Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande and Sabrina Carpenter were among the big winners at the MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) which largely celebrated female artists at New York’s UBS Arena on Sunday evening.
Gaga collected four awards on the night including artist of the year, fending off competition from Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Bad Bunny and Kendrick Lamar who were all absent from this year’s slightly muted event.
She dedicated the award to her fiancé Michael Polansky as well her her fans aka the “Little Monsters”.
Grande and Carpenter picked up three awards each. The former won the night’s big award for best video for Brighter Days Ahead while the latter’s haul included the new gong for best pop artist.
The ceremony was hosted by a largely off-screen LL Cool J who handed out only seven awards during the telecast.
Here are some of the stand-out moments and talking points from the three-hour Long Island show, which honoured the best in the music video medium over the past 12 months.
VMAs go Gaga… then Gaga goes gigging
Gaga went into the show as the most nominated artist of the evening with 12 nods and she took home four “moon person” trophies taking her career total to 22.
This puts her in third place on the all-time ranking list, ahead of Madonna and behind only Swift and Beyoncé, who have 30 each.
When collecting the award for artist of the year award, she said: “I cannot begin to tell you what this means to me.
“Being an artist is an attempt to connect the souls of people all over the world.”
Mariah: Maximum respect (for minimum effort?)
Mariah Carey, meanwhile, won a lifetime achievement award on a night that largely celebrated female artists.
The diva scored a first victory in the R&B section for Type Dangerous before being give the special Video Vanguard award.
“This is amazing MTV, I don’t know why it took you so long!” she joked in a video message ahead of performing later in the show.
The Fantasy singer then sang a medley of her hits, with one fan noting online: “I love Mariah Carey’s voice but she’s got less energy than me on a Sunday night.”
Ricky rolls back the years
There were live performances on the night from the likes of McRae, Doja Cat and J Balvin, as well as best new artist Alex Warren and multinational girl group Katseye, who won performance of the year for Push.
But Latin icon winner Ricky Martin showed he can still live La Vida Loca with the best of them, performing a medley of his hits.
Accepting his award from Jessica Simpson, Martin said: “We just want to break boundaries, and we just want to keep music alive.”
He credited his fans with his 40-year career: “This is very simple: this is for you all,” he said. “I am addicted to your applause, that’s why I keep coming back.”
Credit: bbc.com
