#the vmas were last night and she didn’t deserve to win the award for best visual effects tbh

[galariangengar]

Wow, I sure do love waking up and immediately starting the day with a fucking bloody nose 🙃

[kevinskorner]

2020 VMA’s Recap!

Every year, I always look forward to a few things and one of those things is definitely the MTV Video Music Awards. The VMA’s have been iconic every year since it’s inauguration in 1984 with Madonna’s Like A Virgin performance. As the insanely obsessed pop culture person that I am, the VMA’s are like a national holiday and I prepare myself heavily before they happen. For this year, obviously things are different because of a little thing called the Covid-19 Pandemic but anyhow, I was still excited. When the nominees got announced I was a very mixed bag of emotions. I was very excited because Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande got the most nominations of the year (9) but, I was disappointed because Harry Styles and Dua Lipa only got technical nominations and didn’t get any in the main category. One of my friends shared the same disappointment with me and they said how every nominee in Video of the Year was from North America and I didn’t even think of that. I wish they didn’t nominate some things... but that’s alright. As the weeks went on, I voted for my faves and MTV announced Keke Palmer was hosting whichreally got me excited again because she is a queen. Also, when they announced the performers, my favorites being Miley, Gaga, Ariana, and Doja, I became thrilled.

Now, here I am with my Rain on Me shirt on, a few hours after the ceremony ended and I got to say, I am IMPRESSED!!! That was an AMAZING ceremony. For an award show during a pandemic, I got to say MTV pulled, it, off. Let’s get into it!:

OH. MY. GAGA. 

Lady Gaga was the star of the night and I am NOT disappointed one bit. Going into the night as the most nominated artist (tied with Ariana) I had high hopes. When I heard she was performing, I screamed because I couldn’t believe we were FINALLY getting a performance in the Chromatica era. Knowing that she had so much planned for the era, it’s been sad to see none of it come to fruition. Now let’s live in the present. THIS PERFORMANCE?!? FREAKING INCREDIBLE. I don’t even know where to start. The beginning of the performance with the old television, her laying down on the couch (mask on!), and seeing the TV have the 1999 VMA’s (with BRITNEY mentioned!) was when I knew it was going to be one of the best performances of her career. THEN, she WENT DOWN THE POLL and Chromatica II started playing and I almost threw up. I was so excited that she chose to do that interlude and sing some of 911 (maybe the third single?)! I was shook. Next, she had a quick change and started singing Rain on Me, and I immediately was hyperventilating. When Ariana came out, I really thought I was gonna pass out. In that moment, I was just seeing a dream come true in front of my eyes. I saw two of my ultimate QUEENS come together and give me all the life I need. I mean, the outfits, the masks, the chemistry, ARIANA’S HIGH NOTE?! GAGA’S VOCALS?! I can’t even. After that, when she started walking to the Brain piano, I thought she was about to do 1000 Doves (Piano Version) but I was mistaken! It was the first single, STUPID LOVE! Honestly, I was so happy she performed Stupid Love and got it’s moment because that wasn’t even performed live yet before tonight. Her speech in between the Stupid Love performance was beautiful and I loved when she brought the beat in and danced her ass off. Ugh, I just love her so much. 

Onto the actual awards, I cannot believe that she won FIVE! I expected Best Collaboration and was hoping for Artist of the Year but I was NOT expecting Song of the Year! The one that I didn’t even know was happening thought was the FIRST EVER, TRICON AWARD?! The fact that MTV gave Gaga her OWN award for being an icon, a legend and a triple threat was filling my Little Monster heart with such PRIDE and JOY! Seeing her go up on that stage in a new look with a new mask each time, gave me a little boost of serotonin each time. She is just a goddess. There is no one like her and there NEVER will be. 

