Vox - VMA 2016: performances, winners, and highlightshttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/52517/voxv.png2016-09-01T09:25:00-04:00http://www.vox.com/rss/stream/124555352016-09-01T09:25:00-04:002016-09-01T09:25:00-04:00VMA 2016: Beyoncé brought Lemonade to the VMAs. She destroyed the show.
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<p><span>When Beyoncé finished her performance at the </span><a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=21&ved=0ahUKEwjB8YeSz-XOAhUEJh4KHX6DCIcQFghcMBQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mtv.com%2Fvma%2Fvote%2F&usg=AFQjCNFbnn1gUMr-F5vimHhJfZbgzECy1A" target="_blank">2016 VMAs</a><span>, there was no question as to who the biggest pop star on the planet is. Not that there was ever any doubt. </span></p>
<p>Bey's performance was powerful — an artistic musing on violence that, like her album, also showcase her showmanship and untouchable talent as an artist.</p>
<p>She opened up with "Pray You Catch Me," a somber, eerie opening that included women next to her dropping dead and a boy in a hoodie — an echo of Trayvon Martin — wrapping his arms around her. It was a searing visual.</p>
<p>The performance then transitioned into "Hold Up" and "Sorry" — brutally honest songs that talk about her husband's alleged affair, showcasing a snarling, more ferocious side to Bey. <span>There was fire. There was cursing.</span></p>
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<p>She closed the show with "Formation," ending her staggering performance surrounded by dozens of dancers arranged in the "woman" symbol. She was met by a standing ovation, the only appropriate response to a force of nature.</p>
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<p>Good luck following that.</p>
https://www.vox.com/2016/8/28/12686370/vma-2016-beyonce-lemonade-video-performanceAlex Abad-Santos2016-08-30T15:59:00-04:002016-08-30T15:59:00-04:00Rihanna and Drake's rom-com VMA moment has a long, evasive history
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<figcaption>Drake and Rihanna, king and queen of the VMA prom. | Michael Loccisano/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>The two stars have been teasing us — and each other — for 7 years and counting.</p> <p id="n7XL1y">Drake and Rihanna have been in and out of each other’s orbits for years, but their encounter on the 2016 VMAs stage was in a league of its own.</p>
<p id="9OMkSH">Drake — who had missed accepting an award for his own win in the first hour of the show, due to getting stuck traffic(!) — managed to get himself together and into a tuxedo to present Rihanna with the Video Vanguard award, or the VMA version of a lifetime achievement honor.</p>
<p id="C6MCz2">Drake kicked off the speech by detailing the first time he met "Robyn Fenty" — her real name — and proceeded to gush over the accomplishments of "the iconic being that is Rihanna."</p>
<p id="ospVs7">Meanwhile, Rihanna stood off to the side in her voluminous gown, smiling patiently but warmly.</p>
<p id="8nyyJB">If you don’t look at this picture and immediately think of [insert almost literally every romantic comedy here], there’s a good chance you don’t believe in love — or whatever the hell it is that Drake and Rihanna have got going on.</p>
<h3 id="dBjecq">Drake so earnestly worships Rihanna that it’s impossible not to notice — especially at the 2016 VMAs</h3>
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<p>The VMAs aren’t exactly a formal event, so seeing Drake in the sharpest of tuxes was maybe even more jarring than if he had wandered onstage completely naked. It was a purposeful statement on Drake’s part: Rihanna is important to him, he takes this award seriously, and dammit, the moment calls for wearing something sharp — or taking out <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BJls6GMDMLv/?taken-by=badgalriri">a congratulatory billboard</a>, as he did the week before — to acknowledge the gravity of the honor.</p>
<p id="J2tmAu">The moment was so charged — or maybe more accurately, Drake had such incredibly obvious hearts in his eyes — that it seemed the next logical step would have been to <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=rihanna%20drake%20propose&src=typd">get</a><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=rihanna%20drake%20propose&src=typd"> down on one knee</a> and make himself the happiest man on earth.</p>
<p id="60Ylg9">(We hold these truths to be self-evident: that Drake loves Rihanna and she thinks he’s pretty okay.)</p>
<p id="ZCCcdT">But it was all pretty tame in the end. Drake gave Rihanna the award, they had an endearing, if awkward, half-kiss moment, and she gave a heartfelt speech about how much the Vanguard award means to her as an evolving artist.</p>
<p id="k4iwVN">Unfortunately, that hardly mattered in the end. Everyone watching was already busy writing their Drake/Rihanna wish fulfillment fanfic, and there was no amount of polite side-stepping Rihanna could do to change it.</p>
<p id="962ymk">It doesn't help that Drake posted an <em>incredibly</em> couple-y photo of the two shortly after the VMAs ended, which only fueled the intrigue further.</p>
