MTV VMAs 2020: Lady Gaga leads the night with five moonpersons including Tricon Award

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Lady Gaga was the big winner at the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards as she earned five awards on the night and even had nine outfit changes throughout the two-hour event.

The event had been filmed over the past few days at several different locations throughout New York City with production abiding by social distancing guidelines as it aired ‘live’ on Sunday night. 

At the event, the 34-year-oid singer took to the stage to accept the show’s FIRST EVER ‘MTV Tricon’ award for her unparalleled impact and dedication to music, fashion, and activism.

She also took home VMAs for Best Collaboration and Song Of The Year for her hit Rain On Me with fellow pop princess Ariana Grande and the highly coveted Artist Of The Year gong.   

‘My gosh. Guys. This is so cool. This means a lot to me. It means more to me then you probably even realize. I’ve been making music since I was a little girl, even though I had really, really big dreams, I truly never could have imagined that someday I would be given an award like this that honored me for so many of my passions,’ began Gaga, who had her Tricon award presented to her by model Bella Hadid. 

‘I want you to know I’ve failed over and over again as an actress and as a musician when I was young. So I gave back to the local community through service as a young woman in New York, philanthropy became a much bigger part of my life as a star and I started the born this way foundation with my mother, Cynthia.’

Gaga said that she wanted to ‘share this award with everybody at home tonight’ because ‘everyone is their own form of a Tricon.’

‘I wish for you to think right now of three things that define who you are and take a moment to reward yourself for your bravery. This has not been an easy year for a lot of people. What I see in the world is a massive triumph of courage. I also hope that people at home that have big dreams, I hope they see me here today accepting this award and know how grateful I am. I want you to know that you can do this too.’ 

To close out her speech Gaga aimed to ensure all those in quarantine that ‘just because we are separated right now, and culture may feel less alive in some ways, I know a renaissance is coming.’

‘The wrath of pop culture will inspire you and the rage of art will empower you as it responds to hardship with its generosity and love. This is what I believe. I want nothing more than to be your artist in 2020. It’s a total privilege. I love you. Stay safe. Speak your mind. I might sound like a broken record, but wear a mask. It’s a sign of respect. Thank you.’

The A Star Is Born actress made a total of nine outfit changes throughout the course of the award ceremony on Sunday.

Gaga first graced the red carpet in a NASA-inspired ensemble, complete with a fashion forward space helmet, before heading into the venue to accept her awards.

During the span of her Rain On Me performance, Gaga managed to showcase three different looks on the stage. 

She blazed through complex choreography in a purple latex two piece, a mint green balcony bra and a pair of unique harness shorts, and then an Alien inspired bodysuit.

After the show, Gaga opted for a more casual – and more comfortable – ensemble that included a vintage oversized MTV t-shirt dress and her favorite pair of platform boots.

Gaga’s first VMA of the night was the award for Best Collaboration music video for her duet Rain On Me that featured Ariana Grande. 

‘Thank you so much. Thank you, thank you, MTV. This means the world. Ariana and I really connected through this song,’ began the Chromatica songstress in her first lengthy acceptance speech.

Though Ariana was not by her side, Gaga took a moment to gush over her collaborator and the bond they fostered crafting the song and its out of this world music video. 

‘Me and Ariana are truly soul sisters. Girl, this is for us. We have both been through some together. We are willing to share it with each other I love you.’

‘When we were in the studio, we turned our tears that felt like and less rainfall into diamonds. I will treasure these diamonds with you forever, honey. I love you. I love you, little monsters. You rock. Thank you, MTV,’ she concluded, before walking off in her dangerously tall platform boots. 

Lady Gaga returned to the stage in a stunning green ball gown – and an even more bizarre facial covering that had tusks coming out of it – to accept the VMA for Song of the Year for her collaborative hit with Grande.

Despite having already given a gracious acceptance speech earlier in the show, the Born This Way singer took a moment to tell a personal anecdote to the those tuning in.

‘I remember when I wrote the lyrics for the chorus and I sang them for my producer and collaborator and the lyrics were “I’d rather be dry but at least I’m alive. Rain on me.” I remember thinking I had cried so many tears that it felt like unfathomable downpour for my eyes but even without monitoring, you don’t have to drown — even with that much rain, you don’t have to drown, even though it feels like you are. You can swim. If there’s a strong current and the waves keep crashing over you, you’ll keep swimming and you’ll reach the center of the ocean where it’s calm, still, and peaceful,’ said a visibly emotional Gaga.

