Aaliyah Tribute, MTV2 in Spotlight

The MTV Video Music Awards on Thursday in New York City will be marked by a tender farewell to late R&B; singer Aaliyah, and to the continuing birth of the music station’s little sister, MTV2.

MTV officials always keep much of the show’s special moments under wraps--indeed, surprises such as Pee-wee Herman’s famous appearance in 1991 are the event’s trademark draw--but they are hinting that Aaliyah’s death in a Caribbean plane crash on Aug. 25 will be memorialized with a tribute segment and in the words of presenters and performers.

The show, hosted this year by Jamie Foxx, also will lend some of its highly rated airtime to spotlight MTV2, which skips its big sister’s custom programming and just airs music videos, with an accent on newer artists--a model that old-timers will recall was once embraced by MTV itself. An MTV2 award will be handed out this year to one of those up-and-coming acts, while MTV2 itself will air a split-screen version of the show that features four camera angles of the stage action.

MTV2, launched in 1996, is expected to have a reach of 35 million households by year’s end (still modest compared to MTV’s 78 million) and will be available in many parts of Southern California in early October.

The Video Music Awards, now routinely the highest-rated entertainment awards show on cable television, will have a number of high-wire moments, says Van Toffler, president of MTV. “There’s an incredible pressure each year to outdo ourselves,” Toffler says, citing as standard-bearers such past must-see moments as Herman’s return to the public eye after his arrest on lewd behavior charges and the 1993 teaming of Pearl Jam and Neil Young. Any hints about this year’s offerings? Toffler says we’ll “probably see someone who was in rehab recently make an appearance,” an unexpected guest joining Missy Elliott during her performance and “some animals up on stage” during a lavish production.

The show, broadcast live on the East Coast, airs on a tape delay on the West Coast at 8 p.m.