In today's pop culture Lesson, we will review Paula Abdul's infamous Vibeology Performance at the 1991 Mtv Vmas. This performance sadly marked the beginning of the end of Paula Abdul's music career.
I remember back when this song came out, everyone hated it. I quite liked it myself. I actually thought it was a brave single choice, very funky/Prince-like. And it didn't sound like anything else at radio.
Vibeology Single Cover
I still think that the Spellbound album is underrated. Much of it was musically risky, and I respected the fact that Abdul didn't take the easy way out and make a straight-up pop album, and working with the relatively unknown Family Stand (and Prince as well).
Spellbound Album Cover
Vibeology reached #19 and it also had one of the worst VMA performances in history, so bad that the performance was cut of the program in re-runs. This song will be forever associated with that admittedly disastrous performance at the 1991 VMA's, where all that could go desynchronized did.
Not only the performance itself was so awful, but what she was wearing was painful to look at, a less-than-flattering rhinestone-encrusted bustier/leotard, Paula muddled her way through a desperately overproduced number.
Paula later recorgnized her mistake and in her words said that the black outfit was the worst possible costume she could have chosen and that it made her look "fat".
it was certainly an embarrassing moment for the pop star when she chose to sing live during her “Vibeology” performance, leaving the audience to hear a strained and out-of-tune voice, one that desperately tried to crowd-pump with the cringe-worthy phrase, “Horny Horns!” but i gotta give the girl credit for even being able to talk/breathe doing all that extreme dancing. No wonder so many lip-synch. Oh, and, did I mention the yellow megaphones?
This performance ***** on the majority of "performances" today - excluding all former members of Destiny's Child and my other favs.
I kinda agree
The thing is, IMO, the 90's pop standards in regards to performances where much higher
The world still hadn't been exposed to what we've seen today
For those standards and moment in time, this performance was a huge thing and Paula's credibility was seriously affected
So much, that she couldn't ever recover (even when she was coming from a string of no.1 singles)
The outfits of the girls at the end do look like something Gaga would wear right?
And not to mention that Abdul is doing drag in the vmas 10 years before
I kinda agree
The thing is, IMO, the 90's pop standards in regards to performances where much higher
The world still hadn't been exposed to what we've seen today
For those standards and moment in time, this performance was a huge thing and Paula's credibility was seriously affected
So much, that she couldn't ever recover (even when she was coming from a string of no.1 singles)
I see your point.
Looking at her discography I did wonder why it just seems to stop
The outfits of the girls at the end do look like something Gaga would wear right?
And not to mention that Abdul is doing drag in the vmas 10 years before