The 2025 MTV Video Music Awards, an award show that has had much controversy in the past, premiered this past Sunday on September 7. This year’s show was one of the best they have had in a while with top-tier performances, valid award winners (with only a few snubs), and some amazing fashion.
What sets this show apart from others is the fact that it is so significant to pop culture moments, and the fact that it is fan-voted. The only categories that are not are Artist of the Year, and Song of the Year.
Lady Gaga, who received 12 nominations, ended up winning four awards. When accepting her well-deserved Artist of the Year award, she created an iconic moment as she said her thank yous, then told all how she had to run over to Madison Square Garden to go perform her sold out show. Part of that performance was later broadcast to the ceremony.
Some of the performance was pre-recorded, but it did not make it any less amazing. She sang one hit, “Abracadabra,” off of her latest album, then jumped into her new hit single, “The Dead Dance,” a song that is featured in and released for the award-winning Netflix show “Wednesday.”
Drawing inspiration from the show, Gaga featured the same choreo featured in it and danced in beautiful purple lighting. After winning Artist of the Year and running off to her performance, Gaga went on to win Best Direction for the “Abracadabra” music video, Best Collaboration for her song “Die With a Smile” with Bruno Mars, and Best Art Direction for “Abracadabra” as well.
Conan Gray’s performance of his hit “Vodka Cranberry” was one of the most talked about of the night. Even Ariana Grande’s family stood up and applauded when he flawlessly hit the one of the highest notes in his whole discography. Aside from his absolutely insane vocals, people were also chatting about how the actor who plays Conan’s love interest in his music videos was by his side all night and featured in the performance.
Dating rumors have been going on for years between the two, but this performance and whole night altogether just fueled the fire. Gray was not nominated for any awards this year, but that very much might change after this performance as he surely proved himself through the insane artistry he showcased.
Arguably the biggest snub of the night came before the show even started. Some awards are handed out at the red carpet event, like every year, and one of them was Best New Artist. The winner, Alex Warren, went on to perform that night and could not stop his voice from shaking and going off pitch.
Nerves are accounted for, but if you are in the music industry you should be able to at least hit the right notes live, and it is not like his songs are particularly hard to sing. When you compare this performance to fellow nominee Sombr’s performance of two of his hits, the difference is insane. Sombr was able to hit all of his notes, add his own flair, and all around, it was not boring to watch compared to Warren’s lackluster mashup performance. Sombr, thankfully, did win Best Alternative, but he definitely should have won Best New Artist as well.
Ariana Grande also took home many awards, including the most coveted of the night. Grande won Video of the Year, Best Pop, and Best Long-form Video all for her music video “Brighter Days Ahead”.
The music video, inspired by the Jim Carrey movie, “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” follows Grande as a character named Peaches in her old age as she goes through her most prized memories. She then continues to delete them as she goes through them, saying that she is leaving them in her past as she grows old. These memories include home videos from Grande’s childhood, a pop star performance that has turned into a fan-favorite, a sci-fi-esque metaphor for her divorce and finding of a new, healthy relationship, and a montage of Grande as a Frankenstein monster as her real-life father pieces her back together.
The cinematography, storyline, and deep meaning of the video made it clear from the beginning that it would lead Grande to win many awards. Many suspect that the video will also get her nominated for the 2026 Grammys.
Sabrina Carpenter came out victorious with a total of three wins. She was named Best Pop Artist, as well as winning Album of the Year for her 2024 album, “Short n’ Sweet.” She also took home a visual effects award for her music video for the recent song “Manchild.”
Her performance was spectacular. She came out of a “sewer” on stage, sang, danced, and advocated for trans rights all within one song. She performed the song “Tears” from her hit new album “Man’s Best Friend,” and during the dance break she gave a nod to the legendary Britney Spears as she danced in a very 2000s outfit in falling water at the back of the stage. This specific performance was different than anything she had done before, and needless to say it definitely worked in her favor.
Some other talked-about moments from the night include Mariah Carey receiving the special Video Vanguard award. She put on a show stopping, but lip-synced performance, and was handed the award by Ariana Grande. Carey is such a legend, but for her performance to be with absolutely no live vocals, it left many fans disappointed.
Tate McRae took home her first VMA for her song “Just Keep Watching” as it was named Song of the Summer. McRae is such an amazing performer, better than most of the artists in her generation. Her vibes are very Britney-esque, as she is as good of a dancer as she is a singer. Her vocals are flawless, no matter how fast her dancing is going, and she has complete control over her audiences.
Gen-z girl group Katseye also took home their first VMA for PUSH Performance of the Year for their song “Touch.” Katseye is a global girl group that was formed by record labels Hybe and Geffen. These two are two of the biggest K-Pop labels in the world and have produced the most successful of groups.
Katseye was formed on a brilliant Netflix reality/competition series called “Dream Academy.” To watch the girls go from not knowing each other, to being formed into a group, to now winning awards is such a cool thing to see, and that does not happen often.
The VMAs clearly stepped up their game, and you can see how much thought went into this year’s ceremony. From the performances, to the audience interaction, to the amazing fashion, this show was the first well-done one in a while. And while a few artists were absolutely snubbed, the awards are mostly fan voted, so, of course, those are at the hands of the fans. However, the majority of the winners were entirely valid, creating a fun watch for all music lovers.