There’s the Grammys, the American Music Awards, the Billboards, the Academy of Country Music Awards, the Source Hip Hop Music Awards, even the oddly titled My VH1 Awards. And we’ve probably missed a few. But for nearly 20 years, just one celebration has generated most of the industry’s best on-stage moments: the MTV Video Music Awards. From odd pairings (Busta Rhymes and Martha Stewart anyone?) to Michael Jackson’s infamous kiss with now ex-wife Lisa Marie Presley at the 1994 show, MTV takes advantage of live TV’s greatest asset: unpredictability.

More than anything else, though, the VMAs consistently feature electric performances from the worlds of pop, rock and hip-hop. This year, with the return of introspective music, the possible death of the boy-band era and the continued blending of hip-hop and R&B, fans and industry insiders alike will take a break from the intense battle over downloading music for at least one night. NEWSWEEK’s Curtis Harris spoke with MTV’s Kurt Loder on the eve of the 18th annual Video Music Awards, which will be held at New York’s Radio City Music Hall. Excerpts:

NEWSWEEK: Last year was the Alicia Keys juggernaut. What can we expect this year?

Kurt Loder: This seems like an unusually good show. We’ve got Bruce Springsteen, Eminem, Sheryl Crow and the Hives, who are this great new band from Sweden. We also have the rapper Ludacris on our preshow, which should be really interesting.

Would you agree that the Grammy Awards have, over the years, stolen much of the VMA style?

The Grammys is such a boring show. It’s horrible. They’ve been influenced by the Video Music Awards for some time. The Grammys is bound to be a little stuffy no matter what happens. You see them trying to create events now, but it’s a little lame. I think the idea at MTV was always to put on a great concert. It’s exciting because things can go wrong at any moment.

In an atmosphere where anything can happen, is there a sense of panic whenever someone goes on stage?

It is live TV, so you just don’t know. Sometimes, during the show, there’s blood on the walls in the control room. They have a TelePrompTer and we assume that they’re going to stick to the remarks. But what they might do is often up in the air. You just hope that they don’t break into a frenzy of obscene language. We do have a seven-second bleep button, though, which can be used at anytime.

Boy-band groups have disappeared from the categories this year. Has the craze officially come to an end?

Ah, the boy-band thing. There’s always going to be teen pop music. I have a feeling it may be leveling off a little bit. We’re seeing the advent of all these garagelike bands with the Hives, the Vines, White Stripes and the Strokes. They’re stripped down rock bands and it’s great to see them coming back.

Are you sure you don’t secretly own any ‘N Sync albums?

Oh no! I’m just not the demographic for that sort of thing. They appeal to kids. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Did I listen to stupid music when I was a kid? Yes, I did. It was really worthless trash, but there it is. ‘N Sync was on last year and that was a great performance. I’m not their biggest fan, but it was very complex and they really pulled it off.

In the hip-hop category, there seems to be a trend of artists guest appearing on each other’s songs. What do you think about that?

My experience with hip-hop guys is that they know exactly what they’re doing. Puffy Combs for example. So they get on each other’s records, and it only makes the song better. Rap has had such an incredible influence on popular music for 20 years. It’s an ongoing phenomenon.

Has there ever been a moment that genuinely surprised you?

We’ve rerun it thousands of times, but we were interviewing Madonna when Courtney Love came stumbling up and was really wasted. That was pretty unexpected. Sometimes you just let those things happen and say, “Great TV–go for it!”

Although you do seem rather nonchalant when such moments unfold.

I’m really not a happy, cheery, perky kind of guy. But I do enjoy the VMAs because there’s nothing like live TV. And there’s usually some phenomenally expensive party afterward. They must cost like a half million dollars or something.

With all the award shows out there, what do you think people look for when they tune in?

I think there are people who want to gaze at stars. They want to see them do their songs and get off the stage. But the VMAs are staged so that it looks like nothing else. You have to try and cover every base. So there’s something for everybody. The rest of these award shows, whatever. I don’t watch them myself.