The Eye: Mtv Video Music Awards Offers Additional Appeal In Its Spectacle

BY CARLA HAY

BACKSTAGE AT THE MTV AWARDS: There's something about the MTV Video Music Awards that still appeals to the music industry at large. The Grammy Awards may be the most prestigious music awards show in the U.S., but many consider the Video Music Awards to be the most fun.
This year's Video Music Awards, held Sept. 10 at Los Angeles' Universal Amphitheatre, offered few surprises in terms of winners: Unofficial MTV queen Madonna reigned supreme by being honored with the most awards (Billboard, Sept. 19). MTV heavy-rotation magnets Will Smith and Aerosmith also predictably won.
But to a lot of people, the Video Music Awards are less about who wins and more about what happens at the most "let it all hang out" awards show on TV. The ratings reflect the show's enduring popularity: according to MTV, this year's premiere telecast was the highest-rated Video Music Awards broadcast among the network's target 18- to 34-year-old audience to date. Among general audiences, it was the highest-rated of MTV's awards shows since 1990. According to the network, the show received an 8.2 household rating/13 share, representing approximately 5.8 million U.S. households.
Backstage, Smith‹who won the best male video award for "Just The Two Of Us"‹said the award was special to him because "the song was how I feel about my son, Trey, and it's the best song I've ever written. It was great working with my son [in the video]." Then he quipped, "Now Trey wants to keep the award in his room."
Mariah Carey discussed directing her own videos: "It's not like I think I'm this amazing director, but the best thing is the creative control. The worst thing is that you're not the best outside observer of your own work" . . . Lenny Kravitz commented on his upcoming Roxie Records label, named in honor of his mother, the late Roxie Roker (Billboard, Aug. 29): "I'm working with a couple of new artists in the studio, and we're putting demos together" . . . Aerosmith's Steven Tyler noted the awards show's most memorable moment: "Marilyn Manson's codpiece!"
Green Day front man Billie Joe Armstrong admitted it was "nerve-wracking" to be nominated, considering that Green Day had received 13 MTV nominations in the past but had never won until this year. The band's "Time Of Your Life (Good Riddance)" was named best alternative video. He added, "I wrote the song about an ex-girlfriend who moved to Ecuador, and I was really bitter at the time."
Courtney Love playfully sparred with reporters in the press room, shouting expletives and calling questions from the media "retarded" and "boring." Can you say "attitude"? We would expect nothing less from her . . . Madonna was somewhat subdued by comparison, as she introduced the show's biggest behind-the-scenes winner: Oil Factory's Jonas Akerlund, director of Madonna's "Ray Of Light" and Prodigy's "Smack My Bitch Up." Madonna, who said she was "grateful" for all the MTV recognition, revealed that although she personally selected Akerlund to direct "Ray Of Light," she didn't make the job easy. "We met on the telephone, and he sent me a whole bunch of treatments I didn't like. But he kept at it and didn't give up."
Next up for the big winners: Madonna is planning a tour in 1999. Meanwhile, Akerlund has completed the next Cardigans video, "My Favourite Game."
AFTER-PARTY DISPATCHES: Video Music Awards after-parties are legendary in the industry because "spare no expense" seems to be MTV's motto. Music celebrities spotted at the MTV bash included No Doubt, Garbage, the Goo Goo Dolls, Chuck D., Barenaked Ladies, and Rob Zombie.
Maverick Records' after-party at Morton's was more intimate but also star-studded. Attendees included Madonna, Sean "Puffy" Combs, members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Maxwell.
We chatted with Foo Fighters front man Dave Grohl, who's relocating to his native Virginia, where the group will record its next album . . . Wyclef Jean says he plans to do a benefit concert for Haitian refugees in '99. He's also scoring the Eddie Murphy/Martin Lawrence comedy "Life."
And in album news: No Doubt's next disc is expected in the spring or summer of 1999. The band has written "about 25 songs, and we've recorded about seven so far," says drummer Adrian Young . . . Combs said his next solo album and Mase's next album will be released by the second quarter of 1999 . . . Actress Jennifer Lopez, whose debut on the Work Group is due next year, says it will be a hybrid of "Latin soul and dance music" . . . The members of Hanson said they'll direct a companion video for their upcoming live album.