The MTV Video Music Awards has long signaled the end of the season with its celebration of some of the best songs and videos that have provided us with our summer soundtrack.
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Drake, in love with Rihanna since he was 22, presented his crush with the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard award on Sunday night, but he didn’t turn over the Moon Man until he went in for a kiss. The cameos probably delighted those who knew these people, but for the most part, the whole thing looked like the celebrity equivalent of the kids’ table while the grown-ups partied at the bar in the garden. “She’s a living, breathing legend in our industry”, he said.
The 2016 VMAs, featuring performances by Beyoncé, Rihanna and Britney Spears, among others, drew 6.5 million total viewers across MTV and 10 Viacom-owned sister networks, according to Nielsen live-plus-same day numbers. The awards show will take place August 28.
Spears, at the VMAs for the first time in almost a decade, followed a 16-minute set by Beyonce Knowles that brought the house down at New York’s Madison Square Garden and was always going to struggle to match up.
He also addressed his recent war of words with Taylor Swift, insisting he informed the pop singer about the lyrics to his single Famous in which he raps: “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex. Why?”
Beyonce won the top prize for “Formation”, besting Adele, Kanye West, Justin Bieber and Drake. This year it is being awarded to Rihanna, who split up her performances throughout the night, singing hits such as “Work”, “We Found Love” and “Love on the Brain”.
Alicia Keys announced the victor of the award after giving a passionate A Capella performance of a poem on the 53rd anniversary of Dr Martin Luther King’s I Have A Dream speech. He even pointed to former girlfriend Amber Rose, who was in the audience and is also in the video. Jokes on you guys, We’re fine. Harris accepted the award in a video message.
Finally, Jimmy Fallon impersonated swimmer Ryan Lochte, making false claims on his musical accomplishments – a reference to the accusation that Lochte filed a false robbery report while in Rio.
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Sia’s Cheap Thrills also missed out in the Song of the Summer category to Fifth Harmony ft.
