Taylor Swift and her 'Anti-Hero' top MTV VMAs

Taylor Swift took home the top prize at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards for her Anti-Hero music video on a night full of surprises.

“This is unbelievable. The fact that this is a fan-voted award means so much to me,” Swift said in her acceptance speech. “I can't believe it was a year ago that I announced the Midnights album.”

The show, held at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, was Swift's from nearly the beginning. The night's first presenters were none other than NSYNC, who reunited to hand the best pop video award to Swift.

In coordinating suits, Justin Timberlake, Joey Fatone, Lance Bass, Chris Kirkpatrick and JC Chasez shared the stage with Swift. Bass handed her a friendship bracelet, just as fans do at the superstar’s shows. “You’re pop personified,” she told the group.

The night’s top nominee later returned to the stage to pick up the song of the year trophy for Anti-Hero and also the best direction award.

Swift took home nine of the 11 awards she was up for, including artist of the year in a category made up entirely of women nominees for the first time in VMA history.

Her Karma (Remix) collaborator, Ice Spice, won best new artist. “Oh my God, this is so cool,” she said. “I just want to thank my munchkins.”

New music was abundant throughout the show. Host Nicki Minaj performed her latest single, the dreamy Last Time I Saw You before jumping into a brand-new tease of a fiery new trap cut from her highly-anticipated Pink Friday 2 album.

“I ain’t nothing like you,” she raps, “I’m on a whole other level.”

As much as Swift dominated, the VMAs centred on music's global power. K-pop boy band Tomorrow X Together and Brazilian superstar Anitta premiered their new collaboration, the glossy retro-pop of Back for More.

Another K-pop group, Stray Kids, brought S-Class to the stage, regional Mexicana star Peso Pluma performed Lady Gaga and reggaetonera Karol G delivered Oki Doki and Tá OK (remix).

Comedian Tiffany Haddish presented the award for 'Best Afrobeats' in the category’s inaugural year, given to Rema and Selena Gomez for their massive hit Calm Down.

“Africa in the house!” Rema started his acceptance speech. “Shout out to Fela (Kuti) who started Afrobeats in the first place…and I want to give a big shout out to the next generation of Afrobeats.”

Gomez stood a few feet from the microphone but jumped in when Rema asked her to, telling the crowd: “I want to send all of my love to Nigeria, thank you."

Colombian icon Shakira received the Video Vanguard Award and performed an incredible bilingual medley of her decades of hits — She Wolf, her collaboration with Rauw Alejandro Te Felicito, the viral, record-breaking Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53 with Bizarrap among them — in a set introduced by her Hips Don’t Lie collaborator Wyclef Jean.

“MTV, thank you for being such a big part of my career since I was only 18 years old,” Shakira said, also thanking her parents and her children, who she brought to the show.

“This is for you my people, my Latin American people, inside and outside this country,” she said, switching to Spanish. "Thank you for inspiring me and for injecting me with so much strength and so much desire to move forward, I love you so much.”

She also took home the award for best collaboration for TQG, her song with Karol G. The duo gave their acceptance speech entirely in Spanish. “If collaborating with the legendary Shakira had been impressive, having an award with her is something from another planet," Karol G exclaimed.

Diddy received the Global Icon Award from Mary J. Blige and his daughter Chance Combs. He is third recipient of the award, following the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 2022 and the Foo Fighters in 2021.

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