VMAs fall flat, winners turn heads

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VMAs fall flat, winners turn heads

NEW YORK - With most of music industry’s top acts absent - from Beyonce to Bruno Mars - the MTV Video Music Awards lacked star power and felt flat, and some of the winners turned heads - for the wrong reasons.

Camila Cabello beat out Drake, Mars, Cardi B, Ariana Grande and Post Malone for artist of the year.

“I can’t believe this is for me,” Cabello said Monday onstage. Neither can we.

Cabello achieved the unthinkable later in the show when she took home the top prize - video of the year - for “Havana.” Cabello’s song was a No. 1 hit and of the video of the year nominees, “Havana” was the second-most viewed clip behind Drake’s “God’s Plan.” But that’s partly since “Havana” was released last year while the other videos came out this year.

It was the night’s most shocking moment, and MTV seemed to send a message: You’re punished for not showing up and rewarded for attending.

Grande won best pop and Post Malone took home song of the year. Drake, the most successful musician of the last year, didn’t win a single award. Beyonce, Jay-Z, Rihanna and Kendrick Lamar were restricted to technical honors like editing, art direction, cinematography and visual effects. And Gambino picked up best direction, choreography and video with a message for his heralded video “This Is America.”

The show hit another low when Jennifer Lopez, Cardi B and DJ Khaled won best collaboration for “Dinero” - a song that has peaked at No. 80 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart - besting the record-setting hit “Meant to Be,” by Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line, and Mars and Cardi B’s anthemic “Finesse” remix.

AP
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