Madonna and Taylor Swift top MTV VMAS
The 2026 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) was held last Sept. 27 at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. It was all smooth sailing as far as the nominees and winners were concerned.
Truth to tell, I do not see how anybody can object to the top winners like Madonna, who won seven Moonman trophies out of 13 nominations, and Taylor Swift, who had 11 nominations and went home with three wins. Bow na lang tayo nang bow.
Nobody also objected to the Best K-pop category. Well, it has already been around for the past few years. It was first awarded in 2019. Besides, the VMAs was the first award-giving organization to recognize the massive impact that K-pop music was making on popular music on the global stage.
Best K-pop did draw some flak for supposedly segregating South Korean acts from winning in the VMAs’ major categories at first. But it has proven itself fair and inclusive during the ensuing years. So, instead of K-pop artists feeling sidelined or worst, ostracized, Best K-pop has become an important step towards winning in the VMA’s major categories.
Although there are no Best J-Pop or Best P-Pop at the VMAs, all nationalities are welcome to be nominated and hopefully win. The 2026 harvest includes South Koreans BTS, already a four-time winner in this category, for Swim as Song of the Year. The other one is Lisa for Dream featuring Kentaro Sakaguchi as Best Pop. Lisa, who is for now on the solo trail, is Thai. She is part of the K-pop group Blackpink. Sakaguchi is a Japanese singer and actor.
Meanwhile, Madonna retains her rep as queen of the VMAs. She was named Artist of the Year. She won for Best Album for her “Confessions II;” Best Collaboration for Bring Your Love with Sabrina Carpenter; plus, Best Dance, Best Cinematography, Best Choreography and Best Long Form Video for Confessions II, The Film. She also opened the show with a breathtaking eight-minute medley.
Taylor brought home only three Moonmen trophies this time around. These though brought her haul to a total of 33 wins, making her the most awarded artist in the history of the VMAs.
Taylor used to be tied with Beyoncé with 30 Moonmen on the shelf, but she has now surpassed that. She dedicated her wins to the late country star Dolly Parton.
Taylor won the top plum of them all, the Video of the Year Award for The Fate of Ophelia, plus Best Direction for Opalite and most important of all, the first-ever MTV VMA Artist Director honors. This recognition brings to fore Taylor’s talent as a music video director. It would be quite interesting finding out which artists would follow in her footsteps.
The other winners at the 2026, MTV Video Music Awards are:
•Best New Artist: Sienna Spiro;
•Best Hip-Hop: Cardi B for Safe featuring Kehlani;
•Best R&B: Bruno Mars for I Just Might;
•Best Alternative: Olivia Rodrigo for the cure;
•Best Latin: Big Bunny for NUEVAYoL;
•Best Country: Ella Langley for Choosin’ Texas;
•Best Art Direction: Pink Pantheress for Stateside featuring Zara Larsson;
•Best Editing: Sabrina Carpenter for House Tour;
•Best Visual Effects: Ariana Grande for hate that i made you love me;
•Best Group Social Category: BTS;
•Song of Summer: Ariana Grande, hate that i made you love me.
And the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award went to alternative rock band Nirvana. It was accepted by the surviving members of the band, drummer Dave Grohl, founder Krist Novoselic, who formed Nirvana with Kurt Cobain in 1987, and touring guitarist Pat Smear. Nirvana is only the second rock group to win the Vanguard. The first was Duran Duran in 2003.
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