Lady Gaga and BTS take over at the predictably bizarre 2020 MTV Video Music Awards
Aux Features Music
This year’s MTV Video Music Awards held the somewhat dubious honor of being the first relatively big awards show to happen during the coronavirus pandemic (we say “first” because the pandemic is clearly not going anywhere and big awards show have to happen no matter what), and while it happened on social-distance friendly outdoor stages that looked like the cartoon sets from the Star Wars prequels, it all seemed to work about as well as you’d expect—which is to say that it all seemed a lot like the regular VMAs, but more awkward and artificial than ever. Really if shows like this have to happen, even if it involves flying artists around the country like quarantine-dodging MLB players and putting backup dancers in masks (even though it would be very easy to pre-tape performances or put singers on Zoom), future shows could learn a lot from how this went.
There were a lot of masks, certainly, but there were also a lot of hugs and people handing over Moon Person statues without visibly washing their hands beforehand. Presenters wouldn’t wear masks while reading nominees onstage, though Lady Gaga made sure to come in with a funky new thing on her face every time she won, and the requisite “here’s what’s happening backstage” shots before commercials would only sometimes show people covering their faces. Maybe everything was totally safe and nobody was ever in any coronavirus danger, but these are the kinds of things people are going to think about if more events happen like this.
As for the show itself, host Keke Palmer opened the VMAs with a short monologue that (thankfully) spent more time addressing social issues like police violence than it did with the sort “2020 sure is a lot, huh?” jokes that we all got sick of four months ago, and from there it was… well, a lot of performances. Some of them were very fresh and timely, like Maluma at a drive-in or Da Baby paying tribute to protestors with a performance that showed a dancer getting chased by cops while grabbing a box of face masks (very on-the-nose, just like your face mask should be!), but also Miley Cyrus was there, riding on a wrecking ball again, and Lady Gaga was there doing her typical Lady Gaga stuff. It’s like MTV wanted to move forward and reflect what’s happening now, but it also needed to keep one foot back in the past like a comforting blanket.
BTS’ much-hyped performance—live on-stage on the streets of New York!—was also a bit of a missed opportunity. Nothing about it seemed especially live and it was clearly on another stage with a fake background, so it could’ve easily been pre-taped or filmed anywhere else. That’s not really a problem, so to speak, but it does kind of support the argument that this whole thing didn’t really need to happen with anyone on a stage together.
Also, some awards were handed out. BTS cleaned up a bit, thanks to MTV now including the group in more general categories. Lady Gaga also won multiple times, giving her a few chances for to change her outfit and facemask, many of which seemed difficult for her to talk through (which is actually a little better than pretending like things aren’t different these days, since it makes it hard to ignore the reality of what’s going on). Gaga also received MTV’s first-ever VMA “Tricon” award, a new honor that was invented specifically for her as a nod to her work as a musical artist, an actor, and an activist. Good thing she doesn’t excel at a fourth thing, because that would be a harder word to come up with. (It’s unclear if this is a new thing or just a replacement for the Video Vanguard award, so as to further distance it from former namesake Michael Jackson, but there was no Video Vanguard winner tonight either way.)
The full list of winners is below.
