My VMAs 2020 Review
Hey guys! Happy Day After VMAs Day!! I am EXHAUSTED but I wanted to really get the chance to talk about last night's show with y'all & really take in what happened! The VMAs is the 2nd awards show I've watched during this whole pandemic (the first was the BET Awards which they did an AMAZING job)! The VMAs was really something during my middle school & high school years that I absolutely LIVED FOR especially when my fangirling days (I would say Stan Twitter but my Twitter account has never truly been a Stan account) were at it's most obnoxious!
This year though since there were no concerts to look forward to, I really for the first time in years really prepped myself up for this year's VMAs! For the circumstances we are in right now, I think the VMAs did a VERY well done job of putting things together & everything seemed to have ran smoothly! I found some real joy when watching this show!
I had 2 of my super good friends over to watch the VMAs with me which I really wanna start making that a tradition because it was SO MUCH FUN! During my high school years, I was known for my obnoxious award show live tweeting especially during the VMAs & whenever my old Twitter got suspended, I wanted to kind of stray away from that live tweeting world & come up with other ways to talk about award shows (this is where my blog which you are currently on comes into the picture) because I always had A TON OF THINGS TO SAY!
We have a lot to discuss today so let's get right into reviewing the show! I hope y'all enjoy this post & if you are familiar with my award show live tweeting (Twitter: @jessnicole997) & was wondering why I was so absent from live tweeting, this is why!
If you are new to this blog, I talk about a lot but lately I've been real into award show predicting & giving my thoughts on award shows! Click here to see my VMAs Nomination Thoughts for this year!
I'm also real into predicting the Grammy Awards & in a few short hours, I will be posting my full Grammys 2021 predictions (if you want to keep up with that watch for my Twitter @jessnicole997 or refresh this blog all day)!!
My VMAs 2020 Review
The VMAs Pre Show
This year's pre show was actually super fun to watch! I know usually during pre shows they show red carpet & interview celebrities but this year considering the circumstances, they still did all of that of course in a super safe way & I really admire them for that! They also had super fun pre show acts like Jack Harlow, Chloe x Halle, & more! I really enjoyed Chloe x Halle's performance the most!
Chloe x Halle
I decided to create a whole separate section to talk about Chloe x Halle at the pre show because they truly kill every single performance they do! I'm so happy they performed their song Ungodly Hour! It's one of my favorites off of their new album! If you haven't taken the time to check out Chloe x Halle's new album or even their performances throughout quarantine & 2020, I HIGHLY recommend checking them out! They are SO SO SO TALENTED!!
The Beautiful Chadwick Boseman Tribute
I do want to say the VMAs did a BEAUTIFUL job with their tribute in the beginning of the show & the commercial they did for him about 10 minutes into the show! So beautifully well done! Chadwick would have loved it!
The Weeknd KICKS OFF THE SHOW!!
Thank god this wasn't an animated performance like his Tik Tok concert but the fact he was on the roof performing Blinding Lights was super cool & a great way to kick off the show! I love The Weeknd so much! The firework show at the end of his performance was super cool as well! I give this performance of Blinding Lights a 100000/10!!
Keke Palmer as the Host!
First of all, props to Keke's stylist because her outfits were SO CUTE! As a host though, I definitely approved of it (especially the promo where she redid the True Jackson VP theme song)! I think MTV should definitely consider her for host again next year!
DaBaby & The JABBAWOCKEEZ?!
DaBaby's performance was super cool & also... THE JABBAWOCKEEZ IN 2020?! I was all here for this performance! I didn't personally know any of the songs other than Rockstar (I know guys, the most basic song)! After this performance though, it made me want to get into his other music besides the mainstream music! DaBaby is actually coming to my city next year for Spring Break & I felt hesitant at first about wanting to go but after his VMAs performance, I will for sure attempt to go to that concert! He seems super fun live & from his performance at the VMAs he is VERY entertaining. I am invested!
Best Collaboration
First of all, JADEN FREAKING SMITH PRESENTED IT!!! If you haven't listened to the Cool Tape 3, I highly recommend taking a listen to it! His newest project is super chill & different from anything he's done before! Anyways... enough about Jaden Smith! Let's talk about Best Collaboration! For all of these awards I will be talking about in this post, I'll compare them to my Nomination Thoughts from who I wanted to win & who I thought would realistically win & whether I was right or wrong! I've seen enough years of the VMAs to kind of get a grasp of who I thought was going to win based off of fanbases & popularity! I KNEW RAIN ON ME WAS GOING TO WIN! I think Rain On Me was so brilliant & excellent, it deserved all of the hype at this award show for sure. Let's also talk about Lady Gaga's outfits from each speech she did... honestly WHAT A FREAKING QUEEN!!!!
