The best and the worst of the 2021 VMAs

Doja Cat gives her acceptance speech while looking like a worm. 

“I look like a worm,” Doja Cat said while giving her acceptance speech for winning Best Collaboration for her single “Kiss Me More.”

The 2021 Video Music Awards, hosted by Doja Cat, was held on Sept. 12. Artists like Lil Nas X, Olivia Rodrigo and BTS were big winners of the night. This year’s award show was a rebound from the 2020 VMAs, which were held virtually due to the pandemic. 

Lil Nas X was the artist of the night with the most memorable performance. Beginning his performance in a bright pink costume with “MONTERO” printed across his chest, he stripped off his layers of clothing as he continued singing, wearing only a hot pink underwear at the end.

The Beyoncé-inspired choreography and dramatic costume changes differentiated his performance from other artists, helping to showcase his outgoing and controversial personality.

Coming out as a member of LGBTQ+ community, Nas has advocated for the community and for AIDS and HIV awareness. During his song “INDUSTRY BABY,” Nas danced along with Southern AIDS Coalition member Mardrequs Harris, paying tribute to those battling with the disease. Harris wore the number 433,816, symbolizing the number of people living with HIV in the south of the U.S. since 2015.

Nas also received the most prestigious award of the night — “Video of the Year” — with  his song “MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name).” The music video has over 360 million views on YouTube and a budget of over $1 million. Due to the overwhelming praise for the music video’s cinematography, this award was well received by the public. The song also won the Best Direction and Best Visual Effects awards. 

Blue Ivy won Best Cinematography for “BROWN SKIN GIRL.” This award made Ivy, daughter of artists Beyoncé and Jay Z, the youngest winner in the history of the MTV VMAs. The award sparked controversy due to the media’s opinion on how Blue Ivy did not deserve the award due to her only being a minor part of the song.   

However, both Beyonce and Ivy opted to skip the MTV awards this year, like many others. Regular stars at this event, including Nicki Minaj, Lorde, Ariana Grande and Miley Cyrus, either decided to skip this event or were not invited. Many viewers were puzzled over the list of attendees and performers this year. 

Additionally, there were some technical issues with the performers this year. Lorde was originally supposed to perform a song from her newest album “Solar Power,” but due to a misunderstanding in the safety protocols of the show, she wasn’t able to. An overwhelming majority of comments requested to replace Lorde’s performance with Normani’s, which was subsequently done so.

As a whole, the VMAs was uneventful — however, it cannot be completely discredited. Though the impact and popularity of this show might not be as large as it was in the past, it’s still a great way for fans to show their appreciation to singers for their hard work and dedication.