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<p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BJrtPshjQad/">This is a night for us all to be thankful for what you have done for us! You have affected so many of our lives in the best way possible. Tonight we celebrate you! @badgalriri</a></p>
<p>A photo posted by champagnepapi (@champagnepapi) on <time datetime="2016-08-29T06:41:30+00:00">Aug 28, 2016 at 11:41pm PDT</time></p>
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<p id="sp7HgV">And it certainly didn't calm the fan uproar when they were seen <a href="http://tomandlorenzo.com/2016/08/rihanna-and-drake-out-and-about-in-nyc-street-style-fashion/" target="_blank">dining out together</a> the day after — Rihanna wearing a belted men's dress shirt — nor when a countdown clock appeared on "<a href="http://drakeandrihanna.com/" target="_blank">DrakeandRihanna.com</a>" on August 30. (For what it's worth, sources close to Rihanna tell <a href="http://www.thefader.com/2016/08/30/drakeandrihannacom-is-not-real" target="_blank">Fader</a> that it's fake.)</p>
<p>But neither Drake nor Rihanna is new to this particular story. In fact, they’ve been playing this game with us — and maybe each other — for <em>years</em>.</p>
<h3 id="L6hlDI">Rihanna and Drake have been shrugging off dating rumors almost as long as they’ve been stars</h3>
<p id="EaOlPY">Thanks to their frequent(ly sexy) collaborations and Drake’s less-than-subtle gushing about Rihanna’s incredible beauty and talent, the two stars have always held a particular fascination for anyone even remotely into celebrity gossip. Neither has ever officially confirmed a relationship, but they’ve been circling each other since at least 2009.</p>
<p id="gs45tn">In the middle of the "Rihanna’s trying to move on" part of the celebrity breakup news cycle — several months after <a href="http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/269279/chris-brown-charged-with-assault-on-rihanna">Chris Brown assaulted her</a> and started a firestorm that would follow both of them for years — <a href="http://pagesix.com/2009/05/20/rihanna-takes-a-strike/?_ga=1.62434924.1725247282.1386617566">Page Six</a> reported that Drake and Rihanna were spotted making out, high school style, in Lucky Strike, a New York City bowling alley bar.</p>
<p id="DDzHAU">In 2010, Drake referenced that night in his song "Fireworks," saying that the night "always seems to trouble me" but that she didn’t seem to care. He even told the New York Times that Rihanna treated him like <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/13/arts/music/13drake.html?_r=0">"a pawn."</a></p>
<p id="pvFvPS">That attitude didn’t last long, though. Just a couple weeks later, Drake told <a href="http://www.mtv.com/news/1641715/drake-explains-his-comments-about-rihanna/">MTV</a> that he had nothing but love for Ri, "an overwhelming and incredible person" who just has a gift for making him feel inadequate. "She made me feel nervous," he said. "It just put me back to the Acura in Toronto, feeling like Aubrey Graham [his real name], not Drake."</p>
<p id="nguRSF">Rihanna, for her part, doesn’t bring up Drake nearly as much as the other way around. The scrutiny of her love life was so intense in 2009 thanks to Brown that she (understandably) was far less likely to address it, anyway.</p>
<p id="al0jv4">From 2009 on, though, the two remained in each other’s lives, both personally and professionally. They made appearances on each other’s albums, first and most notably with 2010’s "What’s My Name?" (Rihanna ft. Drake):</p>
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<p id="auHz13">Then there was 2012’s "Take Care" (Drake ft. Rihanna):</p>
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<p id="u7UyTS">Their chemistry was — and remains — pretty damn electric.</p>
<p>Also: "<span>Can't deny that I want you, but I'll lie if I have to"? Drake.</span></p>
<p id="MMo44B">In 2016, they appeared on each other’s respective albums. Rihanna tapped in on <em>Views </em>for Drake’s latest single, "Too Good," in which the two alternate singing at each other, flirty and confused. "I’m too good to you," the chorus goes. "You take my love for granted, I just don’t understand it..."</p>
<p id="iSrTn4">And Drake guested on Rihanna’s "Work," from <em><a href="http://www.vox.com/2016/1/29/10864674/rihanna-anti-album-leak-review">ANTI</a></em><em>, </em>complete with "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qp9psZmAM_Y">his</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HL1UzIK-flA">hers</a>"–style videos, i.e., two different concepts for the same song played back to back:</p>
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<p id="Zqx5Uq">When <a href="http://www.ew.com/article/2016/02/22/rihanna-drake-work-music-video-tim-erem-interview">Entertainment Weekly</a> tried to get to the bottom of their scorching hot vibes in these videos, director Tim Erem admitted that "their chemistry is amazing" but that they’re "just friends."</p>
<p id="txWkHq">Rihanna, meanwhile, was a little more coy with <a href="http://www.vogue.com/13418829/rihanna-vogue-interview-anti-drake-work-puma-fenty/">Vogue</a> when asked how working with Drake is different from working with anyone else. "Drake has a lot to offer," she said. "Everything he does is so amazing. He’s so talented that you kind of just trust that it’ll be right."</p>
