The 2020 MTV Video Music Awards were held on August 30, 2020. Keke Palmer hosted the 37th annual ceremony, which was presented primarily from New York City, but with no in-person ceremony due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
| 2020 MTV Video Music Awards | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Date | August 30, 2020 |
| Venue | New York City |
| Country | United States |
| Hosted by | Keke Palmer[1] |
| Most awards | Lady Gaga (5)
|
| Most nominations |
|
| Website | mtv |
| Television/radio coverage | |
| Network | |
Lady Gaga was the most awarded act of the night, with five awards, with Gaga and Ariana Grande being the most nominated acts, with nine each. Gaga received the inaugural MTV Tricon award for achievements in three or more fields of entertainment. The longlist of nominees for Push Best New Artist were revealed on July 23, 2020, and the nominees for other categories were announced on July 30. Fan voting began on July 30 and ended on August 23. Nominees for Song of Summer, Best Group and Everyday Heroes: Frontline Medical Workers were additionally released on August 24. The show was dedicated to Chadwick Boseman, who died of colon cancer two days before the ceremony.[2] The show received 6.4 million viewers in first-run viewing (excluding livestreams through network apps) which was a 5% decrease from the 6.8 million viewers at the previous ceremony.[3]
Ceremony information
The awards were originally scheduled to be held at Barclays Center for the first time since 2013.[4] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was expected to be held with "limited or no audience", as one of the first major indoor events to be held in the city since the onset of the pandemic in the state, with MTV also announcing plans for the show to "[span] all five boroughs" to "pay homage to the strength, spirit and incredible resilience of NYC and its beloved residents".[4]
MTV eventually scrapped the indoor component of the ceremony at Barclays after "close consultation with state and local health officials" and announced that it would be conducted in an outdoor format across the city; the Center will host the 2021 show instead.[5] The majority of performances were pre-recorded either in New York City (with locations such as Hudson Yards and a drive-in theatre in Brooklyn), or on a chroma key set with New York scenery for acts unable to travel to New York City (primarily in Los Angeles, and South Korea in the case of BTS).[6] All personnel entering New York City were required to quarantine for three to four days on arrival, and be tested before and after filming. Red carpet appearances and acceptance speeches were also recorded during the same sessions.[7]
New one-off award categories for "Quarantine Performance" and "Best Music Video from Home" were added on July 30 in light of the ongoing pandemic.[8] Three additional categories were announced on August 24: Song of Summer, Best Group and "Everyday Heroes: Frontline Medical Workers", with the latter created "to celebrate performances by COVID-19 first responders".[9][10]
In addition to the ViacomCBS family of networks, the VMAs were also simulcast on terrestrial television by The CW (a joint venture of ViacomCBS and WarnerMedia).[11] The CW also aired a post-show recap special, comprised mostly of pre-show performance footage.[12]
Performances
| Artist(s) | Song(s) |
|---|---|
| Pre-show[13] | |
| Jack Harlow | "Whats Poppin" |
| Tate McRae | "You Broke Me First" |
| Chloe x Halle | "Ungodly Hour" |
| Lewis Capaldi | "Before You Go" |
| Machine Gun Kelly Blackbear Travis Barker |
Medley "My Ex's Best Friend" "Bloody Valentine" |
| Main show[13] | |
| The Weeknd | "Blinding Lights" |
| DaBaby | Medley "Peep Hole" "Blind" "Rockstar" |
| Miley Cyrus | "Midnight Sky" |
| Maluma | "Hawái" |
| BTS | "Dynamite" |
| Lady Gaga Ariana Grande |
Tricon Award Medley "Chromatica II" "911" "Rain on Me" "Stupid Love" |
| JP Saxe Julia Michaels |
"If the World Was Ending" (advertisement for Extra Gum) |
| Doja Cat | Medley "Say So" "Like That" |
| Keke Palmer | "Snack" |
| CNCO | "Beso" |
| Black Eyed Peas Nicky Jam Tyga |
Medley "Vida Loca" "I Gotta Feeling" |
J Balvin and Roddy Ricch were initially announced as performers on August 4 and 11 respectively, but later pulled out of the event.[14][15][16]
Presenters
Presenters were announced on August 27.[17]
Pre-show
- Nessa and Jamila Mustafa (Co-hosts) – presented Best Group and Best K-Pop
- Travis Mills and Kevan Kenney (Celebrity correspondents)
- Travis Mills – presented Best Alternative
Main show
- Keke Palmer (Host)
- Jaden Smith – presented Best Collaboration
- Drew Barrymore – presented Best Direction
- Anthony Ramos – presented Best Latin
- Joey King – presented Song of the Year
- Madison Beer – presented Best Music Video from Home
- Nicole Richie – presented Best Pop and Best R&B
- Kelly Clarkson – presented Artist of the Year
- Sofia Carson – presented Video for Good
- Bella Hadid – presented the Tricon Award
- Travis Barker – presented Best Hip Hop and introduced the "In Memoriam" segment
- Machine Gun Kelly – presented Push Best New Artist
- Bebe Rexha – presented Video of the Year
Winners and nominees
On July 23, 2020, seventeen Push Best New Artist pre-nominees were announced.[18] Fan voting for most categories took place from July 30 to August 23.[citation needed] Nominees for most other categories were revealed on July 30.[19][20] Nominations for remaining categories were announced August 24.[10] The Push Best New Artist category was narrowed down to three finalists on August 24 and voting moved to Twitter, where it continued until August 28.[10] Voting for Best Group and Song of Summer ran from August 24–26 and August 26–28 respectively, and took place via MTV's Instagram stories.[10] Lady Gaga was the biggest winner of the night with five wins, followed by Ariana Grande and BTS with four each.[21]
Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold.[22]
References
- ^ Countryman, Eli (August 6, 2020). "Keke Palmer to Host 2020 MTV Video Music Awards". Variety. Archived from the original on August 8, 2020. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
- ^ Daly, Rhian (August 31, 2020). "MTV VMAs 2020 dedicated to Chadwick Boseman: "His impact lives forever"". NME. Archived from the original on September 1, 2020. Retrieved October 3, 2020.
