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American Morning
90-Second Pop, Culture Watch
Aired August 29, 2003 - 07:42 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: It is time for "90-Second Pop" with our fast-talking entertainment experts. This morning, we are doing something a little bit different, because this morning we only have one topic. It is all about last night's MTV video music awards. And each panelist is going to spend 90 seconds, which may be way more than enough on highlights from the outrageous show.
Host Chris Rock made some cutting comments on just about every single person who attended last night. Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS ROCK, COMEDIAN: My man, Ashton Kutcher, he does the punk show, right? And he is dating Demi Moore. My man is a real pimp, because he used to go out (UNINTELLIGIBLE)? He used to go out with Brittany Murphy. So, you've got to watch out for Ashton Kutcher, boy, because he'll take your girlfriend and your mother. I don't even think Ashton Kutcher is in love with Demi Moore. I just think he's trying to pump Bruce Willis. I got your kids! I got your kids!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Our panel this morning, B.J. Sigesmund, entertainment reporter for "Newsweek", Thelma Adams, a film critic for U.S. Weekly -- "US Weekly." I always say 'U.S. Weekly,' and I'm sorry once again. And Tom O'Neil, he is, of course, the senior editor for "In Touch Weekly."
Nice to see you guys. Good morning.
Tell me the truth. Did you stay up and watch the whole thing? Anybody? You did!
B.J. SIGESMUND, "NEWSWEEK": Absolutely. And then I re-watched a part of it.
O'BRIEN: Wow!
SIGESMUND: It was actually...
O'BRIEN: Because you liked it so much?
SIGESMUND: I did. Well, actually, I thought that the first 20 minutes were just amazing. I thought you don't get a bigger pop culture moment than that opening number with Christina and Britney, first of all, long-time rivals. They were doing an amage (ph) to one of the biggest and most dichotic moments in MTV history. O'BRIEN: And then French kissing, let's just say it.
THELMA ADAMS, "US WEEKLY": Yes.
SIGESMUND: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Because they did.
SIGESMUND: Yes, and the kiss -- and the kiss I think is classic Madonna, a mixed message. You know, it asks: Am I passing on the torch to the new generation, or am I still an equal? Am I still a part of it? In fact, am I a sexual equal to these women? I thought that was fascinating.
ADAMS: It asked that? I just thought she was just sliming them. I mean, I don't know. I guess I missed the big cultural moment.
SIGESMUND: You did. You did. There was one.
O'BRIEN: It didn't seem that controversial to me anymore, because it seemed like it was just an event of the event -- like, the big thing we're going to do for this one, where everyone is going to run the clips the next day, is going to be the kiss.
TOM O'NEIL, "IN TOUCH WEEKLY": There was almost a setup, though, too...
ADAMS: It was like a setup, I think it was.
O'NEIL: ... with Justin, because they cut to Justin right away...
ADAMS: Right.
O'NEIL: ... right after Britney got kissed. And then, I thought this was very unfair throughout the rest of the night that they didn't cut to Britney every time Justin won another award for the video that he slams Britney. That would have been interesting.
SIGESMUND: Right.
ADAMS: Shocking, shocking.
SIGESMUND: Cutting to Justin also prevented us from seeing the Madonna-Christina kiss. You know, there were two kisses, but no one is talking about the Madonna kiss (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
ADAMS: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) cut that's going to run six hours.
SIGESMUND: Yes.
ADAMS: You'll see that.
SIGESMUND: I'm going to buy that.
O'BRIEN: But all of that leads me to believe the whole... ADAMS: You and every 50-year-old pervert.
O'BRIEN: Thank you, Thelma, for saying what I was thinking.
Let's segue now into fashion.
ADAMS: That's exactly right.
O'BRIEN: There are so few events, though, where t-shirts and jeans is, like, oh, you look great. A lot of people were wearing that last night.
ADAMS: Yes, but a lot of people were wearing those band-aid minis, and luckily we didn't see them going up stairs, which is where you really can't wear those dresses. But the big winner of the night was Beyonce.
O'BRIEN: Oh, yes.
ADAMS: Not only did she win, but she looked fabulous. I'll tell you, Versace, this is when she is performing, but the dress she came in with, this coat dress, this blush pink, and she just looked -- she was definitely the princess of the evening.
I would say the loser, Rebecca Fox (ph) was wearing that you've got chain mail mini. And I -- you know, I just...