<p id="hP4xPu">It’s hardly a smoking gun. But it’s still enough to keep people interested — and they know it.</p>
<h3 id="eLQspQ">We may never know what’s up with Rihanna and Drake, and that’s okay!</h3>
<p id="bWnG5Z">It’s almost impossible to tell whether Drake and Rihanna are trying to be teases to each other, to us, or both — though the final option seems most likely. Let us consider the indisputable elements of this otherwise highly speculative relationship.</p>
<p id="SWRrGg">Exhibit A: Drake and Rihanna are huge celebrities with big public profiles, and the ability to keep people guessing is one of the most powerful publicity tools at their disposal.</p>
<p id="eE63Qt">Exhibit B: Drake and Rihanna are incredibly attractive humans who clearly enjoy each other’s company and respective faces.</p>
<p id="dijlbG">Exhibit C: I just wrote a thousand words on whether a single minute of a three-hour awards show proved two strangers’ undying love for each other, and I do not have a definitive answer.</p>
<p id="8ERp7B">But isn’t that kind of the point? There’s no denying that Rihanna and Drake have a connection beyond the fact that their voices sound great together — but they’re not stupid, either. They know that every glance they throw each other’s way will get scrutinized and Snapchatted to death. They know that appearing on each other’s tours, dancing right up in each other’s space, will stoke the ever-volatile flames of fan curiosity — and that confirming anything one way or the other would extinguish them sooner rather than later.</p>
<p id="JtsGuZ">So, no, we don’t know what’s up with Drake and Rihanna, nor is it likely that we <em>will </em>know what’s up with Drake and Rihanna anytime soon. As it stands right now, they’re just too good for us — and if we’re honest with ourselves, that’s exactly how we like it.</p>
<p><i><b>Updated</b> to reflect Drake and Rihanna's post-VMA dinner and drakeandrihanna.com as further proof that these two are trying to kill us.</i></p>
https://www.vox.com/2016/8/29/12687826/drake-rihanna-vma-2016-speechCaroline Framke2016-08-29T09:40:06-04:002016-08-29T09:40:06-04:00Beyoncé continues advocacy by inviting mothers of the Black Lives Matter movement to the VMAs
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<figcaption>Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p id="6Mp08x">Beyoncé refuses to shy away from taking a moment to address police brutality — the <a href="http://www.vox.com/culture/2016/8/29/12691494/vma-2016-mtv-winners-performances" target="_blank">2016 MTV Video Music Awards</a> included.</p>
<p id="y1nkWz">Alongside her daughter Blue Ivy Carter, model Winnie Harlow, and musical protégés Chloe & Halle and Ingrid, Beyoncé’s white carpet<strong> </strong>entourage also included mothers of victims of police brutality and vigilante violence: Gwen Carr, Lesley McSpadden, Sybrina Fulton, and Wanda Johnson whose sons Eric Garner, Mike Brown, Trayvon Martin, and Oscar Grant catalyzed the contemporary movement for black lives.</p>
<p id="um3aOk">Beyoncé has been especially <a href="http://www.vox.com/2016/2/9/10954868/beyonce-mardi-gras-formation">outspoken against police brutality</a> since the surprise release of her music video for "Formation" in February.</p>
<p id="NBGWSh">Politicians and political pundits have accused her of being <a href="http://www.vox.com/2016/2/8/10940558/beyonce-super-bowl-conservative-backlash">"anti-police"</a> for her portrayal. <a href="http://www.vox.com/2016/2/16/11023252/beyonce-protest-formation-nfl">Boycotts</a> have even been held against her. And while she’s stated her <a href="http://www.vox.com/2016/4/6/11373442/beyonce-elle-interview-feminism-police">"admiration"</a> for law enforcement, she stands firm that a police badge doesn’t absolve anyone of accountability.</p>
<p id="J0La1E">But the mothers of the movement always played a crucial role in Beyoncé’s increasingly political advocacy.</p>
<p id="N5B6Lf">In the "Forward" section of her visual album <em>Lemonade</em>, McSpadden, Fulton, and Carr are shown holding photos of their sons. Not only does Beyoncé immortalize their faces in her album, but in a kind of seance, officiated by a <a href="http://www.vox.com/2016/2/9/10954868/beyonce-mardi-gras-formation">Mardi Gras Indian</a>, a newborn baby appears alone on a bed to signal the literal and figurative transition to "Freedom."</p>
<p id="gCaCMO">Beyoncé is fighting for a world in which black people decide their fate. But it is an intergenerational struggle, as much tying black mothers to their children as it is tying the children whose lives were taken by police violence to the children who are alive today.</p>
<p id="NW045w">And while Beyoncé continues to make powerful statements in the fight for racial justice, she does so carrying mothers like McSpadden, Fulton, and Carr along with her.</p>
https://www.vox.com/2016/8/29/12685002/mtv-vma-2016-beyonce-black-lives-matterVictoria M. Massie2016-08-29T03:17:21-04:002016-08-29T03:17:21-04:00VMA 2016: 4 winners and 3 losers from the awards show