MIDNIGHT SKY!!!
I was super excited about Miley Cyrus performing Midnight Sky because I have been SO OBSESSED with this song recently (it's probably my most listened to song at the moment)! I loved the set, the costumes, & most importantly, she channeled her inner Wrecking Ball by getting on the disco ball!! Honestly, what a freaking queen! I am personally super excited for this next era for Miley Cyrus, I love Midnight Sky so much!! Her voice during this performance was also SO FREAKING FLAWLESS!! I definitely want to see Miley live someday, I feel like her shows would be super fun & entertaining!
Best Direction
Don't even get me started about how Harry Styles got robbed during this entire awards show (Grammys 2021 DON'T PAY HIM DUST)!! I could make a whole entire other post about how Harry deserves every award possible but we aren't going to do that! I've personally never seen The Man video & I do love Taylor Swift but I truly think Harry deserved this award for his Adore You video! That's just my opinion though!
Maluma is SO CUTE!
Maluma's performance was so freaking cute & I definitely want to start getting into his music! I've listened to his 11:11 album which came out I think last summer but other than that, I never really knew a lot by him!
Best Latin
I know I was campaigning for Bad Bunny to win because I LOVE Yo Perreo Sola but it made sense why Maluma won because he had just performed & honestly, his music is super good! CONGRATS MALUMA!!!
Song of the Year
Honestly, this year's VMAs should have just been the "Rain On Me Appreciation Show" because the amount of appreciation & recognition Rain On Me got at this award show was INSANE & also well deserved at the same time!! CONGRATS GAGA & ARIANA! VERY WELL DESERVED!!
I Think I'm a BTS Fan...
Ok guys! Let's be real! I was real hesitant about BTS because of how freaking insane the fans are (I really shouldn't have judged because I was absolutely psycho over One Direction) but then really over the past year as I watch them on other award shows, I really do admire them as artists! Their dancing is super cool to watch! When they use to perform their song with Halsey at award show last years it was super entertaining! I actually really enjoy Dynamite as a song! It's a super fun & lighthearted song which we certainly do need right now in these hard times! I don't see myself as a full on Stan but I really do respect them as artists! Way to go BTS!!
Best Music Video From Home
This is the most 2020 category ever HAHA! All of the music videos nominated were good but I knew Stuck With U was going to win based off of popularity & the 2 fanbases are super dedicated! Congrats Justin & Ariana!!!
LADY GAGA!!!
I could truly go on & on all day about how much I've been craving this performance that Lady Gaga gave! I LOVE LOVE LOVE Chromatica as a album & the fact she started off her performance with 911 was PERFECT!
RAIN. ON. ME.
Another performance I've been craving during this whole quarantine! The LIVE PERFORMANCE of RAIN ON ME WAS PERFECT & EVERYTHING I WANTED! Side note: if Gaga, Ariana, & her dancers can perform, dance, & sing while wearing a mask I think you'll be fine wearing a mask to the grocery store for a hour! Both artists sounded AMAZING & THE FREAKING OUTFITS!! AHHH! Also, did y'all hear Ariana's HIGH NOTE at the end? My jaw dropped. It truly showed how amazing Ariana truly is & why I love her so much! I also loved how they stayed true to the music video!! I think this performance of Rain On Me itself deserved a freaking Grammy! It was PERFECT!!
The Perfect Ending to a Perfect Performance!!
GAGA ENDING THIS PERFECT LITTLE SET WITH STUPID LOVE?? ON THE FREAKING PIANO?? I AM SO HERE FOR THIS!!! Stupid Love is such a fun song & it makes me wanna get up & dance! I'm SO ON BOARD for Chromatica Ball when this pandemic is over because I think this album was truly so brilliant & I really wanna hear the other songs off of the album live so badly!! Lady Gaga truly deserves all of the recognition possible! This whole little set was a 1000000/10 for me! I LOVED IT!!
Best Pop
So many great songs were nominated & BTS winning wasn't my first choice (I wanted Rain On Me to win but they got the proper recognition for other awards) but it didn't shock me they won because their fanbase is so dedicated when it comes to award show voting! Congrats BTS!!
Best R&B
I LOVED EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THESE SONGS!! I'm not shocked The Weeknd won based off of popularity but it was well deserved! I loved his speech! JUSTICE FOR JACOB BLAKE & BREONNA TAYLOR!!
Artist of the Year
So many great artists were up for this award & I'm SO SO SO HAPPY Gaga won!! This was a Lady Gaga concert & everyone else were opening acts HAHA! Why did Gaga's outfit for her Artist of the Year speech remind me of the Igloo dress from the Lizzie McGuire movie LOL?? I don't care what anyone else says, Lady Gaga deserved this award! CONGRATS GAGA!! I LOVE YOU!
