Kendrick Lamar, Ed Sheeran among top honorees at MTV VMAs
After taking the stage at Madison Square Garden last year in New York, the MTV Video Music Awards headed back to the West Coast to Los Angeles' fabulous Forum to hand out Moon Persons to musicians and artistes who have excelled in the music video world.
Trying her best, Katy Perry slogged her way through 'jokes' as she hosted this year's ceremony, which marked the first year where the awards were gender neutral. Kendrick Lamar's “Humble” took the top prize of Video of the Year as well as the majority of the technical accolades while Ed Sheeran walked away with Artist of the Year. Pop rock star P!nk impressed with a remixed medley of her hits before she was honoured with the coveted Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award. And in a teachable, touching, and real moment on the uncharacteristically political VMAs telecast, made a strong feminist statement about self-acceptance, self-expression, and gender equality.
Susan Bro, the mother of Charlottesville victim Heather Heyer, took the stage to present an award to all the nominees up for a new category called Best Fight Against The System, which is dedicated to socially conscious music. Other winners of the evening included Fifth Harmony, Zayne & Taylor Swift, as well as Khalid for Best New Artist, which is voted on by the fans. The Weeknd was the surprise absence on the stage, after being named as a performer for the ceremony earlier this month.
Paris Jackson marked a highlight of the evening in an impassioned speech against white supremacists, calling them jerks, and adding “… that as a nation with liberty as our slogan, that we have zero tolerance for their violence, their hatred, and their discrimination. We must resist.”
The ceremony also included the world premiere of Taylor Swift's video for her new single “Look What You Made Me Do” as well as long list of performances to fill the three-hour runtime. Performers included Lamar, Sheeran, Miley Cyrus, Rod Stewart featuring DNCE, Demi Lovato, Thirty Seconds to Mars, Fifth Harmony, Shawn Mendes, Lorde, and others.
Source: Yahoo Music
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