Lil Wayne emerged to open the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards for a performance of his new single "Kat Food." Immediately afterward, Olivia Rodrigo brought her "Vampire" music video set to the stage, before launching into her cheeky pop-punk single "Get Him Back!"
Between the two tracks, snippets of her sold singles played aloud - symbolizing a move from her first record to her second.
Tuesday's show offered plenty of surprises in its opening moments, with the boy band NSYNC reuniting on the stage to present the first award for best pop video, which was given to Taylor Swift.
In coordinating suits, Justin Timberlake, Joey Fatone, Lance Bass, Chris Kickpatrick, and JC Chasez shared the stage with Swift, exchanging bracelets with her just as fans do at the superstar's shows. "You're pop personified," she told the group.
For the first time, only women are nominated in the show's artist of the year category. Swift, Beyonce, Doja Cat, Nicki Minaj, Karol G and Shakira are contenders for the night's prize. Swift is the top nominated artist of the evening.
The annual awards show with host Nicki Minaj, saw Shakira take home this year’s Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award recipient while Diddy was honored with the Global Icon Award.
Going into the awards show, Taylor Swift and SZA led the pack with the most nominations, and for the first time, female nominees dominate the top category for Video of the Year.
Check out all of the 2023 MTV VMA winners…
VIDEO OF THE YEARTaylor Swift – “Anti-Hero” – WINNERDoja Cat – “Attention”
Miley Cyrus – “Flowers”
Nicki Minaj – “Super Freaky Girl”
Olivia Rodrigo – “vampire”
Sam Smith, Kim Petras – “Unholy”
SZA – “Kill Bill”
ARTIST OF THE YEARTaylor Swift – WINNERBeyoncé
Doja Cat
KAROL G
Nicki Minaj
Shakira
SONG OF THE YEARTaylor Swift – “Anti-Hero” – WINNERMiley Cyrus – “Flowers”
Olivia Rodrigo – “vampire”
Rema & Selena Gomez – “Calm Down”
Sam Smith, Kim Petras – “Unholy”
Steve Lacy – “Bad Habit”
SZA – “Kill Bill”
BEST NEW ARTISTIce Spice – WINNERGloRilla
Kaliii
Peso Pluma
PinkPantheress
Reneé Rapp
PUSH PERFORMANCE OF THE YEARApril 2023: TOMORROW X TOGETHER – “Sugar Rush Ride” – WINNERAugust 2022: Saucy Santana – “Booty”
September 2022: Stephen Sanchez – “Until I Found You”
October 2022: JVKE – “golden hour”
November 2022: Flo Milli – “Conceited”
December 2022: Reneé Rapp – “Colorado”
January 2023: Sam Ryder – “All The Way Over”
February 2023: Armani White – “GOATED”
March 2023: FLETCHER – “Becky’s So Hot”
May 2023: Ice Spice – “Princess Diana”
June 2023: FLO – “Losing You”
July 2023: Lauren Spencer Smith – “That Part”
BEST COLLABORATIONKAROL G, Shakira – “TQG” – WINNERDavid Guetta & Bebe Rexha – “I’m Good (Blue)”
Post Malone, Doja Cat – “I Like You (A Happier Song)”
Diddy ft. Bryson Tiller, Ashanti, Yung Miami – “Gotta Move On”
Metro Boomin with The Weeknd, 21 Savage, and Diddy – “Creepin’ (Remix)”
Rema & Selena Gomez – “Calm Down”
BEST POPTaylor Swift – “Anti-Hero” – WINNERDemi Lovato – “Swine”
Dua Lipa – “Dance The Night (From Barbie The Album)”
Ed Sheeran – “Eyes Closed”
Miley Cyrus – “Flowers”
Olivia Rodrigo – “vampire”
P!NK – “TRUSTFALL”
BEST HIP-HOPNicki Minaj – “Super Freaky Girl” – WINNERDiddy ft. Bryson Tiller, Ashanti, Yung Miami – “Gotta Move On”
DJ Khaled ft. Drake & Lil Baby – “STAYING ALIVE”