Best Direction
Taylor Swift – “The Man”
Billie Eilish – “xanny”
Doja Cat – “Say So”
Dua Lipa – “Don’t Start Now”
Harry Styles – “Adore You”
The Weeknd – “Blinding Lights”
Best Collaboration
Lady Gaga with Ariana Grande – “Rain On Me”
Ariana Grande & Justin Bieber – “Stuck with U”
Black Eyed Peas ft. J Balvin – “RITMO (Bad Boys For Life)”
Ed Sheeran ft. Khalid – “Beautiful People”
Future ft. Drake – “Life Is Good”
Karol G ft. Nicki Minaj – “Tusa”
Best K-Pop
BTS – “On”
(G)I-DLE – “Oh My God”
EXO – “Obsession”
Monsta X – “SOMEONE’S SOMEONE”
Tomorrow X Together – “9 and Three Quarters (Run Away)”
Red Velvet – “Psycho” – SM Entertainment
Best Group
BTS
5 Seconds of Summer
The 1975
BLACKPINK
Chloe x Halle
CNCO
Little Mix
MONSTA X
Now United
twenty one pilots
Best Alternative
Machine Gun Kelly – “Bloody Valentine”
The 1975 – “If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know)”
All Time Low – “Some Kind Of Disaster”
FINNEAS – “Let’s Fall in Love for the Night”
Lana Del Rey – “Doin’ Time
twenty one pilots – “Level of Concern”
Video Of The Year
Billie Eilish – “everything i wanted”
Eminem ft. Juice WRLD – “Godzilla”
Future ft. Drake – “Life Is Good”
Lady Gaga with Ariana Grande – “Rain On Me”
Taylor Swift – “The Man”
The Weeknd – “Blinding Lights”
Artist Of The Year
DaBaby
Justin Bieber
Lady Gaga
Megan Thee Stallion
Post Malone
The Weeknd
Song Of The Year
Billie Eilish – “everything i wanted”
Doja Cat – “Say So”
Lady Gaga with Ariana Grande – “Rain On Me”
Megan Thee Stallion – “Savage”
Post Malone – “Circles”
Best New Artist
Doja Cat
Jack Harlow
Lewis Capaldi
Roddy Ricch
Tate McRae
YUNGBLUD
Best Pop
BTS – “On”
Halsey – “You should be sad”
Jonas Brothers – “What a Man Gotta Do”
Justin Bieber ft. Quavo – “Intentions”
Lady Gaga with Ariana Grande – “Rain On Me”
Taylor Swift – “Lover”
Best Hip-Hop
DaBaby – “BOP”
Eminem ft. Juice WRLD – “Godzilla”
Future ft. Drake – “Life Is Good”
Megan Thee Stallion – “Savage”
Roddy Ricch – “The Box”
Travis Scott – “HIGHEST IN THE ROOM”
Best Rock
blink-182 – “Happy Days”
Coldplay – “Orphans”
Evanescence – “Wasted On You”
Fall Out Boy ft. Wyclef Jean – “Dear Future Self (Hands Up)”
Green Day – “Oh Yeah!”
The Killers – “Caution”
Best Latin
Anuel AA ft. Daddy Yankee, Ozuna, Karol G & J Balvin – “China”
Bad Bunny – “Yo Perreo Sola”
Black Eyed Peas ft. Ozuna & J. Rey Soul – “MAMACITA”
J Balvin – “Amarillo”
Karol G ft. Nicki Minaj – “Tusa”
Maluma ft. J Balvin – “Qué Pena”
Best R&B
Alicia Keys – “Underdog”
Chloe x Halle – “Do It”
H.E.R. ft. YG – “Slide”
Khalid ft. Summer Walker – “Eleven”
Lizzo – “Cuz I Love You”
The Weeknd – “Blinding Lights”
Video For Good
Anderson .Paak – “Lockdown”
Billie Eilish – “all the good girls go to hell”
Demi Lovato – “I Love Me”
H.E.R. – “I Can’t Breathe”
Lil Baby – “The Bigger Picture”
Taylor Swift – “The Man” – Republic Records
Best Music Video From Home
5 Seconds of Summer – “Wildflower”
Ariana Grande & Justin Bieber – “Stuck with U”
blink-182 – “Happy Days”
Drake – “Toosie Slide”
John Legend – “Bigger Love”
twenty one pilots – “Level of Concern”
Best Quarantine Performance
Chloe & Halle – “Do It” from MTV’s Prom-athon
CNCO – Unplugged At Home
DJ D-Nice – Club MTV presents #DanceTogether
John Legend – #togetherathome Concert Series
Lady Gaga – “Smile” from One World: Together At Home
Post Malone – Nirvana Tribute
Best Cinematography
5 Seconds of Summer – “Old Me”
Camila Cabello ft. DaBaby – “My Oh My”
Billie Eilish – “all the good girls go to hell”
Katy Perry – “Harleys In Hawaii”
Lady Gaga with Ariana Grande – “Rain On Me”
The Weeknd – “Blinding Lights”
Best Art Direction
A$AP Rocky – “Babushka Boi”
Dua Lipa – “Physical”
Harry Styles – “Adore You”
Miley Cyrus – “Mother’s Daughter”
Selena Gomez – “Boyfriend”
Taylor Swift – “Lover”
Best Visual Effects
Billie Eilish – “all the good girls go to hell”
Demi Lovato – “I Love Me”
Dua Lipa – “Physical”
Harry Styles – “Adore You”
Lady Gaga with Ariana Grande – “Rain On Me”
Travis Scott – “HIGHEST IN THE ROOM”
Best Choreography
BTS – “On”
CNCO & Natti Natasha – “Honey Boo”
