By: Jordan Park

Local Editor

Broadcast across the globe on Sept. 12, The MTV Music Video Awards, also known as the VMAs, consisted of a lineup of crazy performances, charming speeches, and astounding surprise presenters. The night was one to remember. 

This year, femme and non-binary artists dominated the nominations, with the one and only Taylor Swift leading the pack. She had eleven astonishing nominations in categories ranging from Best Cinematography to Album of the Year. Just shy of Swift’s nominations was SZA, with eight from her sophomore album, SOS. Behind those two superstars, Miley Cyrus, Olivia Rodrigo, Doja Cat, and Nicki Minaji held a seven-way tie for six nominations.

These past few years have been big for Taylor Swift. Her album, Midnights, topped billboard charts for over ten consecutive weeks, received billions of streams, and broke the Spotify record for the most streamed project in a single day. Swift’s The Eras Tour has also claimed the title of the year’s highest-grossing tour. Swift has been nominated 47 times at past VMAs and has won 14 awards. She won nine of her 11 nominations this year, bringing her grand total to 25 awards, second only to Beyoncé’s 28. Beyoncé was nominated in four categories this year, three of which went to Swift.  

This year was history-making at the VMAs. For the first time in 17 years, Colombian superstar Shakira performed live at the show as the recipient of the 2023 MTV Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award. This award is the most prestigious of the year, and Shakira made history by being the first South American musician to win it. Also, for the first time, the Best Artist of the Year category did not include a male musician. This year, the VMAs welcomed 35 first-time nominees, breaking their previous record of 26 in 2022. Swift made history, being the only artist to win the Video of the Year award four times.

Among the winners in the 25 categories presented were Best New Artist for Ice Spice, Best Rock for Måneskin, Best K-pop for Stray Kids, Group of the Year for BLACKPINK, Best Hip Hop for Nicki Minaj, Best R&B for SZA and Best Lattin going to Annita among the winners. Sean “Diddy” Combs also received the honorary award of Global Icon of the Year. Olivia Rodrigo, Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion, Doja Cat, Peso Pluma, and Diddy all performed astonishingly, leaving the crowd on their feet.   

Taking place at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., Nicki Minaj hosted for the second year in a row, with presenters including Ice Spice, Madeline Cline, Emily Ratajkowski, Jared Leto, French Montana, Rita Ora, and the surprise presenter NYSNC. For a complete listing of the 2023 winners and presenters or a replay of the show, check out MTV.com.

(Sources: NBC, TeenVogue, LA Times, Forbes, Billboard, Rolling Stones, Vulture)