(@MTV via Instagram)
The Barclays Center (Getty Images)
The Moonman has landed in Brooklyn.
MTV’s hot Video Music Awards show will be held at the Barclays Center this year.
Music-industry favorites will get their VMA Moonman statues Aug. 25 at the brand-new arena, which opened late last year as host to the Nets.
“Brooklyn is home to icons like the Cyclone in Coney Island and the Brooklyn Bridge,” said a beaming Mayor Bloomberg. “And now it can lay claim to the MTV ‘Video Music Awards.’ Bringing the VMAs to Brooklyn will mean hundreds of jobs.’’
The live event will mark the award show’s 30th anniversary and is a major coup for the fledgling arena.
“From hip-hop to hipsters, Jay Z to MGMT, Brooklyn musicians have a long history of dominating the ‘spotlight’ on MTV,” said Borough President Marty Markowitz. “Brooklyn is a cultural Mecca—the hippest, coolest place for young people across the country.”
Last year’s Music Video Awards show was broadcast live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles and was the No. 1 telecast that evening with more than 6 million viewers.
MTV teased the Barclays announcement over the course of the morning by featuring photos of its silver-suited Moonman statue in a cross-country trek from Los Angeles to Brooklyn.
The VMAs debuted in 1984 and have earned a reputation for its onstage shock value, including the now-infamous kiss between Britney Spears and Madonna and shock jock Howard Stern’s character “Fart Man” harassing Eminem.
For his part, Eminem was a bit more classy in his most memorable VMA moment when he performed “The Real Slim Shady/The Way I Am” with an army of impersonators at the 2000 show.
At the opposite end of the shock-spectrum was Lady Gaga’s infamous meat dress, which she wore to the 2011 VMAs.
MTV’s signature award show is not just about shocking moments, however; there have also been a plethora of cringe worthy moments in the VMA’s checkered history.
For example, in 2009 Taylor Swift was on stage to accept the award for Best Female voice when Kanye West walked out from the audience, grabbed the microphone from the waify singer’s hand and proceeded to go on a rant in praise of Beyonce.
“Yo, Tay, I’m really happy for you, and Imma let you finish, but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time,” Kanye said, referencing Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” video.
And then there was the awkward kiss heard round the world.
The year was 1994 and Michael Jackson was in a relationship with Lisa Marie Presley that many doubted.
To silence the doubters, the pair proved their “love” by taking center stage at the VMAs in a very awkward public display of affection.
“Just think, nobody thought this would last,” Jackson said moments before the incredibly strange kiss.