It shouldn't be shocking that Britney Spears is being given a Lifetime Achievement Award by MTV since she's made so many iconic videos. Except that it is. Britney has received a total of four Video Music Awards in her 13-year career. To put that into perspective, Lady Gaga won eight awards . . . just in 2010. In 1987, Peter Gabriel won 10 and in 1996 and 2005, The Smashing Pumpkins and Green Day each won seven, respectively. Three other artists, Madonna, Fatboy Slim and R.E.M. all won six in one night.
For Britney to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award, you'd imagine she'd have made some amazing videos. Not according to MTV. Two videos have won her the four awards, "Piece of Me" in 2008* and "Womanizer" a year later. This year, the year she's being honored, she's up for two awards: Best Pop Video and Best Choreography. Britney's released three videos this year. In essence, MTV is saying Britney is a music video legend, while at the same time saying she's not that great. In fact, MTV even created a special category a couple years ago to give a video an award that never won one. Britney didn't win that, either.
I'm not suggesting Britney should win every award. But I find it odd that MTV is recognizing her on a show where they never recognized her. It would be like the Grammy's honoring someone they never gave a Grammy to.
So, MTV refuses to acknowledge Britney's greatness. However, they have no problems pimping her out when she's set to perform/appear on its show. Any year Britney is set to perform, the majority of the promotion is centered around her (and for good reason, because in 99, her first year as a major artist, the show did an 8.0 rating. Every year after that, the show's audience was either above10 million or right at it. When she stopped showing up in 2005, the ratings dropped precipitously and haven't seen 10 million until last year, though her comeback show in 2008 saw a 1.5 million boost from 2007). Any way you slice it, Britney equals ratings.
Unfortunately, those ratings haven't translated into wins. Britney was 0-16 before finally winning in 2008. She had become the Susan Lucci of the VMAs (even MTV started acknowledging it by asking, "Will this be the year Britney finally wins one?"). It wouldn't be foolish to think on a night where she's being honored she'd have one win locked up. Of course, this is MTV, after all, so it's quite possible Britney may have to sit there and watch other people accept her statutes (people she, like a majority of the viewing public, have never heard of). What's even funnier: her video for "I Wanna Go" just hit #1 on VH1s Top 20 countdown, yet that video has zero nominations.
In MTVs book, Lady Gaga should be receiving her tribute next year and Beyonce should have got one two years ago (to be fair, Beyonce should get one, eventually). It appears this tribute to Britney is MTVs mea culpa, its I'm sorry. Perhaps the company realize they should have given Britney many more moon men, but since time travel has not been invented, this is the next best option.
I guess it'll suffice.
*Sadly, many people feel she was handed three awards for that video because MTV wanted to jump on the comeback wagon. Therefore, you could argue she only earned one award, for "Womanizer" in 2009.
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