She admitted that winning the VMA for Song Of The Year has been her ‘favorite’ to win because ‘[her] heart is as a songwriter.’ 

Gaga beat out a plethora of other big name musicians, when she returned to the socially-distanced stage to accept the Artist Of The Year award.

She reappeared in her most awe-inspiring ensemble that looked straight out of the Lord Of The Rings. 

‘Oh, my gosh. This is so exciting. Tank you so much. Being an artist is the only thing I’ve ever wanted to be in my whole life. I never wanted to be anything else. I’m a member when I first came to California after I built this small following for myself in New York, I would be taken out of these fancy dinners with executives who wanted to sign me. I remember I never, ever ordered anything more than out whiskey neat or a large sake and they used to ask me, why aren’t you eating. I said because I didn’t come for the California roll,’ recalled Gaga in her acceptance speech.

‘Everyone always knew if they were hanging out with me that I was on a mission to spread joy through culture, through dance, through music. I’ve written using my whole life I feel so honored that I get to do this every day. Thank you so much for this award. 

‘During a year that I am promoting Chromatica.” It’s brought me so much joy that you can spin your struggles into gold and you got to believe in yourself and surround yourself with good people. I surround myself with my family, they are here, my family. I love you! If you want to win an award like this, don’t eat the California roll. They know you mean business. I love you. Thank you, MTV. Thank you, fans. You are the best,’ she concluded.

Taylor Swift won the VMA for Best Direction for the music video for her single The Man, which was the 30-year-old star’s directorial debut.

‘Guys, this is amazing. This is the first video I’ve ever directed on my own and I just — I’m so grateful for this. I want to take an opportunity to say thank you for the team who believed in me as a first-time director and made this video with me. My dp, my A.D., my editor, et Ethan, Joe, bill and his team for turning me into a guy which was very thrilling,’ began Swift, who delivered her acceptance speech via webcam.

‘I also want to thank Two women that I’d worked with convinced me that I was up to the challenge of directing on my own and those women were my producers on this video, Rebecca Skinner and Jill harden.  

‘Thank you for that. I was told this was an industry voted award so I want to say thank you to everyone in the industry who voted for this video. I also really want to thank the fans because you are the only reason the industry cares about anything that I do and everything that you have done this summer, I’m so blown away and taken aback by your generosity to me. Thank you for everything. I hope I get to see you soon,’ she concluded. 

BTS snagged the VMA for Best Pop video for their hit track On and all seven group members, RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook, took the time to thank their devout fan Army via a remote appearance at the award show.

‘Wow, thank you so much for Best Pop at the Video Music Awards. We are truly honored. To the army. It means so much to us. Truly. Our new single “Dynamite.” We hope everyone in the world can see the positive energy. We want to comfort you and cheer you in these times. Let’s sing of joy and comfort. This is for you!’ said the beloved septet collectively. 

Doja Cat, who performed at Sunday’s ceremony, beat out fan favorites Roddy Ricch and YUNGBLUD in the Best New Artist category.

Megan Thee Stallion celebrated her Best Hip-Hop video win by popping a bottle of champagne in the middle of her remote acceptance speech. 

The award was granted to the music video for her summer anthem Savage. 

In the Video For Good category, which honors music videos with an activist message, singer-songwriter H.E.R.’s took home the award for her powerful music video I Can’t Breathe.

The Weeknd’s highly conceptualized music video for his club banger Blinding Lights earned him the VMA for Best R&B and the 30-year-old singer, unlike many of the other nominees/winners, accepted the honor at the show’s filming venue in NYC. 

‘Thank you, VMAs and MTV. I want to thank Lamar Taylor and Anton Tammi for the video. It’s hard for me to celebrate right now and enjoy this moment,’ admitted the hitmaker, before using his platform to voice his support to two well known victims of police brutality. 

The Blinding Lights music video also earned The Weeknd the night’s biggest award: ‘Video Of The Year.’

Machine Gun Kelly’s steamy Bloody Valentine music video, that featured girlfriend Megan Fox as his video vixen, scored the VMA for Best Alternative video. 

The 30-year-old rapper, who performed his hits My Ex’s Best Friend and Bloody Valentine at the ceremony, donned a deep purple jumpsuit to accept his moonperson.

 

‘So I’m just going to say justice for Jacob Blake and justice for Breonna Taylor. Thank you.’

Though neither of them were in attendance – virtually or physically – Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande’s quarantine-inspired music video Stuck with U nabbed the Best Music Video From Home award. 

