The 33rd installment of the MTV Video Music Awards aired live on Sunday night, August 28th from Madison Square Garden in New York City. This was the first time the VMA’s have ever been hosted on MSG’s stage. The awards show included  a variety of performances, the distribution of 17 Moon Men, and the acceptance ceremony of the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard award.

   The awards show was amazing from beginning to end. Lugo students described this years VMA’s as, “different but very entertaining to watch”. Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj kicked off the show with an amazing performance.

   However, in a recent poll Lugo students were asked who they thought had the best performance of the night, everyone was on the same page. They believed Beyoncé stole the show with her “Lemonade” inspired performance that was a whole 16 minutes long. Some students even said it was, “life changing”.  It was a very special night for Beyoncé because that same night she received the highest honor by winning the Video of the Year award for, “Formation”along with 7 other awards including the, “Best Long Form Video” award that hasn’t been given out in 25 years.

   These past few years every time Kanye West took stage at the VMA’s he has delivered a speech that left people talking for days. This year he didn’t disappoint. It wasn’t just a speech! He also premiered his new video that night called “Faded”. Everyone seemed to have different views on the video but it all came down to the conclusion that it’s Kanye West and he does videos like this all the time, where he breaks the glass ceiling in terms of what’s “appropriate” for the public to see.

 Kanye has been through his fair share of drama this year that he felt that the need to brush over in his speech including the incident he had with Taylor Swift about another controversial video he did called “Famous” where countless celebrities were lying in a bed nude; Donald Trump, Ray J, Taylor Swift, and Kim Kardashian West were just to name a few.

   This year Rihanna was the recipient of  the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard award also known as the Lifetime Achievement award. Drake her longtime friend and now boyfriend was the one to present her with the award, he delivered a heartfelt speech where he spoke very highly of Rihanna. The rapper even said, “She’s someone I’ve been in love with since I was 22 years old”.

  The speech was captivating along with Rhianna’s achievements she has made through out her career.

 The 2016 VMA’s were one to remember especially for the generation it clearly defined that Sunday night in New York City.