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Dude, the MMVAs are a mere 20 days away - the nominees have been announced, the live acts will be shoved in your face before you know it, and the latest batch of Tara Reid-type presenters will be finalized any minute now. Since I’ve got nothing better to do in the meantime, I’m gonna give you the low-down on the showdown between this year’s nominees for Best International Video - Group. Round 1: FIGHT!

Fall Out Boy - The Take Over, The Breaks Over

With the massive deluge of attention going to Pete’s recent wedding, I almost forgot about his, you know, band thing. This catchy ditty has an equally appealing clip - and is it just me, or does it remind you of Snoop’s “Drop It Like It’s Hot”? Black and white, wide screen stylies, fairly simple and, well, doggs. To be honest, I kind of prefer their cinematic go-all-out videos, but you can’t hate on a self-deprecating video where Patrick wears a giant mascot head and Pete dons a “Pete Who?” t-shirt.

Foo Fighters - The Pretender

There’s something so visually appealing about a black, white and red colour scheme. There’s also something appealing about the Foos … oh yeah, it’s that they’re awesome. Anyway, I’m not biased. The song based on a simple rhyme (”one of these things are not like the other”) and a the video based on a simple concept (three colours, a giant red back drop, a task force and a gushing retaliation) is a definite contender to take home the trophy!

Linkin Park - Bleed It Out

After a brief hiatus, the guys returned with a new album and a newish sound - except for this tune, which is classic LP. The video is short and packs a punch - literally. At first glance it’s a performance showcase, but then the camera pulls out and the audience is full of rabblerousers in some sort of fight club scenario. Is this to say that Linkin Park’s new material is so exciting to provoke violent riots or are they making some sort of anti-violence statement? Doubters. Sometimes it just feels good to get out your aggression as long as nobody really gets hurt, ya know?

MGMT - Time To Pretend

I guess these dudes were pretty aware that their song makes you want to run in slow motion through strawberry fields with your bestest pals. And maybe that was the point, cause the video is one crazy trip through kitten pony land, both bizarre and fascinating. But what else could a video for this song look like? You watch this and you think, “so this is what it feels like to get f**ked up…” By far the oddest, yet most endearing video on the list.

Maroon 5 - Wake Up Call

Adam Levine’s wake up call happened one day when he realized that he was being typecast as a pretty boy. Then he made this video and suddenly he was exponentially more mysterious and maybe even … dangerous? The sordid tale of revenge has the singer wielding a gun, driving wrecklessly and worst of all… raising one eyebrow at a time. Gasp! The clip is so salacious that they had to cut a tamer version, but nothing bites quite as hard as when he sings, “caught you in the morning with another one in my bed.”

OneRepublic - Stop & Stare

How many other groups had a year like these guys? In the gorgeous video for their second smash song, singer Ryan faces mortality AND fits in some jam session time with his band. Pretty impressive for a dude who’s spent the last few months doing press and promotion for possibly the biggest breakout of 2007. But does this clip have the chops to go up against their own kind, a track pushed even further thanks to a little help from Timbaland?

Timbaland Presents OneRepublic - Apologize

Love it or hate it, you can’t claim that this wasn’t one of THE biggest songs of 2007. With a little added flava from your man Timbaland, this became a radio staple, a ringtone staple, a junior high school slow dance staple, a stuck-in-your-head staple and of course, a video staple. The clip itself is nothing more than a band showcase, really, but you can’t deny the power this tune had over the collective brain of the universe. Curse you, catchy hooks!!

Panic At The Disco - Nine In the Afternoon

Last year, Panic’s main lyricist Ryan started listening to the Beatles and a whole new world of influence was born - not restricted to sound, either. The whimsy of this video finds comparisons to Sargeant Pepper, but you could really expect no less from a group of guys who love nothing better than to throw on some costumes and have fun. And srsly - SRSLY, you gais - no other video on this list is as carefree a good time as this one. Thank you and good (nine in the) afternoon.

Queens Of The Stone Age - Sick, Sick, Sick (version 2)

A song so sweltering and slightly twisted deserves a video that embodies the same qualities. Ok, so maybe “twisted” is an understatement and “sick, sick, sick” is pretty much the prefect way to sum up what happens in the most macabre video of the year. A fancy lady sits down for a meal of your wildest nightmares, when you realize that she’s not exactly feasting on roast beef. Let’s just say Sweeny Todd’s got nothing on this video.

Tokio Hotel - Ready, Set, Go

They went from obscurity to fan fever in a matter of nanoseconds - they were already massive in Europe and it was inevitable that the shock waves would topple the hearts of teen girls in North America sooner than later. Well, it happened and the screams still ring in our ears from the foursome’s latest visit to the building. If this was a people’s choice category, we could say with confidence that these blokes would have it in the bag, but are they ready to compete with the bigwigs?

Next award category recap: Best International Video - Artist!

ETA: GUYS, you can’t vote cause the only MMVA categories decided by the audience are the People’s Choice awards. Capice?

Posted on Monday, May 26th, 2008 at 12:55 pm by Wendy and is filed under MMVA2008.

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