The selection of the MTV Video Music Awards officially began on July 1.

Renowned music critics from major music magazines across the United States, as well as some authoritative media professionals, have gathered in New York, because this year's awards ceremony was held in New York's Radio City Music Hall.

This year's MTV Video Music Awards set up a total of 15 regular awards, 6 professional awards and 7 regional international audience choice awards. There are 6 nominations under each award, which is both professional and popular, and it can be said that this is one of the two most watched awards ceremonies in the American music scene this year.

And media personality Black Jack is one of the music critics invited to participate in this year's selection.

"Hey, Jack, long time no see."

"Long time no see, Mr. Thompson." Standing in front of him at this time was a short, trendy middle-aged man with a jacket and sweatshirt, who was not only a shareholder of MTV, the world's largest music television network, but also the person in charge of the selection and award ceremony.

It stands to reason that he should be more interested in classical and jazz music at his age, but he is more interested in rock and other pop songs. I often watch concerts all over the world, and I usually take the initiative to take photos with pop music singers.

"Jack, it's been a great year for the MV, you know what I'm talking about." Thompson smiled and patted his arm with some excitement.

"Of course, I have a lot of music videos that I like."

"But don't let personal preferences affect the ratings, just get inside."

"Yes, Mr. Thompson."

Jack politely spoke to him and walked into the auditorium, which was covered with red curtains and a screen that looked like a movie theater.

That's where they'll be in the next few days, because after the screening, the judging will be voted on and scored, and the named slips of paper will be placed in buckets.

After the voting is completed, the re-accounting will be carried out.

If someone collects money or for some reason scores that are too low or too high compared to others, they are responsible for giving a reason.

Of course, if the reasons are not enough to convince the jury, then the qualifications of the jury will be questioned.

Therefore, the selection of the MTV Awards is basically fair and impartial, which can represent the current fashion trend and public aesthetics.

However, they are now choosing nominees, and the real winners will have to go through a more professional second round of selection.

On the morning of the 1st, Jack first met with other media people to get acquainted with them, and in the afternoon, the organizers began to make the selection.

As the judges entered, the auditorium went dark. All the judges sat on the sofa seats and held their breath, holding the cards in their hands, waiting for the first music video to appear.

And after the screen lit up blue, everyone immediately realized what this MV was.

"Makeover? It turned out to be this one. The bearded man next to Jack, the head of the Los Angeles Music Radio and a friend of Jack's, whispered to him.

"I love this...... Well, don't let me sway. The young man on Herbert's other side subconsciously spoke in agreement, and when he realized that he was suspected of influencing others, he immediately raised his hands to indicate that he had no intention of doing so.

Jack shifted his gaze to him, saw the man's face through the light of the screen, and found that it was Schreiber, the founder of the well-known music website Pitchfork.

This website was originally his personal music blog, but with more and more users, the website has attracted many music experts to recommend and comment on songs, and has become the largest music website in the United States.

It was the first time he had participated in this kind of judging, and it was common sense that he had no experience.

"It doesn't matter." Herbert relieved, then turned his head to the screen.

The music video soon ended, and when the lights came back on, they picked up pens and wrote down their ratings on the cards.

And while the card was taken away and waiting for the others, the three of them began to talk about this MV again.

"The colors are really great, and they are very bold." Jack's favorite blue color inside is quiet and brilliant.

"That's right, the director used a large area of blue and a small area of pink, which is very visually striking. The plot also complements the MV. Schreiber chimed in.

Herb nodded: "And the cross symbolizes love and salvation, and it is funny that he uses the cross to smash things in the house, obviously expressing the use of faith to carry out salvation." ”

"But I think it can also be understood as rebirth." Jack took a mouthful.

Schreiber explained: "Isn't it the meaning of this song to redeem the past self and become the new self with the love of the family? I have to say that the director is very powerful. ”

"Yes, Tang, I heard that he is a director under CAA, and he has made several MVs this year, and he is very impressed." Herbert shrugged.

"To be honest, I've always been curious about him, maybe I can see him at this MTV awards ceremony." Jack smiled, the MTV Awards has a red carpet session every year, which is one of the few highlight moments of MV directors, so as long as the nomination is made, it will appear on the red carpet to be asked by reporters.

After a few people talked for a while, the auditorium was darkened again, and the second music video continued.

Over the next few hours, selected music videos from around the world appeared on the screen, and the judges did their best to keep their groove and drop their score cards into the voting buckets.