GOOD GOLLY, MISS MILEY

It feels amazing to be a Miley stan tonight. Miley has been one of my absolute role models since I was a child. I have followed her and supported her my whole life even when people didn’t and I got to say, tonight felt really good. Her performance was PHENOMENAL. Starting off with her GORGEOUS silhouette in that STUNNING black dress and  cross necklace with the red chrome light shook me because I was not expecting that. And, that break before the first chorus?!? LOVED. After, it went to a blue chrome and she started walking while it went full color. When I saw her walk towards some stairs, I had to catch my breath. Suddenly, I see a disco ball. Then she took the bottom half of the dress off and hopped on the disco ball and I SCREAMED. LOUDLY. The fact that she has such an ICONIC moment like Wrecking Ball where she can do something eerily similar and EVERYBODY knows it, is fucking SENSATIONAL! HER VOCALS WERE ON POINT, FACE BEAT, BODY SNATCHED. She just gave the most perfect glam rock pop star performance that I’ve ever seen. Miley having this mainstream moment again just made me so happy. ALSO?! SHE WON TWO AWARDS TONIGHT. I cannot believe Miley won two VMA’s tonight. She doesn’t win a lot of awards (which is extremely disappointing) and to see her win TWO for MOTHER’S DAUGHTER a single from last year that peaked at #54 on the Billboard Hot 100 felt incredible. I just love when she gets the recognition she deserves.   

Other Thoughts:

The Weeknd’s opening performance was so great!! Recently, I have gotten sick of Blinding Lights but this performance totally revitalized for me how great of a song that is. I don’t know how he was up so high but he did an awesome job and the fireworks were great! Also, I’m happy he finally won his first two VMA’s for Best R&B (even though it’s a pop song) and Video of the Year. 

Keke’s hosting was entertaining as hell. She was the perfect host for a time like this for many reasons. She’s funny, relatable, beautiful, entertaining and so many more positive things. I found her really funny and I just love her presence as a whole. Even her little performance was cute too! 

Doja Cat actually blew me away. I was not expecting her to serve that hard. The performance was so futuristic and felt like I was in a new universe. I loved her outfit and LOVED the Say So mix! Also, so happy she included Like That because it’s such a jam. I love Doja and ever since I discovered Juicy last year I've been stanning and this definitely solidified the stan for me. I am so happy that she won (RIGHTFULLY SO!) for Best New Artist. She has had a great rise and her performance definitely gives me high hopes for her future. 

My rankings of the performances are:

Pre Show:

1. Chloe x Halle - Ungodly Hour (THESE QUEENS ARE THE FUTURE!)

2. Machine Gun Kelly w/ blackbear & Travis Barker - My Ex’s Best Friend/Bloody Valentine (I have become really obsessed with his new music recently and love him)

3. Tate McRae - You Broke Me First (surprised by this cause I didn’t know anything about her before but she did a good job!)

4. Jack Harlow - What’s Poppin (cute ig)

5. Lewis Capaldi - Before You Go (🙂)

Main Show: 1. Lady Gaga w/ Ariana Grande - Chromatica II, 911, Rain on Me, Stupid Love (FUCKING AMAZING. SENSATIONAL, &, UNREAL)

2. Miley Cyrus - Midnight Sky (MY QUEEN SO ICONIC I LOVE HER SO MUCH)

3. Doja Cat - Say So/Like That (SO FUTURISTIC AND SOLIDIFIED HER WIN AND SHOWED THAT SHE CAN SERVE)

4. The Weeknd - Blinding Lights (really made me love the song so much more)

5. BTS - Dynamite (I like these boys but the fanbase is so much it stresses me out).

6. JP Saxe & Julia Michaels - If The World Was Ending (so cute, love Julia)

7. Dababy - Peep Hole, Blind, & Rockstar 

8. Maluma - Hawái (loved the drive in aspect)

9. Keke Palmer - Snack (wish she had more time)

10. Black Eyed Peas w/ Nicky Jam & Tyga - Vida Loca/I Gotta Feeling (no one can take Fergie’s place)

11. CNCO - Beso

To end this, I’m just gonna leave this picture here. :)

[theconservativebrief]

Though the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards weren’t completely devoid of spectacle, the ceremony ended up being a mix of the baffling and the unmemorable. Aside from some of the performances, the ups and downs were precipitous, as the stacked list of nominees yielded fairly lukewarm wins.

