Taylor Swift cleaned up at Tuesday’s MTV Video Music Awards, as Shakira accepted the evening’s prestigious Video Vanguard prize with a hip-shaking, career-spanning efficiency.
Swift continued her international reign by scooping awards together with Best Song and Best Pop, as a number of of the evening’s prime trophies nonetheless wanted handing out.
Turn-of-the-millennium teen heartthrobs NSYNC reunited onstage for the primary time in a decade to grant her the latter award, leaving Swift, who’s poised to publish the primary billion-dollar tour, fanning her cheeks.
“I’m not doing well pivoting” from fan to winner, Swift mentioned.
“Like, I had your dolls!” she mentioned to the “Bye Bye Bye” singers.
But she did not carry out on the evening recognized way more for its spectacle than its awards, as an alternative sipping her drink as artists together with Olivia Rodrigo, Anitta and Doja Cat took to the stage.
The made-for-broadcast present, held this 12 months in Newark’s Prudential Center, steadily panned to Swift who was seated close to the primary stage subsequent to Ice Spice, the viral Bronx rapper who has collaborated with the pop phenom.
A digicam operator was even reportedly tasked with filming Swift for the present’s total period.
Speaking onstage, she instructed followers that when writing she typically feels she has “a very specific type of insecurity or self-loathing,” however when she hears them screaming the lyrics “it brings me to this very relaxing feeling of, maybe we all have the same issues.”
Lil Wayne opened the present in a nod to this 12 months’s fiftieth anniversary of hip hop, and Sean Combs — recognized by his stage names Puff Daddy, Puffy, P. Diddy and Diddy — delivered a career-spanning efficiency as he accepted the evening’s Global Icon lifetime achievement award.
“This is so surreal,” mentioned the 53-year-old from Harlem. “I started out as a paper boy.”
And it was Shakira who scored the evening’s most prestigious award for lifetime achievement, the Video Vanguard award that celebrates music video improvements.
The Colombian performer, 46, stole the present as she carried out her signature hip pops and sang a bilingual medley together with “She Wolf,” “Te Felicito,” “Objection (Tango),” “Whenever, Wherever” and “Hips Don’t Lie.”
Wearing a glittering, nude ensemble, the artist completed her set by crowd-surfing to a platform that then elevated her excessive above a screaming crowd of followers and friends.
“Thank you MTV. Thank you for being such a big part of my career since I was only 18 years old,” she mentioned.
Rapper Nicki Minaj hosted the occasion for the second consecutive 12 months, additionally debuting reside her latest single, “Last Time I Saw You,” which is slated for launch on her album “Pink Friday 2” in November.
She additionally gained the evening’s award for Best Hip Hop.
And Doja Cat ignited the gang as she carried out a medley of “Attention,” “Paint The Town Red” and “Demons,” donning an attractive skirtsuit scenario she slowly loosened as she danced, in the meantime unfurling a protracted blonde mane.
Best R&B went to SZA, who didn’t attend, whereas South Korea’s Stray Kids gained the award for Best Ok-pop and later carried out.
Nigeria’s Rema gained the prize for Best Afrobeats, a brand new class, for his remixed single “Calm Down” that includes Selena Gomez.
The music surpassed a billion streams on Spotify over the weekend.
“This means so much seeing Afrobeats grow this big,” Rema mentioned whereas accepting the trophy.
Anitta dropped a booty-shaking dance get together of a present with hits together with “Funk Rave,” which earned the night’s prize for Best Latin.
Colombian Karol G was additionally among the many night’s prime performers, and she or he scored a prize with Shakira for Best Collaboration.
Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion debuted their reside efficiency of “Bongos,” their newest collaboration that follows the resounding success of “WAP.”
Cardi entered the stage from the ceiling on a disco ball, her hair in unfastened waves a la Donna Summer. Megan joined her from one other stage, and after their respective verses the pair led the viewers by means of a high-energy, twerkified dance breakdown.
Pop-punk band Fallout Boy rounded out the millennial nostalgia tour that started the evening with NSYNC.
The emo rockers carried out their up to date model of Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start The Fire,” hitting main moments of the previous three many years in a revamp that features the road: “YouTube killed MTV.”
© 2023 AFP