This year's MTV Video Music awards was equal parts predictable and surprising.
Held at the Los Angeles Microsoft Theatre, the 32nd instalment of the infamous music awards saw the performances of the year's most followed music personalities.
Opening the awards show is Nicki Minaj performing 'Trini Dem Girls' while sporting a red tribal-style headdress as reported by Channel News Asia. By the end of her opening set, she surprised the audience when she was joined by Pop Singer-Songwriter and Country Music icon, Taylor Swift. The two sang Minaj's hit single, 'The Night is Still Young' followed by Swift's 'Bad Blood' as the 'Anaconda' singer danced around her, CBC News reports. They ended the opening set with an embrace, closing the curtain on the issues surrounding them. Last month, Minaj and Swift were the talk of Twitter when they had a controversial back-and-forth regarding Minaj's 'Anaconda' being ruled out from the Video of the Year nominations.
This year, Swift has a roster of nominations including Video of the Year, Best Collaboration, Song of Summer, and more, as per CBC News. She snagged both Best Pop Video and Female Video.
On the other hand, Minaj won Best Hip-hop video for 'Anaconda' and notably put the spotlight on Miley Cyrus in her acceptance speech, as per CBC News: "And now back to this b-- that had a lot to say about me a lot in the press. Miley, what's good?"
In a recent pre-VMA interview with the New York Times, Cyrus criticized Minaj for her 'pop star war' with Swift. After Minaj's mic was muted, Cyrus responded, "We all know how they manipulate" words during interviews, as cited by CBC News.
After an apparent fumbling for words while reading the cue cards on voting for Artist To Watch For Award, she remarked, "I lost this award in 2008 and I was fine with it. Whatever! Because it's no big deal. It's just an award and I persevered," she yelled, appearing to look over at Minaj. She ended with: "Congratulations Nicki."
Following the tradition started by Beyonce, Cyrus also casually revealed that she was dropping a surprise album, free for streaming at MileyCyrusandHerDeadPetz.com, as reported by Teen Vogue.
Meanwhile, Best Male Video was awarded to Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson's Uptown Funk, earning the first Moonman in the live telecast. Accepting the award, Mars yelled, "Uptown Funk forever! Thank you!"
Remarkably, Swift presented the coveted Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award to Kanye West as he rambled onstage and explaining that he "rolled up a little something" before his speech:
"This arena tomorrow is gonna be a completely different setup, this stage will be gone, after that night, the stage was gone, but the effect that it had on people remained," West said referring to the incident during the 2009 VMA's when he interrupted Swift's speech. "The problem was the contradiction. The contradiction is I do fight for artists, but in that fight I somehow was disrespectful to artists. I didn't know how to say the right thing, the perfect thing."
Here's the full list nominees and winners as per Channel News Asia:
POP VIDEO: Taylor Swift - "Blank Space" (WINNER) Beyonce - "7/11" Ed Sheeran - "Thinking Out Loud" Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars - "Uptown Funk" Maroon 5 - "Sugar"
ROCK VIDEO: Fall Out Boy - "Uma Thurman" (WINNER) Hozier - "Take Me to Church" Florence + the Machine - "Ship to Wreck" Walk the Moon - "Shut Up and Dance" Arctic Monkeys - "Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High?"
SONG OF THE SUMMER: 5 Seconds of Summer - "She's Kinda Hot" (WINNER) Fifth Harmony - "Worth It" Major Lazer - "Lean On" OMI - "Cheerleader" Taylor Swift - "Bad Blood" David Guetta ft. Nicki Minaj - "Hey Mama" Fetty Wap - "My Way" Jack U ft. Justin Bieber - "Where Are U Now" Silento - "Watch Me" Demi Lovato - "Cool For the Summer" The Weeknd - "Can't Feel My Face" Selena Gomez ft. A$AP Rocky - "Good For You"
VIDEO OF THE YEAR: Beyonce - "7/11" Ed Sheeran - "Thinking Out Loud" Taylor Swift ft. Kendrick Lamar - "Bad Blood"(WINNER) Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars - "Uptown Funk" Kendrick Lamar - "Alright"
MALE VIDEO: Ed Sheeran - "Thinking Out Loud" Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars - "Uptown Funk"(WINNER) Kendrick Lamar - "Alright" The Weeknd - "Earned It" Nick Jonas - "Chains"
FEMALE VIDEO: Beyonce - "7/11" Taylor Swift - "Blank Space"(WINNER) Nicki Minaj - "Anaconda" Sia - "Elastic Heart" Ellie Goulding - "Love Me Like You Do"
HIP-HOP VIDEO: Fetty Wap - "Trap Queen" Nicki Minaj - "Anaconda"(WINNER) Kendrick Lamar - "Alright" Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth - "See You Again" Big Sean ft. E-40 - "IDFWU"
ARTIST TO WATCH: "Trap Queen" Vance Joy - "Riptide" George Ezra - "Budapest" James Bay - "Hold Back the River" FKA Twigs - "Pendulum"
COLLABORATION: Taylor Swift ft. Kendrick Lamar - "Bad Blood" Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars - "Uptown Funk" Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth - "See You Again" Ariana Grande & The Weeknd - "Love Me Harder" Jessie J, Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj - "Bang Bang"
VIDEO WITH A SOCIAL MESSAGE: Jennifer Hudson - "I Still Love You" Colbie Caillat - "Try" Big Sean ft. Kanye West and John Legend - "One Man Can Change the World"(WINNER) Rihanna - "American Oxygen" Wale - "The White Shoes"