GloRilla & Cardi B – “Tomorrow 2″
Lil Uzi Vert – “Just Wanna Rock”
Lil Wayne ft. Swizz Beatz & DMX – “Kant Nobody”
Metro Boomin ft Future – “Superhero (Heroes and Villains)”
BEST R&BSZA – “Shirt” – WINNERAlicia Keys ft. Lucky Daye – “Stay”
Chlöe ft. Chris Brown – “How Does It Feel”
Metro Boomin with The Weeknd, 21 Savage, and Diddy – “Creepin’ (Remix)”
Toosii – “Favorite Song”
Yung Bleu & Nicki Minaj – “Love In The Way”
BEST ALTERNATIVELana Del Rey ft. Jon Batiste – “Candy Necklace” – WINNERblink-182 – “EDGING”
boygenius – “the film”
Fall Out Boy – “Hold Me Like A Grudge”
Paramore – “This Is Why”
Thirty Seconds To Mars – “Stuck”
BEST ROCKMåneskin – “THE LONELIEST” – WINNERFoo Fighters – “The Teacher”
Linkin Park – “Lost (Original Version)”
Red Hot Chili Peppers – “Tippa My Tongue”
Metallica – “Lux Æterna”
Muse – “You Make Me Feel Like It’s Halloween”
BEST LATINAnitta – “Funk Rave” – WINNERBad Bunny – “WHERE SHE GOES”
Eslabon Armado, Peso Pluma – “Ella Baila Sola”
Grupo Frontera, Bad Bunny – “un x100to”
KAROL G, Shakira – “TQG”
ROSALÍA – “DESPECHÁ”
Shakira – “Acróstico”
BEST K-POPStray Kids – “S-Class” – WINNERaespa – “Girls”
BLACKPINK – “Pink Venom”
FIFTY FIFTY – “Cupid”
SEVENTEEN – “Super”
TOMORROW X TOGETHER – “Sugar Rush Ride”
BEST AFROBEATSRema & Selena Gomez – “Calm Down” – WINNERAyra Starr – “Rush”
Burna Boy – “It’s Plenty”
Davido ft. Musa Keys – “UNAVAILABLE
Fireboy DML & Asake – ”Bandana”
Libianca – “People”
Wizkid ft Ayra Starr– “2 Sugar”
VIDEO FOR GOODDove Cameron – “Breakfast” – WINNERAlicia Keys – “If I Ain’t Got You (Orchestral)”
Bad Bunny – “El Apagón – Aquí Vive Gente”
Demi Lovato – “Swine”
Imagine Dragons – “Crushed”
Maluma – “La Reina”
BEST DIRECTIONTaylor Swift – “Anti-Hero” Directed by Taylor Swift – WINNERDoja Cat – “Attention” Directed by Tanu Muiño
Drake – “Falling Back” Directed by X (Julien Christian Lutz)
Kendrick Lamar – “Count Me Out” Directed by Dave Free & Kendrick Lamar
Megan Thee Stallion – “Her” Directed by Colin Tilley
Sam Smith, Kim Petras – “Unholy” Directed by Floria Sigismondi
SZA – “Kill Bill” Directed by Christian Breslauer
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHYTaylor Swift – “Anti-Hero” Cinematography by Rina Yang – WINNERAdele – “I Drink Wine” Cinematography by Adam Newport-Berra
Ed Sheeran – “Eyes Closed” Cinematography by Natasha Baier
Janelle Monae – “Lipstick Lover” Cinematography by Allison Anderson
Kendrick Lamar – “Count Me Out” Cinematography by Adam Newport-Berra
Miley Cyrus – “Flowers” Cinematography by Marcell Rev
Olivia Rodrigo – “vampire” Cinematography by Russ Fraser
BEST VISUAL EFFECTSTaylor Swift – “Anti-Hero” Visual Effects by Parliament – WINNERFall Out Boy – “Love From The Other Side” Visual Effects by Thomas Bailey and Josh Shaffner
Harry Styles – “Music For A Sushi Restaurant” Visual Effects by Chelsea Delfino and Black Kite Studios
Melanie Martinez – “VOID” Visual Effects by Carbon
Nicki Minaj – “Super Freaky Girl” Visual Effects by Max Colt and Sergio Mashevskyi
Sam Smith, Kim Petras – “Unholy” Visual Effects by Max Colt / FRENDER
BEST CHOREOGRAPHYBLACKPINK – “Pink Venom” Choreography by Kiel Tutin, Sienna Lalau, Lee Jung (YGX), Taryn Cheng (YGX) – WINNERDua Lipa – “Dance The Night (From Barbie The Album)” Choreography by Charm LaDonna
Jonas Brothers – “Waffle House” Choreography by Jerry Reece
