Sunday, 22 December 2024
Sunday, 22 December 2024
Can’t keep calm: At this year’s MTV Video Music Awards, held at Prudential Centre in New Jersey on Sunday, Taylor Swift or Tay Tay went home with three awards — Video of the Year, Best Long Form Video and Best Direction — all for All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version). During her acceptance speech she announced her upcoming album, which is set for October 21 release. Later on Instagram she revealed the name of the album — Midnights — and it is based on “the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life”.
K-POP POWER: For the first time, K-pop women’s band BLACKPINK took the VMA stage with their song Pink Venom, which is a single they have released after almost two years. They were also awarded for Best Metaverse Performance. Also, Thai rapper based out of South Korea, Lisa, was awarded the Best K-pop Award for her single Lalisa. For the fourth consecutive time, BTS was awarded Group of the Year while SEVENTEEN virtually accepted the PUSH Performance of the Year for their song.
About time: You know it’s going to be a good show when Lizzo is a part of the line-up. Dressed in a pink suit, she performed her hit 2 B Loved (Am I Ready) after leading with a few lines from About Damn Time. Not only did she have fun playing a light-up floor piano with her feet but made sure her audience got on their feet as well. She went home with the Video For Good award for About Damn Time.
Air Play: Getting the evening started were Jack Harlow and Fergie... well, kind of. The performance took place in the middle of an aeroplane set, which makes sense as he sang his single First Class. Dressed as an air steward, he welcomed celeb passengers like Lil Nas X, Avril Lavigne and Chloe Bailey. The surprise at the end of the show was when Fergie made an appearance, singing a part of her song Glamorous. Although the host for the evening, Jack (and Lil Nas X) won the coveted VMA Moon Person statue for Best Collaboration, Best Art Direction and Visual Effects for their hit Industry Baby. Harlow also won the Song of the Summer award for First Class.
After Two decades: After almost 20 years, Eminem and Snoop Dog released a song together, titled From the D 2 the LBC. But a Snoop Dogg and Eminem performance will always have an extra thing to it. Inspired by the Otherside Metaverse, the two are seen getting “animated” and seem to take their audience on a visual trip as well.
New music: Multi-platform star Dove Cameron was awarded the Best New Person award by Avril Lavigne. In her speech she dedicated her award to queer kids who feel like they don’t belong and even thanked them for supporting her “overtly queer” music. “Thank you so much. I’m so floored, I’m so moved. This is so wild to be up here with so many artistes whom I worship; these are some of my all-time favourite artistes up here. This year has been so wild, and I have no explanation for it except that I have you guys to thank. I want to dedicate this to all of the queer kids out there who don’t feel that they can take up space and inhabit the fullness of who they are,” she said.
In Nicki’s bag: The VMAs left no stones unturned when it came to the selection of hosts. For the 2022 edition, MTV appointed LL Cool J, Nicki Minaj and Jack Harlow as hosts who kept the energy high throughout. Nicki was on double duty as she performed a medley of her hits and was rightfully awarded the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award. During her acceptance speech she thanked the likes of Britney Spears, Kanye West, Drake and Rihanna. She also bagged the award for Best Hip-Hop for Do We Have A Problem? with Lil Baby.
Pure gold: Watching Red Hot Chili Peppers live after two decades was a breath of fresh air. They were awarded the Global Icon Best Rock and Best Video for Black Summer awards. They took the stage to perform the single and then dived into their hit Can’t Stop. Drummer of the band Chad Smith paid tribute to the late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, who recently passed away at the age of 50. “There is another musical icon, global icon, and his name is my brother Taylor Hawkins. And I want to dedicate this to Taylor and his family. I love him and I miss him every day. Play on, Hawk, play on,” he said.
Happy vibes: It wasn’t a surprise when Harry Style was felicitated for his bubbly music. His album Harry’s House was awarded Album of the Year. Also, Bad Bunny from Rimas Entertainment was given the award for Artiste of the Year while Billie Eilish bagged Song of the Year for Happier Than Ever. Sadly, Harry and Billie couldn’t put in an appearance.
