In September 1984 — three years after MTV: Music Television had kicked into life with British electro-pop duo The Buggles' appropriately titled 1979 classic "Video Killed the Radio Star" — Madonna strode onto a New York stage for the fledgling channel's first Music Video Awards.
In so doing, she claimed her place as an '80s icon with a suggestive performance of "Like a Virgin." Clad in a lace wedding dress, Madonna presented an enduring symbol that many artists have toyed with in the decades since.
But MTV, its audience and the technology available to them have evolved drastically since then, and when the MTV Video Music Awards Japan take place Saturday, May 29, at Tokyo's Yoyogi National Stadium, it will for the first time be aligned with World Stage — MTV's latest attempt to draw viewers away from such on-demand Web sites as YouTube by broadcasting the same concerts and events on every MTV channel worldwide.
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