YOUTUBE AWARDS SHOW BLASTED BY CRITICS

Not since the launch of the Affordable Care Act website has a digital debut been greeted with such flak as Sunday night’s inaugural YouTube Music Awards. During what Los Angeles Times writer Jessica Gelt described as “a deeply strange and out-of-tune performance” by Lady Gaga, viewers by the thousands began tuning out of the show and continued to do so, wrote Gelt, “as microphones cut in and out, cakes were mashed to uncover awards, and Tyler the Creator and Earl Sweatshirt were bleeped out for most of their unintelligible performance.” The “general vibe,” wrote Hilary Hughes in USA Today was “chaos” and “confusion.” Likewise Amanda Holpuch in Britain’s Guardian called it “a messy affair” and quoted co-host Jason Schwartzman as saying that he “had no idea what was going to happen, ever.” But what many writers regarded as calamitous incidents, the AP’s Chris Talbott described as “unexpected moments.” And Willa Paskin in the online Slate magazine said that she was “both impressed by the antic, sloppy, bold proceedings and also hope I never have to watch again.”