DaBaby – “BOP”
Dua Lipa – “Physical”
Lady Gaga with Ariana Grande – “Rain On Me”
Normani – “Motivation”
Best Editing
Halsey – “Graveyard”
James Blake – “Can’t Believe the Way We Flow”
Lizzo – “Good As Hell”
Miley Cyrus – “Mother’s Daughter”
ROSALÍA – “A Palé”
The Weeknd – “Blinding Lights”
Song Of The Summer
BLACKPINK “How You Like That”
Cardi B ft. Megan Thee Stallion – “WAP”
DaBaby ft. Roddy Ricch “Rockstar”
DJ Khaled ft. Drake “Popstar”
Doja Cat – “Say So”
Dua Lipa – “Break My Heart”
Harry Styles –“Watermelon Sugar”
Jack Harlow – “Whats Poppin”
Lil Baby ft. 42 Dugg – “We Paid”
Megan Thee Stallion ft. Beyoncé – “Savage (Remix)”
Miley Cyrus – “Midnight Sky”
Pop Smoke ft. 50 Cent & Roddy Ricch – “The Woo”
SAINt JHN – “Roses”
Saweetie – “Tap In”
Taylor Swift – “cardigan”
The Weeknd – “Blinding Lights”
33 Comments
Best Rock nominees are blink-182, Coldplay, Evanescence, Fall Out Boy, Green Day, and The Killers? Am I in high school again??
HAHA! Not one award for Billie Ellish. I guess the world finally realized that
Billie Ellish is a tweaking no talent meth head that that uses whisper
autotune to curse the world with her terrible music. I think she is so
depressed because her daddy and brother touched her in her no-no place.
She should do music a favor and kill herself.
YER IN HIGH SCHOOL AGAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN!! NO RECESS!!!
I saw that and got really, really confused. lol. Like…there is nobody new? I never listen to the radio anymore, so I wanted to watch to see what the kids are into these days. I was pretty pleased I knew about half of who I saw, of course that ratio was definitely helped by Gaga showing up every 10 minutes.
Sadly these are the newest rock acts we have now.
Reading that list of nominees was very much a “WHAT YEAR IS IT” moment.
It’s still 2004, didn’t anyone tell you?
I look at the bands in this category and can only assume it’s a bone they throw to the Olds.
I keep forgetting that the Killers have been around for 15+ years now. And that I haven’t listened to any new music from them since 2010.
I actually saw the Killers on their first tour in a relatively small venue – so early in their career that they played all of “Hot Fuss” as their first set and repeated most of it for their second and literally no one in the crowd cared and just kept singing along because “Somebody Told Me” and “Mr. Brightside” still slap. The new record “Imploding the Mirage” is very good (IMO YMMV etc. etc. etc.) and scratches that arena rock/soaring melodies/power chord/sparkly synth itch very effectively and also has a track featuring kd lang.
I’m gonna have to look it up. I was going through a few life/work changes when Hot Fuss came out and it was kinda my soundtrack for late 2004-2005. The videos from their performance at (Glastonbury? I think) in the mid-00’s are phenomenal. I’ve never had any desire to go to any large festival like that but I love how just watching the crowd, you can still feel the energy.
Ooh, I’ll have to check those out. Hopefully they won’t remind me that a) I am old and b) we’re not gonna have large-scale live music back anytime soon…. Not that I don’t share your “meh” about large festivals (I’ve been to one multi-stage all-day sort of event and that was more than enough for me) but some of the large arena shows I’ve seen have been near-transcendent experiences because of that energy.
HAHA! Not one award for Billie Ellish. I guess the world finally realized that Billie Ellish is a tweaking no talent meth head that that uses whisper autotune to curse the world with her terrible music. I think she is so depressed because her daddy and brother touched her in her no-no place. She should do music a favor and kill herself.
This is bullshit! I watch MTV for endless repeats of Ridiculousness, not the VMA’s!
Hey AVClub! The fake Emilio Lizardo is back in the grays saying hateful shit. Time to ban him again.
Thanks for the head’s up will be on the lookout…
I just flagged him, I encourage everyone to do the same.
