With most of music industrysa国际传媒檚 top acts absent sa国际传媒� from Beyonce to Bruno Mars sa国际传媒� the MTV Video Music Awards lacked star power and felt flat, and some of the winners turned heads sa国际传媒� for the wrong reasons.
Exhibit A: Camila Cabello beat out Drake, Mars, Cardi B, Ariana Grande and Post Malone for artist of the year.
sa国际传媒淚 cansa国际传媒檛 believe this is for me,sa国际传媒� Cabello said Monday onstage.
Neither can we.
Cabello achieved the unthinkable later in the show when she took home the top prize sa国际传媒� video of the year sa国际传媒� for sa国际传媒淗avana.sa国际传媒� Cabellosa国际传媒檚 song was a No. 1 hit and of the video of the year nominees, sa国际传媒淗avanasa国际传媒� was the second-most viewed clip behind Drakesa国际传媒檚 sa国际传媒淕odsa国际传媒檚 Plan.sa国际传媒� But thatsa国际传媒檚 partly since sa国际传媒淗avanasa国际传媒� was released last year while the other videos came out this year.
It was the nightsa国际传媒檚 most shocking moment, and MTV seemed to send a message: Yousa国际传媒檙e punished for not showing up and rewarded for attending.
Grande won best pop and Post Malone took home song of the year. Drake, the most successful musician of the last year, didnsa国际传媒檛 win a single award. Beyonce, Jay-Z, Rihanna and Kendrick Lamar were restricted to technical honours like editing, art direction, cinematography and visual effects. And Gambino picked up best direction, choreography and video with a message for his heralded video sa国际传媒淭his Is America.sa国际传媒�
The show hit another low when Jennifer Lopez, Cardi B and DJ Khaled won best collaboration for sa国际传媒淒inerosa国际传媒� sa国际传媒� a song that has peaked at No. 80 on Billboardsa国际传媒檚 Hot 100 chart sa国际传媒� besting the record-setting hit sa国际传媒淢eant to Be,sa国际传媒� by Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line, and Mars and Cardi Bsa国际传媒檚 anthemic sa国际传媒淔inessesa国际传媒� remix.
Then there was the Aretha Franklin tribute, a moment Madonna made, well, all about Madonna.
The pop icon rambled and rambled about the early struggles in her career, finally informing the crowd that she sang Franklinsa国际传媒檚 sa国际传媒�(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Womansa国际传媒� at an audition that became a breakthrough for her.
sa国际传媒淣one of this would have happened without our lady of soul,sa国际传媒� she said. sa国际传媒淪he led me where I am today. sa国际传媒 want to thank you Aretha for empowering all of us. sa国际传媒� Love live the queen.sa国际传媒� It wasnsa国际传媒檛 clear if Madonna meant Franklin, or herself.
At least MTV did played a clip of Franklin, who died last week, singing sa国际传媒淚 Say A Little Prayer.sa国际传媒�
The VMAs, at Radio City Music Hall in New York, also lacked oomph with its performances throughout the night: Grande was a bore during sa国际传媒淕od Is a Woman,sa国际传媒� but added some excitement when she was joined by her mother, grandmother and cousin onstage at the end of the performance. Travis Scott, whose album is No. 1 for a second week, had strong energy while onstage, but the performance felt like it belonged more to singer James Blake, who is featured on Scottsa国际传媒檚 album and performed just as long as Scott during the segment.
There were a few highlights. Maluma, the Colombian singer who was nominated twice in the best Latin category, did have an exciting performance as he danced onstage with gyrating dancers. And Lopez started off slow sa国际传媒� Kylie Jenner and Scottsa国际传媒檚 unamused faces perfectly captured the vibe sa国际传媒� but she hit a strong stride when she sang old smashes like sa国际传媒淛enny from the Block,sa国际传媒� sa国际传媒滻sa国际传媒檓 Realsa国际传媒� sa国际传媒� where Ja Rule joined her onstage sa国际传媒� and sa国际传媒淎ll I Have,sa国际传媒� which showed the skilled dancersa国际传媒檚 vocal range.
But Lopezsa国际传媒檚 speech was more stirring than her performance: She was emotional as she thanked her children and beau Alex Rodriguez onstage when she earned the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award for lifetime achievement.
She was teary-eyed and looked at her sa国际传媒渢wo little angels,sa国际传媒� as she called them, and said, sa国际传媒淚 stand here stronger and better than ever sa国际传媒� so thank you Max and Emme.sa国际传媒� She called Rodriguez, who filmed her performance with his phone, sa国际传媒渕y twin soul.sa国际传媒�
sa国际传媒淢y life is sweeter and better with you in it,sa国际传媒� she said.
Cardi B, who gave birth last month, won three awards and said people told her she was sa国际传媒済ambling your careersa国际传媒� when she decided to become a mother.
sa国际传媒淚 had the baby, I carried the baby and now Isa国际传媒檓 still winning awards,sa国际传媒� she said.
She also seemed to take aim at Nicki Minaj, who while promoting her new album last week said other musicians have hired fans to listen to their music.
Cardi said shesa国际传媒檚 been blessed with fans sa国际传媒渢hat you cansa国际传媒檛 buy,sa国际传媒� looking into the camera and shouting an expletive.
Minaj won the first televised award sa国际传媒� best hip hop sa国际传媒� and checked comedian Tiffany Haddish for dissing girl group Fifth Harmony, now on hiatus.
After congratulating ex-Fifth Harmony member Cabello on her five nominations, Haddish said sarcastically, sa国际传媒淗i Fifth Harmony.sa国际传媒� When Minaj accepted an award moments later, she looked to Haddish and said, sa国际传媒淒onsa国际传媒檛 be coming for Fifth Harmony because Normani is that (chick).sa国际传媒� Normani currently has her first hit apart from the group with the Khalid-assisted sa国际传媒淟ove Lies.sa国际传媒�
Minaj, who has been a trending topic this week after she madly tweeted about why her new album debuted at No. 2 behind Travis Scott, also provided the first bleeped moment of the night when she told the audience to listen to her Apple Music radio show this week to hear sa国际传媒渨ho the (expletive) of the day award is going to.sa国际传媒�
There was just one political moment, orchestrated when Logic was joined onstage by young immigrants wearing T-shirts that read, sa国际传媒淲e are all human beingssa国际传媒� to protest the Trump administrationsa国际传媒檚 separation of migrant children from their parents after they illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border. The rapper, best known for the suicide prevention anthem sa国际传媒�1-800-273-8255,sa国际传媒� wore a T-shirt that read, sa国际传媒�(Expletive) the wall.sa国际传媒�
There was one posthumous winner: Avicii, who died in April, won for best dance for sa国际传媒淟onely Togethersa国际传媒� alongside Rita Ora.
Mesfin Fekadu, The Associated Press
