Kanye West received the
Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at last night’s “MTV
Video Music Awards” in a 13-minute speech in which he reflected on his
life and work, artistry and consumer culture - not to mention his at times tenuous
relationship with award shows. Upon receiving the award from Taylor Swift, West
expressed regret at crashing the stage during the 2009 “MTV Video Music Awards”,
but remained defiant in his defense of artistes. Then he declared his intention to run for
President in 2020…
Taylor Swift won four Moonmen,
including “Video of the Year” for her sci-feminist epic “Bad Blood” at the 2015
“MTV Video Music Awards”, emerging as the evening’s big winner. Swift also won “Best Female Video” for “Blank
Space” and Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars took home “Best Male Video” for their
infectious hit “Uptown Funk”.
Nicki
Minaj opened the show perched atop a throne
sculpted of backup dancers to tear through banger “Trini Dem Girls.” Minaj then
segued into her soaring single “The Night Is Still Young” and, though indeed it
still was, the surprises started early. Taylor
Swift unexpectedly emerged from below the stage to join Minaj for the
performance in an epic, chill-inducing squashing of beef.
The
Weeknd performed a muscular, funky version
of hit “Can’t Feel My Face” while bathed in red light. The Canadian artist shuffled
around the stage before settling into a ring of fire that blazed up from the
floor below and rotated around him.
In one of the show’s most
anticipated moments, Justin Bieber’s
triumphant return rose to new heights as he took flight above the crowd to punctuate
a medley of his hit Jack Ü collab, “Where Are Ü
Now?” and newly released single “What Do You Mean?” After a dramatic solo
entrance in silhouette, Bieber blazed through the tracks and some tight
choreography before the room went black, and the star reemerged in a single
cone of light to fly high above the stage. Bieber returned to the ground winded
and moved to tears.
For the final performance from the
downtown block party, Pharrell Williams gave
an explosive performance of his emancipation anthem “Freedom” under the night
sky. Williams open with a spoken word
freestyle before being joined by a troupe of dancers, who ripped through a
routine of throwback dance moves that matched the retro-swing of the
track. The performance concluded with a
single firework shooting into the air about Broadway.
In a surprise performance,
host Miley Cyrus closed the show
with psych rock legends The Flaming Lips for her beautifully bizarre new track,
“DOO It”, which invokes love, peace, the universe and flying saucers. Cyrus emerged from an LED screen projecting
extreme close ups of her glitter and sprinkle-smeared mouth, and was followed
close behind by a brigade of drag queens in fluorescent unitards. In a stunning turn of synergy, many of the
girls were veterans of “RuPaul’s Drag Race”, the hit series on MTV’s sister
network, Logo.
The
winners are…
VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Taylor
Swift ft. Kendrick Lamar – “Bad Blood”
BEST MALE VIDEO
Mark
Ronson ft. Bruno Mars – “Uptown Funk”
BEST FEMALE VIDEO
Taylor
Swift – “Blank Space”
BEST HIP HOP VIDEO
Nicki
Minaj – “Anaconda”
BEST POP VIDEO
Taylor
Swift – “Blank Space”
BEST ROCK VIDEO
Fall
Out Boy – “Uma Thurman”
ARTIST TO WATCH presented by Taco Bell®
Fetty
Wap – “Trap Queen”
BEST COLLABORATION
Taylor
Swift ft. Kendrick Lamar – “Bad Blood”
VIDEO WITH A SOCIAL MESSAGE
Big
Sean ft. Kanye West and John Legend – “One Man Can Change the World”
SONG
OF SUMMER presented by Samsung Galaxy Tab
S2
5
Seconds of Summer — “She’s Kinda Hot”
PROFESSIONAL CATEGORIES
BEST ART DIRECTION
Snoop
Dogg – “So Many Pros” (Jason Fijal)
BEST CHOREOGRAPHY
OK Go
– “I Won’t Let You Down” (OK Go, air:man
and Mori Harano)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Flying
Lotus ft. Kendrick Lamar – “Never Catch Me” (Larkin Sieple)
BEST DIRECTION
Kendrick
Lamar – “Alright” (Colin Tilley & The
Little Homies)
BEST EDITING
Beyoncé
– “7/11” (Beyoncé, Ed Burke, Jonathan Wing)
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Skrillex & Diplo – “Where Are U
Now" with Justin Bieber (Brewer)
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