- ^ Porter, Rick (August 31, 2020). "TV Ratings: VMAs Slip on Air, Draw Big Social Media Crowd". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on September 1, 2020. Retrieved October 3, 2020.
- ^ a b Aswad, Jem (June 29, 2020). "MTV's VMAs to Be Held at Brooklyn's Barclays Center With 'Limited or No' Audience, Governor Cuomo Says". Variety. Archived from the original on June 30, 2020. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
- ^ Haring, Bruce (August 7, 2020). "MTV Video Music Awards Opt Out Of Indoor Event At Barclays Center After Health Warnings". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on August 8, 2020. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
- ^ Unterberger, Andrews (August 30, 2020). "BTS Make Explosive VMAs Debut With 'Dynamite' at 2020 MTV VMAs". Billboard. Archived from the original on August 31, 2020. Retrieved October 3, 2020.
- ^ Reslen, Eileen (August 30, 2020). "VMAs 2020: How the 'live' show was filmed amid the COVID-19 pandemic". Page Six. Archived from the original on August 30, 2020. Retrieved October 3, 2020.
- ^ Del Rosario, Alexandra (July 30, 2020). "MTV VMAs Nominations: Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande Lead Way; New Categories Nod To COVID Quarantine". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on August 1, 2020. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
- ^ Ungerman, Alex (August 24, 2020). "2020 MTV VMAs: How to Watch, Performers, Nominees and More". ET Online. Archived from the original on August 24, 2020. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
- ^ a b c d Nakamura, Reid (August 24, 2020). "Chloe x Halle, Jack Harlow, Lewis Capaldi to Perform on MTV VMAs Pre-Show (Exclusive)". The Wrap. Archived from the original on August 24, 2020. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie (August 22, 2020). "MTV's 2020 Video Music Awards To Simulcast On the CW". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on August 22, 2020. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (August 30, 2020). "UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY'S Top 150 Sunday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 8.30.2020". Showbuzz Daily. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved October 3, 2020.
- ^ a b Bloom, Madison (August 31, 2020). "MTV VMAs 2020: Watch All of the Performances". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on September 5, 2020. Retrieved October 3, 2020.
- ^ Benjamin, Jeff (August 4, 2020). "BTS, J Balvin & Doja Cat Performing At 2020 VMAs In Promising Initial Steps For A More Diverse Show". Forbes. Archived from the original on August 5, 2020. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
- ^ Strauss, Matthew (August 11, 2020). "The Weeknd, Roddy Ricch, and Maluma to Perform at 2020 MTV VMAs". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on August 11, 2020. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
- ^ Aswad, Jem (August 21, 2020). "Roddy Ricch, J Balvin Pull Out of MTV VMAs Artist Lineup". Variety. Archived from the original on August 22, 2020. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
- ^ Mamo, Heran (August 27, 2020). "Here Are All the Presenters & Performers For the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards: Exclusive". Billboard. Archived from the original on August 29, 2020. Retrieved October 3, 2020.
- ^ Droke, Carolyn (July 23, 2020). "Doja Cat, Pop Smoke, Conan Gray, And More Are Nominated For The VMAs' Best New Artist Of 2020 Award". UPROXX. Archived from the original on July 25, 2020. Retrieved August 24, 2020.
- ^ Hosken, Patrick (July 30, 2020). "Your 2020 VMA Nominations Are Here: Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish, And The Weeknd Lead The Pack". MTV News. Archived from the original on August 30, 2020. Retrieved October 3, 2020.
- ^ "Vote Now – Nominees for 2020 MTV Video Music Awards". www.mtv.com. Archived from the original on August 31, 2020. Retrieved October 3, 2020.
- ^ Grein, Paul (August 30, 2020). "The Weeknd Wins Video of the Year at 2020 VMAs, But Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande & BTS Win More Awards". Billboard. Archived from the original on August 31, 2020. Retrieved October 31, 2020.
- ^ Warner, Denise (August 30, 2020). "Here Are All the Winners From the 2020 MTV VMAs". Billboard. Archived from the original on September 5, 2020. Retrieved October 3, 2020.