VMAs artists raised their voices about ignorance and hate.
The Video Music Awards is the one award show of the year celebrities can wear bizarre outfits, break social norms and give memorable performances. Kendrick Lamar kicked off the show with his two hit songs of the summer: “HUMBLE” and “DNA.”
“Kendrick really took the visual performance to a whole new level,” Maddie Walker, St. Michael’s College student, said. “There is nothing quite like fireproof ninjas to get the crowd going. He is rocking a red ski coat with matching red pants. The crowd is boping around and screaming every single lyric. He does not miss a beat as he transitions from “HUMBLE” to “D.N.A.” Kendrick Lamar sets the scene of what the rest of night will entail.
Expect the unexpected. Ed Sheeran followed Lamar and the whole crowd jammed out to his summer smash hit “Shape of You.”
Ed Sheeran is portrayed as the simple man, as he wears a plain T-shirt with a red unbuttoned shirt. Lil Uzi Vert surprised the crowd by joining Sheehan on stage to spit rhymes from his album “Luv is Rage 2.” Ed Sheehan joined in with the chorus and the two very distinct artists gave a memorable performance to start off the show.
Katy Perry hosted the 2017 Video Music Awards. To prep for hosting, she Facetime several astronauts and celebrities actors who have been in films about space, including Buzz Aldrin, one of the first men to walk on the moon, and Kevin Bacon, an actor in “Apollo 13.”
She made a grand entrance from the rafters wearing a spacesuit. Katy Perry told the audience she had not been down to earth in a while and was unaware of the recent news reports. She subsequently displayed a newspaper to the audience that was titled, “The World is on Fire,” representing the chaos and disasters that have been going on in our world.
“I think Katy Perry gave the best political statement by not only shedding light on president Trumps unthoughtful tweets but also informing everyone think before you speak,” Wright said.
Paris Jackson, the first presenter of the night, spoke up for the incident in Charlottesville. Jackson said, “We have zero tolerance for their violence, their hatred and their discrimination.” It is no secret that several celebrities have become very political, both pre- and post-election.
Fifth Harmony took home the first award for Best Pop Video for their song “Down,” featuring Gucci Mane.
Taylor Swift premiered her “Look What You Made Me Do” video. The video started out with a grave stone that read: “Here lies Taylor Swift’s reputation.” In the video, she portrayed several of her past music video characters. Towards the end of the song, Taylor Swift says into a phone, “Old Taylor can’t get to the phone right now. Why? Because she’s dead.” Looks like the little small town girl is breaking from her innocent girl image.
Henry Mack, a Northeastern University student, reacted to the video. “I don’t agree with her image and seems she’s playing the victim as usual,” Mack said.
However, Wright is all for Taylor’s new image “Taylor Swift finally took a stand against the media and the haters decided to rebrand her image. I admire the way her music video showed how strong she was in the symbolism and the fact that she was able to make fun of her past mistakes,” Wright said.
Shawn Mendes performed his famous song “Nothing Holdin’ Me Back.” This pop singer got his big break from posting several six second covers on Vine. Some fans even say he may be the next Justin Bieber of this generation. As the show went on, Katy Perry continued to crack jokes, but the crowd did not react and even seemed annoyed.
Lorde performed “Homemade Dynamite.” She is wearing her hair half up, half down with a dress that looks covered in tinfoil and cut up into pieces. Lorde did not sing during her performance, instead interpretively dancing around to her song. Later she posted on social media that she was ill during the performance and opted out of singing.
“I’m a fan of Lorde and I thought she gave a great performance even with being sick,” Mack said.
The Best Dance video was awarded to Zedd and Alessia Cara for their song “Stay.” She accepted the award in a very simple, toned-down, all black outfit and it was clear her platform was all about body positivity.
Fifth Harmony gave a memorable performance of their two hit songs “Angel” and “Down.” The girls broke into a synchronized combo when the beat dropped in the song.
Best Collaboration was awarded to Taylor Swift and Zayn for their song “Don’t Wanna Live Forever.”
Jared Leto was the next presenter and showed a tribute to Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington who died from self-inflicted asphyxiation. Leto addressed the audience and said, “I remember his voice– at once ferocious and delicate– that voice will live forever.”
Miley Cyrus returned to the stage to perform her brand new single “Younger Now,” dressed as a fifties lady with an Elvis Presley hairdo. People of all ages joined her on stage, dancing along to a sound remnant of doc wop bop.
Kendrick Lamar took home the Best Hip Hop video for his poetic song “HUMBLE,” discussing how we live in a society with fake and egotistical people who need to “sit down and be humble.”
P!nk gave a rocking performance of her most iconic songs wearing a crash dummy suit that said, “Wake up America,” with her hair spiked ready to bring down the house. Ellen Degeneres presented her with the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard award.
P!nk accepted the award and gave a speech directed to her daughter who has been recently bullied because she “look[s] like a boy with long hair” and does not believe she is beautiful. P!nk told the audience that as a concerned mother, she made power point about being an androgynous artist, such as David Bowie, Janis Joplin and George Michael. The crowd was touched by P!nk’s motherly advice and supporting her daughter wanted to dress like a boy.
Ed Sheeran was awarded Artist of Year, as his Divide album was number one on iTunes charts. His speech was short and sweet, and clear that he is humble when it comes to being a performer.
Logic did a heartfelt performance of “1-800-273-8255.” The suicide hotline is the title of the song. The song is about staying alive and breaking through the darkness. He was joined on stage with suicide survivors wearing shirts that say “You are not alone.” One of the lyrics in his song, “You don’t gotta die, I want you to be alive,” epitomizes the point of the song, which is to prevent suicide from happening.
“Suicide is an issue that needs society’s attention, and if takes a rap song to raise awareness then I’ll blast with my windows down,” Walker said.
Khalid took homes the Best Artist of the Year. Demi Lovato closed the show with her fierce hit song, “Sorry Not Sorry,” which is the ultimate breakup revenge song. She walked onto the stage wearing a neon body suit with her hair slicked into a ponytail. Overall, the show was entertaining from the iconic performances of the artist as well as the important messages they delivered throughout the night.
Artist took a stand for social justice issues and they are saying, ” Baby, I’m Sorry Not Sorry!”
