By Robyn Seltzer
Staff Writer
Snoop Dogg hosted MTV’s annual Video Music Awards, an event full of glittering awards, memorable performances, record-breaking achievements and internet-spiraling moments that unfolded on Sept. 27.
Madonna opened the show surrounded by dancers in abstract positions and cameramen suspended from the ceiling with wires. She sang “Bring Your Love,” accompanied by Sabrina Carpenter on the piano, and the two excited the audience as they moved around the stage to the beat of their two-time-nominated song.
Madonna was pulled across the stage on a table as Charli XCX appeared, and the two sang their collaboration, “Danceteria Afterhours.” The background changed to look like a bathroom as guests like Sombr and Seth Rogen danced around in street-wear.
The award for Best Pop was presented by singer Teyana Taylor. As Taylor stated, “the ladies ran the game,” with artists like Olivia Rodrigo, Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande as nominees. The win was awarded to Lisa of Blackpink for her song “Dream,” which featured Kentaro Sakaguchi.
Lisa later performed a new song of hers, “SaWaDiKa,” and the stage featured a cityscape of dancers, fake-fights and even a carriage that she climbed on top of.
In between awards, a number of spellbinding performers took stage to enchant the audience. Raye made her VMAs performance debut singing “I Will Overcome” and “WHERE IS MY HUSBAND?,” followed by a special clip of Bruno Mars on his Romantic Tour, singing “Dance With Me.”
Kacey Musgraves honored Dolly Parton with a beautiful cover of “I Will Always Love You,” followed with a wild west scene that took center stage as Shaboozy and Gunna performed a medley of songs, with fire igniting on the roof of their “saloon” behind them.
Many music fans expected PinkPantheress's “Stateside” featuring Zara Larsson to win the award for Best Collaboration, but “Bring Your Love” by Madonna and Carpenter took home the prize. Madonna told the VMAs audience how the collab came to be, and revealed that after getting no response from Carpenter’s team about working together, the “Material Girl” singer messaged the “Manchild” popstar directly.
Madonna also won Best Dance for her “Confessions II: The Film,” where Charli XCX returned with Troye Sivan as Madonna appeared sick of returning to the stage award after award. After a few jokes and initial confusion for what the award was for, she was able to enjoy the rest of the night as a viewer, now with a total of 26 VMAs won throughout her career.
This year's Video Vanguard award was presented to Nirvana for being “completely, unapologetically themselves” over the years, as said by presenter and rapper Chuck D. He recognized Nirvana as having “never bent to the will of the mainstream.” The band honored late member Kurt Cobain.
Ella Bright and Belmont Cameli, stars of “Off-Campus,” directed the audience's attention to Sienna Spiro, who performed “Great Expectations,” dazzling the crowd with her debut VMA performance. Bright later went viral for her excitement upon meeting her idol, Taylor Swift.
Spiro won her first VMA for Best New Artist presented by last year’s winner, Alex Warren. She appeared shocked upon receiving the award, and was struggling for words as she thanked “the incredible women” in her life for all their support in making the win possible.
The 2026 VMAs introduced a brand new award called the Artist Director Honor, given to Taylor Swift. In a video montage, Swift revealed that she has “always written stories, poetry; directing just sort of grew out of a natural extension of that storytelling.”
Her first self-directed music video was for her 2019 single, “The Man.” Throughout her 20-year-career, she has written and directed 18 total videos. After giving high-fives to fans on the way to receiving her award, Swift said that she loved directing music videos because “you, the fans, make it so much fun.”
However, as she was saying this, the camera panned to Charli XCX, who is allegedly the subject of Swift's diss song “Actually Romantic.” She was seen frowning and appeared bored of the pop singer's speech, causing the internet to further speculate on the relationship between the two.
Swift celebrated her win by premiering her latest music video, which she wrote and directed, for her new song “Patient Zero.” The video stars Dakota Johnson, who presented the honor to Swift, Colin Farrell and Swift herself. Later in the evening, Swift took home the coveted trophy for Video of the Year for “The Fate of Ophelia.”
She dedicated her win to “the ultimate showgirl, Dolly Parton,” who had been an inspiration for Swift among millions of others. She informed the crowd that the music video was choreographed by Mandy Moore, who choreographed her show-stopping Eras Tour and remarked how proud she is of the video. With 32 total VMAs, Swift is the most decorated artist in VMA history.
In remembrance of George Michael, his most iconic songs were performed by Sombr, Raye, Teddy Swims and Adam Lambert, including “Father Figure” and “Careless Whisper.”
The final performance of the night was from GENER8ION and Yung Lean for their song “STORM.” The performance featured choreography that hypnotized the audience, an ice cream cone eaten by Lean and a shattered “Moon Person,” the signature trophy given at the VMAs.
Though it was only the first time that song was performed on live television, the number left a lasting impression on viewers, with many calling it the “best performance of the night.” The choreography mirrored the song’s music video, and many felt that the video itself should have won an award for it, but Gener8ion and Yung Lean left empty-handed.
Though that was the end of the show, many more awards were announced online, like BTS’s win for “Song of the Year,” Ariana Grande's win for “Song of the Summer” and Olivia Rodrigo’s win for “Best Alternative.” As the broadcast ended, Snoop Dogg gave one last message to viewers: “Show love, spread love, give love.”
