This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at USFSP chapter.

A star-studded night filled with music and passion, the 40th MTV Video Music Awards featured no shortage of some of the biggest names in music. Artists from all over the world came to UBS Arena in New York City to be part of an event that was sure to be full of surprises. This is a fan-voted award show which means that every nomination and every win is a testament to an artist”s music and fan base. Taylor Swift leads the nominations with 12 awards and is just 7 short of breaking Beyonce”s overall record for the most MTV awards won. She could also be the first person to win the Video of the Year awards 5 times. Let”s further break down everything that happened.

The event kicked off at 6:30 p.m. ET with the pre-show and red carpet, and I followed Vogue to catch all the best looks. Taylor looked iconic in her Dior Cher-inspired outfit, and Tate Mcrae and Kid Laroi won best-dressed couple. Sabrina Carpenter arrived in a vintage Bob Mackie dress that was previously worn by Madonna. I am obsessed with Addison Rae”s white showgirl-esque dress, and Paris Hilton forever remains timeless with her silver look. During the pre-show we got the first awards of the night, including Katy Perry”s “Roar” for Most Iconic Performance, Taylor Swift and Post Malone”s “Fortnight” for Song of the Summer, Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” for Best Alternative, Megan Thee Stallion and Yuki Chiba”s “Mamushi” for Best Trending Video, and Lenny Kravitz’s “Human” for Best Rock.

Eminem opened the awards with his new song “Houdini”, giving a nod to his previous 2000s show with a group of “Slim Shadys” on stage. He brought out Jelly Roll for a virtual collaboration performing their song “Somebody Save Me.” As a lover of country music, hearing this song and seeing Jelly Roll made for an amazing opening. Host Megan Thee Stallion first came out in a Team USA-inspired leotard- she will opt for 50 outfit changes throughout the night, including a piece with a large yellow snake wrapped around her body to emulate Britney Spears’ “I’m A Slave 4 U” VMA’s performance. Rapper Flavor Flav then honored Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles with an honorary bronze medal after hers was taken away shortly after the closing of the games in Paris.

The first award of the VMA s was Best Collaboration, and it went to none other than Taylor Swift and Post Malone for “Fortnight”! I was torn between rooting for “Fortnight” and Morgan Wallen and Post Malone’s “I Had Some Help” for this award, but at the end of the day I’m so happy that “Fortnight” won, especially with the music video having over 107M views. Taylor”s speech was absolutely touching and made sure to honor the victims of the 9/11 attack.

Although I”m not much of a K-Pop listener, LISA’s performance of “Rockstar” and “New Woman” for sure made me want to stream her music. Her red leather outfit was something that I could only dream of pulling off.

I genuinely audibly squealed when Shawn Mendes was the next performer, debuting his new song “Nobody Knows”. He looked so great in his black suit, the smoke in the background emulating the somber tone of the song. I can’t wait to stream it!

Now let’s talk about Sabrina’s performance, which left me awe-struck and my jaw dropped. In a bedazzled white costume with a kiss mark on her inner thigh, she came in on a swing that resembled a large diamond. On a stage curated to look like a space-themed wonderland, she sang a mashup of “Please Please Please”, “Taste”, and “Espresso”, songs that I would argue are the biggest hits of this summer. I especially loved the astronaut dancers and moon person and aliens that were dancing around the stage during her set. Sabrina later won her first VMA for Song of the Year for “Espresso”!

Anitta, Fat Joe, and DJ Khaled collabed for an unforgettable performance of their new song, complete with the catchphrase “We the best music” and a cameo by rapper Tiago PZK. Throughout the show, we also got clips of the Extended Play Stage presented by Doritos. I will add songs by Teddy Swims to my playlist after his incredible live performances, and Jesse Murph took the stage with a dazzling set that left the audience on their feet.

We can”t recap last night’s ceremony without a special shoutout to Katy Perry, who was the 7th woman in a row to receive the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, joining a long legacy of female artists including Shakira, Nicki Minaj, Missy Eliott, Jennifer Lopez, Pink, and Rihanna. She was introduced by husband Orlando Bloom, who lovingly referred to her by her birth name Kathryn Hudson. She gave a performance worthy of praise and admiration, bringing out all the hits including “Dark Horse”, “California Girls” and “E.T.” She then introduced Doechii, singing their new song together.

Continuing with the night”s most special moments, we got a special performance by “your favorite drag queen”s favorite artist” Chappell Roan. She came out in a Joan of Arc-esque costume complete with fire and knights on stage during her set. The lyric video for her hit “Good Luck Babe” has amassed over 31M views on YouTube, and her career skyrocketed this past summer. Chappell Roan later accepted her 1st VMA for Best New Artist, beating out nominee finalists Tyla and Gracie Abrams. She gave a lovely speech thanking the LGBTQ community for uplifting her every day.

Tyla’s “Water” became one of the biggest songs on TikTok this past year, gaining 1.5M posts on the app so far. She took home the award for Best Afrobeats, mentioning the legacy of African artists that came before her. “African music can be pop music too,” she said. “This is just so special but also bittersweet because I know there’s a tendency to group all African artists under afrobeats.” Host Megan then came out with a powerhouse performance of hits from her album “Megan”, bringing out Yuki Chiba for their collaboration “Mashubi

Can we please talk about Benson Boone and that sparkly navy suit? What a moment! “Beautiful Things”, a song whose music video currently has 288M views, has been one of my all-time favorites these past months, and the VMA winner delivered a wonderful show complete with power vocals and backflips! I also adored Rauw Alejandro’s touch of Puerto Rico to the VMA stage, leaving me with the undeniable conclusion that these kinds of award shows can certainly introduce people to new favorite artists. Halsey then performed her new single “Ego”, the fiery red her imitating the lighting of the stage during her performance.

Throughout the night more awards were announced, including Taylor Swift for both Artist of the Year and Best Pop. The “Fortnight” music video also won Best Direction and Best Editing. I was so happy when SZA won Best R&B for “Snooze” because that song has been repeated in my car, and Billie Eilish won the Video for Good VMA for “What Was I Made For? (From The Motion Picture “Barbie”).” LISA also accepted her first VMA as a solo artist for Best K-Pop, and Anitta won Best Latin.

Lenny Kravitz performed a mashup of some old and new hits, and Camilla Cabello returned to the VMAs with “June Gloom” and “GODSPEED”.

At last, the awards were ending, and the biggest award Video of the Year was yet to be announced. Nominees included yet again Taylor Swift and Post Malone for “Fortnight”, Ariana Grande for “we can”t be friends (wait for your love), Billie Eilish for “LUNCH”, SZA for “Snooze”, Eminem for “Houdini”, and Doja Cat for “Paint the Town Red”. In the end, a happy Taylor accepted the award for the 3rd year in a row, bringing Post Malone up on the stage.

As a lover of Taylor and her music, the 40th Video Music Awards left me feeling super happy for all her accomplishments (even though I wish she had performed). Every single artist nominated puts heart and soul into their work, and I can”t wait to hear all the new music coming out. My favorite performance by far was Sabrina’s, and I just know that her album “short “n sweet” is going to be nominated for and win future awards.

After 4 hours of music, see ‘ya next year!

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