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<figcaption>Beyoncé served the VMAs some much needed Lemonade. | MTV</figcaption>
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<p>MTV’s production was messy, but at least Beyoncé came to slay.</p> <p id="z3iEoi">Few awards shows live up to their hype, but the <a href="http://www.vox.com/culture/2016/8/29/12691494/vma-2016-mtv-winners-performances" target="_blank">MTV Video Music Awards</a> have almost always been an exception to that rule. Ever since the first show in 1984, the VMAs have been good for some jaw-dropping performances, prime celebrity watching in the audience, and, if they’re lucky, the kinds of moments that keep people dissecting their layers for years to come.</p>
<p id="tmqDma">The 2016 awards were a decidedly mixed bag, though. Taking place in New York City’s Madison Square Garden for the first time — for decades, the VMAs have switched between slightly smaller venues in New York and LA — the production moved in fits and starts, with obvious sound and organizational issues cramping most of the performances.</p>
<p id="pJGYjv">But there were still a few stellar — or at least noteworthy — performances, at least one of which will take its rightful place among the best the VMAs have ever had.</p>
<p id="Pt3BBD">Here are four winners and three losers from the 2016 VMAs.</p>
<h3 id="tIhgrn">Winner: Beyoncé</h3>
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<figcaption>Beyoncé, winning awards and breaking records in a gold cape, like you do.</figcaption>
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<p id="OUxEMd">Beyoncé wasn’t on the original performance schedule that MTV released before the awards, but the rumors that she would appear were strong enough that by the time tennis champion Serena Williams came out to introduce her, about halfway through the show, she was already one of the most anticipated acts of the night.</p>
<p id="9rtCFQ">And given the year Beyoncé’s had — between her stunning album <em>Lemonade</em>, her Formation tour, and her Super Bowl halftime show featuring guest house band Coldplay — it was no surprise that <a href="http://www.vox.com/2016/8/28/12686370/vma-2016-beyonce-lemonade-video-performance">she crushed it</a>.</p>
<p id="NMM90H">Beyoncé took the VMA stage with fire in her eyes — both figuratively and literally, thanks to the reflection of projected flames onto her face — and made it hers. She performed a full medley from <em>Lemonade</em> that had the entire arena on its feet within seconds. She even made sure to include some of Warsan Shire’s <a href="http://www.vox.com/2016/4/26/11501466/beyonce-lemonade-warsan-shire">gorgeous spoken-word poetry</a> from <em>Lemonade</em>’s heartbroken interstitials, reminding everyone that the album is as deeply emotional as it is catchy.</p>
<p id="RdXBRZ">Beyoncé could’ve owned the VMAs with that performance alone, but she’s Beyoncé, and so she ended it with two VMA wins, for Best Female Video ("Hold Up"), and Video of the Year ("Formation"), the show’s highest achievement.</p>
<p id="LxQ2B9">Oh, and also? These wins bring Beyoncé total VMAs tally to 21 wins, <a href="http://pitchfork.com/news/67878-mtv-vmas-2016-beyonce-breaks-record-for-all-time-vma-wins/">officially breaking</a> Madonna’s previous record of 20 to make Bey the most decorated VMA winner of all time.</p>
<p id="LE34NJ">It all served as a reminder that this is Beyoncé’s world, and we’re just <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_(fan)">stanning</a> in it.</p>
<h3 id="HFPWXZ">Winner: Britney Spears</h3>
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<img alt="2016 MTV Video Music Awards - Show" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/z5jNhAXSM93ed5PsUUl45TOpfJ8=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/7008769/597570810.jpg">
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<figcaption>Britney Spears made it work, bitch.</figcaption>
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<p id="JP2FNs">And lo: As it was prophesied in the book of celebrity comebacks, Britney Spears returned to the VMA stage.</p>
<p id="Jchvg9">A full nine years after the disastrous 2007<strong> </strong>"Gimme More" performance that made Britney fans and skeptics alike sigh in resignation, Britney celebrated the August 26 release of her ninth album <em>Glory </em>by coming back to the VMAs to prove that writing her off back then was a mistake.</p>
<p id="XaJtJo">And <a href="http://www.vox.com/2016/8/28/12685884/britney-spears-vma-performance-2016">she succeeded</a>! For the most part, anyway.</p>
<p id="bWWBlf"><em>Glory</em> contains 17 songs, at least 10 of which are the kind of high-energy pop bangers that would’ve been awesome on a huge stage like Madison Square Garden. (Wherefore art thou, "Do You Wanna Come Over"?!)</p>
<p id="QdfyLK">But Brit only performed her single "Make Me," featuring slower EDM beats and <s>a lost extra from </s><s><em>Grease 2</em></s> rapper G-Eazy. Britney writhed around the stage, G-Eazy, and her New Wave-ish backup dancers. It was, all around, fine.</p>
<p id="ZOk4Uv">Also: Brit had the bad luck of performing almost immediately after Beyoncé’s set practically tore down Madison Square Garden and set it ablaze. There was just no following <em>that</em>, unless the follow-up was also Beyoncé.</p>
