The fall award show season has come and gone, leaving us with sweet memories of celebrities behaving badly. From onstage freak-outs to presentation blunders, award shows have never failed to provide the craziest pop culture moments of all time.
Sept. 2, 2008 brought together opposites Elton John and Lily Allen to host the GQ Men of the Year Awards in London. Despite the hosting obligations bestowed upon her, Allen spent the evening sipping champagne on camera while her counterpart took on most of the hosting duties.
Allen even began one segment with a slurred version of the statement, "And now for the most important part of the night …" and John responded, "What, are you going to have another drink?" Tensions escalated and Allen eventually told one of the most respected entertainers in all of England to "f*** off."
I wouldn't even let Lily Allen near cough syrup if she were hosting my award show. Disrespectful, belligerent and highly entertaining, Allen's the perfect kind of hot mess viewers can't turn away from.
Another award show gaffe that was quite ponderous is Miley Cyrus' performance of "Party in the USA" at the 2009 Teen Choice Awards. Cyrus made her way onstage, danced a little bit, lip-synched when she felt like it and then headed straight for the nearest stripper pole.
Cyrus' performance must have been rehearsed - over and over again. Seriously, did no one notice that a scantily clad 16-year-old girl dancing on a stripper pole at a Nickelodeon function might be a little risqué? And Miley wonders why everyone picks on her.
On the contrary, Britney Spears could have used a stripper pole during her 2007 MTV Video Music Awards performance of "Gimme More" - it would have helped her to stay standing. The songstress took the stage appearing drowsy, drunk and hypnotized. I'm not sure what she was on, but I can guess that it wasn't legal.
The problem with Spears' performance was that it was intensely hyped up by MTV producers. The song was the first single off her comeback album, "Blackout," which was to be released two months after her performance. Spears opened the show, her first VMA performance since the famed Madonna kiss in 2003. There was simply too much pressure for her to respond to.
Last is the now-infamous Kanye West VMA debacle. Kanye outdid even himself this time. We can expect him to complain about his own songs not winning, but I never imagined I'd see the day when Kayne was thinking about someone other than himself. Low and behold, Beyoncé loses to Taylor Swift and Kanye flips out.
When I first saw the combination of Kanye's onstage rant and the look on sweet Taylor Swift's face, I was devastated. But Swift recovered effortlessly and nailed her performance of "You Belong with Me." West, on the other hand, solidified his status as Hollywood's ultimate tool.
After the incident, my entire Facebook news feed was covered with anti-West status updates. This just proves how much of an impact these award shows have on our generation.
If moments like these didn't exist, if Bruno never straddled Eminem at the MTV Movie Awards, or if Rage Against the Machine bassist Tim Commerford never rushed the stage in protest after losing a VMA to Limp Bizkit, award shows wouldn't be worth watching in the first place.
Stacie Foster is a sophomore magazine major. Her pop culture columns run every Monday and she can be reached at snfoster@syr.edu.
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