MTV VMA reactions: Lady Gaga was 'awful' and 'pretty great'

Here's a sampling of comments about the MTV Video Music Awards from our forums. See more.

dust281: That Gaga performance was awful. The dancing was not needed in that performance at all. It doesn't go with the song. She should have just stayed at the piano and sang. I was excited to see something great but that was quite unfortunate.

Space: I thought Gaga was pretty great, actually.

Benito Delicias: Yet another disaster of a show.

Movieguy89: Standing ovation for Adele. That's how you rock the stage. No need for gimmicks.

dust281: Chris Brown has best performance of the night so far ... by a landslide! Wow!!

Movieguy89: I'm loving Bruno singing "Valerie"

Mercy: The show as usual was TERRIBLE!

Guru: For fan voted VMAs, the winners were not shocking like 2006. Everyone seemed expected. Everyone winner was well spaced out. I wouldn't be surprised if MTV had the upper hand.

Comic Book Guy: I think Lady Gaga pretty much ruined the night. I mean the gender bending thing, and just her existence. Yuck ... Hello Goodbye.

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Katy Perry, Adele score at MTV Video Music Awards

-- Tom O'Neil

Photo: Chris Brown performing at the MTV Video Music Awards. Credit: Mario Anzuoni / Reuters

Can Adele trounce Katy Perry at MTV VMAs? [Poll]

Let's be honest. The MTV Video Music Award for best video of the year will go to either Katy Perry ("Firework") or Adele ("Rolling in the Deep"). The other three nominees don't have a prayer: Beastie Boys ("Make Some Noise"), Bruno Mars ("Grenade") or Tyler, The Creator ("Yonkers").

Katy Perry may seem like the fave because she leads overall with the most nominations (nine), but now let's be brutally honest: "Firework" is old news. Many music fans are sick of the song and video. Furthermore, it's not just cheesy, it's pure Cheez Whiz with be-proud-of-who-you-are lyrics like, "Baby you're a firework/ Come on let your colors burst/ Make 'em go 'Oh, oh, oh!'"

"Oh, come on!" lots of cynics groaned upon hearing the tune for the first time.

Adele has much more cred with music critics and -– surprise –- huge popularity with the public. "Rolling in the Deep" is the No. 2 digital download of the year, behind Katy Perry's collaboration with Kanye West, "E.T.," which is not up for this award. Both songs topped 4 million downloads compared to 2.3 million for "Firework."

Or is it possible that neither Adele nor Perry will win? They've both been totally skunked at past MTV VMAs.

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Photos: Adele (Columbia Records), Katy Perry (Capitol)

MTV VMA diva smackdown: Katy Perry vs. Lady Gaga

There is only one MTV Video Music Awards category in which the pop diva who dominates this year's competition with nine nominations (Katy Perry) squares off against the one who swept the kudofest last year with eight wins (Lady Gaga): best female video.

Never mind the speculation over why Lady Gaga isn't nominated opposite Perry in the other races (87% of respondents to our poll believe there's an MTV conspiracy against her). Let's focus on just this contest, in which Lady Gaga is nominated for "Born This Way" and Perry is up for "Firework."

Who'll win? Or do you think there's any chance that the other nominees might pull off a victory and squash the dueling divas -- Adele ("Rolling in the Deep"), Beyonce ("Run the World (Girls)") and Nicki Minaj ("Super Bass")?

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-- Tom O'Neil

Photos: Katy Perry in "Firework" (Capitol), and Lady Gaga in "Born This Way." Credit: Interscope

Music goddess Adele beats the Grammy curse [Video]

When Adele won the Grammy for best new artist two years ago it looked like she might become another victim of the curse that seems to be dogging one of the Recording Academy's four highest awards.

Adele -– let's be honest -– isn't glamorous. She is chunky and, back then, she was relatively obscure compared with some of the other nominees in that Grammy race, such as the Jonas Brothers and Lady Antebellum. It wouldn't have been too surprising if Adele ended up following other past best new artist winners to quick oblivion, much like Paula Cole, Marc Cohn, A Taste of Honey and Starland Vocal Band.

But Adele has recently experienced an impressive career jump. The L.A. Times says that her sophomore album "21" (which refers to her age when she recorded it) is "marvelous," adding, "Overall, '21' shows that Adele, now 22, is towering in the same landscape where some of her contemporaries, beehived or not, have lost all their bearings."

The CD is now topping the sales charts both in the U.S. and in her native Britain, a rare accomplishment matched only by a few artists in the past, including the Beatles, Pink Floyd, Eminem, Coldplay, Susan Boyle and Madonna.

Adele's performance of "Someone Like You" at the Brit Awards last month, below, triggered a sales stampede that drove her CD to the top of the British charts. On this continent, her sales were boosted by TV appearances on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," "Jimmy Kimmel Live," CBS' "Early Show" and "Chelsea Lately."

-- Tom O'Neil

Photo: Adele's "21" CD cover. Credit: Columbia Records