{"id":399265,"date":"2023-09-15T00:19:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-15T00:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=399265"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T14:00:00","slug":"Taylor-Swift-and-her-Anti-Hero-top-MTV-VMAs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/Taylor-Swift-and-her-Anti-Hero-top-MTV-VMAs\/","title":{"rendered":"Taylor Swift and her ‘Anti-Hero’ top MTV VMAs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Taylor Swift took home the top prize at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards for her \u201cAnti-Hero\u201d music video on a night full of surprises.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is unbelievable. The fact that this is a fan-voted award means so much to me,\u201d Swift said in her acceptance speech. \u201cI can\u2019t believe it was a year ago that I announced the \u2018Midnights\u2019 album.\u201d<\/p>\n

The show, held at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, was Swift\u2019s from nearly the beginning. The night\u2019s first presenters were none other than NSYNC, who reunited to hand the best pop video award to Swift.<\/p>\n

In coordinating suits, Justin Timberlake, Joey Fatone, Lance Bass, Chris Kirkpatrick and JC Chasez shared the stage with Swift. Bass handed her a friendship bracelet, just as fans do at the superstar\u2019s shows. \u201cYou\u2019re pop personified,\u201d she told the group.<\/p>\n

The night\u2019s top nominee later returned to the stage to pick up the song of the year trophy for \u201cAnti-Hero\u201d and also the best direction award.<\/p>\n

Swift took home nine of the 11 awards she was up for, including artist of the year in a category made up entirely of women nominees for the first time in VMA history.<\/p>\n

Her \u201cKarma (Remix)\u201d collaborator, Ice Spice, won best new artist. \u201cOh my God, this is so cool,\u201d she said. \u201cI just want to thank my munchkins.\u201d<\/p>\n

New music was abundant throughout the show. Host Nicki Minaj performed her latest single, the dreamy \u201cLast Time I Saw You\u201d before jumping into a brand-new tease of a fiery new trap cut from her highly-anticipated \u201cPink Friday 2\u201d album.<\/p>\n

\u201cI ain\u2019t nothing like you,\u201d she raps, \u201cI\u2019m on a whole other level.\u201d<\/p>\n

As much as Swift dominated, the VMAs centered on music\u2019s global power. K-pop boy band Tomorrow X Together and Brazilian superstar Anitta premiered their new collaboration, the glossy retro-pop of \u201cBack for More.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another K-pop group, Stray Kids, brought \u201cS-Class\u201d to the stage, regional Mexicana star Peso Pluma performed \u201cLady Gaga\u201d and reggaetonera Karol G delivered \u201cOki Doki\u201d and \u201cT\u00e1 OK (remix),\u201d<\/p>\n

Comedian Tiffany Haddish presented the award for \u201cBest Afrobeats\u201d in the category\u2019s inaugural year, given to Rema and Selena Gomez for their massive hit \u201cCalm Down.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAfrica in the house!\u201d Rema started his acceptance speech. \u201cShout out to Fela (Kuti) who started Afrobeats in the first place\u2026and I want to give a big shout out to the next generation of Afrobeats.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gomez stood a few feet from the microphone but jumped in when Rema asked her to, telling the crowd: \u201cI want to send all of my love to Nigeria, thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Colombian icon Shakira received the Video Vanguard Award and performed an incredible bilingual medley of her decades of hits \u2014 \u201cShe Wolf,\u201d her collaboration with Rauw Alejandro \u201cTe Felicito,\u201d the viral, record-breaking \u201cShakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53\u201d with Bizarrap among them \u2014 in a set introduced by her \u201cHips Don\u2019t Lie\u201d collaborator Wyclef Jean.<\/p>\n

\u201cMTV, thank you for being such a big part of my career since I was only 18 years old,\u201d Shakira said, also thanking her parents and her children, who she brought to the show.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is for you my people, my Latin American people, inside and outside this country,\u201d she said, switching to Spanish. \u201cThank you for inspiring me and for injecting me with so much strength and so much desire to move forward, I love you so much.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also took home the award for best collaboration for \u201cTQG,\u201d her song with Karol G. The duo gave their acceptance speech entirely in Spanish. \u201cIf collaborating with the legendary Shakira had been impressive, having an award with her is something from another planet,\u201d Karol G exclaimed.<\/p>\n

Diddy received the Global Icon Award from Mary J. Blige and his daughter Chance Combs. He is third recipient of the award, following the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 2022 and the Foo Fighters in 2021.<\/p>\n

The legendary rapper also performed at the VMAs for the first time since 2005. It was an incredible collection of some of his biggest hits like \u201cBad Boy for Life\u201d and \u201cMo Money Mo Problems,\u201d joined by some of his greatest collaborators: Yung Miami, Keyshia Cole, and sweetest of all, his son, King Combs.<\/p>\n

\u201cLove wins, y\u2019all, love wins,\u201d he started his speech. \u201cI started out as a paper boy, I didn\u2019t know I was going to be here.\u201d He then led the audience with a chant of \u201cbad boy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is for 30 years,\u201d he continued. \u201cI pray to God that you get to do what you love for 30 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lil Wayne opened the show with a performance of his new single \u201cKat Food.\u201d Immediately afterward, Olivia Rodrigo brought her \u201cVampire\u201d music video set to the stage, before launching into her cheeky pop-punk single \u201cGet Him Back!\u201d<\/p>\n

Between the two tracks, snippets of her sold singles played aloud \u2013 at the same moment, she was rushed from the staged in a pre-planned \u201cmalfunction,\u201d further mirroring the \u201cVampire\u201d video and symbolizing a move from her first record to her second.<\/p>\n

The live sets were many: Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion brought \u201cBongos\u201d to life with big choreography; Demi Lovato played a rock \u2018n\u2019 roll medley of her biggest hits: \u201cHeart Attack,\u201d into \u201cSorry Not Sorry,\u201d \u201cCool for the Summer\u201d before the best K-pop award was given to Stray Kids.<\/p>\n

Later, Anitta would win the \u201cbest Latin\u201d award for the second year in a row, delivering one of the more endearing acceptance speeches of the night \u2014 \u201cI wanna thank myself,\u201d she laughed. \u201cBecause I work so hard!\u201d<\/p>\n

French Montana used his position as best R&B presenter alongside Ashanti to draw attention to Morocco earthquake relief, spotlighting a relief fund that he said he would personally donate to. Montana grew up in Morocco.<\/p>\n

Near the end of the show, the MTV Video Music Awards celebrated 50 years of hip-hop with a star-studded finale performance. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five started with \u201cThe Message,\u201d which led to Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick\u2019s \u201cThe Show.\u201d Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne, LL Cool J and DMC of Run-DMC closed it out\u2014an energetic celebration of a multigenerational culture.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Taylor Swift accepts the award for video of the year for \u201cAnti-Hero\u201d during the MTV Video Music Awards on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023, at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.<\/p>\n

-AP
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