Half a day passed quickly in this mechanical selection, and when Jack got up from his seat, he felt his body stiffen.

Walking out of the auditorium, following the waiter's guidance to the open-air restaurant, he finally got a breath of fresh air, and he didn't rush to eat, but leaned against the corridor and stairs to light a cigarette for himself.

Later, more male judges came over, and it was obvious that they were all addicted to cigarettes.

Everyone smiled when they met, then took out a cigarette and lit it for themselves.

It was at this moment that one of them spoke: "Did you see the front-page article in Baiyi Music Magazine yesterday?" ”

"What?" His friend frowned.

"It's the one written by Dylan about the creation of MV, and he said that MV shouldn't go down the old path of movies and become a combination of big scenes and gimmicks, and I think it's right."

"What?"

This was not said by his friend, but by Jack.

Dylan is a well-known music critic and has been a judge for many awards such as the Grammys. Although his reputation is mixed because he often publishes some confusing remarks in magazines, this does not affect his status in the music critic world.

Therefore, when he speaks out about the current state of the MV, all music critics will take it to heart.

And this time he raised a very sharp question.

That is, the MV should not dominate the crowd and steal the attention of the music itself.

In the article, he wrote: "Nowadays, more and more songs are promoting MV as one of the important means of publicity, using so-called big scenes and gimmicks to attract fans to watch and buy. But this seems to me to be a crooked path. ”

"Because the essence of this behavior is a lack of confidence in one's own songs! When singers and producers do not choose to rely on the song itself to win in the market competition, but choose to rely on the gimmick of the MV to make fans pay, this approach will only bury other really good singers. ”

"And when this trend pervades the music scene, everyone will pay more to shoot the MV, so the production cost on the song will be less."

"In the eyes of most fans, the MV should be the foil to the song, it should serve the artistry of the song, not steal the limelight of the song. If the MV of a song is beyond this category, it means that it is separate from the song, inappropriate, and shit. ”

"So I suggest that major award ceremonies should stop this trend in time and let the music return to the song itself. The world doesn't need a second film industry! ”

After Jack learned about Dylan's article from the two of them, he didn't know how to refute it for a while.

Although subconsciously, he felt that this argument was a bit evasive, as if he had ignored something important.

However, he can't organize it into words, so Jack also wonders why he feels awkward when he eats.

At the same time, the content of this article was also well known by many judges present in the small talk, some expressed disdain, and some expressed agreement.

But it is undeniable that everyone knows which MV this article is aimed at, after all, when it comes to the MV scene this year, it is undoubtedly Avril's rock song that is the most famous.

"It's not fair." So when all the judges came to the auditorium the next day, Schreiber complained to Herbert and Jack, "Dylan's article is influencing our selection. ”

"So you have to try to avoid it." Herbert is quite sophisticated: "The Oscars are influenced by reviews and money, and MTV is no exception, and these media people publish articles that seem to be legitimate but useless at this time of year to influence us." ”

"Are you saying that there is a record company behind you?" Schreiber is very smart, and he knows a little bit.

Herbert spread his hands: "Who knows? Anyway, everyone has their own abacus, doesn't they? ”

Jack couldn't hide his scoff: "Those companies can do anything to make their singers more famous." ”

While the three were talking, Mr. Thompson walked from the stage to the center of the stage and picked up the microphone.

He didn't speak, just looked at everyone calmly, until the small talk faded and everyone looked at him intently before he spoke: "First of all, as music judges, what we need to do is to remain independent and not be affected by other people's words. ”

"Secondly, we need to understand what exactly is the award we are choosing?"

"MTV, the selection is a popular song MV that is loved by the audience, not a song, and it is not art that is sealed by an art museum!"

"I know a lot of people like to use art to show themselves, and there were even judges who used to have a condescending attitude towards rappers. But this is wrong, and MTV wants to correct this mistake. ”

"We want to choose the MV that better represents the future trend of the music scene! It is necessary to choose a music video that contains the creator's ingenuity and can give the song more enjoyable. ”

"Big scenes, cinematic techniques, spoofs, horror, violence, suspense, these elements are just forms of expression, and we can't be blinded and mistakenly think that this is the core of the MV. Just because they're used in the MV doesn't mean you look the other way. ”

Thompson said this passionately, paused for a moment, glanced at everyone and continued: "Popular, exciting, and fit, these three words are the core key. ”

"As for stealing the show? Fans don't choose to buy a song just because the MV is good-looking, and they're not irrational puppets, they only pay for what they really like! ”

(End of chapter)