VMAs 2020: A night of good music and green screen
What's the story
MTV VMAs 2020 went pseudo-live and treated music lovers with entertainment from a safe distance, albeit struggling with green screens. Proceedings of the award ceremony felt pre-recorded for most of the time including acceptance speeches, but we appreciate the organizers for trying to keep it safe and pulling off a daring feat of entertainment that didn't look like a Zoom call meet.
Awards
Now, let's talk about who won for what
BTS swept VMA 2020, winning the Best Choreography, Best K-Pop and Best Pop for On, while winning the Best Group awards as well. Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga won the Best Collaboration and Song of the Year awards for Rain on Me. Taylor Swift won the Best Direction award for The Man. BLACKPINK's How You Like That was the Song of the summer.
Eye-popping
Visual delight: Big winners
Alexandre Moors and Nuno Xico won the Best Editing award for Miley Cyrus's Mother's Daughter, while Christian Stone bagged the Best Art Direction for it. Mathematic and EIGHTY4 bagged the Best Visual Effects award for Dua Lipa's Physical. Michael Merriman won the Best Cinematography award for Rain on Me. Blinding Lights by The Weeknd bagged the Video of the Year and Best R&B awards.
Rock/hip-hop
Rockers and scorchers
Coldplay's Orphans won the Best Rock video and Machine Gun Kelly took home the Best Alternative award for Bloody Valentine. Qué Pena by Maluma and J Balvin won the Best Latin award. Doja Cat won the PUSH Best New Artist award, while Megan Thee Stallion's Savage grabbed the Best Hip-Hop award. The sensational Lady Gaga bagged the Tricon and Artist of the year awards.
Other categories
Special categories and environment
Congratulating the spirits of quarantine, CNCO's MTV Unplugged At Home won the best quarantine performance. Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber's Stuck With U won the title of Best music video from home. H.E.R.'s I Can't Breathe won the video for Good Title, strongly focusing on the Black Lives Matter movement and the impact it continues to have on the community.
Brave effort
Weird "Thank You" speeches, satisfying performances
Obeying social distancing norms, winners such as Maluma had their acceptance speeches looking ahead from the stage, imagining a bustling crowd, while The Weeknd and others thanked everyone in a videotaped fashion. At least Maluma's, CNCO's and The Weeknd's performances were pre-taped. However, Lady Gaga's electrifying performance and outlandish masks made up for the visual trough. BTS scorched their first VMA performance with Dynamite.