Brooklyn enjoyed a starring role at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday.
Not only did the VMAs, at the Barclays Center, serve as the first major awards show ever beamed from the borough — but its stars, from Lady Gaga to Robin Thicke to Miley Cyrus, walked the red carpet past the iconic brownstones of the neighborhood and through a replica of the Brooklyn Bridge.
Katy Perry closed the show by performing her new hit, “Roar,” under the actual Brooklyn Bridge.
Even the house ads had a local flavor, featuring the Bedford Ave. subway stop in Williamsburg and the grittier Brooklyn streets.
“We may be from England, but tonight’s show is about celebrating Brooklyn, N.Y.,” said Harry Styles of the ultimate teen idol act, One Direction.
The setting had stiff competition for attention. During its two-hour-plus expanse, the loud and flashy show skimmed the cream of today’s pop brand names, beginning with a highly theatrical performance from Gaga of her new single, “Applause.”
As if aiming to set a world’s record for costume changes, Gaga whipped through five different looks in three minutes. After a literal in-your-face kickoff — featuring an extreme close-up shot of her eyes and mouth — Gaga revealed an outfit that seemed to come straight from the closet of “The Flying Nun.” From there, she sported a series of wigs, dresses and face-paints, ending up with just clamshells over her breasts and a flowery G-string in her nether regions.
It was Gaga’s first live extravaganza since undergoing hip surgery earlier this year.
Appearing during the pre-show, the star revealed yet another look: a pitch-black ball gown with a tight train that made her look like a lost cousin to Morticia Addams.
The VMAs, long known for its rude language and surprises, lived up to its crying-for-attention legacy with Cyrus’ performance. Lewdly thrusting out her tongue and nastily stroking her crotch, this one-time teen star worked hard to bag the sleaze award of the night. To cement the title, she stripped down to a flesh-colored bikini during a duet with Thicke on his smash hit “Blurred Lines.”
“Miley better get a damn pregnancy test after doing all that grinding,” quipped comic Kevin Hart.
A more earnest appearance came from the hit hip-hop duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, who performed their single “Same Love,” whose lyrics endorse equal marriage rights.
The performance was introduced by Jason Collins, the basketball player who recently came out as gay, and featured a guest vocal from Jennifer Hudson.
The clip won Best Video with a Social Message. “Out of every single song that I have ever written, to me, this is the most important,” said Macklemore, who is straight. “Gay rights are equal rights. There is no separation.”
One surprise of the night: The girl-group Dannity Kane — who’d been formed by P. Diddy — announced their reunion, while taking a slight dig at their mentor. “We’re on our own terms this time,” one member said.
The electro duo Daft Punk, who hadn’t been set to appear, also made a surprise appearance, joining with club legend Nile Rodgers to give out the Female Video of the Year Award to Taylor Swift for “I Knew You Were Trouble.”
Justin Timberlake, who tied for the most nominations of the night with Macklemore and Lewis, took the top Video of the Year prize for “Mirrors.” He also received the coveted Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, a body-of-work prize bestowed upon him by his periodic comedy partner, Jimmy Fallon.
“This is the ‘you got old’ award,” Timberlake joked backstage.
Onstage, he performed a medley of his solo hits, from “Cry Me a River” to the new “Take Back the Night.” Then, he revealed the worst kept secret of the week — that he would reunite with his ’90s boy band ’N Sync. The fivesome, which hasn’t offered a major public performance in a decade, put in a fleeting performance of old hits like “Bye Bye Bye.”
Thirty Seconds From Mars took the Best Rock Video prize for “Up in the Air.” They beat out Fall Out Boy, Mumford & Sons, Imagine Dragons and Brooklyn faves Vampire Weekend.
Pink and Fun singer Nate Ruess won the Best Collaboration clip for their joint video, “Just Give Me a Reason.” It was an upset considering the stiff competition from Timberlake and Jay Z (“Suit & Tie”), not to mention Thicke’s much favored clip with T.I. and Pharrell, “Blurred Lines.”
Teen idol Selena Gomez got the Best Pop Video prize for “Come and Get It,” beating out stars as mighty as Timberlake and Mars.
Timberlake made up for that minor loss with added triumphs in the categories of Best Direction for “Suit & Tie” and Best Editing for “Mirrors.” Macklemore and Lewis also took the prizes for Best Hip-Hop Video and Best Cinematography for “Can’t Hold Us.”
The staging of the show at Barclays didn’t fail to impress, including a 60-foot blowup of the iconic Moonman prize. It was redesigned this year in a one-time only edition by the Brooklyn artist KAWS. With X’s on its eyes, and larger than usual ears, it looked like a gigantic, drunk Mickey Mouse.
This year’s show didn’t feature a host. The awards featured a new category this year, Song of the Summer, voted on by fans, via social media, during the show.
One Direction’s “Best Song Ever” took it, winning over more favored hits like “Blurred Lines” and “Get Lucky.” The boy band’s triumph inspired massive boos from the crowd at Barclays. It doesn’t get more Brooklyn than that.
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