Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande and Sabrina Carpenter were among the big winners at the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs), which largely celebrated female artists at New York’s UBS Arena on Sunday evening.
Gaga collected four awards on the night, including artist of the year, fending off competition from Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Bad Bunny and Kendrick Lamar, who were all absent from this year’s slightly muted event.
She dedicated the award to her fiancé, Michael Polansky, as well her her fans, aka the “Little Monsters”.
Grande and Carpenter picked up three awards each. The former won the night’s big award for best video for Brighter Days Ahead, while the latter’s haul included the new gong for best pop artist.
The ceremony was hosted by a largely off-screen LL Cool J, who handed out only seven awards during the telecast.
Here are five of the stand-out moments and talking points from the three-hour Long Island show, which honoured the best in the music video medium over the past 12 months.
1. VMAs go Gaga… then Gaga goes gigging
Gaga went into the show as the most nominated artist of the evening with 12 nods, and she took home four “moon person” trophies, taking her career total to 22.
This puts her in third place on the all-time ranking list, ahead of Madonna and behind only Swift and Beyoncé, who have 30 each.
When collecting the award for artist of the year, she said, “I cannot begin to tell you what this means to me.
“Being an artist is an attempt to connect the souls of people all over the world.”
She left the arena after collecting the award, but the MTV cameras later followed her across the city to her live concert at Madison Square Garden, where she performed Abracadabra and The Dead Dance.
Tim Burton directed the gothic music video to the latter song, which also appeared on the soundtrack to the new Netflix Addams Family show, Wednesday, in which Gaga also makes a guest appearance.
She also won awards for best direction and art direction for Abracadabra, as well as best collaboration for her song Die With A Smile alongside Bruno Mars.
Another Mars collaboration, his song APT with Rosé, won song of the year, while the South Korean singer’s outfit Blackpink were named best group.
“This is a really big moment for 16-year-old me and anyone else who has dreamed about being accepted equally for their hard work,” said an emotional Rosé during a lengthy speech.
2. Sabrina stands (and dances) with LGBT community
Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet was crowned album of the year, while she was also named as the inaugural best pop artist and took home the visual effects award for Manchild.
She delivered a retro-themed performance of Tears alongside a collection of drag queens and trans dancers holding signs reading slogans including “in trans we trust” and “protect the dolls”.
Grande grabbed the video of the year, long-form video and best pop video awards for Brighter Days Ahead, thanking her own dad for his cameo.
She explained in her acceptance speech that her recent work had found her focusing daily on “healing all different kinds of trauma.”
“If you’re on that journey, please continue onward, because I promise there are brighter days ahead,” she told fans with a spiffing segue.
Another US singer, Megan Moroney, became the first-ever winner in the best country category for her single, Am I Okay?
3. Mariah: Maximum respect (for minimum effort?)
Mariah Carey, meanwhile, won a lifetime achievement award on a night that largely celebrated female artists.
The diva scored a first victory in the R&B section for Type Dangerous before being given the special Video Vanguard award.
“This is amazing, MTV, I don’t know why it took you so long!” she joked in a video message ahead of performing later in the show.
The Fantasy singer then sang a medley of her hits, with one fan noting online: “I love Mariah Carey’s voice, but she’s got less energy than me on a Sunday night.”
Another fan commented that even while she was “doing the bare minimum” Mariah was “still [being] iconic”.
In a speech, the singer offered that music videos “are my way of life.”
She continued: “Let’s be honest, sometimes they’re just an excuse to bring the drama and do things I wouldn’t do in real life. Music evolves, but fun? That is eternal.”
Doechii did the double, winning the hip-hop award and best choreography for Anxiety, as did Tate McRae for best editing and song of the summer for Just Keep Watching, taken from the F1 movie.
Shakira took the Latin prize for her song Soltera while South African star Tyla won the award for best Afrobeats.
4. Ricky rolls back the years
There were live performances on the night from the likes of McRae, Doja Cat and J Balvin, as well as best new artist Alex Warren and multinational girl group Katseye, who won performance of the year for Push.
But Latin icon winner Ricky Martin showed he can still live La Vida Loca with the best of them, performing a medley of his hits.
Accepting his award from Jessica Simpson, Martin said: “We just want to break boundaries, and we just want to keep music alive.”
He credited his fans with his 40-year career: “This is very simple: this is for you all,” he said. “I am addicted to your applause, that’s why I keep coming back.”
Fellow 53-year-old rapper Busta Rhymes also hit the stage to perform tracks including Break Ya Neck and Gimme Some More on a night when he received the Rock The Bells Visionary prize.
Elsewhere on the night, Post Malone was shown performing from Germany alongside Jelly Roll.
5. Ozzy remembered
Last but not least, the night also remembered former Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne, who died in July, with a performance introduced via video message from his son Jack and his children.
Bare-chested British star Yungblud joined the likes of Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry to perform tracks from Osbourne’s career including Crazy Train, Changes and Mama, I’m Coming Home.
Fellow hellraisers Coldplay collected the rock category for All My Love while Sombr scored the alternative award for Back To Friends.
Check out the full list of winners here.
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