V
Off The Record
By Colin “Scoop” White
Arts-Entertainment Editor
.. .Just when you thought it
was safe to turn on the tele~
vision, yet another awards show
rears its ugly little head!
And no, I'm not talking about
the Oscars, the Emnys, the To
ny's or the Granimy's.
I am, of course, referring to
the 1ST ANNUAL, (indicating
that we can look forward to
another one of these every
year), >ffV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS.
This "star-studded" gala,
telecast live last Friday night
on (yep, you guessed it) MTV
and rebroadcast throughtout the
weekend (and next weekend) on
various syndicated channels
(Check your local TV guide for
listings sorry, I just could
n't pass up the chance.), paid
heed to, while at the same time
satirized, the all-too-cliche
traditions of other awards
shows.
Comedian/actor/screenwriter
Dan Ackroyd (not exactly what
I'd call an experienced music
ian, unless you count the 30
seconds of sauntering in the
finale of the Ghostbusters
video) and comedienne(?)/sing-
er/amateur actress Bette Midler
('Nuff said) hosted the event,
which lionored videos appearing
on MTV between blay 2, IVciS and
tiay 2, 1984. (And believe me,
each one appeared over and over
and over again redundency in
tended .)
Accompanying the multi-tal
ented Ackroyd and the (oops,
never mind) Midler were more
than a dozen other celebrities
posing as emcees (after all,
how much skill does it really
take to read a cue card and
hand out trophies, anjrway? ! ? ).
The prize itself, though, was
much more creative and original
than a little naked man en
crusted in gold (Oscar).
The MTV award consisted of an
astronaut with matching flag,
both apparently made of silver
(or whatever the right stuff
is) yeah, man, the MIV mas
cot!
But enough of the background
info, o.k.? Let's get to the
important stuff!
‘Merry Wives of Windsor’
Vfednesday» Sept. 19, 1984/lHE BLUE BANNER/7
AND THE WINNERS ARE:
BEST PERFORMANCE IN A VIDEO:
Michael Jackson, Thriller. Of
course. Unfortunately, Michael
wasn't able to be there (that's
okay; no excuse needed and
that's good, because no excuse
was given), so he asked his
,buddy Diana Ross to pick up his
trophy (assuming he received
only one, that is).
BEST NEW ARTIST; The Euryth-
niics. Sweet Dreams (Are Made of
These). New?!?
BEST STAGE FERFORI'IANCE:
lialen, Janq>. Way ta go, dudes!
BEST CHOREOGRAPHY; Michael
Jackson, Thriller. Good deal.
After all, it ^ a good video
(the first ten times you see
it, anyway).
BEST GROUP VIDEO; ZZ Top,
Legs. Or better entitled: Best
Video Exploitation of the Fe
male Anatomy.
BEST DIRECTION: ZZ Top, Sharp
Dressed Man. Nice car, guys.
BEST CONCEPT VIDEO:
iierbie iiancock, Rocklt. Boy,
can those robots dance!
VIEWER'S CHOICE: Mchael
Jackson, Thriller. 'Nuff said.
BEST FEMALE VIDEO; Cyndi
l^uper. Girls Just Wanna Have
Fun. Okay, so maybe I'm not her
biggest fan, but I still think
that she deserved this one.
Look at it this way. She was
nominated time after time (get
it?), nine times to be exact,
and ended up winning only one
award. And after she did such a
lovely job of reading the rules
in Babylonian, in njemory of the
great Hammurabi, too.
BEST MALE VIDEO: David Bowie,
China Girl. Or better entit
led: Best Video Exploitation of
the Female Anatomy, Part 2.
And, finally, BEST VIDEO OF
'HiE YEAR (Drumroll, please):
'fhe Cars, You Might Think. Yay,
team!
And now it's time to wrap up
the column. But first, I would
like to thank my...
The Cultural Arts and Special
Events Committee at Ul'JCA i^ill
present the North Carolina
Shakespeare B’estival in its 0171-
i^EAClI '84 production of The
Merry Wives of Windsor, Tuesday,
Sept. 23, 8 p.m., in Lipinsky
Auditorium.
The production is directed by
NCSF's director, Malcolm Morri
son. NCSF is the "state Shake
speare Festival" and has at-
Ricochet Productions
Presents
tracted audiences from all over
the country in its eight year
liistory. The festival selected
this production for touring in
celebration of the 400th anni
versary of the Roanoke Voyages
currently held state-wide.
Tickets will be sold in the
Highsmith University Center.
Prices are as follows: adults,
$5; senior citizens and child
ren, $4; UNCA faculty and staff,
$3; UNCA students, $1.
AshevilleXivic Center
Saturday, Sept. 22
8:00 p.m.
TICKETS ON SALE NOW AT THESE LOCATIONS:
Asheville Civic Center Box Office
Boomer’s Rhythm Center - Marion and Morganton
Commanchee Records - Hendersonville
Dallas Discount Corner - Candler
Franklin Chamber of Commerce - Franklin
L & M Records - Brevard
Carol’s Records - Greenville, S.C.
Horizon Records ~ Greenville
$ 11 Advance Tickets
$ 13 At the door
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