Colombian singer Maluma brought his undeniable swagger to the MTV VMA stage and walked away with the gong for Best Latin music video for his track Qué Pena featuring reggaeton icon J Balvin. 

Gaga didn’t only earn several awards she also had one of the most talked about performances of the night as she was even joined by Ariana Grande.

The showstopping set was a medley of Gaga’s songs including 911, Rain On Me, and Stupid Love, from her hit album Chromatica.

Making a statement on abiding by safety guidelines, Gaga, 34, wore a LED face mask throughout her set, as well as Ariana, 27, who wore a black silk mask, as she joined her for their hit For Rain On Me.

 The pair wore similar outfits to that of the video for Rain On Me, which was a big winner on the night. 

The performance was kicked off by Gaga under a blanket as she watched a TV, which teased a performance by Britney Spears and N*Sync from an old MTV VMAs event.

She then got up from the couch and began singing the track 911 from her latest album, before Ariana also came on stage with her. 

Trailing them in the glam stakes was Miley Cyrus who came out swinging – quite literally – as she performed her song Midnight Sky from a giant mirror ball. 

Miley, 27 wore a very skimpy outfit for the performance of the song, which she sang live.

The pop star is known for making a big splash at the event, having previously caused an outcry when she performed in latex bra and pants alongside Robin Thicke back in 2013.  

This time around, the defiant singer appeared to throw a nod to her racy past as she went from performing the hit song on a stage, to getting on top of a mirror ball. 

Showing off her long legs while holding on to a chain, Miley belted out her tune as she put on a spirited performance. 

The Weeknd opened the show with a performance of his hit song – Blinding Lights – on the rooftop of the Edge, which is the highest outdoor sky deck in the Western Hemisphere. 

The Canada-born star came into the night with six nominations including Artist Of The Year, and five for the song’s video: Video Of The Year, Best R&B, Best Cinematography, Best Editing and Best Direction by Anton Tammi. 

Looking bloodied and bruised to match the cover of his latest studio album After Hours, the hitmaker kicked things off seemingly passed-out, laying on the ground in a pre-recorded clip.

As the intro to the song progressed, The Weeknd stood up to reveal his 1980s-era ensemble of black pants, red blazer and black shirt and tie.

The impressive visual effect included an array of light towers and images of subway cars behind him.

The 2020 MTV Video Music Awards were originally scheduled to be held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, before the coronavirus pandemic forced organizers to re-think the entire event.

This year’s show marks the first time the bash has been held at various different locations, with performances taking place in and around New York City, without packed audiences to abide by social distancing guidelines.

MTV explained its plans for the show to ‘[span] all five boroughs’ of New York, to ‘pay homage to the strength, spirit and incredible resilience of NYC and its beloved residents.’

Nominations this year were dominated by pop performers Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande, with nine nods each, while Billie Eilish and The Weeknd followed closely behind with six each.

They all appear in the top prize category, Video of the Year, which finds Eilish’s Everything I Wanted going up against Eminem and Juice WRLD’s Godzilla, Future and Drake’s Life Is Good, Gaga and Grande’s Rain on Me, Taylor Swift’s The Man, and The Weeknd’s Blinding Lights.

Nominees for Push Best New Artist were revealed on July 23 and other categories were announced on July 30. Fan voting began on July 30 and ended on August 23.

Additional categories were unveiled last week, including Song of Summer, Best Group and Everyday Heroes: Frontline Medical Workers, with the latter created to ‘celebrate performances by Covid-19 first responders.’

Other new one-off award categories this year are for Quarantine Performance and Best Music Video from Home.

DaBaby made a Black Lives Matter statement during his set, as he performed on top of a police car. 

The 28-year-old rapper appeared to be referencing police brutality as she sang a medley of his songs Peep Hole, Blind, and Rockstar. 

He was seen in the back of a police car during the performance, and later engulfed in flames as he stood on top of it. Dance group Jabbawockeez also joined him on stage.

Closing out the bash was the Black Eyed Peas, who treated viewers to a rendition of their classic hit I Gotta Feeling. 

Replacing the singer Fergie in the band is J. Rey Soul, real name Jessica Reynoso. 

She first got involved with the band when she worked with member apl.de.ap on The Voice Philippines. 

The first VMA ceremony was held in 1984 at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall, where Madonna performed her hit Like a Virgin wearing her iconic wedding gown/bustier combination.

The Video Vanguard Award has been awarded to 34 acts, and was renamed the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award in 1991, after he previously won the 1988 trophy.

MTV has stated that next year’s 2021 VMAs will be held at the Barclays Center.