Can’t these divas just get along?
Cat fights, jealousy now a staple of music awards
By Carolyn Brown
MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR
Nov. 14 — Another weekend, another music awards show. Sunday, it’s the American Music Awards (Sunday, 8 p.m. ET, ABC). So what do we have to look forward to, other than the usual scantily-clad pop stars lip synching our favorite hit song? If it turns out anything like last weekend’s MTV Europe Awards, there’s a better chance we’ll get a cat fight than a girl-girl kiss. Either one would be entertaining.
AMONG THE PERFORMERS Sunday are Sheryl Crow, Ashanti, Hilary Duff and two of pops biggest divas — Pink and Britney Spears. Let’s just hope they can make it through the night without hurling any biting insults. That’s something Christina Aguilera and Kelly Osbourne weren’t able to do at MTV’s most recent awards show. Christina refused to walk down the red carpet when Kelly was present, and then later in the show Christina threw darts at pictures of Kelly in a skit. Kelly countered by calling Christina “a really sad person.”
It seems these days it’s nothing knew. This is just one of several feuds that has everyone in the music world buzzing. Aguilera is in an even bigger battle with rocker Pink, accusing her of copying her MTV lip-lock with Madonna. In London last weekend, both banned each other from their respective parties. In a recent interview, Christina said “when has Pink not been copying me. In her fashion and so on, it’s always like gosh, I just wore that last week.”
Later this week, Pink said Christina “needs medication.” It doesn’t stop there. Even the typically polite Beyonce Knowles and Mandy Moore took recent shots at the reigning queen of pop, Britney Spears. It begs the question, with all their good fortune and celebrity, why can’t these divas just get along?
GIRLS BEING GIRLS
As awful as it may sound, it could just be girls being girls. Is it not inherently
female to be critical of one another? There is no denying it, ladies. Most
of you have probably had fights at work with other women, or talked behind
their back, muttering a certain adjective — (rhymes with “witch”). It’s not
unusual for women to work against each other in this modern world, instead
of supporting one another.
Why women continue to do it is what’s baffling. Books like Rachel Simmons’ “Odd Girl Out — The hidden culture of Aggression in Girls” (2002) have deconstructed the image of girls as “sugar and spice and everything nice.” So much for the kinder, gentler sex. As it turns out girls and women have a whole arsenal of weapons at their disposal: gossiping, backstabbing, glaring — you get the point.
And now it seems girls even have role models for their backbiting, such as Christina and Pink. It is interesting that Christina finds herself at the center of so much aggression, considering the fact that, by most accounts, in high school, she was the odd girl out. The recent studies have suggested that women are just as aggressive as men. Let’s face it, aside from rap’s East Coast-West Coast rivalries, we hardly have to worry about Justin Timberlake and Clay Aiken taking swipes at each other at the AMAs, even though both are nominated for Favorite Male Pop/Rock artist.
THE DRAMA OF IT ALL
Perhaps it’s the drama that these little cat fights create that inspires the
players. The public may be just as much to blame for the altercations. The
sparring matches foster plenty of media attention, and for someone like Kelly
Osbourne, who recently got dropped by her record label, it’s much needed attention
at that. Could it be that these outrageous divas are staging the entire thing,
just for attention? After all, they wouldn’t be in this business if they didn’t
thrive on attention, negative or otherwise. Didn’t someone say there’s no
such thing as bad press?
Beyonce Knowles said she would never engage in a girl-girl kiss on stage. "I couldn’t do what Britney and Madonna did. I have standards. There are things I won’t do ... I always carry myself like a lady."
Maybe it’s just that they are very young and fame has gone to their heads. Perhaps these divas are just in the middle of a spoiled brat phase. Madonna does seem to have calmed down in her more advanced years.
So let’s attempt to put a positive spin on it — maybe Pink, Christina, Beyonce et al are really not selfish at all. They are doing it for the fans, to create fun for those who live mundane lives and enjoy the entertainment factor of the fighting. Pondering such trivial dramas does take ones mind off the important things in life. It wouldn’t be the first time celebrities have been pitted against each other: remember Penelope Cruz and Nicole Kidman, or Jennifer Lopez verses Mariah Carey?
THE KISS HEARD ‘ROUND THE WORLD
No one can say Britney, and the biggest diva of them all, and Madonna aren’t
playing on the same team. Their lip-lock at the MTV Video Music Awards in
September was the talk of the town.
Beyonce, who witnessed “the kiss” first hand took the opportunity to chime in, saying “I couldn’t do what Britney and Madonna did. I have standards. There are things I won’t do ... I always carry myself like a lady.”
Bootylicious anyone?
Isn’t it just like a lady to offer her opinion. The biting comment probably didn’t bother the kissing bandits — they were probably still basking in the afterglow.
Mandy Moore and Avril Lavigne have also taken their shots at Britney’s sexy image. The list of nasty comments about Britney goes on and on. It might come down to old-fashion resentment. Who else can attract so much attention and sell albums (hopefully) with a less-than diva-like voice?
Back to the upcoming American Music Awards. Maybe Pink will say something scathing, maybe even the “Disney-clean” Hilary Duff will finally become a bonafide diva and get into a spat of her own. One can only wait and see. It could be the most amusing part of the evening unless Duff and Britney decide to lock-lips.
There’s just one problem — hundreds of thousands of girls are watching and learning from their role models