Overall, it was what the ceremony lacked — a sense of cohesion or drama, somebody to properly shepherd an Aretha Franklin tribute, and any of the musical beef that’s made the show so exciting in past years — that stood out. The final Aerosmith-Post Malone performance, complete with pre-punched holes in the fake Marshall speakers onstage, served as a strange cherry on top of the cake.

Here are six winners and two losers from the night.

During the preshow, one-time VMA MVPs the Backstreet Boys started off the night by singing their recent single “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” on top of New York City’s Radio City Music Hall sign in a performance that seemed a little cramped at best.

During the ceremony, they came down from the sign to present the award for Song of the Year, singing snippets from each nominee in one of the cuter segments of the telecast. During the bit, A.J. McLean noted that one of the nominees, Camila Cabello’s “Havana,” was his daughter’s favorite song, inducing awws from the audience while serving as a general reminder of how much time has passed since the Backstreet Boys were at the peak of their popularity.

Despite being reminded that we all must die eventually, it was still nice to see the Backstreet Boys in good health and good humor, even if they didn’t get to properly perform during the main ceremony.

Jennifer Lopez at the 2018 VMAs. MTV

Not long after Shawn Mendes gave the first performance of the show, each subsequent moment began to bleed into the next in a dull haze — Tiffany Haddish made fun of Fifth Harmony during a bit with Kevin Hart, Nicki Minaj won the award for Best Hip-Hop Video, and a terrifying zygote named Bazzi took the stage and brought with him the promise of darkness and that this would all be over soon.

Thank god, then, that Jennifer Lopez was present to inject a jolt of life into the proceedings. As the recipient of this year’s Video Vanguard Award, J. Lo was on hand to perform a medley of some of her greatest hits, and though she started a little shaky with “Waiting for Tonight,” she soon found her groove and brought out the showmanship that garnered her the honor in the first place.

She hit her moves, settling in with “On the Floor” and giving energetic renditions of her peak dance hits like “Love Don’t Cost a Thing” and “Jenny From the Block.” And with rapid-fire set changes including cameos from DJ Khaled and Ja Rule, she was the first performer to bring the promise of something exciting.

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Lopez made us remember that she’s a true entertainer while underscoring that everything else about the 2018 VMAs was missing the charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent that she has in spades.

Bafflingly, most of the cutaway reaction shots during the ceremony featured either empty seats or people looking half-enthused at best. The major exception to the rule was Ja Rule, who was at the show to perform “I’m Real” and “Ain’t It Funny” with Lopez.

Every shot of Ja Rule in the audience showed him grooving along to the performances and generally just looking happy to be in the room. Whether or not that good-natured display is enough to earn back the goodwill he lost over last year’s Fyre Festival debacle (which resulted in eight lawsuits) is unclear, but at least somebody at the VMAs was having a good time.

Shawn Mendes was specifically designed and created to induce crushes. The 6-foot-2, aggressively pleasant Canadian has slowly been shifting his image from “bubblegum teenage dream” to “sensitive and sensual crooner.” At no point during the VMAs was that more evident than during his performance of “In My Blood,” complete with a wet T-shirt contest for one:

Shawn Mendes got wet at the VMAs. MTV

The performance was laced with a little awkwardness (you could tell that Mendes was slightly uncomfortable and nervous), but it showed off the vocals that have made him a stan-worthy star. He couldn’t totally hide his earnest charm — something that feels a little more natural and believable than the sexy persona he’s trying to adopt. Not that his fans will have any problem with the latter.

Lopez and Mendes gave good performances, but if you were watching at home, it was a frustrating experience. There were pans away from tight choreographed pieces and wide shots of more intimate moments. It’s unclear who, if anyone, was calling the shots from the production booth.

