Last night’s Video Music Awards belonged to the ladies, both in awards and performance.
The first lady of the evening, of course, was Lady Gaga. She won the first two of her eight awards before the ceremonies even began. The eight wins made her the most celebrated woman in one evening in VMAs history. She is tied with A-Ha in second place for the artist with most wins. Peter Gabriel holds the record, with nine moonmen statues in one evening.
“Thank you to MTV for playing my video, even though they asked me to cut so much out,” she said upon winning the Best Pop Video for “Bad Romance.” She ended her speech with a grateful, “God bless pop music and God bless MTV.”
Gaga accepted the award for Video of the Year from Cher, with a tear in her eye and a moving a capella rendition of a new song called “Born This Way.”
Both Taylor Swift and Kanye West addressed in song the now infamous interruption of ’09. Swift’s was a touching ballad of forgiveness that could have easily been a Kanye condemnation. Featuring lyrics like “Who you are is not what you did,” and “32 and still growing up,” she moved from a dusty parlor setting to the backdrop of a rising sun in an effective and touching performance.
Playing a keyboard on a pillar, with ballerinas in slow motion, West’s song was a bumping and a good natured, self-deprecating apology that included a catchy chorus of, “Let’s have a toast for the douchebags.”
Humility never sounded so sweet.
