Las Vegas Weekly

September 14, 2009 · 10:49 AM

Photo Gallery: VMAs highlight (Jackson tribute); lowlight (Kanye West)

By Robin Leach

Kanye West interrupts Taylor Swift after her VMA for Best Female Music Video.

Photo: MTV/Getty Images

Las Vegas was well represented at last night’s MTV Video Music Awards, as Madonna paid a moving tribute to the late King of Pop before Michael Jackson’s sister Janet was featured in the opening six-minute performance. Family patriarch Joe Jackson was there for the awards show and posed on the red carpet, too.

Criss Angel’s Believe show choreographer Wade Robson was one of the featured performers in the “Smooth Criminal” routine in the live broadcast from Radio City Music Hall in New York.

Former Zumanity dancer and aerial acrobat Danielle Rueda-Watts, who was one the 12 finalists hired by Michael for his This Is It 50-show comeback in Britain, was one of the onstage dancers. A former dancer at the old Penthouse Club here, Danielle has twice won the acrobatic pole contest Pole-A-Palooza at the Bank in the Bellagio.

Charles Klapow, who danced in the Celine Dion New Day show at The Colosseum in Caesars Palace, and Mekie Cox, who danced on the CBS series Viva Laughlin, also were dancing onstage in the three tribute numbers.

The awards show also premiered the teaser for the upcoming Michael Jackson film This Is It, which will get a worldwide run for at least two weeks at the end of next month.

As usual, one major controversy erupted at the annual awards show, and this year, it wasn’t edgy, eccentric British comedian Russell Brand, who returned for a second consecutive year as host. This time around, it involved the antics of Las Vegas regular Kanye West. For some inexplicable reason, he wrecked the very moment that Taylor Swift was relishing her VMA for Best Female Video by jumping onstage to decry her win, saying it should have gone to Beyonce.

Taylor was left stunned, but later when Beyonce won Video of the Year, Jay-Z’s beautiful and classy wife invited Taylor back onstage to have her moment. Kanye was booed the rest of the evening by the rock star audience -- which included recently reunited Wasted Space owner Carey Hart and his singer wife Pink -- and apologized after the broadcast.

Those explosive fireworks didn’t mar the opening tribute to Michael that remained the night’s highlight. The audience also erupted in a frenzy when MTV presented the Twilight stars to premiere their latest trailer.

For videos of last night’s awards, click HERE and HERE.

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

Follow Robin Leach on Twitter HERE.

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