Taylor Swift On a night of surprises, Taylor Swift won the top honor at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards with her “Anti-Hero” music video.
Taylor Swift This is incredible. It means so much to me that this award was chosen by the fans, Taylor Swift remarked in her acceptance speech. “I can’t believe I announced the ‘Midnights’ record a year ago.
Taylor Swift owned the performance, which took place at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, almost from the start. The first presenters of the evening were none other than NSYNC, who came together to present Swift with the prize for best pop video.
Taylor Swift was joined on stage by Justin Timberlake, Joey Fatone, Lance Bass, Chris Kirkpatrick, and JC Chasez, all of whom were dressed in matching outfits. Taylor Swift received a friendship bracelet from Bass, just like at the superstar’s concerts. “You’re pop personified,” Taylor Swift said to the group.
The top nominee for the evening subsequently came back on stage to get the song of the year trophy for “Anti-Hero” as well as the best director trophy.
Taylor Swift won nine of the 11 awards Taylor Swift was nominated for, including artist of the year in the first all-female category in VMA history.
Ice Spice, with whom Taylor Swift collaborated on “Karma (Remix),” won best new artist. She exclaimed, “Oh my God, this is so cool.” I simply want to thank my little ones.
The entire event was filled with brand-new songs. Before launching into a brand-new tease of a scorching new trap track off her highly-anticipated “Pink Friday 2” album, host Nicki Minaj sang her most recent hit, the dreamy “Last Time I Saw You.”
She raps, “I’m on a whole other level. I ain’t nothing like you.
Despite Taylor Swift’s dominance, the VMAs focused on the power of music on a global scale. Tomorrow X Together, a K-pop boy band, and Anitta, a Brazilian diva, debuted their brand-new song, the glossy retro-pop of “Back for More.”
While regional Mexican sensation Peso Pluma sang “Lady Gaga” and reggae singer Karol G played “Oki Doki” and “Tá OK (remix),” another K-pop group, Stray Kids, took “S-Class” to the stage.
In the first year for the category, comedian Tiffany Haddish gave Rema and Selena Gomez the “Best Afrobeats” award for their huge single “Calm Down.”
“Africa is in the house!” Rema’s acceptance speech had already begun. I want to send a big shout out to the upcoming generation of Afrobeats as well as Fela (Kuti), who is credited with starting afrobeats in the first place.
Gomez was standing a few feet away from the microphone when Rema invited her to speak, but she quickly went up and said, “I want to send all of my love to Nigeria, thank you.”
Colombian icon Shakira accepted the Video Vanguard Award and performed an amazing bilingual medley of her decades-spanning hits, including “She Wolf,” her duet with Rauw Alejandro, “Te Felicito,” and the viral, world-record-breaking “Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions.
Shakira thanked MTV for playing such a significant role in her career since she was just 18 years old. She also thanked her parents and the children she brought to the show.
She then spoke in Spanish, “This is for you my people, my Latin American people, inside and outside of this country.” “I love you so much, thank you for being my inspiration and for giving me such strength and such a strong desire to move forward.”
The song “TQG,” which she co-wrote with Karol G, also won her the prize for best collaboration. The pair spoke exclusively in Spanish during their acceptance speech. Having an award with the renowned Shakira is something from another world, KarolG said. “If working with the legendary Shakira had been impressive.”
Mary J. Blige and Chance Combs, who is Diddy’s daughter, presented him with the Global Icon Award. After the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 2022 and the Foo Fighters in 2021, he is the award’s third recipient.
For the first time since 2005, the renowned rapper also gave a performance at the VMAs. It was a wonderful compilation of some of his greatest songs, including “Bad Boy for Life” and “Mo Money Mo Problems,” and featured some of his best collaborators, including Keyshia Cole, Yung Miami, and, sweetest of all, King Combs, his son.
He began his address by saying, “Love wins, y’all, love wins.” I was a paper boy at first; I had no idea I would end up here. Then he led the crowd in chanting “badboy.”
He said, “This is for thirty years.” “I ask God for 30 years for you to do what you love.”
Lil Wayne performed his brand-new song “Kat Food” to start the night. Then Olivia Rodrigo appeared on stage with the set from her “Vampire” music video before starting her cheeky pop-punk song “Get Him Back!”
The transition from her first record to her second was symbolized by the playing of excerpts from her sold singles in between the two tracks. At the same time, she was hustled off the stage in a preplanned “malfunction,” which further mirrored the “Vampire” film.
There were other live performances, including Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion bringing “Bongos” to life with elaborate choreography and Demi Lovato performing a rock ‘n’ roll medley of her biggest hits, including “Heart Attack,” “Sorry Not Sorry,” and “Cool for the Summer” before Stray Kids were announced as the winners of the best K-pop award.
Later, Anitta would receive the “best Latin” prize for the second consecutive year, giving one of the evening’s cutest acceptance speeches: “I wanna thank myself,” she joked. Why? “Because I work so hard!”
In addition to Ashanti, French Montana utilized his position as the best R&B presenter to highlight a relief fund for the Moroccan disaster and pledged to give directly to it. Montano was raised in Morocco.
The MTV Video Music Awards concluded the program with a star-studded performance to honor hip-hop’s 50th anniversary. “The Message,” the opening track of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, brought on Doug E. Fresh and Slick. The “Show” with Rick. An upbeat celebration of a multigenerational culture was concluded by Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne, LL Cool J, and DMC of Run-DMC.