He’s doggedly persistent- I’ll give him that.
Grandma, what’s an MTVs?
I don’t even OWN an MTVs!Alternate joke: *MsTV
Literally though, what is it? I haven’t had cable tv in over a decade. Haven’t had a chance to watch it on someone else’s tv in around 7 years. I haven’t heard of any new TV shows becoming hits for them in a really long time. So wtf IS mtv these days? What do they play? How do they fill their airspace?
I know I’m old now, because I have no frigging clue why BTS is so popular. They seem like they’re just, I dunno… like a Teenybop Korean NKotB, but with more members? Of course, to be fair I had no idea why NKotB was popular, either.
It is more about the entire group as a product rather than just about the music. Rolling Stone
That Rolling Stone article is a very short but good read that puts them in a lot more cultural context. In summary though, they are much more politically forward than other celebrities/kpop groups in South Korea, both as individuals and as a group in their music. (And if you aren’t aware, boy band and girl band groups in countries like South Korea and Japan are ENORMOUSLY popular still and a whole industry and cultural mainstay. It’s fascinating and sad also what goes on within it. Worth learning about.)Beyond that though, I just want to add if you didn’t understand the boy bands of your time period either than you just need to accept that, to a certain extent, these groups aren’t for you. They aren’t targeted towards your gender, sexual orientation, or age group (generally speaking of course, music is for everyone). But that doesn’t mean they don’t have value or cultural importance, even if you can’t see it or don’t understand it.Just a gentle reminder that things that young women enjoy are often devalued in society and the idea of “why is this popular?” is one they are forced to deal with a lot. When people question the things adult men like it’s generally from a critiquing viewpoint, not a “why does this even exist” one. Just food for thought.
Subjectively & objectively speaking it’s because their catalogue is full of bops hahaBut actually, kpop is a finely tuned industry to crank out pop-y goodness, and BTS is its apotheosis. They’re fantastic dancers (even by kpop standards) and rappers (especially by kpop standards), and they have a strong vocal line. They play a larger role in writing their songs than most kpop groups, so they have creative control, and they’re all very attractive and kind and humble.
While idol pop (Korean pop includes a lot of different formats, not just ‘kpop’) is considered “teeny bop” in SK as well, much of it is way more than that. In the current generation Mamamoo, Stray Kids, Day 6 are all outside of typical “idols” and all have a lot of creative control. The first kpop group, Seo Taji and the Boys, was a hip hop group with conscious lyrics. As are many of BTS’s songs, especially their early work. Don’t let their pop hits fool you. BTS and to a less extent all the kpop groups have fan bases that vary widely in demographics, especially among international fans. There’s a lot of dance, high production values, and interesting exploration of pop structure in idol that appeals to older fans. So even though they were put together as something that would appeal mostly to young people, especially girls, they’re not really a “teenybop Korean NKoTB” at all, and they’re not alone in this. A good primer on what kpop really is:
Maybe everything was totally safe
Sounds more like the more and more common Let’s pretend we’re taking precautions and hope the virus won’t notice situations
I actually know pretty much everyone in these nominees. (Though wtf CNCO is, I could not say.) It’s really kind of sad, considering I’m 35 years old and literally never leave my house. What a boring, predictable, lineup this was. More mainstream than the Grammys, ffs.Also, does anyone know if there are some groups/individuals coming to save us from that “rock” category any time soon? Holy hell, that is dismal. Words have meanings, y’all. You can’t just shove Coldplay wherever it most suits you at any given time. “Rock,” my fat ass.
It is weird that they piped in applause for the Gaga performance. Her mask was cool and the intro was interesting. I also liked taking advantage of the fact that it was pre-taped to do things like change clothes. However, that choreography was not good. It seemed like Gaga was just flailing her arms around.
Best Alternative Machine Gun Kelly – “Bloody Valentine”Machine Gun Kelly is considered “alternative” now, eh?
Didn’t know he gave up crime to have a career in music. Also didn’t he die decades ago.
I haven’t watched an MTV Video Music Awards show since, probably, the early 90s. However, they sure tried to get everyone to watch it. It was on at least 8 different channels:-Paramount
-CMT
-MTV
-MTV2
-VH1
-Pop
-Comedy Central
-TV Land. Probably some others. No worries, though, I continued my streak of missing it and stuck with the Stanley Cup playoffs.