Of Course, Lady Gaga Singlehandedly Saved the VMAS
Lady Gaga dominated an unusual year for the MTV Video Music Awards, winning five awards during a strange and disconcerting evening.
The singer, who led the evening with nine nominations and wore a series of masks throughout the night, accepted the awards for Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Photography and Best Collaboration for Rain on Me and then the inaugural Tricon Award, which recognizes an artist who is very experienced in three or more disciplines.
"Just because we separate immediately and the culture may seem less alive somehow, I know there's a Renaissance coming," he said during his final acceptance speech. "Stay safe, say what you think, and I might look like a broken record, but wear a mask: it's a symbol of respect."
VMAs have been the main awards broadcast since the coronavirus pandemic stopped production in America. The hybrid program blended video acceptances, audience-less performances and an unidentifiable, otherworldly studio base in New York City and relied heavily on the video effects and enthusiasm of the stars.
An exuberant Keke Palmer hosted an outdoor set somewhere near the New York Building ("They took me to the top of every building," he joked) in front of an "audience" whose reality was hard to discern (traces of the "crowd noise" were almost certainly used).
The multi-track guest began the ceremony with a prerecorded video in honor of Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman, who died Friday at the age of 43 after a previously unknown four-year struggle with cancer.
Boseman was "a true hero," said Palmer, "not just on screen, but in everything he did.
Palmer, whose video begged cops to focus during the l. un. protests went viral, also addressed Jacob Blake's police shooting in Kenosha, Wisconsin. "We must continue the fight to end systemic racism," he said.
"This is our time to be the change we want to see."
Other winners included The Weeknd for best video for Blinding Lights, Taylor Swift for best director for the person, Qué Pena by Maluma for best Latin, Savage by Megan Thee Stallion for best hip-hop, On by BTS for best pop and Doja Cat for best. new artist.
Invitations to unity and racial justice echoed throughout the evening - rapper DaBaby performed on a cruiser with the sign Stop Killing Us, R&B star HER won the best video permanently for her song I Can't Breathe - during a show that continued last year's celebration of Latin music as the dominant cultural force. The evening saw two Spanish performances by Colombian star Maluma and then Latin group CNCO, both in a drive-in theater in Brooklyn, also as a retro-themed version of Dynamite of K-pop superstars BTS, whose music video set the record for last week for many YouTube views within 24 hours.
But the most important line was the continuing pandemic, so the show spoke directly about the tragedy and resilience of the last six months: Palmer introduced a segment during which frontline health care workers danced and sang, cameras cut frequently behind the scenes to reveal masked stars walking recorded distances. guidelines.
Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande and their backup dancers wore masks to perform Rain on Me. MTV introduced two distinctly 2020 categories: the best home music video (Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande for Cursed with U) and the best quarantine performance (Latin supergroup CNCO for De Cero / Honey Boo) - as a nod to strange times.
Perhaps nothing captured the tone of the ceremony as it did in the last five minutes, when The Weeknd accepted the key award of the evening for best video with a quick and subdued speech - "as I said, difficult to celebrate, so I'm just coming to say: justice for Jacob Blake and justice for Breonna Taylor" - which quickly ended in the final performance of the Black Eyed Peas. The band ended the evening with I've Got a sense of 2010, an ode to high times.
"I know it's hard immediately, but we have to keep the love alive," said frontman of the band Will.i.am, adding why the last words of the evening: "Wakanda forever. Black lives matter. "
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