Thoughts About The 2026 VMAs From An Old Guy

I had no intention of writing a blog post about this year’s MTV Video Music Awards. As an AARP member, I’m not part of the award show’s target demographic, and I didn’t plan on even watching it. And then I did. The show was hosted by Snoop Dogg, and the first musical performance was by Madonna (more on that momentarily). The evening featured Nirvana receiving the Video Vanguard Award. There were tributes to Dolly Parton and George Michael, and appearances by Chuck D, Emma Bunton (Baby Spice), and Rachel Dratch. Wait, look at all of those names. I AM THE TARGET DEMOGRAPHIC! They're talking about me!

Think about it. Do teens and people in their 20s watch MTV? And if they do, it’s certainly not for music videos since the station doesn’t play them anymore. Awards for music videos are for people in their 40s or older. Sure, there are enough younger performers and presenters to interest people under 40, but the phrase VMAs means more to us older folks. So despite several moments where I caught myself thinking “what the heck is this,” I still watched the show. I mean, I watched some of the Pitt-Stanford women’s volleyball match first and then the VMAs, but that’s the joy in being able to record shows. On to the notes!

* The opening number was odd. There were people writhing on stage with a video of Madonna talking behind what could have been a glass shower door. Then the camera cut to Madonna sitting on top of a piano with someone playing the piano turned away from the camera/audience. That someone was Sabrina Carpenter. Dancers soon appeared, and my favorite part was this clear scene of Madonna not even attempting to lip-sync.

Madonna then took a table ride around the stage ending in a bathroom setting singing with Charli XCX. And if this sounds confusing and unbelievable, it was. Oh, and Julia Garner and Debi Mazar and Seth Rogan all appeared too along with dozens of dancers because why not. If you really want to watch it, the video below shows the Madonna/Sabrina portion while this short shows the beginning of Charli XCX and Madonna.

* Madonna ended up winning three awards including Artist of the Year. In 2026. Not 1986, 2026. Did she not win VMAs earlier in her career, and these were essentially lifetime achievement awards?

* Sienna Spiro won the Best New Artist award. Fun fact: Spiro was the only nominee to perform at the show and may have been the only nominee present. Between this and Madonna’s three wins, I’m starting to think that maybe the award voting is flawed at best or perhaps even rigged. I mean, no accountants were mentioned or introduced during the telecast. 

* I don’t remember where I saw this online, but someone wrote that Nirvana's Krist Novoselic looks like Dr. Phil. Now I can't get this image out of my head.

* Lisa won the award for Best Pop. Not Best Pop song, just Best Pop. Apparently, she will now appear with Snap and Crackle on Rice Krispies cereal boxes. 

(If I had any talent as a blogger, I would have photoshopped Lisa in place of Pop in the picture above.)

* While Lisa also performed, there was a missed opportunity to have a Lisa / Lisa Lisa collaboration. 

* Taylor Swift won video of the year and received the first Artist Director award, which seems like something made up to make sure she attended. Disappointing that her husband wasn’t there to support her. Oh, apparently he had to work in Miami and couldn’t make it to Los Angeles in time. But did he even try? 

I really liked the performances by Kacey Musgraves honoring Dolly, Shaboozey, and the George Michael tribute.

I think I'm officially done with the VMAs. Unless next year they feature Billy Joel, Debbie Gibson, Mariah Carey, Oasis, Pearl Jam, U2, and a tribute to Prince!

Nirvana photo by Kevin Winter-Getty Images.

The Moose's Bar Mitzvah

The Moose recently turned 13 and celebrated his Bar MItzvah. This is a very big deal. A Bar Mitzvah (for a boy) or a Bat Mitzvah (for a girl) is a coming of age ceremony in Judaism. He went from being a boy to becoming a man. Let's celebrate with a little Motownphilly!

The Moose read from the Torah and led a significant portion of the Shabbat (Sabbath) services. He worked really hard learning prayers in Hebrew and taking weekly lessons over about a 10-11 month period. He did an amazing job.

While I could (and probably should) write more about the Bar Mitzvah and celebration, this post is about the program we created for the service. Actually, this is about the fake program that I created that was not distributed during the service. Here are a few excerpts:

The Bar/Bat Mitzvah ceremony takes place when a Jewish child reaches the age of 13. The word Bar Mitzvah means “son of a mitzvah.” Son of a mitzvah sounds much better than a different expression starting with “son of a.” Clearly, this is in reference to the Dusty Springfield song, Son of a Preacher Man. Are you thinking of something else? A mitzvah is an action which connects Jews both to the divine and to all other Jews past, present, and future. In practical terms, this means that this is the age when a Jewish child is considered old enough to assume the rights and responsibilities of Jewish adulthood. The Moose will now be expected to fulfill these moral and ethical commandments throughout his daily life. As an adult, he is also expected to start paying rent and make meals for his brothers. Cleaning the cat’s litter box would also be appreciated.

During the Torah service, the weekly reading is divided into sections, each called an aliyah. At least eight people, including The Moose, will be honored by being called up for an aliyah to the Torah. Before and after each section of the Torah is read, the individual called up for that aliyah recites a blessing or sings songs/reads lyrics of songs by the late singer/actress Aaliyah, most notably from “Try Again” or “Are You That Somebody.” Those with Pittsburgh ties may choose to sing “Ah, Leah” by Donnie Iris.

Two books are used during the service – Lev Shalem, the smaller red prayerbook, and Etz Hayim, the larger red volume, which contains the Torah, selections from the Prophets, and commentary. There used to be a third book, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, but the rabbis determined that scarlet was not the correct shade of red. The rabbis do approve of the scarlet and gray. O-H!