While J. Lo’s energy was enough to sustain the momentum during her performance, the lack of organization was especially evident in the “Push Artist” segments, where new and upcoming artists were given a verse or two to sing their catchy hooks. Poor Hayley Kiyoko, a singer who grew up idolizing and incorporating boy-band choreography — uninspired camerawork flattened her performance into static pulp fit for the food court at the mall.

And there was this strange moment where a barely mic’d Mendes presented Lopez with her Video Vanguard Award, with all sorts of commotion going on in the background and a woman almost crossing into the shot:

What is even happening here? MTV

No one is expecting exquisite cinematography from the VMA crew, but if MTV wants to tout performances (since these awards don’t hold the clout of Grammys), it should do a better job of showcasing them.

Even though Cardi B opened the show by pretending to breastfeed, we never would have expected that the VMAs would be such a big night for moms. Throughout the evening, several mom shoutouts lent a sweetly sentimental tone to the telecast.

During her acceptance speech for Best New Artist, Cardi B noted that people had called her decision to have a baby a potential death knell for her career. “You know, I had a baby, I carried a baby,” she said, defiant. “I am still winning awards!”

Cardi B kicked off the show by miming breastfeeding. Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for MTV

And while accepting the Video Vanguard Award, Lopez also spoke about having her children, calling them her “two little angels” and crediting them with changing her life. She also thanked her mother, Lupe, “the original dancing queen.”

The theme of motherhood continued with Ariana Grande’s performance of “God Is a Woman,” in which she brought her mother and grandmother onstage; and with Camila Cabello, who took home Artist of the Year and Video of the Year after bringing her mother as her date to the awards ceremony.

Madonna turned her tribute to Aretha Franklin into a tribute to Madonna. Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for MTV

Aretha Franklin died less than a week before the VMAs, and many wondered how the show would honor the legendary Queen of Soul. It seems that since Franklin’s death ultimately overshadowed the 60th birthday of another seminal artist, Madonna, the VMAs decided to take out two birds with one stone — by inviting Madonna to pay tribute to Franklin while also presenting the Video of the Year Award.

Conceptually, that must have sounded like a tantalizing idea, but in practice, Madonna ended up rambling on about how hard it was for her to become the pop icon she now is. The implication was that she found inspiration in Franklin, and she did mention that she loved Franklin’s Lady Soul album, but ultimately, Madonna’s tribute to Franklin turned into a tribute to Madonna by Madonna. It came off tacky and disorganized, leaving many viewers with the belief that skipping a Franklin tribute would have been better than Madge’s slapdash one.

Camila Cabello wins Video of the Year. Theo Wargo/Getty Images

Camila Cabello, the autonomous former member of Fifth Harmony who defected from the now-defunct group’s other four harmonies, won two of the biggest awards of the night for her body of work and her hit song “Havana”: Video of the Year and Artist of the Year.

While Cabello and her fans will no doubt be pleased, it felt as if her trophies came at the expense of artists like Drake, Cardi B, and Ariana Grande, who went into the night with a lot more buzz and clout — something you might expect from an “artist of the year” — and videos like Childish Gambino’s “This Is America,” which was much more searing and unforgettable than the video for “Havana.”

Camila Cabello did NOT deserve that fucking award. Cardi B and Drake worked their ASS off this year and gave us bops after bops smh. This award show is forever TRASH. I’m seriously blocking Camila lmao bye #VMAS pic.twitter.com/wtglqqVxI7

— Rashid (@rashidblessed) August 21, 2018

Considering those strong contenders, the videos they’ve created, and their greater command over the public’s interest in the last year, Cabello’s wins were slightly puzzling. Though the VMAs aren’t exactly the highest merit a musician can receive, and it’s not as if Cabello has taken home a Pulitzer, it won’t be surprising if the conversation surrounding Cabello in the coming days is less about celebrating her wins and more about whom she beat in taking home two of the biggest awards of the night.

Original Source -> VMAs 2018: 6 winners and 2 losers from a mostly lackluster show

via The Conservative Brief