The annual Video Music Awards or VMA’s took place Sept.r 12 at the Prudential Center in New Jersey. With Host Nicki Minaj, this year’s awards ceremony was essentially a long concert with awards given out in between performances. There were many firsts at this year’s ceremony. Peso Pluma, who is a Latin hip-hop artist, Metro Boomin and Kelsea Ballerini performed their first show at the VMA’s. Additionally, singer/songwriter Shakira became the first South American artist to receive the Video Vanguard Award, as well as performing at the awards ceremony for the first time since 2006.
Some of the bigger winners at this year’s VMA’s were Taylor Swift, who won four awards for her song “Anti-Hero”, including the biggest award, Video of the Year. This is Swift’s fourth year winning Video of the Year, setting the record for that award. But that’s not all, she continued to win five more awards during the night, making her the biggest award winner of the ceremony. Hellgate High School junior and Taylor Swift fan Lexi Johnson said, “ I’m so happy for her” in regard to Taylors winnings.
Olivia Rodrigo performed her single, “Vampire” from her new album that night, shocking the crowd with her unique show and props. Demi Lovato brought back some of her classics during the ceremony including, “Sorry not Sorry” and “Cool for the Summer”. The Push Performance of the Year award went to South Korean boy band, “TOMORROW X TOGETHER” , for their single, “Sugar Rush Ride”.
As for some of the other award winners, Nicki Minaj won Best Hip-Hop for her song “Super Freaky Girl”. Female singer/songwriter, SZA, won best R&B for her song “Shirt”. The biggest surprise of the night came when NSync reunited on stage for the first time since 2013. This boy band includes: Justin Timberlake, Lance Bass, JC Chasez, Joey Fatone, and Chris Kirkpatrick. They presented an award to Swift but didn’t perform. This glimpse gave viewers some hope that they are planning something for the future. All in all, this year’s VMAs was very successful for new artists and some of the old ones, with Swift walking away as the most awarded artist of the ceremony.
