MTV still shows music videos and awards 'Moon Men'

Kanye interrupts Taylor Swift's acceptance speech.

Flipping through the TV channels last night I was surprised to stumble upon the MTV Music Video Awards from Radio City Music Hall in New York City. SURPRISED for a couple reasons - first broadcast's wayward format the last few years as it tried to be unconventional; also, the A-list guests who still seem to come when MTV calls; and the biggest surprise was AWARDS for MUSIC VIDEOS, when did MTV start playing music videos again?

The music videos awarded the beloved "Moon Man" statue were an eclectic collection of artists and technology. Some of the winning artists, like Beyoncé and Taylor Swift, were names I had heard of before but the majority was artists I had never heard their names or their music -let alone seen their music videos.

Most of the award categories have some component of viewer voting - several awards are totally based on viewer's ballots, which is where I got really confused. Don't the voting viewers need to see the videos for which they are voting? At last check, MTV's programming lineup was filled with The Real World, The Hills, Paris Hilton and teen dating shows. Of MTV's daily, 24 hour broadcast schedule only four hours feature music videos, and those four hours are in the middle of the night. So the viewers are either insomniacs or they vote or videos not seen.

The viewer paradox was highlighted by the show's most awkward moment. Country artist Taylor Swift won the "Moon Man" for best female video for her song You Belong with Me. The moment came after Kanye West took everyone by surprise when he went onstage to interrupt Swift's acceptance speech.

West grabbed the microphone from Swift and said to her "Taylor, I'm really happy for you, and I'm gonna let you finish, but," and West then declared that Beyoncé, who had also been listed as a nominee in the category for Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It), "had one of the best videos of all time." Camera shots showed both women looking startled. Swift was then hurried off the stage without finishing her speech.

Kanye's interruption left the audience shell shocked. But while his approach was rude and self-indulgent, his point about the videos is correct. Swift's "high school" misfit love story of a video wasn't ground breaking or even close to the year's best. It looked like it was filmed with a camcorder and Swift even acknowledged it was filmed at her brother's high school outside of Nashville. Beyoncé's not only featured dazzling choreography but the video finishing and effects and the sharp camera angles were far and above the other videos I have seen in the last year.

But Swift won because she is a young, fresh face for the award's voters which are typical teenagers. If Swift's win was such an outrage, West should have focused his displeasure on MTV and the show's producers not embarrass Swift and tarnish her win.

Near the end of the show, in a gracious act of kindness, video-of-the-year winner Beyoncé offered young country music star Swift a second chance to say her piece with an acceptance speech.

After the show, Kanye West apologized on his blog for the outburst: "I'M SOOOOO SORRY TO TAYLOR SWIFT AND HER FANS AND HER MOM. I SPOKE TO HER MOTHER RIGHT AFTER AND SHE SAID THE SAME THING MY MOTHER WOULD'VE SAID. SHE IS VERY TALENTED!"