<p id="IhXpxD">But as far as Britney’s redemption story goes, it’ll do.</p>
<h3 id="3h1pKG">Winner: Rihanna</h3>
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<img alt="2016 MTV Video Music Awards - Show" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/8fiPAgULaeL0r9nRpi_PItJba3w=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/7008773/597574950.jpg">
<cite>Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>Rihanna brought it, as Rihanna is wont to do.</figcaption>
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<p id="KkcYzu">Sure, it says something that I didn’t mention Rihanna on the list of winners until now, on a night that was supposed to be primarily honoring her for winning the Video Vanguard prize (the VMAs’ version of a lifetime achievement award). But even as Beyoncé, Britney, Kanye, and assorted DJs fought for attention, Ri made the most of her moments.</p>
<p id="G6t4sU">In fact, Rihanna had not one, not two, not even three, but <em>four</em> performances throughout the night. She <a href="http://www.vox.com/2016/8/28/12685618/rihanna-vma-2016-opening-video">kicked off the show</a> with a medley including past hits like "Don’t Stop the Music" and "Only Girl (In the World)."</p>
<p id="sI9Im0">Later, with her second performance, she kicked things up a notch by dancing her face off in neon to another medley including "Rude Boy," "Work," and "What’s My Name."</p>
<p id="rxP1U9">The next time we saw her, she turned down the lights and ramped up the attitude for the one-two-three punch of confident, sexy-as-hell anthems "Needed Me," "Pour It Up," and "Bitch Better Have My Money."</p>
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<p>Rihanna's "BBHMM" was so, so good.</p>
Được đăng bởi <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MTV/">MTV</a> 28 Tháng 8 2016</blockquote>
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<p id="QiEKpe">Finally, she closed out her appearance with <a href="http://www.vox.com/2016/8/29/12687030/vma-2016-rihanna-diamonds">a gorgeous rendition</a> of three slower ballads — "Stay," "Diamonds," and "Love on the Brain" — that showcased her voice in a way the other, choppier medleys couldn’t.</p>
<p id="ZR00mE">But even if some of the medleys were definitely stronger than the others, Ri still proved why she was getting this award honoring her career arc, even though she’s only 28 years old. For the past decade, she's had hit after hit after hit — and as she proved at the VMAs, her performing abilities and charisma have only gotten stronger with every passing year.</p>
<p id="rM15n3">She also proved that she’s got the music industry wrapped around her finger — including one guy in particular.</p>
<p id="G1rxBs">Which brings us to:</p>
<h3 id="TF7Jf5">Loser: Drake</h3>
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<img alt="2016 MTV Video Music Awards - Show" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/CvJyFM57bsEwyU3xBa-gNJFqt-Q=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/7008767/597576074.jpg">
<cite>Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>A fan introduces Rihanna’s Video Vanguard award.</figcaption>
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<p id="Pxxk58">To be clear: I’m not calling Drake a loser because he admitted to the world while introducing Rihanna’s Vanguard award that he’s "been in love with her since [he] was 22 years old." Drake is a human being. Of <em>course</em> Drake is in love with Rihanna. I would never dare take that away from him, since any sane person should be in the same boat.</p>
<p id="22Qefg">But there’s no denying that Drake had a rough night from the get-go. Though he won the evening’s first award — Best Hip-Hop Video, for "Hotline Bling" — he missed the chance to accept it for arguably the most boring reason anyone’s late to anything:</p>
<p id="f187FL">He got stuck in traffic.</p>
<p id="iJcjM4">Then, at the very end of the show, he finally strolled onto the stage in a tuxedo to present Rihanna’s award. He earnestly gushed over "the iconic being that is Rihanna," looking for all the world like he was about to drop down on one knee and make his adolescent dreams come true, or at least reenact the final 10 seconds of any rom-com worth swooning over.</p>
<p id="qARuyS">Instead, he gave her the award and went in for a kiss — and he was <em>denied</em>.</p>
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<p><span><br>To be clear: Drake’s enthusiasm for wildly talented women like Rihanna, Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj, and Serena Williams is one of his finest features. But tonight wasn’t his night, and even he knew it.</span></p>
<h3 id="UBtb50">Winner: Kanye West</h3>
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<img alt="2016 MTV Video Music Awards - Show" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/2APEJ4DjfIum-XRQzverG-WCu38=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/7008749/597570186.jpg">
<cite>Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>The Kanye Show at Madison Square Garden.</figcaption>