Megan Thee Stallion – “Her” Choreography by Sean Bankhead
Panic! At The Disco – “Middle Of A Breakup” Choreography by Monika Felice Smith
Sam Smith, Kim Petras – “Unholy” Choreography by (LA)HORDE – Marine Brutti, Jonathan Debrouwer, Arthur Harel
BEST ART DIRECTIONDoja Cat – “Attention” Art Direction by Spencer Graves – WINNERboygenius – “the film” Art Direction by Jen Dunlap
BLACKPINK – “Pink Venom” Art Direction by Seo Hyun Seung (GIGANT)
Lana Del Rey ft. Jon Batiste – “Candy Necklace” Art Direction by Brandon Mendez
Megan Thee Stallion – “Her” Art Direction by Niko Philipides
SZA – “Shirt” Art Direction by Kate Bunch
BEST EDITINGOlivia Rodrigo – “vampire” Edited by Sofia Kerpan and David Checel – WINNERBLACKPINK – “Pink Venom” Editing by Seo Hyun Seung (GIGANT)
Kendrick Lamar – “Rich Spirit” Edited by Grason Caldwell
Miley Cyrus – “River” Edited by Brandan Walter
SZA – “Kill Bill” Edited by Luis Caraza Peimbert
Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero” Edited by Chancler Haynesch
SHOW OF THE SUMMERTaylor Swift – WINNERBeyoncé
BLACKPINK
Drake
Ed Sheeran
Karol G
GROUP OF THE YEARBLACKPINK – WINNERFIFTY FIFTY
FLO
Jonas Brothers
Måneskin
NewJeans
SEVENTEEN
TOMORROW x TOGETHER
SONG OF THE SUMMERJung Kook ft. Latto – “Seven” – WINNERBeyoncé – “Cuff It”
Billie Eilish – “What Was I Made For? (From the Barbie Album)”
Doja Cat – “Paint the Town Red”
Doechii ft. Kodak Black – “What It Is (Block Boy)”
Dua Lipa – “Dance the Night (From the Barbie Album)”
FIFTY FIFTY – “Cupid”
Gunna – “fukumean”
Nicki Minaj & Ice Spice– “Barbie World (with Aqua) [From Barbie The Album]”
Olivia Rodrigo – “vampire”
SZA – “Kill Bill”
Taylor Swift ft. Ice Spice – “Karma”
TOMORROW X TOGETHER and Jonas Brothers – “Do It Like That”
Luke Combs – “Fast Car”
Troye Sivan – “Rush”
Yng Lvcas & Peso Pluma
ALBUM OF THE YEARTaylor Swift – Midnights – WINNERBeyoncé – Renaissance
Drake & 21 Savage – Her Loss
Metro Boomin – Heroes & Villains
Miley Cyrus – Endless Summer Vacation
SZA – SOS
The show also celebrated 50 years of hip-hop with a star-studded, multi-generational finale performance: DMC, Doug E. Fresh, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, LL Cool J and Minaj will join forces.
This year featured a record number of first-time nominees at 35: including Kim Petras, who has five noms, Metro Boomin' with four and Rema with three. Aespa, Burna Boy, Davido, Eslabon Armado, FIFTY FIFTY, PinkPantheress, Saucy Santana, Stephen Sanchez and Toosii are also nominated for the first time.
Shakira received the Video Vanguard Award and is also expected to perform. Previous recipients include Beyonce, Nicki Minaj, Madonna, Janet Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, Rihanna, and Missy Elliott.
Diddy received the Global Icon Award and performed at the VMAs for the first time since 2005. He will become the third recipient of the award, following the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 2022 and the Foo Fighters in 2021.
Other scheduled performers include Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion (performing their new collaboration, "Bongos"), Anitta, Demi Lovato, Fall Out Boy, Peso Pluma, Doja Cat, Karol G, Kelsea Ballerini, Maneskin, Olivia Rodrigo, Stray Kids, Tomorrow X Together and more.
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