The VMAs 2020 winners: Lady Gaga,Ariana Grande and BTS

Even with the whole Coronavirus situation, the VMAs still took place on Sunday, August 30th in the year 2020. With a pandemic raging on, it’s no surprise that many events (big and small, private and public) had to be canceled. But some took place and it’s just natural that the least people could do is organize these events outside where there is less risk. This is exactly what happened with this year’s VMAs too. 

The plan was to hold the event indoors (obviously not a good idea) like last year ‒ in Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. However, the plans changed as a lot of the performers and organizers realized that this is probably not the best course of action. There was also a whole issue regarding the performers’ quarantine and performance. It was announced that some of the artists who needed to travel to New York would be exempt from the two-week quarantine rules. However, it was later announced that this was on a case by case basis. Another problem relating to this year’s VMAs is something none of us expected. Apparently, according to the New York Post, someone caused a bunch of fireworks to go off on the Hudson River for their pre-taped VMAs performance on Thursday night.

Thankfully, with all that aside, the VMAs still happened live, virtually, across New York City. Spoiler alert: Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande, the Weeknd, and BTS were the main winners during the evening. Also, our favorite Gaga won the first MTV Tricon Award and the ‘Video of the Year’ award went to The Weeknd with the song ‘Blinding Lights’. This year, to reflect the current events, there were two new categories introduced ‒ ‘Best Music Video From Home’ and ‘Best Quarantine Performance’. It was also impressive that the VMAs even created a tribute to musical performances by medical workers.

Here is a full list of who was nominated and who won: 

The MTV Tricon Award went to Lady Gaga.

For the category Video of the Year the nominees were:

Billie Eilish ‘Everything I wanted’,
Eminem ft. Juice WRLD ‘Godzilla’,
Future ft. Drake ‘Life Is Good’,
Lady Gaga with Ariana Grande ‘Rain On Me’ and
Taylor Swift ‘The Man’.я
And the winner was The Weeknd ‘Blinding Lights’.

For Artist of the Year the nominated artists were:

DaBaby,я
Justin Bieber,я
Megan Thee Stallion,
Post Malone and 
The Weeknd.
The winner of this category was our beloved Lady Gaga.

Song of the Year was an interesting category and its nominated songs were:

Billie Eilish ‘Everything I wanted’,
Doja Cat ‘Say So’,
Megan Thee Stallion ‘Savage’,
Post Malone ‘Circles’ and
Roddy Ricch ‘The Box’.
The winners are Lady Gaga with Ariana Grande ‘Rain On Me’.

In the category Push Best New Artist the performers are:

Lewis Capaldi and 
YUNGBLUD
And the winner was of course Doja Cat.

In the Best Pop category, the award battle was between: 

Halsey ‘You should be sad’,
Jonas Brothers ‘What a Man Gotta Do’,
Justin Bieber ft. Quavo ‘Intentions’,
Lady Gaga with Ariana Grande ‘Rain On Me’ and 
Taylor Swift ‘Lover’. 
The award went to BTS ‘On’.

Best R&B category included: 

Alicia Keys ‘Underdog’,
Chloe x Halle ‘Do It’,
H.E.R. ft. YG ‘Slide’,
Khalid ft. Summer Walker ‘Eleven’ and
Lizzo ‘Cuz I Love You’.
The Weeknd ‘Blinding Lights’ took the award home. 

The anticipated Best Hip-Hop category consisted of the following artists and their songs: 

DaBaby ‘BOP’,
Eminem ft. Juice WRLD ‘Godzilla’,
Future ft. Drake ‘Life Is Good’,
Roddy Ricch ‘The Box’ and 
Travis Scott ‘HIGHEST IN THE ROOM’.
The winner in this category is Megan Thee Stallion ‘Savage’.

The brand new category Best Music Video From Home was composed of: 

5 Seconds of Summer ‘Wildflower’,
Blink-182 ‘Happy Days’,
Drake ‘Toosie Slide’,
John Legend ‘Bigger Love’ and 
Twenty one pilots ‘Level of Concern’.
The very first winner in this category was Ariana Grande & Justin Bieber ‘Stuck with U’.

