Taylor Swift and Eminem made history at the 2024 VMAs held at the UBS Arena in New York City on Wednesday (September 11).
Swift won seven awards, bringing her career total for Moonpersons to 30. That puts her ahead of Beyoncé as the top winner in the show's history. Eminem won two awards, allowing him to surpass Peter Gabriel as the top male winner in the show's history.
Many of the awards went as expected. Having had a historic run of success over the past two years, it was likely that Swift would maintain her dominance, and she did. Eminem's win for best hip-hop and SZA's win for best R&B were also no surprises. Both artists topped the Billboard 200 with their most recent albums. Tyla's “Water,” a top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, was also a strong bet for the best Afrobeats.
It was also no surprise that women did well in the vote. This is the seventh year in a row that a woman has won Best New Artist. the sixth year in a row that a woman has won for good videos. the fifth year in a row that a female artist won song of the year. and the fourth year in a row that a woman has won Best Latin. The last male artist to win the Video Vanguard Award was Ye, then still known as Kanye West, in 2015.
But that doesn't mean there weren't any surprises on the show. Here are the biggest snubs and surprises at the 2024 VMAs.
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Surprise: Katy Perry
The pop star won the VMAs' most iconic performance for her rendition of “Roar,” which closed the 2013 show. She performed the song at Empire-Fulton Ferry Park in Brooklyn. He scored such memorable VMA moments as Madonna's “Like a Virgin” from the 1984 inaugural show and Eminem's “The Real Slim Shady” and “The Way I Am” from 2000, where the rap icon was joined by 100+ Eminem looks.
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Snubs: Charli XCX, GloRilla, Olivia Rodrigo, Teddy Swims
All four artists were disqualified, despite receiving four nods each. GloRilla even performed “Yeah Glo!” on the show.
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Surprise: K-pop's winning streak in an all-genre category
We all know K-pop is hot, but you got it this hot; A K-pop group won best group, an all-genre category, six years in a row. Seventeen won this year. Blackpink won last year. BTS won four years ago. Clearly, this is clearly not a niche market.
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Surprise: Sabrina Carpenter
Given Swift's awards blitz, it's kind of surprising that she didn't take home song of the year, like she did last year with “Anti-Hero.” Sabrina Carpenter's “Espresso” beat “Fortnight” for song of the year, but “Fortnight” beat Carpenter's hit, “Please Please Please,” for song of the summer. (If 'Espresso' had been in the running for song of the summer would it have won that award as well? Discuss among yourselves.)
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Surprise: Benson Boone
Benson Boone's “Beautiful Things” won Best Alternative. The song was a multi-format hit, reaching No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, No. 4 on Adult Contemporary, No. 31 on Rock & Alternative Airplay, and No. 33 on Alternative Airplay. The VMAs probably could have put it in pop, rock or alternative. Had he been nominated for best pop, Boone would have been the only male artist in what has been an all-female field this year.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/lists/snubs-surprises-vmas-2024/