1989 MTV Video Music Awards
{{short description|Award ceremony}}
{{Infobox award
| name = 1989 MTV Video Music Awards
| image = 1989 MTV Video Music Awards (award ceremony) logo.jpg
| image_size =
| date = Wednesday, September 6, 1989
| location = Universal Amphitheatre, Los Angeles
| country = United States
| host = Arsenio Hall
| most_awards = Paula Abdul and Madonna (4 each)
| most_nominations = Michael Jackson (9)
| network = MTV
| producer = Dick Clark
Doug Herzog
| director = Bruce Gowers
| website = {{url|http://www.mtv.com/vma/1989/}}
| previous = 1988
| main = {{nowrap|MTV Video Music Awards}}
| next = 1990
}}
The 1989 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on September 6, 1989, honoring the best music videos from April 2, 1988, to June 1, 1989. The show was hosted by Arsenio Hall at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles.{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/ontv/vma/past-vmas/1989/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130129084417/http://www.mtv.com/ontv/vma/past-vmas/1989/|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 29, 2013|title=Past VMAs – 1989|access-date=October 12, 2007}}
This year four new "genre" categories (Best Heavy Metal Video, Best Rap Video, Best Dance Video, and Best Post-Modern Video) were added, alongside the International Viewer's Choice awards. Also, the award for Best Concept Video was retired this year, and the eligibility cutoff date was moved two months down from April to June, making this a 14-month eligibility year.
In terms of the awards, Madonna and Paula Abdul were the night's biggest winners with four awards each, while rock group Living Colour was the second biggest winner, taking home three moonmen that night. On the other hand, Michael Jackson was the most nominated artist of 1989, receiving nine nominations for two of his videos: six for "Leave Me Alone" and three for "Smooth Criminal", but only took home one award for Best Special Effects.
The award for Video of the Year, went to Neil Young's controversial video for "This Note's for You", making this the first time since The Cars' win in 1984 that an act takes home the main award without winning any other one. Unlike The Cars, though, Young's video did not have any other nominations that night except for Viewer's Choice, which until 1994 had exactly the same nominees as Video of the Year. The Viewer's Choice award, however, went to another video that also stirred up controversy: Madonna's "Like a Prayer."
The ceremony is notable for comedian Andrew Dice Clay's stand-up routine that included adult versions of Mother Goose nursery rhymes, leading MTV executives to ban him from ever appearing on the network again,{{cite web|url=http://newsroom.mtv.com/2010/08/18/andrew-dice-clay-banned-vmas/|title=The 2010 VMA Countdown: Andrew Dice Clay Earns Himself A Lifetime Ban|date=October 18, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018005826/http://newsroom.mtv.com/2010/08/18/andrew-dice-clay-banned-vmas/|archive-date=October 18, 2015|access-date=August 6, 2011}} and Def Leppard's performance of "Tear It Down" would be the last live appearance of guitarist Steve Clark before his death on Tuesday January 8, 1991.
Background
MTV announced in mid-June that Arsenio Hall would host the 1989 Video Music Awards, which would be held on September 6 at the Universal Amphitheatre.{{cite news |title=ABC picks up 'Father Dowling' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/105355410/pensacola-news-journal/ |work=Pensacola News Journal |agency=Gannett News Service |date=June 22, 1989 |via=Newspapers.com}} Nominees were announced at a press conference held at the Saxon-Lee Gallery in Los Angeles on July 11.{{cite news |last=Jones |first=Kasey |title=Guns N' Roses, Paula Abdul and Bobby Brown dominate MTV award nominations |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/105355744/the-baltimore-sun/ |work=The Baltimore Sun |date=July 12, 1989 |via=Newspapers.com}} The addition of four "genre" categories was meant to reflect MTV's new programming strategy, which shifted away from freeform video rotation to specific shows dedicated to certain genres.{{cite news |last=Johnson |first=Kevin |title=MTV sings praises with tonight's video awards |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/105365361/the-californian/ |work=The Salinas Californian |agency=Gannett News Service |date=September 6, 1989 |via=Newspapers.com}}Banks, Jack. {{Google books|CwDFDwAAQBAJ|Monopoly Television: MTV's Quest To Control The Music|page=124}} Thus, Best Dance Video reflected the videos on Club MTV, Best Heavy Metal Video reflected Headbangers Ball, Best Rap Video reflected Yo! MTV Raps, and Best Post-Modern Video reflected Post-Modern MTV. For the first time, the ceremony was broadcast via satellite on MTV's international affiliates, leading to the introduction of the International Viewer's Choice awards.{{cite news |title=MTV Video Music Awards to be telecast Wednesday |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/105374385/the-tribune/ |work=Scranton Tribune |date=September 2, 1989 |via=Newspapers.com}} The ceremony broadcast was preceded by Ken & Kevin on the Road to the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards, hosted by Ken Ober and Kevin Seal.{{cite news |title=TV this week|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/105357153/the-commercial-appeal/ |work=The Commercial Appeal |date=September 3, 1989 |via=Newspapers.com}}
