MTV Video Music Awards | Women at the top

No controversy, but several highly entertaining moments. The MTV Video Music Awards ceremony fulfilled its promises on Sunday evening. Here’s our five-point account of a gala where women shone bright.

Marc-Andre Lemieux
The Press

Lizzo sounds the load

Over the years, we’ve learned to temper our expectations of the MTV VMAs. The last editions having left us hungry, we were rather pessimistic around 8 p.m., just before the show started. But 10 minutes later, we were convinced that a reversal of the trend was possible, so much the first number had delighted us, courtesy of an unlikely trio.

Jack Harlow kicked off the festivities by offering First Class in an airplane setting where resolutely VIP passengers had taken place, such as Avril Lavigne and Lil Nas X. The rapper was then joined by none other than Fergie. The former singer of the Black Eyed Peas, who had been lost sight of since her massacre of the American national anthem at the All-Star game of American basketball in 2018, pushed the note, with accuracy this time, on Glamoroushis 2006 solo hit. An unexpected but appreciated return.

With her usual charisma, Lizzo worked her magic with It’s About Damn Time and 2 Be Loved (Am I Ready)two irresistible earworms taken from Special, his new album released in July. It was virtually impossible to remain unmoved by the positive energy released by the American.

Nicki Minaj wall to wall

Big night for Nicki Minaj. In addition to hosting the ceremony with LL Cool J and Jack Harlow, the rapper won the Video Vanguard Award, a tribute award highlighting the “exceptional contribution” of an artist and his “significant impact”. She joins an impressive list of stars who have won this award, including Madonna, U2, Britney Spears, Beyoncé and Kanye West.

At the microphone after recovering her phone on which she had noted her thanks, the winner spoke of the late Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson before expressing the wish that we “take mental health disorders seriously”.

Wearing a candy pink wig, Nicki Minaj also offered a mega medley of the songs that elevated her to rap icon status, like Roman’s Revenge, Monster, Beez in the Trap, Moment 4 Life and Super Bass. She concluded her performance with Super Freaky Girlhis most recent number 1 in the United States, which uses a sample of the famous super freak by Rick James.

Metaverse and augmented reality

Six months after providing the musical portion of the Super Bowl with Mary J. Blige, Dr. Dre and Kendrick Lamar, Eminem and Snoop Dogg have teamed up again to deliver a singular performance inspired by the metaverse. The two rappers offered their collaboration, From the D 2 the LBC, at the heart of a virtual world that looks like a video game.

Eminem and Snoop Dogg weren’t the only artists to take advantage of technological advances. Augmented reality, which allows the integration of three-dimensional visual elements, was put forward during the number of the South Korean girl group Blackpink (it felt like a gigantic wave was flooding the floor). A giantess with an oversized behind also appeared alongside the tandem J Balvin and Ryan Castro to deliver a furious session of twerking. (There were several other butt shakes during the gala, including those from the singer of the Italian group Måneskin and Anitta, the first Brazilian artist to win a prestigious Moonman.)

Finally, we do not know what technology it was, but these distorted images during the collaboration between Marshmello and Khalid were frankly disturbing. We were convinced that a cable was badly connected behind our television.

We can also blame augmented reality for this strange astronaut with the face of Johnny Depp who floated above the audience, and who expressed more or less coherent thoughts when he returned from commercial breaks.

Taylor Swift crowned

No one watches the MTV Video Music Awards to find out the winners. But we would be remiss if we did not mention the artists who took to the stage to pick up a trophy, starting with Taylor Swift, winner of the music video of the year award for All Too Well. The singer took the opportunity to announce that she will be releasing a new album on October 21.

We should also mention the victories of Harry Styles (best album for Harry’s House), Jack Harlow (song of the summer for First Class) and Red Hot Chili Peppers (Best Rock Music Video for BlackSummer and Global Icon Award). Winner of the Entertainer of the Year award, rapper Bad Bunny performed live from Yankee Stadium.

black carpet

Held at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, the ceremony was featured not only on MTV, but also on more than a dozen channels, including Nickelodeon, The CW, CMT, Comedy Central, Logo, BET, Paramount Network, TV Land and VH1. We guess that it was a strategy to curb the erosion of the gala’s ratings, which have been in freefall for several years. Will the operation yield convincing results? Hard to say.

One thing is certain, the red (or rather black, given the ebony carpet spread out in front of the auditorium) carpet show will not break any audience records. The emptiness of the interviews was mind-boggling. Countless comments on the appearance of the finalists and several mundane questions like “Who are you looking forward to seeing tonight?” Clearly, the #AskHerMore wave launched in 2014, which promotes less superficial issues, has yet to hit MTV hosts. Among all the performances offered during this 90-minute “aperitif”, we only remember one, that of the actress and singer Dove Cameron, full of great promises. She was also crowned best new artist.