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Camila Cabello took home the biggest awards at Monday night’s MTV Video Music Awards, while Madonna paid tribute to fellow Detroit native Aretha Franklin in a long, loving speech – giving this year’s ceremony hefty doses of soul and female empowerment.

Shawn Mendes kicked off the show with an expansive take on “In My Blood,” indicating that there might be more substance than style over the course of the show.

Logic continued in that direction by teaming with Ryan Tedder for the debut live performance of “One Day,” in which the rapper led a diverse crew in from the Radio City lobby to reinforce the tune’s pro-immigrant message.

The VMAs wouldn’t be the VMAs without a little bit of over-the-top staging, so, enter Nicki Minaj.with a sexed-up, Egyptian-themed medley that was so heavily-bleeped that the closed-captioning folks gave up altogether.

Panic! At the Disco recruited a full horn section for a run through “High Hopes,” which made the most of Brendon Urie’s Broadway chops and Vegas-inspired dress sense.

As the recipient of this year’s Video Vanguard AwardJennifer Lopez got the marquee treatment for a medley of her biggest hits – complete with buff dancers, costume changes, a guest spot from Ja Rule and numerous close-ups of main squeeze Alex Rodriguez. She accepted her accolade with a slew of thanks and shout-outs, most significantly to her family members, who she credited with a lot of her success.

Ariana Grande brought things back to earth with an impassioned version of her empowerment anthem “God Is a Woman,” surrounded by a crew of females, including backing dancers and family members.

Travis Scott blasted off with a dose of pure energy, but ended up getting pulled back down by a combination of cheesy special effects and James Blake’s syrupy  verses.

The energy level kicked back into high gear for Maluma, who skipped the shirt, but doubled down on the sexiness for a strut through “Felices Los 4” that included a mid-audience dance with Camila Cabello.

Post Malone broke out his best smiley-face pajamas to hit the stage with 21 Savage for “Rockstar.” The loopy rapper stuck around to close out the show by jamming with Aerosmith on a fiery medley of “Dream On” and “Toys in the Attic” – marking the rock legends’ third foray into hip-hop on the VMAs, following a 1987 collaboration with Run-DMC and a 1999 followup with that crew and Kid Rock.

2018 VMA Winners

  • Video of the Year – Camila Cabello: “Havana”
  • Artist of the Year – Camila Cabello
  • Best New Artist – Cardi B
  • Song of the Year – Post Malone: “Rockstar”
  • Best Pop – Ariana Grande: “No Tears Left to Cry”
  • Best Hip-Hop –   Nicki Minaj: “Chun-Li”
  • Best Rock – Imagine Dragons: “Whatever It Takes”
  • Avicii ft. Rita Ora – “Lonely Together”
  • Best Collaboration – Jennifer Lopez feat. DJ Khaled and Cardi B: “Dinero”
  • Video With a Message – Childish Gambino: “This Is America”
  • Push Artist of the Year – Hayley Kiyoko
  • Best Latin – J Balvin: “Mi Gente”
Don Juan Fasho

Source: CS / CS