Performances
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|+ List of musical performances |
| scope="col" | Artist(s)
! scope="col" | Song(s) ! scope="col" | {{Abbr|Ref.|Reference(s)}} |
|---|
| Madonna
| "Express Yourself" | |
| Bobby Brown
| "On Our Own" | style="text-align:center;" | |
| Def Leppard
| "Tear It Down" | style="text-align:center;" | |
| Tone-Loc
| "Wild Thing" | style="text-align:center;" | |
| The Cult
| "Fire Woman" | style="text-align:center;" | |
| Paula Abdul
| Medley | style="text-align:center;" | |
| Jon Bon Jovi Richie Sambora | "Livin' on a Prayer" (intro) | style="text-align:center;" | |
| The Cure
| "Just Like Heaven" | style="text-align:center;" | |
| Cher
| style="text-align:center;" | |
| The Rolling Stones
| "Mixed Emotions" | style="text-align:center;" | |
| Axl Rose Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers | "Free Fallin'" | style="text-align:center;" | |
While MTV Unplugged was already in development by the time of this event, its showrunners have credited the acoustic performances of Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora with influencing the show to go from initially being meant only for "young, up-and-coming artists" into being a simplified showcase for the "big, stadium, electric-arena-type acts".https://www.theringer.com/2017/09/07/music/mtv-unplugged-nirvana-don-henley-paul-mccartney
Presenters
- Christina Applegate and Alice Cooper – presented Best Group Video
- Mick Jagger – presented the Best Group Video Moonman to Living Colour during their acceptance segment via satellite from Three Rivers Stadium
- Corbin Bernsen and Downtown Julie Brown – presented Best Dance Video
- Richard Lewis – introduced Def Leppard
- Jasmine Guy and "Weird" Al Yankovic – presented Best Video from a Film
- Mötley Crüe – presented Best Heavy Metal Video
- Jody Watley and Lou Diamond Phillips – presented Best Choreography in a Video and Best Stage Performance in a Video
- Robert Townsend – introduced the International Viewer's Choice Award winners
- VJs Daisy Fuentes (Internacional), Sayo Morita (Japan) and Maiken Wexø (Europe) – announced Viewer's Choice winners for their respective regions
- Ray Cokes – briefly introduced international winners Chayanne and Kome Kome Club before a commercial break and told viewers what was 'coming up' on the show
- James Woods – presented Best Direction in a Video
- Ione Skye and Christian Slater – presented Best New Artist in a Video
- Madonna – presented the Video Vanguard Award
- Neneh Cherry and Fab Five Freddy – presented Best Rap Video
- Arsenio Hall (host) – introduced the winners of the professional categories and announced the winners of Breakthrough Video and Best Post-Modern Video
- Andrew Dice Clay – introduced Cher
- Ken Ober and Colin Quinn – presented Viewer's Choice
- Julie Brown and Richard Marx – presented Best Male Video and Best Female Video
- Michael Hutchence – presented Video of the Year
Winners and nominees
Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold.
Artists with multiple wins and nominations
| class="wikitable" rowspan="2" style="text-align:center"
|+ Artists who received multiple awards |
| scope="col" style="width:55px;" |Wins
! scope="col" style="text-align:center;" |Artist |
|---|
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center" |4
| Madonna |
| Paula Abdul |
| style="text-align:center" |3 |
| class="wikitable" rowspan="2" style="text-align:center"
|+ Artists who received multiple nominations |
| scope="col" style="width:55px;" |Nominations
! scope="col" style="text-align:center;" |Artist |
|---|
| style="text-align:center" |9 |
| style="text-align:center" |7
| Madonna |
| rowspan="3" style="text-align:center" |6 |
| Paula Abdul |
| Steve Winwood |
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center" |4 |
| Fine Young Cannibals |
| rowspan="4" style="text-align:center" |3 |
| Guns N' Roses |
| Living Colour |
| The Escape Club |
| rowspan="5" style="text-align:center" |2 |
| Elvis Costello |
| Ice-T |
| Neil Young |
| Tanita Tikaram |
Other appearances
- Kevin Seal – appeared in a couple of pre-commercial segments telling viewers what was 'coming up' on the show
- Richard Lewis – performed a brief stand-up routine
- Fab Five Freddy – appeared in a pre-commercial segment telling viewers what was 'coming up' on the show
- Julie Brown – appeared in a series of taped vignettes before some commercial breaks
- Adam Curry – appeared in a couple of pre-commercial segments telling viewers what was 'coming up' on the show
- Daisy Fuentes – appeared in a pre-commercial segment telling viewer's what was 'coming up' on the show
- Andrew Dice Clay – performed a brief stand-up routine
- Ken Ober and Colin Quinn – appeared in segments about Viewer's Choice voting procedures throughout the show
{{Portal|1980s}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{MTV Video Music Awards}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:1989 MTV Video Music Awards}}