Top 10 Stage Crashers

We all saw it, and we’re all sick of talking about it… yet, we can’t stop talking about it. Kanye West stole Taylor Swift’s thunder at the VMAs. And even though he let her finish, he effectively made the whole night about him, his opinions, and that weird spiral pattern in his hair. But West was hardly the first one to cause such a scene at an event. Here, we give you 10 other noteworthy stage crashers.

10. Lil’ Mama, 2009 MTV VMAs Before these past VMAs, Lil’ Mama was known for having poppin’ lip gloss and being the pointless judge on “America’s Best Dance Crew.” But after Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’ performance of “Empire State of Mind,” she became known for her complete lack of dancing skills and horrible timing. She decided to jump on stage for the end of the performance, leaving Hova enraged when she failed to pull off his signature folded arm pose – she also left the people at home wondering “Who was that crazy chick on stage?”

9. Tim Commerford, 2000 MTV VMAs And you thought Kanye was the first. At the first VMAs of the new millennium, Rage Against the Machine bassist Tim Commerford climbed the set dressing while Limp Bizkit tried to accept their award for Best Rock Video. He then started to shake the set, and refused to move. As the audience watched, Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst encouraged him to just jump off, and MTV security rushed the stage to get him down. A commercial break later, he was off the stage and in jail for the night. To add insult to injury, Rage Against The Machine broke up that year.

8. Ol’ Dirty Bastard, 1998 Grammy Awards Wu-Tang’er ODB was very excited about his crew’s nomination, so he bought himself a new outfit for the Grammy Awards. He decided to tell people this during Best New Artist Shawn Colvin’s acceptance speech. He jumped up on stage, took the mike, and rambled about how Wu-Tang was about the children. Unfortunately for Colvin, everyone remembers her first (and only) Grammy win for someone else’s interruption. She hasn’t had much success since.

7. Robert Opel, 46th Annual Academy Awards The year was 1974, and the message was simple: peace. Robert Opel’s attire was even simpler than his message: he was naked. The photographer and art gallery owner posed as a journalist and got a little help with his stunt from Oscars producer Jack Haley, Jr. As English actor and novelist David Niven introduced Elizabeth Taylor, Opel streaked across the Oscars main stage with a peace sign and a smile. Even more memorable than the dash was the suggestive joke that followed. Niven commented that, “the only laugh that man will ever get in his life is by stripping off and showing his shortcomings.”

6. Mark Roberts, Wimbledon 2005 The moment was too perfect: Anna Kournikova was set to play against Natasha Zvereva at Wimbledon, and had recently done a sports bra campaign boasting that “only the balls should bounce.” Liverpool’s notorious streaker Mark Roberts decided to write the campaign across his chest and streak across the center court of Wimbledon as the umpire called for “new balls.” He jumped over the net, did a James Bond-esque forward roll, and ran around the court for almost two minutes before security got him. Roberts maintains a blog – appropriately called “The Streaker” – and aspires to streak at the Superbowl.

5. Courtney Love, 1995 MTV VMAs In 1995, Madonna was on top of the musical world. In 1995, Courtney Love was not. To rectify the situation and to gain some attention for herself, Love decided to jump in on Madonna’s interview with MTV News staple Kurt Loder. As Loder was trying to probe into Madonna’s personal life, Love introduced herself by throwing a compact makeup set over Madonna’s shoulder. She then stumbled up the stairs, in spite of Madonna’s pleas that she stay away. After some awkward talking/slurring, Love proceeded to fall off her chair, legs up and lady parts exposed. Classy.

4. John McCain, 2008 Town Hall Debate Not technically stage crashing, per say. It’s more of a camera crash. McCain was supposed to be there to debate Obama on things like health care, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the economy, government spending, and other hard hitting issues that voting Americans needed to know about. They did debate these, but while McCain got his camera shots to himself, he seemed to walk in front of the camera every other time Obama spoke – something that “Saturday Night Live” impersonator Darrell Hammond took advantage of just days later when it was spoofed.

3. Sascha Baron Cohen as Brüno, Agatha Ruiz de la Prada Fashion Show He’s embarrassed politicians, towns in Bulgaria, and southern dinner hosts before. But with “Brüno,” Cohen took on a more public stage – or catwalk, in this case. During Milan Fashion Week, Cohen dressed in Brüno’s signature blonde wig and Velcro suit, then “accidentally” fell through a rack of clothing and ended up on stage, then started to walk with the mess of garments over his head and shoulders. Italian authorities tackled him mid-runway strut, but decided against pressing charges. Borat” still has “Brüno” beat at being inherently offensive, but Cohen’s seemingly endless laundry list of shocking characters is always impressive.

2. Andy Ricther on “The Today Show” This really isn’t fair to Andy Richter, because anyone who watched the clip knows that he didn’t mean to walk out onto “The Today Show” set with nothing but tube socks on. Richter was expecting an NBC Turkish Spa, based on a tip from buddy Conan O’Brien. Unfortunately, he was the victim of a cruel-yet-hilarious “Late Night With Conan O’Brien” bit that later became a viral hit. The only thing more shocking than Richter’s pixilated lower half on “The Today Show” was how well anchor Matt Lauer handled the whole thing. Lauer handed him a folder to sit on, and interviewed him as though he were just another clothed guest.

1. “Soy Bomb” (Michael Portnoy), 1998 Grammy Awards Michael Portnoy, New York City performance artist who has been called the new Andy Kaufman or the new bad boy of comedy, earned a new nickname at the 1998 Grammys: “Soy Bomb.” Portnoy popped up behind folk legend Bob Dylan during his performance of “Love Sick,” and danced with trancelike moves, until security realized that he wasn’t part of Dylan’s act. Portnoy described “soy bomb,” the words painted on his bare chest, as a “spontaneous explosion of the self.” He went on to be parodied on SNL by Will Ferrell. The guy had vision, though: how many strange club goers have you seen jerking around like this guy did way back in the day?