How to Watch the 2023 Video Music Awards (VMAs) Live

The 2023 Video Music Awards took place on September 12, 2023, celebrating the top musical visionaries of the year.

For the last 40 years, the VMAs have been a pop culture phenomenon – from iconic performances to on-stage drama – and this year was no exception, although a little light on the drama. Audiences were blessed as Cardi B graced the stage as the night’s MC, as well as one of the night’s performers. 

Fans voted for their favorites, and the winners were announced at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards live on MTV on September 12. Check the winners out below.  

HOW TO WATCH THE VMAS IN 2023

The Video Music Awards were broadcast live on Tuesday, September 12, 2023, at 8 pm ET.

You can also check out tons of MTV content before the event, including exclusive performances and interviews from up-and-coming artists, as well as your favorite music videos.

If you don’t have DIRECTV, make sure to sign up so you can get access to all the best content leading up to the event. Find out which package is right for you with this quiz.

WHO IS PERFORMING AT THE 2023 MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS?

The performers for this year’s VMAs did not disappoint. The list of iconic performers from genres spanning hip hop to bedroom pop included:

• Anitta
• Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion
• Demi Lovato
• Diddy, Run-DMC, LL Cool J, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne
• Doja Cat
• Fall Out Boy
• Karol G
• Måneskin
• Olivia Rodrigo
• Shakira
• Stray Kids
• And more, if you can believe it!

Here are some of our favorite performances from the night:

A fantastic tribute to the history of hip hop featuring more iconic artists than we could keep track of!

Props to the young Olivia Rodrigo, who experienced technical difficulties during her performance for keeping calm and rocking on.

It’s impossible for these two to perform together and not have a blast. 

NOMINATIONS FOR 2023 MTV VMAS & WINNERS

Fans are encouraged to vote for their favorite artists leading up to the live event for 17 different categories. In addition to the crowdsourced categories, there are six awards MTV calls “professional categories.”

Artists have a chance to win in their nominated categories as well as the professional categories.

In Taylor Swift’s greatest era yet, she was nominated for an astounding eight awards, and won every single one. Being tied for the most VMA awards doesn’t stop you from fan girling, though. One of the most memorable moments of the night was when NSYNC reunited “for the first time ever, back together in, like, a decade,” as Nicki Minaj said it. 

They then proceeded to present the award for Best Pop Video to Swift. And gave her a friendship bracelet. And boy was she excited. Watch her reaction here:

As for the six other nominees for Best Video of the Year (all women or nonbinary artists, by the way), four of them took home at least one award, including Doja Cat, Nick Minaj, SZA and Olivia Rodrigo.

Who runs the world? These ladies.

The event celebrated 50 Years of Hip Hop and concluded with a stellar performance from some of hip hop’s biggest names. Diddy and Shakira took home the top honorary awards during the night, for Global Icon and the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard award, respectively. 

FAN CATEGORIES

Here’s a look at all of the categories for this year’s VMAs, along with the nominees. The winners of each category are bolded.

VIDEO OF THE YEAR

• Doja Cat – “Attention”
• Miley Cyrus – “Flowers”
• Nicki Minaj – “Super Freaky Girl”
• Olivia Rodrigo – “Vampire”
• Sam Smith and Kim Petras – “Unholy”
• SZA – “Kill Bill”
• Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero”

ARTIST OF THE YEAR

• Beyoncé
• Doja Cat
• Karol G
• Nicki Minaj
• Shakira
• Taylor Swift

SONG OF THE YEAR

• Miley Cyrus – “Flowers”
• Olivia Rodrigo – “Vampire”
• Rema and Selena Gomez – “Calm Down”
• Sam Smith and Kim Petras – “Unholy”
• Steve Lacy – “Bad Habit”
• SZA – “Kill Bill”
• Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero”

BEST NEW ARTIST

• GloRilla
• Ice Spice
• Kaliii
• Peso Pluma
• PinkPantheress
• Reneé Rapp

PUSH PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR

• Saucy Santana – “Booty”
• Stephen Sanchez – “Until I Found You”
• Jvke – “Golden Hour”
• Flo Milli – “Conceited”
• Reneé Rapp – “Colorado”
• Sam Ryder – “All the Way Over”
• Armani White – “Goated”
• Fletcher – “Becky’s So Hot”
• Tomorrow X Together – “Sugar Rush Ride”
• Ice Spice – “Princess Diana”
• Flo – “Losing You”
• Lauren Spencer-Smith – “That Part”

BEST COLLABORATION

• David Guetta and Bebe Rexha – “I’m Good (Blue)”
• Post Malone and Doja Cat – “I Like You (A Happier Song)”
• Diddy (featuring Bryson Tiller, Ashanti, and Yung Miami) – “Gotta Move On”
• Karol G and Shakira – “TQG”
• Metro Boomin (featuring the Weeknd, 21 Savage, and Diddy) – “Creepin'” (remix)
• Rema and Selena Gomez – “Calm Down”

BEST POP

• Demi Lovato – “Swine”
• Dua Lipa – “Dance the Night”
• Ed Sheeran – “Eyes Closed”
• Miley Cyrus – “Flowers”
• Olivia Rodrigo – “Vampire”
• Pink – “Trustfall”
• Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero”

BEST HIPHOP

• Diddy (featuring Bryson Tiller, Ashanti, and Yung Miami) – “Gotta Move On”
• DJ Khaled (featuring Drake and Lil Baby) – “Staying Alive”
• GloRilla and Cardi B – “Tomorrow 2”
• Lil Uzi Vert – “Just Wanna Rock”
• Lil Wayne (featuring Swizz Beatz & DMX) – “Kant Nobody”
• Metro Boomin (featuring Future) – “Superhero (Heroes & Villains)”
• Nicki Minaj – “Super Freaky Girl”

