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Performer Sabrina Carpenter showing off one of the many awards she took home.
The “MTV Video Music Awards” took place on Sept. 7th this year, held at the UBS Arena in Elmont, New York. The VMAs have been celebrating pop culture through recognizing artists and music videos since 1984. Sticking to MTV tradition, the award presented is a person on the moon. The ceremony brought back a previous host for this year, LL Cool J alongside many people who have received rewards in the past years.
The biggest part of the broadcast is all of the performances. This year, the performers brought a higher viewership than any of the previous ceremonies in six years. Starting the live shows were Sabrina Carpenter, Alex Warren, J Balvin, and Sombr. The broadcast also featured a tribute to Ozzy Osbourne who passed away this July.
Once a year, fans are able to vote in most categories. In total, the VMAs had 25 categories this time, and some performers, like Lady Gaga, left with multiple awards including the Artist of the Year award. Song of the year went to Rose and Bruno Mars for their song “APT.” The biggest award, the Video of the Year, went to Ariana Grande for her “Brighter Days Ahead” short film featuring songs from her newest album. Junior Josephine Beltran said, “When Ariana Grande won two VMAs for her video “Brighter Days Ahead,” I was ecstatic. This video meant a lot to me, and I even voted for her multiple times.”
MTV has also presented other special lifetime awards, like the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, for performers’ impact on their contributions to the music and video industries. The winner of the important award was Mariah Carey. And new awards, the Latin Icon, and Rock the Bells Visionary Awards, were won by Ricky Martin and Busta Rhymes. They also have a program to promote a new artist or group every month called their Push Performance Program. This year, the global girl group KATSEYE took the trophy home for their single “Touch.” The ceremony brought in 42 percent more viewers than last year’s. Fans are excited to watch again next year and listen to their favorite artists until they perform again next September.