| 2007 MTV Video Music Awards | |
| Date: | Sunday, September 9, 2007 |
| Location: | The Palms, Las Vegas, Nevada |
| Country: | United States |
| Host: | none |
| Most Awards: | Justin Timberlake (4) |
| Most Nominations: | Justin Timberlake and Beyoncé (7 each) |
| Network: | MTV |
| Producer: | Den of Thieves |
| Director: | Hamish Hamilton |
| Previous: | 2006 |
| Next: | 2008 |
The 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, honoring the best music videos from the previous year between June 2006 to June 2007, took place on September 9, in Las Vegas at The Palms. The 2007 VMAs were the smallest VMAs to ever take place, eliminating 13 awards, and renaming many of the remaining awards. The 2008 awards restored most of the categories.
On August 7, 2007, the nominees were announced live on TRL with a special performance by Kanye West. The week before the ceremony, the network aired VMA Week on TRL, along with VMA-related programming, including performances from top artists.
The VMAs aired live on September 9, 2007 at 9:00 p.m. ET on MTV. Unlike in past years where the show was shown on MTV in HDTV letterboxed format, this year the ceremony was aired in standard definition. However, it was still produced in high definition, and was scheduled to air in full on MHD (the current MTV Live), Viacom's high definition channel, on September 22.[1] At the last moment, a "best of" 90 minute clip show was substituted, and MTV announced that the show in its entirety would not be re-aired in any form.[2]
The 2007 VMAs were produced on a smaller budget and in front of a smaller crowd. The venue at the Palms was criticized for its small stage. Only four performances took place on the main stage, which consisted of a small layered stage that led off to a number of "island" stages that served as guests' tables. Other performances occurred in other locations in the Palms, including guest suites. Kanye West was especially critical of this setup, claiming that he would "never return to MTV" after he was slotted to perform in the Hugh Hefner Sky Villa instead of the main stage.[3]
Unlike previous editions of the MTV Video Music Awards, the 2007 awards featured performances in different suites, each with its own host band and guests performing. The Main Show performances occurred at the same location where the awards were being televised.
Amy Winehouse's record label canceled her performance for the show following Lily Allen's withdrawal from the event due to issues obtaining a visa. The two were rumored to perform a duet.[4] The French electronic group Justice was going to perform at the show with Mark Ronson during one of his VMA spots with an additional special guest.[5] The group had to drop out due to their flight's late arrival in Las Vegas.[6]
Winners are in bold text.
| Video of the Year | Male Artist of the Year |
|---|---|
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| Female Artist of the Year | Best Group |
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| Best New Artist | Quadruple Threat of the Year |
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| Most Earthshattering Collaboration | Monster Single of the Year |
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| Best Director | Best Choreography in a Video |
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| Best Editing in a Video | |
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Flowers for Dorian won the MTV2 On The Rise contest. The prize for winning was getting flown to New York City to film 5 live videos in front of a green screen. The 5 videos were on Comcast's On Demand and one of the videos premiered at the VMAs. Flowers for Dorian's video for the song Love Remains premiered at the VMAs.
Britney Spears served as the opening act for the show, performing her new single "Gimme More". She appeared in a black, jewel encrusted bikini and black boots. She performed the opening lines of "Trouble" before segueing into "Gimme More". The performance was universally panned by critics. Jeff Leeds of The New York Times said that "no one was prepared for Sunday night's fiasco, in which a listless Ms. Spears teetered through her dance steps and mouthed only occasional words in a wan attempt to lip-synch her new single".[7] Vinay Menon of the Toronto Star commented Spears "looked hopelessly dazed. She was wearing the expression of somebody who had been deposited at the Palms Casino Resort by a tornado, one that promptly twisted away, taking her clothing and sense of purpose. ... [She was] lumbering, in slow motion, as if somebody had poured cement into her streetwalker boots".[8] David Willis of BBC stated her performance would "go down in the history books as being one of the worst to grace the MTV Awards".[9]
Immediately following Spears' performance, comedian Sarah Silverman presented a monologue that included numerous derogatory jokes about Spears, her career, and her children. Silverman joked that Spears, "at 25, had already accomplished in her life everything she ever will," and called her sons "most adorable mistakes you will ever see." Silverman's monologue received criticism for its harshness towards Spears and her children; Silverman responded to backlash by saying "it never occurred to me that would be deemed hurtful or over the line."[10] Silverman's monologue garnered renewed criticism in 2021, following the release of the documentary Framing Britney Spears; Silverman expressed regret for her monologue, saying that MTV had hired her to perform a "mini-roast" of Spears, and that Silverman had not seen Spears' performance before going on stage.[11]
The day after the performance, American vlogger Cara Cunningham, using the name Chris Crocker, posted a video to YouTube titled "Leave Britney alone!", in which she cried and defended Spears's performance, explaining that she did not want Spears to spiral out of control like Anna Nicole Smith, who had died in February 2007. Within the first 24 hours of its posting, the video accumulated over 2 million views.[12] "Leave Britney alone!" turned Cunningham into an internet celebrity, and was featured on television shows such as The View and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. It was also parodied by dozens of other YouTube users, most famously by actor Seth Green.[12] [13] An editor for YouTube said "the melodramatic two-minute clip made [Cunningham] an instant YouTube star" and named it one of the top videos of 2007.[14] Wired named it the top video of 2007.[15]
Kid Rock and Tommy Lee were involved in an altercation at the Video Music Awards during the come-back performance of Alicia Keys. A source reported that Tommy Lee was sitting with magician Criss Angel when the two went to visit Diddy, who was sitting close to Kid Rock. Shortly after the two went over to see Diddy, "all hell broke loose", that source told Access Hollywood. It is reported that Kid Rock sucker-punched Tommy Lee in his back. The two, both ex-husbands of Pamela Anderson were broken up, and both were escorted from the resort. Angel was removed a short time later. The cause of the fight is unknown.[16]
An eyewitness reported to TMZ that "Tommy got it pretty bad."[17] The incident was confirmed by Palms Hotel and Casino public relations representative Larry Fink. MTV Host Sway Calloway said "Tommy Lee was sitting by P-Diddy and Kid Rock just got off stage and from what I saw he walked up to Lee and just decked him."
On-air reactions
Caitlin Upton, Miss South Carolina Teen USA 2007 – famous for her incoherent response to why she thought 1/5 of Americans can't locate the US on a world map, performed a parody of her response when she was presenting.
Shia LaBeouf revealed the name of the fourth Indiana Jones film: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. It was confirmed by the official site.