Instant VMAs Review: Alicia Keys Feat. Nicki Minaj, "Girl on Fire"

It's been an important night for those with material to promote, and we barrel forward with Alicia Keys, who performed new single, "Girl on Fire," live for the first time. Seeing her next to her keyboard is always a comforting sight, but the vocals just weren't there this time, as much as she tried (and tried) to force them to be. Nicki Minaj popped in for her verse, hiding her face with a hoodie and refusing to make eye contact with anyone until the time came to name-drop golden girl Gabby Douglas of Team USA's women's gymnastics, who managed to outdo the cuteness of Alicia's baby sitting atop Daddy Swizzy's proud shoulders. A simple reference from a popular artist wasn't enough, though, as the 16-year-old appeared to dazzle us all with mini floor routine. Performance salvaged! She's having a pretty good summer, eh?

After Alicia gave her special guest a shout-out, things came to an anti-climatic end with some awkward shimmies that bordered on body rolls. (Rihanna's not the only one who gets to have fun!) It might be new, but the song's already featured in two different ad campaigns, which means we're about five minutes away from it getting permanently getting stuck to your memory for-ev-er.

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McKayla Maroney Momentarily Sheds the Stink Eye, Teaches Jenna Bush-Hager How to Dougie

Olympic gold medalist McKayla Maroney has developed a growing fan base at this year's London games, courtesy of her high-flying vaults and Grade A stink eye. Because gymnasts are flexible, and thus, we believe, talented dancers, the 16-year-old showcased her skills during the Fierce* Five's a tour of London with Today correspondent Jenna Bush-Hager. The girls have reportedly been planning ways to unwind now that their share of the competition has ended, so naturally a celebratory rendition of the Cali Swag District's tune is in order. They're only two years behind the NFL and NBA's obsession with the song!

We predicted this Team USA gymnastics-Dougie relationship weeks—OK, one week—ago, narrowly missing the athlete who would publicly display her talents. Oh, Gabby Douglas. This should have been you! #TeachMeHowToDouglas will forever live on in our hearts. But you know who else likes to Dougie, right? Missy Franklin can't have The Bieb all to herself.

Sure, now that Team USA has won their medals, they are totally free to dance on top of tables standing on moving double-decker buses with no regard for potential injury.

*According to Today, the girls no longer wish to be called the "Fab Five," after learning the name already belongs to members of the 1991 University of Michigan men's basketball team. No one wants a mouthful from Chris Webber.

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Daily Tweetcap: Musicians Love Gabby Douglas And Aren't Afraid To Tweet About It

The day in music as told by tweets. Gabby Davis went from super-cute gymnast to super-famous supercute gymnast when she took home the Olympic gold medal in all-around women's gymnastics yesterday. While Beyonce kept her e-applause ever classy by posting some classy words on her classy, classy blog, the rest of the music world kept it to 140 characters or less. Nicki Minaj even begged for her attention.

Aside from that, Ke$ha and Kanye remain krazy.

Think you have a music-related tweet worthy of our Daily Tweetcap? Tweet it @HiMyNameSam!

 

 

 

 

 

U.S. Gymnast Gabby Douglas Wins Gold, Gets Congratulated by Beyonce

After spending much of Wednesday tweeting with Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, and someone named Barack Obama in celebration of the U.S. women's gymnastics team gold, Gabby Douglas returned to the gym on Thursday night to add the title of women's all-around champion to her growing resume. By winning the premier solo event, the 16-year-old became the first African-American woman to win all-around gold and the third consecutive American to take home the title, following Nastia Liukin in 2008 and Carly Patterson in 2004.

Maintaining a lead throughout all of the events, Douglas finished before Russia's Viktoria Komova and Aliya Mustafina. Mustafina edged out Gabby's teammate Aly Raisman, whose parents are likely working out their feelings about the unexpected loss in a North Greenwich parking lot, before sending the footage to programmers at TLC, Lifetime, and Bravo.

While much of the country appears to be taken with the 4'11 champion nicknamed "Flying Squirrel," the music world is particularly smitten (see: Gabby and Nicki Minaj's sweet exchange from last night). In an interview before competition began, Douglas revealed Beyoncé was her favorite artist, applauding the singer for her fierceness on stage—a quality she's clearly adopted for the gym. Along with an appreciation for The Queen—the unifying link that bonds us all—Douglas performed her winning floor routine to "We No Speak Americano," as in that mind-numbing techno jam by Yolanda Be Cool & DCUP that you haven't been able to get out of your head since 2010.

Perhaps more important than the medal itself is connecting with the Queen. After Douglas was honored with first place on Thursday, Beyoncé took to her site to congratulate her amazing accomplishment with seemingly genuine awe at her abilities ("Wow"). Fairly expected, with this being the first "social media games," and Bey's proven savvy and desire to be in the digital conversation, but still enough of a thrill that Gabby could talk about nothing else until the end of time and we wouldn't think twice.

Thus begins the window for Gabby Douglas and Fab Five-related programming; it's a small one, but it is vast. We previously suggested Douglas and her teammates release a single, appeasing those looking for a girl group and willing to settle for young women who can distract from any vocal shortcomings with insane flexibility. As for Gabby, "Teach Me How to Douglas" seems like an obvious choice, but we welcome you to share any of your ideas in the comments below.