O'BRIEN: I missed her. Not good?
ADAMS: But if you also -- you know, everybody saw also that Christina Aguilera, she was wearing a Roberto Cavalli (ph), this kind of pink feather thing. She looked like Big Bird on acid.
O'BRIEN: Yes, yes.
ADAMS: Not a good look.
O'BRIEN: Yes, there is always...
O'NEIL: Could we pitch in and get a stylist for Missy Elliott? I'm sorry. You know, the green baseball cap at the end looked terrible. And Kelly Osbourne in that t-shirt, she needs a bath.
(CROSSTALK)
SIGESMUND: What was with Eminem and 50 Cent and their frequent costume changes? I wondered is this what the "Queer Eye" has done to male celebrities? They feel they need in every category they've got to have a new look? And seriously, it is about Eminem and his new clothing line. He's pimping that now, and he wants us to buy that. But I wondered is this -- isn't this a little too commercial for Eminem to be making this...
O'BRIEN: MTV commercial? I'm shocked, B.J.! Shocked! Shocked!
(CROSSTALK) O'BRIEN: All right, Tom, let's talk a little bit about the actual awards as this was an awards ceremony, and we haven't talked about them at all. Some really big winners and Beyonce Knowles really...
O'NEIL: Yes, she was probably the deserving one. To be really honest about this, thank God, poor Johnny Cash was in a hospital last night when he lost six times for the best video of the year. And Justin Timberlake said it for all of us when he said this is a travesty when he accepted this award. I'm sorry, because he's beating really -- you know, he beat the best video of the year, which was "Lose Yourself" by Eminem, or arguably to Johnny Cash.
But what's interesting here is the one award last night that had the most artistic integrity was the viewer's choice award, which went to Good Charlotte, which is a great garage rock band, beating Justin, beating 50 Cent, beating even Kelly Clarkson. And it reminds us who really votes on these awards, which is us in the industry. They circulate these nomination ballots and voting ballots to professionals. The viewers, I think, picked better.
(CROSSTALK)
ADAMS: Yes, the viewers...
O'BRIEN: Oh, right. America came through last night. That's our new headline. Forget the kiss. America came through.
Guys, as always, it's nice to see you. B.J., Thelma and Tom, thanks for coming by this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired August 29, 2003 - 07:42 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: It is time for "90-Second Pop" with our fast-talking entertainment experts. This morning, we are doing something a little bit different, because this morning we only have one topic. It is all about last night's MTV video music awards. And each panelist is going to spend 90 seconds, which may be way more than enough on highlights from the outrageous show.
Host Chris Rock made some cutting comments on just about every single person who attended last night. Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS ROCK, COMEDIAN: My man, Ashton Kutcher, he does the punk show, right? And he is dating Demi Moore. My man is a real pimp, because he used to go out (UNINTELLIGIBLE)? He used to go out with Brittany Murphy. So, you've got to watch out for Ashton Kutcher, boy, because he'll take your girlfriend and your mother. I don't even think Ashton Kutcher is in love with Demi Moore. I just think he's trying to pump Bruce Willis. I got your kids! I got your kids!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Our panel this morning, B.J. Sigesmund, entertainment reporter for "Newsweek", Thelma Adams, a film critic for U.S. Weekly -- "US Weekly." I always say 'U.S. Weekly,' and I'm sorry once again. And Tom O'Neil, he is, of course, the senior editor for "In Touch Weekly."
Nice to see you guys. Good morning.
Tell me the truth. Did you stay up and watch the whole thing? Anybody? You did!
B.J. SIGESMUND, "NEWSWEEK": Absolutely. And then I re-watched a part of it.
O'BRIEN: Wow!
SIGESMUND: It was actually...
O'BRIEN: Because you liked it so much?
SIGESMUND: I did. Well, actually, I thought that the first 20 minutes were just amazing. I thought you don't get a bigger pop culture moment than that opening number with Christina and Britney, first of all, long-time rivals. They were doing an amage (ph) to one of the biggest and most dichotic moments in MTV history. O'BRIEN: And then French kissing, let's just say it.
THELMA ADAMS, "US WEEKLY": Yes.
SIGESMUND: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Because they did.
SIGESMUND: Yes, and the kiss -- and the kiss I think is classic Madonna, a mixed message. You know, it asks: Am I passing on the torch to the new generation, or am I still an equal? Am I still a part of it? In fact, am I a sexual equal to these women? I thought that was fascinating.
