The American singer Taylor Swift won this Sunday in New Jersey (early Sunday to Monday in Spain) at the Video Music Awards (VMA), the oldest music awards on the MTV network. She has done it with his song All Too Well, which has received the coveted award for best video clip of the year as well as the distinctions for best long-form video and best direction.
The prizes of this year’s contest, delivered in a packed Prudential Center, in the town of Newark (New Jersey), have been widely distributed with three joint statuettes for Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow for their version of the song Industry Baby, and another three for Harry Styles.
who did not attend the event, who has won the award for best album of the year for Harry’s House, while his song As It Was has been chosen as the best pop video clip and best cinematography. Harlow has also won a solo statuette for First Class, chosen as the best song of the summer.
Swift, who appeared in an elegant minidress with silver rhinestone chains by the designer Oscar de la Renta, announced during the award ceremony that she will release a new album on October 21 called Midnights. In this work she will tell thirteen stories of sleepless nights throughout her life. The American, in her speech, praised the work of women behind the cameras and highlighted that this year, for the first time, four female directors of video clips had been nominated.
Nicki Minaj, one of the protagonists of the night
Rapper Nicki Minaj, 17-time VMA nominee and five-time winner for hits like Anaconda, Chun-Li or Hot Girl Summer, became one of the great stars of the evening in which she received the honorary Michael Jackson Video Vanguard award , in addition to the statuette for the best hip hop video for his song Do We Have a Problem?
They also won the Michael Jackson award other years Justin Timberlake, Beyoncé, Kanye West, Rihanna, Pink and Jennifer Lopez.
But, beyond the awards, Minaj’s personality prevailed at the ceremony, in which she not only starred in a performance in which she raised the spirits of the public, but also acted as master of ceremonies alongside rappers LL Cool J and Jack Harlow.
Bad Bunny during his performance at the MTV Awards at Yankee Stadium in New York. Roy Rochelin (AFP)
In addition to the well-known awards for best Latin music video, which went to the song Envolver, by Brazilian Anitta, and Korean, which Lisa won for Lalisa, Latin rhythms and K-pop (Korean pop) sounded strong in the Prudential Center and nearby Yankee Stadium, who also joined the party.
Anitta, who highlighted the distinction for the first time of a Brazilian artist at the VMAs, made the audience dance, where Colombians J Balvin and Ryan Castro and Puerto Rican Bad Bunny also performed.
Bunny won the award for best artist of the year and in a brief speech he made a plea in favor of Puerto Rico, its culture and its language.
“I always believed, from the beginning, that I could become great, that I could become one of the best singers in the world without having to change my culture, my language, my language, my jargon; I am Benito Antonio Martínez, from Puerto Rico to the whole world”, said the artist.
Likewise, the work Saoko, by Rosalía, was distinguished with the award for best edition. K-pop won three awards, beyond the one reserved for this category: Push Performance, which went to Seventeen; best metaverse video, which went to Blackpink, and best group of the year, which BTS won.
Absences and extravagances on the red carpet
The red carpet of these awards, born in 1984, was marked by the absences and outfits of Lizzo and Lil Nas X. The artist, who won the award in the Video for Good category for her song About Damn Time and who converted her personal process of acceptance and self-confidence in part of her career, she was one of the first to make her appearance on the red carpet in a striking and voluminous blue-black dress by Jean Paul Gaultier.
The singer Lizzo, on the red carpet of the awards. Jeremy Smith (Europe Press)
Lil Nas X walked the carpet wearing a striking black feathered crown paired with a carnival-inspired skirt designed by Harris Reed. The absences of some of the nominees were also striking. In addition to Styles, Billie Eilish, who had six nominations and her work Happier than Ever, won the award for best song of the year. The evening also missed the presence of Olivia Rodrigo, who had four nominations and who last year won the award for new artist, which in this edition went to Dove Cameron.