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| Camila Cabello |
Cabello, 21, was chosen artist of the year and won video of the year for her Latin-flavored hit “Havana,” while rapper Cardi B picked up wins for best new artist and song of summer for her dance hit “I Like It” with J Balvin and Bad Bunny.
CONGRATS TO @Camila_Cabello ❤️— Video Music Awards (@vmas) August 21, 2018
ARTIST OF THE YEAR.
AND.
VIDEO OF THE YEAR. #VMAs 💃 pic.twitter.com/umhwMcTCMm
“I can’t believe this is for me,” said Cabello, who split from girl group Fifth Harmony in late 2016 to launch a solo career.
New York rapper Cardi B, 25, made her first public appearance since giving birth to her first child in July. But the feisty “Bodak Yellow” singer failed to make good on her leading 10 nominations going into the show as fans spread their votes far and wide.
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| Post Malone |
The biggest winner of the night was Childish Gambino, the music stage name of actor Donald Glover, who came away with three for his hard-hitting video “This Is America” about black identity and police brutality.
Canadian rapper Drake, one of the most popular artists in terms of sales and streaming, came away empty-handed, as did multiple Grammy winner Bruno Mars.
Other winners of the evening included Post Malone’s “Rockstar” taking the trophy for Song of the Year and Cardi B nabbing Best New Artist. Atlanta star and creator Donald Glover’s music video for “The Is America” snagged Best Video With a Message, Best Choreography, and Best Direction.
Other Highlights Include:
- The Backstreet Boys performed at the pre-show. The guys – Howie D., Kevin Richardson, Nick Carter, AJ McLean, and Brian Littrell – took over the front of Radio City Music Hall to perform one of their new hits “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart.” Later on in the show, the guys hit the stage to present.
- Rising star Hayley Kiyoko received the Push artist of the year, beating out SZA, Khalid, Lil Xan and several others. “This validates any queer woman of color that you can follow your dreams,” Kiyoko said in an impromptu interview on the pink carpet.
- Cardi B kicked off the ceremony by cradling the VMAs signature trophy as if it were her child which led to a wet T shirt performance from Shawn Mendes as well as a Nicki Minajperformance that was very royal to go in line with her album Queen.
- Tiffany Haddish and Kevin Hart opened the show by reassuring the crowd they could express themselves freely at the show, at least more freely than an NFL player can. “We are live coast-to-coast, people. I’m looking at this like it’s game day,” Hart said. “But do not worry. For this game, you’re allowed to kneel. You can do whatever the hell you want. There’s no old white man who can stop you.” They also had some zingers for people in attendance (“Jersey Shore is back and bigger than ever, which makes sense. Without treatment, that sort of thing will keep flaring up every couple of years.”) – but Hart saved his most pointed jab President Donald Trump. “You never know what’s going to happen at the VMAs,” he said. “Bad language, people run to the bathroom and send out crazy tweets. It’s basically like a typical day at the White House. In your face, Trump! Suck it!”
- Haddish, meanwhile, mispronounced Camila Cabello’s name. “Y’all know I can’t read that good. I only speak English, and that’s mostly in Ebonics,”she quipped. Haddish then called out Cabello’s old band Fifth Harmony by saying they were at home watching instead of being invited to the show. Nicki Minaj stood up for her Fifth Harmony pal Normani and told Haddish when the rapper stepped on stage to accept an award, “Don’t be coming for Fifth Harmony because Normani is that b*tch!”
- Travis Scott performed a medley of songs off of his new album Astroworld. Travis was joined by James Blake on stage where the two performed a medley of “Stargazing,” “Stop Trying To Be God,” and “Sicko Mode.”
- Nicki Minaj performed a medley of her songs “Barbie Dreams” and “Majesty” during the nearly five-minute performance.
- Panic! at the Disco, fronted lead vocalist Brendon Urie, commanded the crowd with a stellar performance of “High Hopes.” Brendon donned a black and gold floral suit as he opened the song on a rotating platform that descended into the crowd.
- Ariana Grande performed her current single “God is a Woman” from her album Sweetener. The performance kicked off with a visual of The Last Supper featuring only women. At the end of the performance, Ari‘s mom Joan and her grandma Nonna came on stage.
- Logic and Ryan Tedder hit the stage together to perform their track “One Day.” During the performance, Logic wore a shirt that read “F**k the Wall.” He was later joined by immigrant families wearing shirts that read “We Are All Human Beings,” and held up candles.
- Jennifer Lopez was honored with the Video Vanguard Award and delivered a performance of current and past hits to remind us that she’s still Jenny from the Block. After the epic performance, the 49-year-old entertainer returned to the stage to accept the coveted award. After thanking her team and family, Jen gave her gratitude to boyfriend Alex Rodriguez. “And Alex. You’re like my twin soul. We’re like mirror images of each other,” Jen said. “My life is sweeter and better with you in it because you make me realize that every day the sky is not the limit – the universe is infinite, and so is what we can accomplish together with love and trust and understanding. There’s so much more to do – to experience – and there is no one I’d rather do it with. You’re my macho baby and I love you.”
- Madonna, who recently celebrated her 60th birthday, made an appearance to not only present the award for Video of the Year but to serve as a conduit for an Aretha Franklin tribute. She shared a story of her early days as a struggling singer and dancer on how she was inspired by Franklin and how she “belted” out “Natural Woman” at an audition. She said the point of her story was that her career wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t “for our ‘Lady of Soul’.” “Thank you for empowering all of us,” she added. “Long live the queen.”
The 2018 MTV Video Music Awards is the second ceremony since MTV changed the “Moon Man” trophy name to the gender neutral “Moon Person.”
The Winners:
Video Of The Year: Camila Cabello ft. Young Thug – “Havana”
Artist Of The Year: Camila Cabello
Song Of The Year: Post Malone ft. 21 Savage – “rockstar”
Best New Artist: Cardi B
Best Collaboration: Jennifer Lopez ft. DJ Khaled & Cardi B – “Dinero”
Push Artist Of The Year: Hayley Kiyoko
Best Pop: Ariana Grande – “No Tears Left to Cry”
Best Hip Hop: Nicki Minaj – “Chun-Li”
Best Latin: J Balvin, Willy William – “Mi Gente”
Best Dance: Avicii ft. Rita Ora – “Lonely Together”
Best Rock: Imagine Dragons – “Whatever It Takes”
Video With A Message: Childish Gambino – “This Is America”
Best Cinematography: The Carters – “Apes**t” – Cinematography by Benoit Debie
Best Direction: Childish Gambino – “This Is America” – Directed by Hiro Murai
Best Art Direction: The Carters – “Apes**t” – Art Direction by Jan Houlevigue
Best Visual Effects: Kendrick Lamar & SZA – “All The Stars” – Visual Effects by Loris Paillier for
Best Choreography: Childish Gambino – “This Is America” – Choreography by Sherrie Silver
Best Editing: N.E.R.D & Rihanna – “Lemon” – Editing by Taylor Ward
Song Of Summer: Cardi B, Bad Bunny & J Balvin – “I Like It”
Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award: Jennifer Lopez
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