2018 MTV Video Music Awards
The 2018 MTV Video Music Awards were held on Monday night, August 20, 2018 at 9:00–11:43pm EDT at Radio City Music Hall in Midtown Manhattan, Manhattan, New York City.[1] The 35th annual award show aired live from the venue for the 12th time, the most of any previous venue in its history.[2] Cardi B led the list of nominees with twelve nominations. Cardi and Childish Gambino were the most awarded of the night with three each.[3][4] Camila Cabello won Video of the Year and Artist of the Year,[5] while Jennifer Lopez became the first Latino to receive the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award. This edition of the MTV Video Music Awards saw yet another severe drop in ratings, only achieving a mere 2.2 million viewers on MTV, and only seeing 4.87 million viewers on all of its sister networks.[6]
2018 MTV Video Music Awards
Monday, August 20, 2018 at 9:00–11:43pm EDT
Cardi B and Childish Gambino (3 each)
Cardi B (12)
Bruce Gillmer
Jesse Ignjatovic
Alex Rudzinski
Critical reception[edit]
Entertainment Weekly's writer Darren Franich gave the show a B− and said, "MTV's tagline for the 2018 Video Music Awards was 'Everything might happen.' Hey, they said might. The 35th VMAs had some fiery performances, but the show never quite sparked [...] This was a reasonably satisfying awards show, not the boring trainwreck some VMAs have been, not the exciting trainwreck supernova some VMAs dare to be."[13] For Variety, Daniel D'addario said, "There was a time when the VMAs were a change-of-season status report on pop: As MTV’s target audience heads back to school and those slightly outside that audience get ready to turn their mind to graver things, the pop world had historically united to put on a show that could carry viewers into the fall." and unfavorably compared it to the 2013 show line up.[14] In Billboard, Leila Cobo wrote, "although this year's awards haven't escaped criticism, it hasn't been for lack of Latin power," noting that "Maluma, Cardi B, Jennifer Lopez and Camila Cabello (finally) put Latin music center stage at VMAs."[15]