MTV Awards kicking off with Timberlake

Singer Justin Timberlake poses at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards in New York August 31, 2006. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson (UNITED STATES)

Singer Justin Timberlake performs at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards in New York, August 31, 2006. REUTERS/Gary Hershorn (UNITED STATES)

NEW YORK - Justin Timberlake is on a mission to bring sexy back to MTV's Video Music Awards, which return to the Big Apple on Thursday night after a two-year excursion to Miami.

Timberlake, who has the No. 1 song in the country with "SexyBack," was expected to kick off the show. Other performers include Beyonce, The Killers, Panic! at the Disco, and, for the old-timers who still watch MTV, Lou Reed.

Though the MTV Awards have never lacked star power - last year, Diddy acted as host and stars ranging from Eva Longoria to Jessica Simpson and then-hubby Nick Lachey squeezed themselves into the spotlight - that water-cooler MTV moment hasn't materialized recently.

There was no same-sex smooching a la Britney and Madonna (at least not on camera). No barely there outfit that remains scorched in the public memory. And except for the inexplicably wacky R. Kelly performance of "Trapped In the Closet," which he lip-synched with mock-drama, and a little 50 Cent-Fat Joe beefing on stage, the show ran pretty much like any other awards show. Which is not what we've come to expect from the VMAs.