POP MUSIC REVIEWS : VH1 Fashion, Music Awards: From Sublime to Ridiculous

Popular music and fashion have always been intertwined--it just took the advent of mass culture and music television to hammer the connection home 24 hours a day. There was a surplus of style--from the sublime to the ridiculous--at Sunday’s first VH1 Fashion and Music Awards show, which was televised from New York on VH1.

Unlike most award shows, the production numbers were generally more interesting than the actual presentations, and certainly more consistent than the jokes with which host Stephen Weber grappled. Live performances by Tina Turner, the artist formerly known as Prince, the Pretenders, k.d. lang and Elton John were more engaging than abstract dance interpretations of movie themes and the runway displays of designer nominees.

Film segments provided snappy synopses of various topics, including the history of rock fashion, the legacy of rock stars and supermodels and the role of photographers and designers in the evolution of music video.

Yet for all the outre couture represented, the musician nominees seemed a bit passe. Sting, Seal, Annie Lennox, Elton John and Madonna were nominated by both critics and viewers for the most fashionable artist, and Madonna won both awards. Then again, this was a VH1 production. Perhaps when MTV puts together its fashion and music awards, Trent Reznor and Courtney Love will get their due.