With most of music industry鈥檚 top acts absent 鈥� from Beyonce to Bruno Mars 鈥� the MTV Video Music Awards lacked star power and felt flat, and some of the winners turned heads 鈥� for the wrong reasons.
Exhibit A: Camila Cabello beat out Drake, Mars, Cardi B, Ariana Grande and Post Malone for artist of the year.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 believe this is for me,鈥� Cabello said Monday onstage.
Neither can we.
Cabello achieved the unthinkable later in the show when she took home the top prize 鈥� video of the year 鈥� for 鈥淗avana.鈥� Cabello鈥檚 song was a No. 1 hit and of the video of the year nominees, 鈥淗avana鈥� was the second-most viewed clip behind Drake鈥檚 鈥淕od鈥檚 Plan.鈥� But that鈥檚 partly since 鈥淗avana鈥� was released last year while the other videos came out this year.
It was the night鈥檚 most shocking moment, and MTV seemed to send a message: You鈥檙e punished for not showing up and rewarded for attending.
Grande won best pop and Post Malone took home song of the year. Drake, the most successful musician of the last year, didn鈥檛 win a single award. Beyonce, Jay-Z, Rihanna and Kendrick Lamar were restricted to technical honours like editing, art direction, cinematography and visual effects. And Gambino picked up best direction, choreography and video with a message for his heralded video 鈥淭his Is America.鈥�
The show hit another low when Jennifer Lopez, Cardi B and DJ Khaled won best collaboration for 鈥淒inero鈥� 鈥� a song that has peaked at No. 80 on Billboard鈥檚 Hot 100 chart 鈥� besting the record-setting hit 鈥淢eant to Be,鈥� by Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line, and Mars and Cardi B鈥檚 anthemic 鈥淔inesse鈥� remix.
Then there was the Aretha Franklin tribute, a moment Madonna made, well, all about Madonna.
The pop icon rambled and rambled about the early struggles in her career, finally informing the crowd that she sang Franklin鈥檚 鈥�(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman鈥� at an audition that became a breakthrough for her.
鈥淣one of this would have happened without our lady of soul,鈥� she said. 鈥淪he led me where I am today. 鈥 want to thank you Aretha for empowering all of us. 鈥� Love live the queen.鈥� It wasn鈥檛 clear if Madonna meant Franklin, or herself.
At least MTV did played a clip of Franklin, who died last week, singing 鈥淚 Say A Little Prayer.鈥�
The VMAs, at Radio City Music Hall in New York, also lacked oomph with its performances throughout the night: Grande was a bore during 鈥淕od Is a Woman,鈥� but added some excitement when she was joined by her mother, grandmother and cousin onstage at the end of the performance. Travis Scott, whose album is No. 1 for a second week, had strong energy while onstage, but the performance felt like it belonged more to singer James Blake, who is featured on Scott鈥檚 album and performed just as long as Scott during the segment.
There were a few highlights. Maluma, the Colombian singer who was nominated twice in the best Latin category, did have an exciting performance as he danced onstage with gyrating dancers. And Lopez started off slow 鈥� Kylie Jenner and Scott鈥檚 unamused faces perfectly captured the vibe 鈥� but she hit a strong stride when she sang old smashes like 鈥淛enny from the Block,鈥� 鈥滻鈥檓 Real鈥� 鈥� where Ja Rule joined her onstage 鈥� and 鈥淎ll I Have,鈥� which showed the skilled dancer鈥檚 vocal range.
But Lopez鈥檚 speech was more stirring than her performance: She was emotional as she thanked her children and beau Alex Rodriguez onstage when she earned the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award for lifetime achievement.
She was teary-eyed and looked at her 鈥渢wo little angels,鈥� as she called them, and said, 鈥淚 stand here stronger and better than ever 鈥� so thank you Max and Emme.鈥� She called Rodriguez, who filmed her performance with his phone, 鈥渕y twin soul.鈥�
鈥淢y life is sweeter and better with you in it,鈥� she said.
Cardi B, who gave birth last month, won three awards and said people told her she was 鈥済ambling your career鈥� when she decided to become a mother.
鈥淚 had the baby, I carried the baby and now I鈥檓 still winning awards,鈥� she said.
She also seemed to take aim at Nicki Minaj, who while promoting her new album last week said other musicians have hired fans to listen to their music.
Cardi said she鈥檚 been blessed with fans 鈥渢hat you can鈥檛 buy,鈥� looking into the camera and shouting an expletive.
Minaj won the first televised award 鈥� best hip hop 鈥� and checked comedian Tiffany Haddish for dissing girl group Fifth Harmony, now on hiatus.
After congratulating ex-Fifth Harmony member Cabello on her five nominations, Haddish said sarcastically, 鈥淗i Fifth Harmony.鈥� When Minaj accepted an award moments later, she looked to Haddish and said, 鈥淒on鈥檛 be coming for Fifth Harmony because Normani is that (chick).鈥� Normani currently has her first hit apart from the group with the Khalid-assisted 鈥淟ove Lies.鈥�
Minaj, who has been a trending topic this week after she madly tweeted about why her new album debuted at No. 2 behind Travis Scott, also provided the first bleeped moment of the night when she told the audience to listen to her Apple Music radio show this week to hear 鈥渨ho the (expletive) of the day award is going to.鈥�
There was just one political moment, orchestrated when Logic was joined onstage by young immigrants wearing T-shirts that read, 鈥淲e are all human beings鈥� to protest the Trump administration鈥檚 separation of migrant children from their parents after they illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border. The rapper, best known for the suicide prevention anthem 鈥�1-800-273-8255,鈥� wore a T-shirt that read, 鈥�(Expletive) the wall.鈥�
There was one posthumous winner: Avicii, who died in April, won for best dance for 鈥淟onely Together鈥� alongside Rita Ora.
Mesfin Fekadu, The Associated Press
