Los Angeles: As Kendrick Lamar and Ed Sheeran bagged the top honours at the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs), the ceremony saw pertinent issues such as politics, body shaming and mental health being discussed.
Lamar stole the show bagging two top honours, including video of the year, while Sheeran took home the artist of the year trophy.
Lamar, who led the night with eight nominations, was recognised for his track “Humble”, which also won in five other categories namely, best hip-hop video, best cinematography, best direction, best art direction and best visual effects.
The 30-year-old singer, opened the star-studded musical night with his power-packed performance on the award-winning “Humble” and “DNA”. Singer Khalid was named the new artist of the year.
“This is crazy, this is ridiculous,” said Khalid, 19, as he accepted the trophy. “I’ve got to thank the city of El Paso for standing behind me. This isn’t just for me — this is for the city,” he added.
Best pop video award went to Fifth Harmony for “Down” featuring Gucci Mane, while Twenty One Pilots won the best rock video for “Heavydirtysoul”.
Singer Pink was honoured with the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award. She also belted hits such as “Just Give Me a Reason”, “So What”, “Perfect” and new single “What About Us”.
The 37-year-old singer delivered an emotional speech, while accepting the award, which she dedicated to her six- year-old daughter, Willow.
The pop star recounted a story about when she recently drove Willow to school. “She said to me out of the blue, ‘Mama, I’m the ugliest girl I know’. And I said, ‘Huh?’ And she said, ‘Yeah, I look like a boy with long hair.’ And my brain went to, ‘Oh my God, you’re six. Where is this coming from? Can I kick a six-year- old’s (butt)?'”
Pink then went home and made her daughter a PowerPoint presentation, which featured “androgynous rock stars” Michael Jackson, David Bowie, Prince, Annie Lennox and Freddie Mercury to show there are “other kinds of beauty”.
Musicians Kesha and Logic addressed the issue of mental health at the VMAs. The “Tik Tok” singer did not perform at the event but appeared at the show to make a powerful statement about suicide prevention.
She introduced Logic’s performance of “1-800-273-8255,” a song which gets its name from the suicide prevention hotline. An emotional Kesha said, “It has been said that if you knew who walked beside you, you would never experience fear and doubt again The truth is piercing and the truth is what matters. The truth is none of us are alone.”
pti/reuters
