By TYLER MUSE

Everyone knows about that time Miley Cyrus twerked on Robin Thicke and the other time Britney Spears came out with a snake and even publicly kissed Madonna, and the time came around again to see what would happen at the most talked about awards show in the music industry. Hosted by comedian and actor Sebastian Maniscalco, the 36th annual MTV Video Music Awards took place Monday night, August 16, at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

Leading the night with the eleven nominations was Ariana Grande, with Taylor Swift falling short with only ten nominations. Breakout star Billie Ellish had nine nominations and Tik Tok phenomenon Lil Nas X had eight nominations. Camila Cabello, Cardi B, and the Jonas Brothers were tied with four nominations each. 

The top winners of the night were three females that are ruling the industry at the moment: Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift, and Billie Ellish. Taylor Swift won the biggest award of the night, Video of the Year, with her new video, “You Need to Calm Down,” which was running against Ariana Grande’s “thank u, next,” Jonas Brothers, “Sucker,” and Billie Ellish’s “Bad Guy.” The video also won Video for Good since it is bringing light to the LGBTQ+ community. Taylor also won Best Visual Effects with her video, “ME!” featuring Brandon Urie from Panic! at the Disco. Ariana Grande won big as well, receiving Artist of the Year, with whom she was against Cardi B, The Jonas Brothers, and Shawn Mendes. Ariana also won Best Art Direction with her video, “7 rings,” and Song of the Summer with her latest hit, “boyfriend,” featuring Social House. Billie Ellish, who took the world by storm with hit, “Bad Guy,” won Best New Artist and Push Artist of the Year. Billie also won Best Editing for her video, “Bad Guy.” The Jonas Brothers won their first ever VMA for Best Pop with their comeback hit, “Sucker,” running against Ariana’s “thank u, next,” Taylor’s, “You Need To Calm Down,” and Khalid’s, “Talk.” Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello won Best Collaboration with their steamy summer hit, “Senorita.”

The VMA’s are known for the controversial performances, and there was a star studded lineup for this year’s award show. Taylor Swift opened the show with her hit, “You Need to Calm Down,” dancing alongside drag queens before she transitioned over to guitar to sing her latest single, “Lover.” Shawn Mendes then took the stage for a solo performance of, “If I Can’t Have You” before Camila Cabello joined him later in the night for them both to perform, “Senorita” – which caused the audience to question the relationship status of the two even more. The Jonas Brothers performed at the Stony Pony in Asbury Park, which was the very first venue they had their first performance ever. They performed the hit, “Sucker,” before going outside on the beach to perform latest single, “Only Human.” Miley Cyrus took the stage to sing her breakup ballot and latest single, “Slide Away,” alongside a full orchestra. Lil Nas X took the audience out of this world while performing his latest hit, “Panini.”

Missy Elliot received the highest honor of the night; the Video Vanguard Award. She performed a melody of six songs including, “Get Ur Freak On” and “Work It.”