MTV VMA live blog: The pre-show

8:56 pm Lady Gaga's white carpet outfit is a Native American-influenced Alexander McQueen dress with pink hair and a feather mohawk.

8:51 pm Ke$ha is wearing a garbage-bag dress. No, really. From Home Depot.

8:47 pm Not exactly sure why freecreditscore.com is so intent on reaching the VMA demographic who mostly don't have credit ratings yet, but I'm sure it has something to do with the bad economy.

8:34 pm Um, why is will.i.am painted like one of those fake-statue dudes in Times Square? At least, he's helping Nicki Minaj break out of her shell a bit on "Check It Out." 

8:26 pm Justin Bieber rocks on the trumpet a bit.

8:19 pm Lady Gaga wins her first VMAs for best dance video for "Bad Romance" and best collaboration video for "Telephone."

8:18 pm Snooki has bangs! No poof!

8:17 pm Wow, does everyone have a Nicki Minaj connection tonight?

8:09 p.m. BREAKING: Katy Perry has a cold!

8:05 pm Aww, someone ask the rest of Paramore a question. Hayley's Harajuku Girls reference was cute though.

8:03 pm Drake's goal tonight is to "make all the women feel special." Um, OK.

8:00 pm Ready! Go! I must say it's more comfortable live-blogging from my couch than the red carpet.

Are we ready for the Lady Gaga coronation, er, this year’s MTV Video Music Awards?

Ga has a record-setting 13 nominations and rumors have her closing the show, probably after she lands video of the year for “Bad Romance” or “Telephone.” Eminem is slated to open the show, though what everyone is wondering about is Taylor Swift’s new song and how she will interact with Kanye West. Lindsay Lohan and host Chelsea Handler are rumored to be burying the hatchet and/or having a catfight. And lord only knows what Russell Brand has planned.
We’ll find out together, as we liveblog the red carpet coverage and the big show.

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