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<p id="Pbdeht">MTV <a href="http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/music/news/a48019/kanye-west-2016-vmas/">reportedly</a> gave Kanye four minutes of airtime to do whatever he wanted, and Kanye <a href="http://www.vox.com/2016/8/28/12686122/vma-2016-kanye-west-speech-watch">took full advantage</a> of it — but probably not in the way the network had hoped.</p>
<p id="XbDsRl">Though Kanye is known for delivering nakedly candid moments that keep people coming back to him for more, he used his time on the Madison Square Garden stage to basically ramble about whatever came to mind.</p>
<p id="Tlmvbj">TL;DR: Kanye still loves Taylor Swift, thinks his wife Kim Kardashian is "a G," and ranks himself amongst the likes of "Truman, Ford, Jobs." But we know all this already, so at some point, Kanye’s speech became less about speaking than running out the clock, just for the sake of doing it.</p>
<p id="k7yI63">So why is he a winner, you ask? Think about it this way: For every second Kanye spent <em>not</em> flipping out on live television, an MTV producer quietly died just a little bit more inside.</p>
<p id="ueCFvF">Kanye’s a winner not because he was particularly interesting. Kanye’s a winner because the VMA’s wanted him to dance for them, but instead, he did exactly whatever the fuck he wanted to do.</p>
<p id="KgMqJ7">Still: It’s a shame Kanye didn’t deliver something more interesting, if only because the rest of this year’s VMA production was so awkward that a shot of true strangeness would’ve been an incredibly welcome distraction.</p>
<h3 id="ssLF0M">Loser: The kinda-sorta comedy bits</h3>
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<img alt="2016 MTV Video Music Awards - Show" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/x_oAjajaYAgY1Eg3I6lBWtBAIME=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/7008757/597577354.jpg">
<cite>Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>Jimmy Fallon as Ryan Lochte. Sure.</figcaption>
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<p id="rTtAG8">This wasn't the first time the VMAs didn't have a host, but the awards’ attempts to keep things moving without one were lackluster enough that it would be shocking to see next year’s show try anything similar.</p>
<p id="ENQ0G1">All the random attempts to be funny and entertaining outside the performances instead felt stilted and confused, with bits from talented comedians like Nicole Byer and Jay Pharoah awkwardly sandwiched in between announcements of which performers would be coming next, as the comedians vamped the best they could in the venue’s concrete hallways.</p>
<p id="LAsav4">The worst of the VMAs’ comedy offenses was Jimmy Fallon’s Ryan Lochte impression, which began with <a href="http://www.vox.com/2016/8/18/12532384/ryan-lochte-robbery-fake-rio-olympics-video">the disgraced swimmer</a>’s Dentyne Ice blue hair and ended with Fallon making non sequitur pop culture jokes that were purposely bad — the better to mock Lochte’s less-than-stellar speaking skills — but had zero wit to them outside of that premise.</p>
<p id="pq9Hs9">Not even Michael Phelps’s <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MTV/videos/10154000059181701/">ecstatic reactions</a> to Fallon’s full-on mockery made this bit worth it — which is saying something, because the level to which Phelps doesn’t give a shit about pretending to like Lochte anymore is a truly beautiful thing.</p>
<p id="CxaOdw">Even enlisting the hilarious Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele to commentate on the sidelines as parodies of MTV VJs felt like it boiled down to exactly one joke — "social media, am I right?" — that just got hammered over and over again.</p>
<p id="yVgJXc">Instead of being the embodiment of youth like they so obviously wanted, the VMAs ended up more in the territory of a try-hard dad faking his way through chaperoning prom.</p>
<h3 id="SjWOVR">Loser: MTV producers</h3>
<p id="zVpc0x">There’s no two ways about it: The production of the 2016 VMAs was <em>weird</em>.</p>
<p id="H105ss">This year marked the first time the VMAs were held in Madison Square Garden, and it showed. The entire production was jerky and stilted, the cameras unsure of how to capture the scope of the venue without shortchanging the performances.</p>
<p id="DOzA0w">For example, when Britney’s performance let the beat drop from the slower verse into the EDM chorus, the dancing kicked into high gear. But at that crucial point, the camera immediately cut back to a wide shot of her with two backup dancers; it was so far away that you could barely make them out at all.</p>
<p id="HrloFj">That choice is emblematic of the entire event, in which the people producing it couldn’t seem to make up their minds of whether to entertain the in-house audience or the one watching from home. Worse than that, the cameras had no idea where to focus, settling instead on a compromise of "EVERYWHERE ALL THE TIME ALWAYS," with the lens only sometimes in focus.</p>
<p id="vHinPx">So even as the show made other attempts to liven up the performances — from <a target="_blank" href="http://www.vox.com/2016/8/28/12685916/vma-2016-ariana-grande-side-to-side">Ariana Grande’s SoulCycling</a> to Nick Jonas hopping through a diner set — it took a force of talent like Beyoncé to make the show as slick and powerful as it should’ve been all along.</p>
