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Except for that 3-year break MTV took off the Breakthrough Music Video category, they had continued giving away the prize — which had been given to the likes of Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry and Chris Cunningham — until 2010, when they officially removed the category.

So I ask again, what happened to Breakthrough Music Videos?

As a reminder, I put together a list with all the winners.

[iframe width=”580″ height=”326″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PLE88395EDFAA954B7″ /]

If I had been picking winners (from that past post), I chose:

  • 2006 – U2 for Window in the Skies [MV]
  • 2007 – Tom Waits for Come On Up to the House [MV]
  • 2008 – Bjork for Wanderlust [MV]

For the other two years, you know I’m probably partial to SunnyHill [1], but I’ll go with Salyu’s Tadano Tomodachi [1] concept because it’s much more a production concept than a music video concept. For 2012, despite its serious hard-hitting concept [1], I would have to go with Graham Coxon’s What’ll It Take [MV] due to its imaginative execution using fan footage.

So what are some of your favorite music videos?

I curated a new Flickr gallery~~~ xD

Concert photography is more than taking a photo of a band playing. It’s about the energy, it’s about the lights, it’s about that specific moment that made the performance better. A concert isn’t only the band, a concert is also the fans…

Visit the gallery for full view~

Whenever I think about Joseph Kahn, I… well, now I think about stupid Torque, while my friend complained that he paid to watch the film and fell asleep. Yup, Torque’s one of those film I try to block for the sake of the Kahn – because the Kahn is a pretty kick-ass music video director.

Before I ever EVER turned into the teenage girl that knew (and still knows) the lyrics to the Backstreet Boys songs, and before the Kahn blew me away with Everybody (Backstreet’s Back) — which remains my dad’s fave BSB song and  video. MY DAD who rocks xD — before all of that, I was blown away by Brandy and Monica’s The Boy is Mine. Not because I knew the lyrics… I didn’t. I didn’t know English then~ I just looked at them and doing the sing-off which I didn’t understand, and watched the clips of the video on Frecuencia Latina’s Ayer y Hoy. I found it fascinating.

Of course, then I got cable… and I got MTV, and I became a BSB fan and learned English. And Everybody (Backstreet’s Back) is a bloody good pop music video. Of course it’s got tinges of Michael Jackson, that’s why it’s so good. Mind you, Nick’s mummy , Brian’s werewolf, Howie’s vamp and AJ’s Phantom are kinda lame, but Kevin’s Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde more than make up for anything. And that group sync dance, ahh… they don’t make them like that no more.

Watch the HD version (only US), or the regular version.

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Ever since the internet began playing a bigger part on what is music today (with places like MySpace, YouTube and Peer to Peer), I said it… there will never be a fuly 100 Greatest Songs for this past decade. You will watch a VH1 (or MTV) Greatest Songs of 2000-2009, and you will always feel they will be nothing compared to their list of Greatest 90’s songs, or Greatest 80’s songs where you would sit, listen and say “Wow, I remember this song. It brings such memories” – Those days are over, and it’s kind of nostalgic.

With the internet, the market for music was open in such a way that you do not need to listen to the radios. You are not obliged to listen to what the record companies decide to send the radios… you simply do not need to listen to anything they produce as there’s a market from pretty much any small artist willing to put themselves out there. With the internet, you do not need to restrain yourself from listening to something just because it’s not sold on your region. You can find out about any group around the world, singing in any language, and you can most likely get their albums digitally or through online stores.

And so my list of 100 Best Songs of the Decade doesn’t reflect what was supposed to be popular in America… or America Latina… or Europe… or China… or Japan, but it reflects the best of everything that was available anywhere in the world. There is most likely you will find something here that will bring memories to you.

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Well, I certainly don’t keep track with Grammy Awards anymore, so should I be adding the event to my Award Season calendar? Or should I just wait to run into it when it’s airing?

Grammy nominations were announced last night, and I’m glad I’m not the only one wondering why are the Grammy nominations so similar to MTV, the AMA and every other music-related award show? Just take a look at the General Field nominees to see what I’m talking about.

Record of the Year
Beyonce – Halo
The Black Eyed Peas – I Gotta Feeling
Kings of Leon – Use Somebody
Lady Gaga – Poker Face
Taylor Swift – You Belong with Me

Album of the Year
Beyonce – I Am… Sasha Fierce
The Black Eyed Peas – The E.N.D
Lady Gaga – The Fame
Dave Matthews Band – Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King
Taylor Swift – Fearless

Song of the Year
Lady Gaga – Poker Face
Maxwell – Pretty Wings
Beyonce – Single Ladies
Kings of Leon – Use Somebody
Taylor Swift – You Belong With Me

Best New Artist
Zac Brown Band
Keri Hilson
MGMT
Silversun Pickups
The Ting Tings

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I just posted YAM 003 over at my portfolio~~

There’s a lot of international flavor in it… all by chance actually. It really wasn’t planned, it all just came together like that. There’s a couple of rant articles on movies and music, loads of reviews including complete non-fanatical reviews of Ao Akua, Utada Hikaru, DBSK, Hathaways, U2, Madeleine Peyroux, and Michel Gondry/Bong Joon-ho’s Yu Aoi’s Tokyo!

ALSO! A special on the Peruvian film winning the Berlinale’s Golden Bear top prize~~ The Milk of Sorrow, and some of the discussion regarding the original name “La Teta Asustada”.

YAM - Issue 3

Head over there now!

Okay… did any of you ended up thinking this was missing something? For sure, and improvement from last year.

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Grammy Nominees were announce, but won’t post (full list here)

Music was pretty much disappointing this year, only counting with what’s nominated, xD~ However, still decided to pick some… starting from the categories at the bottom of the list… the ones no one cares much about, but I do.

Producer of the Year Non-Classical – I’m guessing Timbaland… but would like seeing Mark Ronson there.

Best Song for Motion Picture – It so totally has to be Falling Slowly by Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova from the Once Soundtrack.

Best Score – It probably is Babel, but I would like Pan’s Labyrinth.

Best Soundtrack – ONCE… like, TOTALLY.

Other winners would be, Vince Gill for Country Album if wanting a chance to win the nod on Album of the Year. Dierks Bentley for Country song, if winning Best Male Country… though Stupid Boy by Keith Urban would be cool~ Duo country, Reba McEntire and Kelly Clarkson with their cooler version of Clarkson’s own Because of You.

The Eagles, because… well, it’s them. Would love Alison Krauss winning Female Country, but probably Carrie Underwood will get that if she wants a chance at Song of the Year. Kanye West will probably dominate the Rap category… I’m suspecting Foo Fighters winning in the Rock categories to up the chances of them winning Album and Record of the Year~~~ Also White Stripes for Icky Thump (even though I would like Lily Allen or Bjork for Alternative Album)… Feist for Pop Album, to up her chances for Best New Artist – I just don’t like Amy Winehouse, but she’s got the most chances solely based on buzz.

Would love love Christina Aguilera for Candyman… but would settle for Feist with 12345 if that means that would up her chances at beating Winehouse for New Artist. Timbaland’s song with Furtado and Timberlake is probably a shoo in…

Justice for D.A.N.C.E – awesome song from Cross… hope that also wins for Video because that video is so rocking! Michael Buble for Pop Vocal or Traditional yara-yara Album Call Me Irresponsable even though he’s an ass for cheating on Emily Blunt.

U2 for Windows in the Skies… which should’ve also been nominated for the video.

Song of the Year, Like a Star by Corinne Bailey Rae just because I dun want any of the others winning. xD