Earlier this week, MTV Europe announced the nominations for the European Music Awards, and I got halfway through a post about the nods before I got completely, utterly bored. Duffy’s Rockferry as a potential Album Of The Year? A shoehorned-in nod for the huge-in-Europe 30 Seconds To Mars? Well, apparently I wasn’t the only person on the Internet to be a bit underwhelmed by the nods, because in an effort to rally the troops via the employment of a meme that died six months ago, MTV has decided that Rick Astley–he of the Internet gotcha known as the “Rickroll”–should be one of the potential winners of the “Best Act Ever” award. And to further ensure that Internet attention would be forthwith, one of the other nominees is the way-more-popular-online-than-in-real-life German act Tokio Hotel. Yes, that’s for the best act ever, and not of that three-month period during sophomore year when you wrote in your journal a lot and thought hard about life’s unfairness. The full slate of potential all-time winners after the jump.
Best Act Ever
Britney Spears
Christina Aguilera
Green Day
Rick Astley
Tokio Hotel
U2
While the relative “greatness” of those artists can (and will) be the subject of a lengthy debate, all I’m going to say is that the pure joy I still receive from the below clip is unparalleled by anything that the other contenders have produced, even “Toxic”:
So maybe there is something to that “Best Act Ever” nod, huh? Uh oh, I’d better watch out, lest Bono smite me.
MTV Europe Music Awards 2008 [MTV.co.uk]
I like Christina, respect Green Day and Astley, but come on. Best Act EVER? None of the above. Quite seriously.
Here’s what I hate about the rick-rolling phenomenon. Rick Astley’s kind of awesome. Rick Astley paved the way for Justin Timberlake and Robin Thicke. In the 80s, Black people loved that dude (or at least I did, as did everyone in my neighborhood). “Cry for Help” was on the Quiet Storm all the time.
More importantly, the Jonas Brothers are up for Best New Act…vote today!
Sigh, I hate these rig-fests. :(
OK Tokyo is better.
Tokio Hotel=Limahl without the songs.
@Lucas Jensen: But they’re a group, which makes them…Kajagoogoo without the songs!
@Chris Molanphy: Let’s not besmirch the good name of Chris Hamill here.