The 2023 VMA Awards were held on September 12th at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Artists arrived dressed to the nines for the annual celebration and awards dinner. Red carpet shots included Demi Lavato in a stylish floor length black leather jacket; Cardi B. wearing a dress covered in silver hair clips and pearls; Olivia Rodrigo in a beautiful shimmery silver floor-length dress; Doja Cat in a dress consisting of only spider webs; and many other celebrities with one of a kind looks (Vanityfair.com).
The MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) started in 1984 and were held at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall. The annual awards are typically hosted in either New York City or Los Angeles, but they have also been held in Las Vegas.
The award given for each category is an astronaut on the moon, the earliest pictorial representation of the VMAs. In 2017, Chris McCarthy, the president of MTV, renamed the statues “Moon Person” after they had been called “moonmen” since ‘80s (Wikipedia.org). This year, Taylor Swift dominated the VMAs and took home nine awards out of the 11 she was nominated for. She won Artist of the Year, Show of the Year for her ongoing billion dollar Eras tour, Video of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Pop Artist, Best Direction, Best Cinematography, and Best Visual Effects all for her hit song “Anti-Hero”. She also took home Album of the Year for Midnights (nbcnews.com).
This makes Taylor the second highest awarded artist for the VMAs, with a total of 23 VMAs and 58 nominations. Beyonce still holds onto number one with 30 VMAs and 89 nominations. Taylor Swift also holds the title of second highest number of VMA wins in one night; number one is Peter Gabriel, who won 10 awards in 1987 (theguardian.com).
English teacher Ms. Davanzo did not watch the VMAs but read articles about the awards and the noteworthy events. She says, “It looks like Taylor Swift swept most of the major categories–I’m not surprised! “Anti-Hero” was such an earworm that even my dad was asking me who sang it.” Taylor Swift continues to become one of the most popular artists of this time with her 10 albums, hundreds of songs, and billion dollar tours. Ms. Davanvo adds, “That said, though, if the question is whether or not the VMAs bring awareness to up-and-coming artists, it seems like artists essentially already have to be well known to have a chance at winning most of those awards. This excludes, obviously, the “Best New Artist” Award, which I think is a great way to help newcomers shine.” The “Best New Artist” Award was given to Ice Spice, who was featured in Taylor Swift’s song, “Karma” (MTV.com).
“I thought it was insane how many VMAs Taylor Swift got,” said sophomore Dylan Epstein. “That is such an accomplishment and an amazing moment for her. She totally deserves all of the awards she got.”
The VMAs were definitely a memorable moment for Taylor Swift and the rest of the awarded artists. All the new music and nominees for the awards got well-deserved recognition, and fans experienced an entertaining and satisfying show.
