The Video Music Awards are sort of a pointless show in regard to today’s music industry. Not only does MTV no longer show music videos, the majority of people won’t go out of their way to watch them. Music videos on MTV used to be a way of introducing new artists and singles that wouldn't be heard otherwise by mainstream audiences. Now, there are dozens of sources on which we can experience new, mainstream music, and we don’t have to sit by the TV, watching and waiting for our favorite song to come on.

That being said, the VMAs are becoming less about the awards being given out, and more about the performances and the controversial moments. We don’t care about who wins the best pop music video. Heck, we barely even care about who wins video of the year. Who can bet that most people tuning in haven't even seen any of the videos nominated? What the audience cares about is the performances and the potential for controversy. The problem with this is that we expect there to be controversy, and things end up being less controversial as a result.

This year MTV, used the promise of controversy as a way of drawing in more viewers. They named Miley Cyrus, notorious for twerking on Robin Thicke at the 2013 VMAs, as a host. Viewers were promised something wild was in store when watching the many promos for the show, one of which included Miley swinging on invisible wires and saying nothing but curse words. During the show, as nominees were being announced, little clips of past controversial VMA moments were shown on the screen. And audiences were encouraged to "stick around to watch Miley's last performance. Will it create headlines?" The only reason Miley Cyrus is considered controversial in the first place is because of the controversy she’s caused on the VMA stage in the past. Basically, MTV crafted the entire show with the hopes that Miley would create more controversy and go down in VMA history.

There’s nothing wrong with creating controversy. It’s intriguing, it gets people talking, and it’s hard to forget. It truly is one of the greatest things about the VMAs; there's bound to be controversy. The problem with the VMAs this year was that the controversy was scripted and planned. Those who are familiar with Miley's 2013 VMA performance are aware of how wild she's gotten since her Hannah Montana days. We don't need to be reminded. That’s why it isn’t funny or scandalous for her to make seven different marijuana jokes onstage, say nothing but bleeped out curse words, and prance around half-naked in bizarre costumes. That final performance that was supposed to cause headlines? Yep, you guessed it. It was a song about smoking pot, complete with transgender dancers and a gun blowing smoke between Miley's legs. If MTV thinks they have the formula for creating the moment that will go down in VMA history, they are wrong.

You can’t create a show around the premise that the show itself will be controversial. The best controversy, the real controversy, is the kind that is unexpected. Did they really think we found anything Miley did to be unexpected or shocking?

The best moments are the ones that are spontaneous, the ones nobody expects to happen. For instance, when Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech for Female Video of the Year in 2009. Or when Madonna made out with Britney Spears during a performance in 2003. Or how about when Lady Gaga wore a meat dress in 2010?

I’d go so far as to say that the biggest, most memorable moment that happened at the VMAs this year was not anything Miley Cyrus did. In fact, the biggest, most unexpected moment was when Justin Bieber broke down and cried on stage after his performance. Now that is completely unexpected VMA gold.

There will be no controversy if MTV keeps forcing it to happen. What the VMAs need to start doing again is to simply honor the art being made with the music videos. Maybe MTV should start showing music videos again and make a bigger deal out of them. That way, people will actually care about music videos and watch them regularly. They’ll tune in to the VMAs not to see Miley Cyrus making an embarrassment out of her family name, but to see if their favorite video and their favorite artists get honored in the right way.

The show is bound to be controversial with so many high-profile celebrity personalities in the same room. MTV needs to do their job by promoting and encouraging the art, and just leaving the controversy up to the beauty of fate.