The Everyday Heroes: Frontline Medical Workers Award
LITERALLY THE MOST PURE THING EVER! At first I was like, they should not have one winner & I'm glad every person nominated won! Thank you all for everything you do!
Video for Good
H.E.R. truly deserved this award for I Can't Breathe. If you haven't heard this song, stop everything you're doing & listen to this song! It's such a powerful song!! BLACK LIVES MATTER!!!
Let Me Be Honest..
I'm just going to lay on the table. I'm not a huge Doja Cat fan! I just think Say So is a average song & I personally don't see anything super special about it but that's just my opinion. Say So was appropriate for the VMAs because the Tik Tok generation was watching & it made sense how she got a bunch of nominations!
This is Lady Gaga's Show & the VMA's just happened to be happening during her show!
This was Lady Gaga's night! She deserved the first ever Tricon award! Lady Gaga's career is just so fascinating to watch & I can't wait to see more from her! What a iconic queen!
Best Hip Hop
MEGAN THEE STALLION DESERVED THIS AWARD! I AM SO HAPPY FOR HER!! Her speech was so cute! Congrats Megan!
The Memorial..
I WAS SOBBING! WAY TOO MANY PEOPLE TAKEN AWAY FROM US WAY TOO SOON! I was in tears the entire time! Just to name a few, Juice WRLD, Pop Smoke, Naya Rivera, & Chadwick Boseman. You will be remembered forever.
Keke Palmer still makes music & it's REALLY GOOD?!
I've been a fan of Keke since Akeelah & The Bee & when I was younger I LOVED her music from 2007! I'm so happy she's making music again! The song she performed on the VMAs was super good too! Way to go Keke!!
I'm Suddenly Now a CNCO Fan!
I've been meaning to get into CNCO for a while now & I think the VMAs has me ABSOLUTELY invested in them! The song they performed was SOO GOOD! I had discovered Hey DJ a few years ago & I love that song, I just haven't had the chance to get into their music & I'm not even kidding, after the award show I went & put a bunch of their music on my playlists so stay tuned guys, I think I'm about to become a CNCO fan!
Best Alternative Video & PUSH Best New Artist
I'm going to discuss both of these awards in this category! First of all, The 1975 GOT ROBBED!! I'm not a huge Machine Gun Kelley fan so I was disappointed! I knew Doja Cat was going to win the Best New Artist award because of her popularity over the past year!
My Song of the Summer Rant
Ok guys, let me get into this. Yes, Harry Styles got robbed & deserved that award more than anything in this world! I personally am super upset he didn't win! BLACKPINK won over Harry but it made sense why. BLACKPINK's fan cams are EVERYWHERE & you can't escape them. It was a fan voted award & the fact 2 very powerful fanbases were up against each other was super nerve racking! If it hadn't been fan voted, I think Harry would have had a higher chance based off of popularity, radio plays, & success! I just have to think about it sometimes that it is a fan voted thing & sometimes with fan voted things a lot of great stuff gets robbed just because a fanbase goes completely insane voting!
Trust me, I was promoting on my social media & to my close family & friends to vote for Harry & I saw on my timeline a lot of people were voting. I would love to see how close the numbers were because I feel like BLACKPINK won by a few more votes but again, I could be completely wrong about that! I haven't been this nervous about a artist winning in years! I just love Harry Styles THAT much though! At the end of the day, congrats BLACKPINK but Harry Styles should have won. That's the end of my rant.
Video of the Year
I'm not shocked at all that Blinding Lights won! I feel like the Video of the Year thing is a sneak preview to what the Billboards, AMAs, & Grammys will be like! These award shows are going to nominate The Weeknd so much for Blinding Lights based off of popularity! Again, I loved his speech. Yes, I will say it again like The Weeknd did. JUSTICE FOR JACOB BLAKE & BREONNA TAYLOR!!
The Black Eyed Peas WITHOUT FERGIE?!
I mean, they've made it work but the best Black Eyed Peas was with Fergie but instead she's singing the National Anthem very badly... come back Fergie!! Also why did they have lights in their pants?? What even was happening LOL?
Ending the Night Off Back in 2009!
At first I was like, this is how we are ending it?? But then, I Gotta Feeling came on. The most overplayed song of 2009 & weirdly I was having a BLAST!
My After Thoughts
This awards show was exactly what music lovers needed during this rough time & considering the circumstances we are in, MTV did a really good job on this awards show! I can't wait for more music award shows to come back! The Billboards is in October!!! That's a wrap on VMAs season! I had so much fun prepping for this awards show & I can't wait for what next year's is gonna be like. Hopefully we can all be in person again!