ADAMS: It asked that? I just thought she was just sliming them. I mean, I don't know. I guess I missed the big cultural moment.
SIGESMUND: You did. You did. There was one.
O'BRIEN: It didn't seem that controversial to me anymore, because it seemed like it was just an event of the event -- like, the big thing we're going to do for this one, where everyone is going to run the clips the next day, is going to be the kiss.
TOM O'NEIL, "IN TOUCH WEEKLY": There was almost a setup, though, too...
ADAMS: It was like a setup, I think it was.
O'NEIL: ... with Justin, because they cut to Justin right away...
ADAMS: Right.
O'NEIL: ... right after Britney got kissed. And then, I thought this was very unfair throughout the rest of the night that they didn't cut to Britney every time Justin won another award for the video that he slams Britney. That would have been interesting.
SIGESMUND: Right.
ADAMS: Shocking, shocking.
SIGESMUND: Cutting to Justin also prevented us from seeing the Madonna-Christina kiss. You know, there were two kisses, but no one is talking about the Madonna kiss (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
ADAMS: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) cut that's going to run six hours.
SIGESMUND: Yes.
ADAMS: You'll see that.
SIGESMUND: I'm going to buy that.
O'BRIEN: But all of that leads me to believe the whole... ADAMS: You and every 50-year-old pervert.
O'BRIEN: Thank you, Thelma, for saying what I was thinking.
Let's segue now into fashion.
ADAMS: That's exactly right.
O'BRIEN: There are so few events, though, where t-shirts and jeans is, like, oh, you look great. A lot of people were wearing that last night.
ADAMS: Yes, but a lot of people were wearing those band-aid minis, and luckily we didn't see them going up stairs, which is where you really can't wear those dresses. But the big winner of the night was Beyonce.
O'BRIEN: Oh, yes.
ADAMS: Not only did she win, but she looked fabulous. I'll tell you, Versace, this is when she is performing, but the dress she came in with, this coat dress, this blush pink, and she just looked -- she was definitely the princess of the evening.
I would say the loser, Rebecca Fox (ph) was wearing that you've got chain mail mini. And I -- you know, I just...
O'BRIEN: I missed her. Not good?
ADAMS: But if you also -- you know, everybody saw also that Christina Aguilera, she was wearing a Roberto Cavalli (ph), this kind of pink feather thing. She looked like Big Bird on acid.
O'BRIEN: Yes, yes.
ADAMS: Not a good look.
O'BRIEN: Yes, there is always...
O'NEIL: Could we pitch in and get a stylist for Missy Elliott? I'm sorry. You know, the green baseball cap at the end looked terrible. And Kelly Osbourne in that t-shirt, she needs a bath.
(CROSSTALK)
SIGESMUND: What was with Eminem and 50 Cent and their frequent costume changes? I wondered is this what the "Queer Eye" has done to male celebrities? They feel they need in every category they've got to have a new look? And seriously, it is about Eminem and his new clothing line. He's pimping that now, and he wants us to buy that. But I wondered is this -- isn't this a little too commercial for Eminem to be making this...
O'BRIEN: MTV commercial? I'm shocked, B.J.! Shocked! Shocked!
(CROSSTALK) O'BRIEN: All right, Tom, let's talk a little bit about the actual awards as this was an awards ceremony, and we haven't talked about them at all. Some really big winners and Beyonce Knowles really...
O'NEIL: Yes, she was probably the deserving one. To be really honest about this, thank God, poor Johnny Cash was in a hospital last night when he lost six times for the best video of the year. And Justin Timberlake said it for all of us when he said this is a travesty when he accepted this award. I'm sorry, because he's beating really -- you know, he beat the best video of the year, which was "Lose Yourself" by Eminem, or arguably to Johnny Cash.
But what's interesting here is the one award last night that had the most artistic integrity was the viewer's choice award, which went to Good Charlotte, which is a great garage rock band, beating Justin, beating 50 Cent, beating even Kelly Clarkson. And it reminds us who really votes on these awards, which is us in the industry. They circulate these nomination ballots and voting ballots to professionals. The viewers, I think, picked better.
(CROSSTALK)
ADAMS: Yes, the viewers...
O'BRIEN: Oh, right. America came through last night. That's our new headline. Forget the kiss. America came through.
Guys, as always, it's nice to see you. B.J., Thelma and Tom, thanks for coming by this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
