VMA’s 2020 Recap!
Alright, alright … it wasn’t the greatest VMAs of all time. But how could it have been? Masks. Fake crowd noise. And most notably, a lack of energy. Don’t get us wrong. We’re so grateful. In a year when everything that brings us joy has been cancelled - concerts, sporting events, life in general - this was heavenly. But it wouldn’t be a fair review if we called the show incredible.
First, let’s talk about what was incredible: Lady Gaga’s masks. Thank you, Lady Gaga, for being you down to the last detail. Horns, sequins, bubbles, something that looked like an insect’s face - we loved them all.
Let’s get into the winners! The Weeknd took Video of the Year for Blinding Lights as well as Best R&B. For the most part, we can behind the first one, but Best R&B? This wasn’t an R&B song in the least. Totally danceable and fun, but it does feel like this song was categorized solely based on The Weeknd’s race. What’s more, he was missing altogether from the Song of the Year nominations when he probably should’ve taken the award himself.
Lady Gaga took Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Collaboration, the Tricon Award and Best Cinematography. That’s a lot of awards. This could just as easily have gone to The Weeknd simply because his album stayed higher on the charts for longer. Best Collaboration? For sure. We loved hearing (and watching) her and Ariana Grande together. (See our review of Rain on Me!)
BTS took Best Kpop, Best Pop, Best Group, Best Choreography … the list goes on. They’re a fun band to watch, but we wish they’d chosen a stronger song for their performance.
We were glad to see Taylor Swift take Best Direction for her video, “The Man.” Even though she didn’t attend, she had her remote moment and we know she’s gonna kill at the Grammys with Folklore.
Doja Cat took home her solid win for Best PUSH New Artist, which leads us into… the performances! Doja performed Say So and Like That, and we were not disappointed. You can truly tell performing is her passion, and she put everything she had into it.
The Weeknd opened up the show with Blinding Lights, which felt… just entertaining enough. Then there was Lady Gaga’s performance. It was a mashup of 911, Rain on Me, Stupid Love and Chromatica II with mind-boggling costume changes. The highlight was most definitely Grande’s whistle note. Even with a few missteps, Gaga still brought the energy and intensity that shows why she wins awards.
Maybe the VMAs weren’t everything we wanted, but the energy and extravagance were exactly what we needed.
C + L
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