On September 27th, the Music Television network (also called MTV for short) hosted its 43rd Video Music Awards (VMAs) ceremony. The award specializes in the recognition of music videos and achievements in the visual aspect of music. However, the show was certainly not as entertaining or compelling as ones of the past, but that can be said with a lot of things nowadays.
Like most award shows, the broadcasted event was mostly performances, with a few awards and honors being handed out in between. Opening the show was Madonna, the most nominated and awarded artist of the night with 11 nominations and seven awards won. The mash up of her 2026 singles “Bring Your Love” and “Danceteria” featured surprise guest appearances from Sabrina Carpenter and Charli XCX. While I’m personally not super familiar with the songs from her recent album, Confessions II, I really appreciated the design and dedication to creating a theatrical performance and experience. Another notable performance of the night was the George Michaels tribute sung by Sombr, Adam Lambert, Raye, and Teddy Swims. Kacey Musgraves also gave a beautiful tribute to Dolly Parton with “I Will Always Love You,” just after her passing on August 25th.
The broadcasted awards of the night were Best Pop (won by Lisa for “Dream”), Best Collaboration (won by Sabrina Carpenter and Madonna for “Bring Your Love”), Artist of the Year (won by Madonna), Best Dance (won by Madonna for “Confessions II”), and Video of the Year (won by Taylor Swift for “The Fate of Ophelia). Some were shocked and in disagreement over Madonna winning Artist of the Year over artists like Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift, who may have had more cultural dominance in 2026. Another criticism with the award show in general is their alleged habit of ignoring the fan voted selections and deciding the winners based on audience engagement and who is present. The remainder of the awards were announced through Instagram after the broadcast ended. The award for Best Album also went to Madonna.
The night’s annual Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award (Video Vanguard for short) was awarded to Nirvanna. The award is presented to artists and directors for their contributions to music videos and pop culture. The VMAs also awarded Taylor Swift with the inaugural VMA Artist Director Honor. Following her acceptance speech, she premiered the music video for her recent single “Patient Zero” from the deluxe edition of her album The Life of a Showgirl: Encore.Â
There were hardly any true celebrities present. When the seating chart was announced ahead of the show, it appeared to be that there were just a few famous musicians and actors sprinkled in with influencers. Most of the big names appeared to be backstage until it was time to accept an award. But who can blame them when there were artists like Taylor Swift having a camera of her the entire show just for audience engagement.
Many of the issues with the VMAs this year lie with the decline in cultural relevance for award shows outside of the Grammys and Oscars. The VMAs fail to produce any more iconic moments (for example the Britney, Madonna, and Christina “Like a Virgin/Hollywood” performance in 2003, or Britney’s snake in 2001). Though I suppose that issue can also be attributed to the lack of monoculture or attention span for gen z. Regardless of my opinion, however, the show managed to get 8.41 million viewers for the night, the highest since 2015. So it’s safe to say that the VMA’s will be continuing on for quite some time, despite the decline in the cultural relevance of music videos (the literal premise of the show).