I also had fun including various celebrities like Adam Sandler, Drake, Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis (A Black Swan reunion!), Benny Blanco, Gal Gadot, Rowdy Tellez, Deni Avdija, and others as receiving honors during the service. Dolly Parton and the late Kenny Rogers (via hologram) are listed as reading the poem "No Religion is an Island" since they like islands (in streams). 

State of the Union Suggestions

Joe Biden will deliver the State of the Union tonight at the Capitol Building. Like most of these speeches over the last decade and beyond, I expect there to be multiple standing ovations by members of presidents' party and silence from the opposing party. While Biden often talks about bringing people together, I think he can do this tonight by having both Democrats and Republicans stand, or at least applaud, at portions of his address. Here are my suggestions on things he can say to unify both political parties:

* Dolly Parton is a national treasure and a saint.

* Major League Baseball needs to reach an agreement immediately so that the season starts on time.

* Abolish daylight savings time.

* I believe that children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way. Show them all the beauty they possess inside.

* Sean’s Ramblings is a great blog. (Actually, this might unify both parties in that this comment will result in absolute silence.)

* "President Reagan once said, Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall. Well, Frito-Lay, bring back Bar-B-Q Fritos!"

* Sidney Crosby is the best overall hockey player over the last 20 years.

* Zaxby's is underrated.

This should just about cover everything. If there's anything that's missing, please share them in the comments. I'll be sure to pass them on to President Biden and his speechwriters!

Sean Visits The Grand Ole Opry

I recently visited Nashville and had the opportunity to go to the Grand Ole Opry. I'll admit that I'm not a big country music fan, but this seemed like something I should do. If you're not familiar with the Opry, the website describes its history. It's basically the most famous country music venue and has been in operation since 1925. The current location opened in 1974 and is a bit outside downtown Nashville. It's now part of a huge complex that includes the Opry Mills mall with a Rainforest Cafe (I thought they all went out of business) and the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center. 

While I knew the Grand Ole Opry name and learned a little bit about the history before visiting, I didn't know exactly how it worked. On the night I attended, there were 8 different acts who all performed for a limited period of time each. I also had no idea that this was a radio show. While we saw the performances live in person, the show was being broadcast on radio and SiriusXM across the country. That helped explain why the announcer does commercial reads between acts. 

There was an introductory video before the show narrated by Carrie Underwood. At the end, she mentioned that there are special guests, so you never know who might appear. This video, which showed Steve Martin and Pharrell Williams, got me very excited. Who might be the special guest tonight? Part way through the second act, the announcer mentioned that there are regularly a lot of visitors from outside Tennessee and welcomed us to the Volunteer State. He talked about the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee being the most-visited national park and that there's a highway in the park named after Dolly Parton. I started thinking, HOLY CRAP! THE SPECIAL GUEST IS DOLLY PARTON! His next line was that there are 815 Dollar General locations in Tennessee. No Dolly Parton.

Regarding the performances, my favorites were the two "young" acts. Priscilla Block made her 2nd appearance at The Opry while this was Frank Ray's debut. They clearly shared their joy and appreciation of being at the Opry and had infectious energy. Unfortunately, both artists only performed two songs each. I would have preferred to hear more from them. I'm also curious to see where both of their careers go from here. Priscialla Block's song "Just About Over You" reached the Billboard top 20 airplay chart.

She also has a new song that is about to debut called "Peaked in High School" which is going to be a hit. Meanwhile, Frank Ray has had two #1s on the Texas Country Regional radio chart. Apparently, this is a real chart because of course Texas would have its own chart.

The highlight coming into the show for me was seeing Charles Esten on the bill. He was born in Pittsburgh and played the character Deacon on the TV show Nashville, a show I watched for nearly its entire run until right after they killed off Connie Britton. Oh spoiler. Sorry. I watched the series finale after skipping the last season, and the bad guy who harassed (and probably sexually harassed) multiple women was going to be forced to sell his music company for millions of dollars. Sure, he should have got fired and maybe gone to jail, but I guess there was justice in that he was no longer involved in the music industry and had to use his money to buy multiple homes and travel the world. Oh spoiler again. Sorry. Actually, I'm not sorry. This isn't The Sixth Sense! You're not going to go back and watch Nashville. And if you do, you're definitely not getting to the last season!

Anyway, this was Esten's 145th appearance at the Opry. That seems like a lot. His songs were perfectly fine, and I definitely appreciate his dedication to being a musician and actor. I write this because I think he was given some really good songs on Nashville and the ones he performed just didn't reach that level. Still really cool to see him and hear more about his story and life.

The other performers were country music hall of famer Connie Smith who is releasing her 54th album. 54?!?! I don't think I've listened to 54 different albums in the 21st century! Comedian John Crist was funny, which is what you'd expect from a comedian. I didn't know John Conlee and Daily & Vincent before the show and had to look them up again while writing this blog post since I forgot their names. Bobby Osborne and the Rocky Top X-Press started the second act, and the X-Press clearly carried the soon to be 90 year-old Osborne. I just learned that his brother and bluegrass great Sonny Osborne passed away only a few weeks ago, so it must have been difficult for him to perform. Oh, if you're a college football fan you might know the Osborne Brothers' "Rocky Top" played regularly at University of Tennessee football games.

I was probably one of about 25 people in attendance wearing a mask. I'm not making a judgement here. For me, I'm just not comfortable yet being inside a crowded venue without a mask and especially when that place has hundreds of people in one big room (or in one smaller gift shop). 

So that's my Opry experience. While this wasn't a bucket list item for me, I'm definitely glad to say that I went. I can also say that I saw the 5001st Saturday night broadcast. I'll just ignore the fact that the 5000th broadcast the week before featured Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Darius Rucker, and Vince Gill. One of them couldn't have stopped back for the 5001st?