Kanye: ... and they gave Justin a red balloon and I wanted the red balloons

Having been caught sounding like a poor loser after the MTV Awards, Kanye West has tried to clarify matters.

And come off sounding even more childish:

"I wasn't mad that I just didn't win any awards," West says. "For me, [MTV] made it seem like performing on the main stage was a bad thing, and the suites were just so great. It was my dream when I made 'Stronger' to open up the VMAs with a real power performance.

"And I just feel like I got betrayed by them," the rapper continued. "They opened with Britney. They opened with Justin last year and let him close the show this year, and he had his own suite."

Sniff... sniff... they love Justin more than me, he always gets the cool slots...

Oh, and he didn't like Pamela Anderson's introduction:

"One of the best times I've ever had was making out with the next performer in the middle of the desert. I think I had my tongue so far down his throat I could taste his fiancée—and I might need a repeat performance later tonight," Anderson said by way of introduction.

"I'm engaged, and I feel like it's disrespectful to my relationship," West said of Anderson's remarks, which he claims MTV assured him would be in acceptable taste.

Anderson was making play of having guested with West for the Touch The Sky video - we're a little at a loss to understand how West could get the hump at someone describing what they did for the cameras, but didn't mind doing it for the cameras.

West is, somewhat self-importantly, cutting all ties with MTV. Why?

"I have a connection in the fans' heart that the press can't stop."

It's not all about Kanye, of course - he was also worried about Britney. He claims.:

"They exploited Britney in helping to end her career," West said Monday in an interview with New York radio station Z100. "When Britney was opening, near the end, I felt so bad for her. I said, 'Man, it's a dirty game. This game will chew you up and spit you out.'"

Here, he might have a point - Britney's comeback (and, more honestly, the prospect of seeing a career vanish) helped this year's awards bounce back in the ratings - 7.1 million. Trouble is, the impressive-sounding 23% rise came after a 28% drop last year, and comes in the context of dwindling audience for the channel as a whole, down to an average below 750,000 now.