Upcoming: My MTV VMA Picks (1/3)

Today begins a new three-part series, Upcoming, that profiles the upcoming MTV VMAs from nominees to live performances to hosts. It will be divided over three weeks to include more info on the show as it's released. Look for the Upcoming section of CrossCurrent every Wednesday.

It's that time of year again when MTV hosts the trendiest award show of the year: the Video Music Awards. The almost-live show will air on MTV Thursday, September 6, 2012. Comedian Kevin Hart will host and announced performers include P!nk, One Direction, and Alicia Keys.  Below is a look at my favorites for the moon man awards, as well as probable winners. I'll embed live performances of the songs/groups nominated instead of official music videos since you've probably already seen the music vid. Let's go....

BEST POP VIDEO:

• My Pick: What Makes You Beautiful / One Direction - While it's probably not the best video in the whole category, it's the best song out of all of the choices and the one song that you can't get out of your head even if you really really really really try. 

• Probable Winner: Boyfriend / Justin Bieber - The dude's an award machine. And might I mention while Maroon 5 probably has a better music video, the VMA goes to the person with the most the most online votes. Case closed.

BEST ROCK VIDEO:

• My Pick / Probable Winner: Paradise / Coldplay - Ok so this music video is about an elephant. BUT it's highly original. And I really think Coldplay is the poplar favorite in this category. Maybe Jack White has a chance, but it would take a lot of active fan support.

BEST HIP HOP VIDEO:

• My Pick: I really don't like any of these music videos, so I definitely don't have pick for this category. 

No video post here due to explicit language in the songs nominated.

• Probable Winner: Paris / The Throne (Kanye West and Jay-Z) - this bar far is the most commercial song on the nominee list, so it will probably take the award. 

I'm really excited to see this year's show...Next Wednesday I'll cover three more voting categories, and tomorrow is going to be a REALLLLLLLY FUN blog post. See ya then!

Voting for the MTV VMA's is open now and can be found at the link: http://www.mtv.com/ontv/vma/2012/

Fresh Friday: Singer/Songwriter Obesssion

The Fresh Friday portion of the CrossCurrent blog covers stunning musical acts that continue to make headlines and tour the world.

From Michael Jackson to Smashing Pumpkins, The Civil Wars have you covered. This folk and country influenced singer/songwriter duo made up of John Paul White and Joy Williams is making waves in the music industry with their debut album, Barton Hollow. The album features fourteen songs with the two singers harmonizing beautifully together over mostly just guitar and piano. Even for people who are new to folk music or not a particular fan of country music, The Civil Wars have managed to make the music......well, cool. I would best describe it as easy listening.

Check out The Civil Wars covering Michael Jackson's hit, Billie Jean below:

Voices sound familiar yet? Maybe you recognize them from this years Grammys? Together the two performed a snipet of their song "Barton Hollow" before introducing country music star Taylor Swift. They were also featured with Swift on the soundtrack for the movie The Hunger Games earlier this year. The song, "Safe and Sound" was written by Swift, Williams, White and T-Bone. It was one of the more memorable tracks to the movie. The Civil Wars also won two Grammy awards this year for Best Country Duo/Group Performance of Barton Hollow, and Best Folk Album.

The Civil Wars perform an original song, Poison and Wine: 

Don't miss your opportunity to see The Civil Wars live - they will be performing on Sunday, October 14, 2012 in Austin, TX at Austin City Limits Festival in Zilker Park.