The Best Collaboration category included the nominees: 

Ariana Grande & Justin Bieber ‘Stuck With U’,
Black Eyed Peas ft. J Balvin ‘RITMO (Bad Boys for Life)’,
Ed Sheeran ft. Khalid ‘Beautiful People’,
Future ft. Drake ‘Life Is Good’ and
Karol G ft. Nicki Minaj ‘Tusa’.
One more time the award in this category went to Lady Gaga with Ariana Grande ‘Rain On Me’. 

The Best Direction category was intense, and the nominees were:

Billie Eilish ‘Xanny’ (Directed by Billie Eilish),
Doja Cat ‘Say So’ (Directed by Hannah Lux Davis),
Dua Lipa ‘Don’t Start Now’ (Directed by Nabil),
Harry Styles ‘Adore You’ (Directed by Dave Meyers) and 
The Weeknd ‘Blinding Lights’ (Directed by Anton Tammi).
The winner in this category is Taylor Swift ‘The Man’ (Directed by Taylor Swift).

Best Latin:

Anuel AA ft. Daddy Yankee, Ozuna, Karol G & J Balvin ‘China’,
Bad Bunny ‘Yo Perreo Sola’,
Black Eyed Peas ft. Ozuna & J. Rey Soul ‘MAMACITA’,
J Balvin ‘Amarillo’ and 
Karol G ft. Nicki Minaj ‘Tusa’.
The winner in this category is Maluma ft. J Balvin ‘Queì Pena’.

The Best Alternative category introduced the following artists:

The 1975 ‘If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know)’,
All Time Low ‘Some Kind Of Disaster’,
FINNEAS ‘Let’s Fall in Love for the Night’,
Lana Del Rey ‘Doin’ Time’ and
Twenty one pilots ‘Level of Concern’.
The winner in the category is Machine Gun Kelly ‘Bloody Valentine’.

The category Best Rock comprised of: 

Blink-182 ‘Happy Days’,
Evanescence ‘Wasted On You’,
Fall Out Boy ft. Wyclef Jean ‘Dear Future Self (Hands Up)’,
Green Day ‘Oh Yeah!’ and
The Killers ‘Caution’.
The winner in the rock category was Coldplay ‘Orphans’.

The much-awaited Best Group category announcement included the bands:

5 Seconds of Summer,
Blackpink,
Chloe x Halle,
CNCO,
Little Mix,
Monsta X,
Now United,
The 1975 and
Twenty one pilots.
The winner is the band BTS.

Best K-Pop:

(G)I-DLE ‘Oh My God’,
EXO ‘Obsession’,
Monsta X ‘SOMEONE’S SOMEONE’,
Tomorrow X Together ‘9 and Three Quarters (Run Away)’ and 
Red Velvet ‘Psycho’.
The K-Pop winner this year is BTS ‘On’.

The category Video for Good had exciting musicians compete in it:

Anderson .Paak ‘Lockdown’,
Billie Eilish ‘all the good girls go to hell’,
Demi Lovato ‘I Love Me’,
Lil Baby ‘The Bigger Picture’ and 
Taylor Swift ‘The Man’.
The VMA in this category goes to H.E.R. ‘I Can’t Breathe’.

Everyone was super hyped about the category Song of the Summer featuring the artists:

Cardi B ft. Megan Thee Stallion ‘WAP’,
Miley Cyrus ‘Midnight Sky’,
DaBaby ft. Roddy Ricch ‘Rockstar’
DJ Khaled ft. Drake ‘Popstar’,
Doja Cat ‘Say So’,
Jack Harlow ‘Whats Poppin’,
Lil Baby ft. 42 Dugg ‘We Paid’,
Dua Lipa ‘Break My Heart’,
Megan Thee Stallion ft. Beyoncé ‘Savage (Remix)’,
Pop Smoke ft. 50 Cent and Roddy Ricch ‘The Woo’,
Saint Jhn ‘Roses’,
Saweetie ‘Tap In’,
Harry Styles ‘Watermelon Sugar’,
Taylor Swift ‘Cardigan’ and
The Weeknd ‘Blinding Lights’.
The winner in this competitive category is Blackpink ‘How You Like That’.

