A while back, I was whingeing about how Japan needs a music awards show that has more popular input. Well, the good folks at MTV Japan have done something to help remedy that problem. On May 24, it will host the first-ever MTV Video Music Awards Japan.
Videos of music titles by both Japanese and non-Japanese acts released in Japan between Jan. 1, 2001, and Feb. 28, 2002, will be eligible for the MTV awards. Nominees in various categories will be chosen by a committee comprising MTV Japan staffers and industry notables, and MTV Japan viewers will vote for the winners.
I'm curious to see how well Japanese videos will do against the foreign nominees. To be blunt, Japanese music videos often suffer by comparison. Record companies here can't afford to spend too much money on making music videos, since there are few media outlets like MTV Japan where they can be seen. And because a relatively low percentage of Japanese homes have cable TV, MTV Japan has a limited reach anyway.