https://www.vox.com/2016/8/29/12686954/mtv-vma-2016-recap-beyonce-rihanna-drake-winner-loserCaroline Framke2016-08-29T00:12:41-04:002016-08-29T00:12:41-04:00VMA 2016: Rihanna closed the show with an emotional, powerful performance
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<p>Throughout Rihanna's career, there's been an undercurrent of criticism: that <a target="_blank" href="http://www.vox.com/xpress/2014/11/12/7204349/rihanna-cant-sing-wrong">she isn't that good of a singer</a>. On Sunday night, at the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.vox.com/culture/2016/8/29/12691494/vma-2016-mtv-winners-performances">2016 MTV VMAs</a>, she silenced those doubters.</p>
<p>In her last performance of the night, Rihanna performed a medley that included "Stay" and "Diamonds" — a series of songs that showcased her vocals, as opposed to the party anthems and dance tunes that made her famous. The arrangement was pared down, by Rihanna standards, at least — there wasn't any flash, just Rihanna belting out those ballads accompanied by an orchestra.</p>
<p>And she sounded fantastic — as good as any performance of the night (including the fearsome force of nature known as Beyoncé). She hit the notes she was supposed to hit (unlike, say, the Chainsmokers, who earlier performed their hit "Closer," before Rihanna took the stage to obliterate the memory of them), but she also filled the songs with a lot of feeling and emotion.</p>
<p>After her songs, Drake presented Rihanna with a statue for the Video Vanguard award — recognition that she's one of the most influential artists in the game today. Not that we needed any more after her performance.</p>
https://www.vox.com/2016/8/29/12687030/vma-2016-rihanna-diamondsAlex Abad-Santos2016-08-28T23:20:03-04:002016-08-28T23:20:03-04:00VMA 2016: Britney Spears retakes the stage that once undid her
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<figcaption>Michael Loccisano/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Faced with the impossible task of following Beyoncé, Britney stepped up like the pro she is.</p> <p id="a1ayrt">Whenever Britney Spears is at <a target="_blank" href="http://www.vox.com/culture/2016/8/29/12691494/vma-2016-mtv-winners-performances">the VMAs</a>, it doesn’t matter if it’s good or bad. It only matters that it’s Britney Spears.</p>
<p id="xeUR4a">She’s performed on the VMAs stage five times since 1999, starting with "Baby One More Time" alongside N’SYNC, through her own iconic "I’m a Slave 4 U" performance alongside a tiger and banana python, and finally her underwhelming performance in 2007 of "Gimme More." The 2007 performance was supposed to be a comeback after years of incredibly public tumult, but instead, it just felt like confirmation that Britney was never quite going to be Britney again.</p>
<p id="AnhX0F">Now, though? Britney is <em>back</em>.</p>
<p></p>
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<span class="s-related__title">Related</span> <a href="http://www.vox.com/2016/8/25/12630692/britney-spears-glory-career-history" target="_blank">To understand Britney Spears, you need to understand her hair</a>
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<p><span>Nine years and three albums later (including </span><em>Glory</em><em>, </em><span>released</span><em> </em><span>on August 26), Britney returned to the VMA stage to show everyone how hard she’s been working since — and that you shouldn’t write her off just yet.</span></p>
<p id="dITV8b">She emerged in a yellow sequined leotard, writhing to "Make Me," <em>Glory</em>’s first single. Having performed at her Las Vegas show, Piece of Me, for almost three years now, Britney showed her form is still on point.</p>
<div data-analytics-category="article" data-analytics-action="link:related" class="chorus-snippet s-related">
<span class="s-related__title">Related</span> <a href="http://www.vox.com/2016/8/26/12646334/britney-spears-glory-review-album" target="_blank">Breaking down Glory, Britney's most varied album yet</a>
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<p><span>But the dancing was minimal, and she ceded way too much of her spotlight to writhing all over her "Make Me" collaborator G-Eazy. For half the performance, it didn’t feel like her own performance at all — a jarring shift after Beyoncé’s (literally) </span><a href="http://www.vox.com/2016/8/28/12686370/vma-2016-beyonce-lemonade-video-performance" target="_blank">incendiary performance</a><span> almost brought down Madison Square Garden by sheer force of will.</span></p>
<p id="R3DVXT">So, no, it wasn’t on <a href="http://www.vox.com/2015/8/30/9228775/mtv-vma-performances-best" target="_blank">the legendary level</a> Britney’s attained in the past, but, hey — it wasn’t "Gimme More," either. Britney’s a professional; she did her job.</p>
https://www.vox.com/2016/8/28/12685884/britney-spears-vma-performance-2016Caroline Framke2016-08-28T22:46:18-04:002016-08-28T22:46:18-04:00MTV gave Kanye 4 minutes at the VMAs to do what he wanted, and he did ... this