The category Best Visual Effects presented the following performers:

Billie Eilish ‘all the good girls go to hell’ (Visual Effects by Drive Studios),
Demi Lovato ‘I Love Me’ (Visual Effects by Hoody FX),
Harry Styles ‘Adore You’ (Visual Effects by Mathematic),
Lady Gaga with Ariana Grande ‘Rain On Me’ (Visual Effects by Ingenuity Studios) and
Travis Scott ‘HIGHEST IN THE ROOM’ (Visual Effects by ARTJAIL, SCISSOR FILMS & FRENDER).
The video winner in this tough category for 2020 was Dua Lipa ‘Physical’ (Visual Effects by EIGHTY4).

The award for the category Best Choreography was chosen between:

CNCO and Natti Natasha ‘Honey Boo’ (Choreography by Kyle Hanagami),
DaBaby ‘BOP’ (Choreography by Dani Leigh and Cherry),
Dua Lipa ‘Physical’ (Choreography by Charm La’Donna),
Lady Gaga with Ariana Grande ‘Rain On Me’ (Choreography by Richy Jackson) and
Normani ‘Motivation’ (Choreography by Sean Bankhead).
The winner once again is BTS ‘On’ (Choreography by Son Sung Deuk, Lee Ga Hun, Lee Byung Eun).

The category Best Cinematography included super determined performers:

5 Seconds of Summer ‘Old Me’ (Cinematography by Kieran Fowler),
Camila Cabello ft. DaBaby ‘My Oh My’ (Cinematography by Dave Meyers),
Billie Eilish ‘all the good girls go to hell’ (Cinematography by Christopher Probst),
Katy Perry ‘Harleys in Hawaii’ (Cinematography by Arnau Valls) and
The Weeknd ‘Blinding Lights’ (Cinematography by Oliver Millar).
The winner one more time for the 2020 VMAs is Lady Gaga with Ariana Grande ‘Rain On Me’ (Cinematography by Thomas Kloss).

One of the most interesting categories is Best Art Direction with the artists:

A$AP Rocky ‘Babushka Boi’ (Art Direction by A$AP Rocky & Nadia Lee Cohen),
Dua Lipa ‘Physical’ (Art Direction by Anna Colomé Nogú),
Harry Styles ‘Adore You’ (Art Direction by Laura Ellis Cricks),
Selena Gomez ‘Boyfriend’ (Art Direction by Tatiana Van Sauter) and
Taylor Swift ‘Lover’ (Art Direction by Ethan Tobman).
The winner in the art direction category is Miley Cyrus ‘Mother’s Daughter’ (Art Direction by Christian Stone).

The other newly introduced category for this year’s VMAs is Best Quarantine Performance and it features the following singers:

Chloe & Halle ‘Do It’ (from MTV’s Prom-athon),
DJ D-Nice, Club MTV presents #DanceTogether,
John Legend, #togetherathome Concert Series,
Lady Gaga ‘Smile’ (from One World: Together at Home) and
Post Malone, Nirvana Tribute.
The winner for the first time in the new category is CNCO, Unplugged at Home.

The category Best Editing presented some competition with the artists nominated being:

Halsey ‘Graveyard’ (Edited by Emilie Aubry, Janne Vartia & Tim Montana),
James Blake ‘Can’t Believe the Way We Flow’ (Edited by Frank Lebon),
Lizzo ‘Good As Hell’ (Edited by Russell Santos & Sofia Kerpan),
ROSALÍA ‘A Palé’ (Edited by Andre Jones) and
The Weeknd ‘Blinding Lights’ (Edited by Janne Vartia & Tim Montana).
The winner in editing for this year is Miley Cyrus ‘Mother’s Daughter’ (Edited by Alexandre Moors, Nuno Xico).

In light of the situation world-wide the category Everyday Heroes: Frontline Medical Workers honorees was necessary:
Jason ‘Tik Tok Doc’ Campbell,
Dr. Elvis Francois and Dr. William Robinson ‘Imagine’,
Jefferson University Hospital’s Swab Squad ‘Level Up’,
Lori Marie Key ‘Amazing Grace’ and
Dr. Nate Wood ‘Lean on Me’.

Congratulations to all the winners! We love you and you deserve the awards! Even with so many issues surrounding this year’s VMAs we still enjoyed the performances and were glad that the awards show took place in the tough year of 2020!