchurched people (generally speaking) want the same music/culture in church that they experience outside of church? Just something to ponder and pay attention to…
“The treadmill performance may have been my favorite part of the show.”
Definitely a sweet and memorable routine.
CPYUs Thoughts on MTVs VMAs
On August 31st, MTV hosted their 2006 VMAs (Video Music Awards). It is considered by many to be a good indicator of what is popular in pop culture or at least what Viacom (MTVs parent company) would like to be popular.
Walt Mueller, the founder…
Tony, Thanks for the summary as I missed it.
andy