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<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/03QJwaPoP0eOzFL7ZvK0mSghg5M=/0x999:2394x2795/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/50559743/GettyImages-597567560.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Michael Loccisano/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p id="b6JFiG">Kanye West is usually good for the kind of splashy, controversial moments that make award shows uniquely great — or at least the kind that get people talking.</p>
<p id="FEF2eI">Most infamous is the moment at the 2009 VMAs when he interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech for Best Female Video ("You Belong With Me") to insist that Beyoncé should have won the award for "Single Ladies." That incident sparked years of debate, breathless headlines, and <a target="_blank" href="http://www.vox.com/2016/2/16/11012432/grammys-2016-taylor-swift-kanye-speech">heated</a> <a target="_blank" href="http://www.vox.com/2016/2/12/10981946/kanye-taylor-fight">rivalries</a>, extending even as recently as July of this year, when Kim Kardashian posted a <a href="http://www.vox.com/2016/7/18/12210858/kim-kardashian-taylor-swift-snapchat-kanye-west">particularly pointed Snapchat story</a> to expose Swift as a fraud. (And, yes, it’s all exactly as exhausting as it sounds.)</p>
<p id="r57Bik">Keeping all this in mind — and also the fact that Kanye’s <a href="http://www.vox.com/2016/7/6/12053398/kanye-west-famous-art-exploitation">explicit video</a> for "Famous" pissed off everyone from Swift to Anna Wintour to his ex Amber Rose in June — it’s no wonder MTV gave Kanye some time during the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.vox.com/culture/2016/8/29/12691494/vma-2016-mtv-winners-performances">2016 VMAs</a> to do basically whatever he wanted.</p>
<p id="ZxjG6N">An hour into the August 28 VMA broadcast, Kanye strolled out onto the Madison Square Garden stage and grinned up at the crowd. "I came here to present my new video," he told the constantly cheering audience, "but before I do that, I’m gonna talk."</p>
<p id="BHIdkU">According to early reports, Kanye got four minutes to do with as he wanted before presenting his video for his new single, "Fade." Anticipation understandably ran high at the idea of Kanye getting carte blanche, but when the time actually came, it was ... well, <em>fine</em>.</p>
<p id="ly8G6I">Kanye talked about the 2009 VMAs incident, saying, "‘Famous’ might lose to Beyoncé, but I can’t be mad. I’m always wishing for Beyoncé to win."</p>
<p id="8ELxvo">Kanye shouted out Kim several times ("My wife is a G, not a lot of people can say that") and acknowledged Amber Rose in the audience, though she didn’t seem impressed.</p>
<p id="gTimLz">He talked about fame, and how "Famous" was an "expression of our ‘now.’"</p>
<p id="akw5CD">He talked about violent deaths in his hometown of Chicago, and the fear of wondering if you’re next.</p>
<p id="YErdde">He talked about sitting and talking to "rich people (a.k.a. white)," and the idea of legacy, name-checking himself alongside Harry Truman, Henry Ford, and Steve Jobs.</p>
<p id="cYgONs">Basically, he talked about everything and nothing, all at once. It was notable, if only because it was truly weird, but it wasn’t exactly the jaw-dropping moment MTV was undoubtedly hoping for.</p>
<p id="x8GdBG">As it turns out, you can’t exactly script a spontaneous moment.</p>
https://www.vox.com/2016/8/28/12686122/vma-2016-kanye-west-speech-watchCaroline Framke2016-08-28T22:18:12-04:002016-08-28T22:18:12-04:00VMA 2016: Ariana Grande manages to make SoulCycle look fun
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<img alt="Grande's performance." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/WOAO9_4yyAFA7ybYITB6feyq9yE=/103x0:632x397/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/50559481/Screen_Shot_2016-08-28_at_10.06.03_PM.0.0.png" />
<figcaption>Grande's performance. | MTV</figcaption>
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<p>Ariana Grande, otherwise known as Mariah Carey's doughnut-licking, bunny ear–wearing Babadook, is at the point of her career where she wants us to remind us that she is a sexual woman. This was evident at the <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=20&ved=0ahUKEwiCxciPxeXOAhXERhQKHWl8DaoQFghaMBM&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mtv.com%2Fvma%2Fwatch-vma-live-stream&usg=AFQjCNEfAZK22vwML2Csh5aqCwE6cjrdSA" target="_blank">2016 VMAs</a>, when the singer performed "Side to Side" — a song about female empowerment — on a set of stationary bikes.</p>
<p>On these magical bikes, the singer and her dancers performed various interpretative cardio-inspired dance moves while wearing skimpy costumes. It's basically a naughty riff on the exercise phenomenon known as <a href="http://www.vox.com/2015/6/4/8725447/soulcycle-explained" target="_blank">SoulCycle</a>.</p>
<p>Midway into Grande's performance, Nicki Minaj joined to help close the song; male dancers pantomimed oral sex on the two while Minaj and Grande pushed their heads away. (This doesn't happen at SoulCycle.)</p>
https://www.vox.com/2016/8/28/12685916/vma-2016-ariana-grande-side-to-sideAlex Abad-Santos