BEST R&B

• Alicia Keys (featuring Lucky Daye) – “Stay”
• Chlöe (featuring Chris Brown) – “How Does It Feel”
• Metro Boomin (featuring the Weeknd, 21 Savage, and Diddy) – “Creepin'” (remix)
• SZA – “Shirt”
• Toosii – “Favorite Song”
• Yung Bleu and Nicki Minaj – “Love in the Way”

BEST ALTERNATIVE

• Blink-182 – “Edging”
• Boygenius – “The Film”
• Fall Out Boy – “Hold Me Like a Grudge”
• Lana Del Rey (featuring Jon Batiste) – “Candy Necklace”
• Paramore – “This Is Why”
• Thirty Seconds to Mars – “Stuck”

BEST ROCK

• Foo Fighters – “The Teacher”
• Linkin Park – “Lost” 
• Red Hot Chili Peppers – “Tippa My Tongue”
• Måneskin – “THE LONELIEST”
• Metallica – “Lux Æterna”
• Muse – “You Make Me Feel Like It’s Halloween”

BEST LATIN

• Anitta – “Funk Rave”
• Bad Bunny – “Where She Goes”
• Eslabon Armado and Peso Pluma – “Ella Baila Sola”
• Grupo Frontera and Bad Bunny – “Un x100to”
• Karol G and Shakira – “TQG”
• Rosalía – “Despechá”
• Shakira – “Acróstico”

BEST K-POP

• Aespa – “Girls”
• Blackpink – “Pink Venom”
• Fifty Fifty – “Cupid”
• Seventeen – “Super”
• Stray Kids – “S-Class”
• Tomorrow X Together – “Sugar Rush Ride”

BEST AFROBEATS

• Ayra Starr – “Rush”
• Burna Boy – “It’s Plenty”
• Davido (featuring Musa Keys) – “Unavailable”
• Fireboy DML and Asake – “Bandana”
• Libianca – “People”
• Rema and Selena Gomez – “Calm Down”
• Wizkid (featuring Ayra Starr) – “2 Sugar”

VIDEO FOR GOOD

• Alicia Keys – “If I Ain’t Got You” (orchestral)
• Bad Bunny – “El Apagón – Aquí Vive Gente”
• Demi Lovato – “Swine”
• Dove Cameron – “Breakfast”
• Imagine Dragons– “Crushed”
• Maluma – “La Reina”

GROUP OF THE YEAR

• BLACKPINK
• FIFTY FIFTY
• FLO
• Jonas Brothers
• Måneskin 
• New Jeans
• Seventeen
• TOMMORROW X TOMORROW

SONG OF THE SUMMER

• Beyoncé – “Cuff It”
• Billie Eilish – “What Was I Made For?”
• Doja Cat – “Paint the Town Red”
• Doechii feat. Kodak Black – “What It Is”
• Dua Lipa – “Dance the Night”
• Fifty Fifty – “Cupid”
• Gunna – “Fukumean”
• Jung Kook feat. Latto – “Seven”
• Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice – “Barbie World”
• Olivia Rodrigo – “Vampire”
• SZA – “Kill Bill”
• Taylor Swift feat. Ice Spice – “Karma”
• Tomorrow x Together and Jonas Brothers – “Do It Like That”
• Luke Combs – “Fast Car”
• Troye Sivan – “Rush”
• Yng Lvcas and Peso Pluma – “La Bebé (Remix)”

PROFESSIONAL CATEGORIES

These next categories are decided on by a panel put together by MTV.

BEST DIRECTION

• Doja Cat – “Attention” (Director: Tanu Muiño)
• Drake – “Falling Back” (Director: Julien Christian Lutz)
• Kendrick Lamar – “Count Me Out” (Director: Dave Free and Kendrick Lamar)
• Megan Thee Stallion – “Her” (Director: Colin Tilley)
• Sam Smith and Kim Petras – “Unholy” (Director: Floria Sigismondi)
• SZA – “Kill Bill” (Director: Christian Breslauer)
• Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero” (Director: Taylor Swift)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

• Adele – “I Drink Wine” (Director of Photography: Adam Newport-Berra)
• Ed Sheeran – “Eyes Closed” (Director of Photography: Natasha Baier)
• Janelle Monáe – “Lipstick Lover” (Director of Photography: Allison Anderson)
• Kendrick Lamar – “Count Me Out” (Director of Photography: Adam Newport-Berra)
• Miley Cyrus – “Flowers” (Director of Photography: Marcell Rev)
• Olivia Rodrigo – “Vampire” (Director of Photography: Russ Fraser)
• Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero” (Director of Photography: Rina Yang)

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

• Fall Out Boy – “Love from the Other Side”
• Harry Styles – “Music for a Sushi Restaurant”
• Melanie Martinez – “Void”
• Nicki Minaj – “Super Freaky Girl”
• Sam Smith and Kim Petras – “Unholy”
• Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero”

BEST CHOREOGRAPHY

• Blackpink – “Pink Venom” (Choreographers: Kiel Tutin, Sienna Lalau, Lee Jung, and Taryn Cheng)
• Dua Lipa – “Dance the Night” (Choreographer: Charm LaDonna)
• Jonas Brothers – “Waffle House” (Choreographer: Jerry Reece)
• Megan Thee Stallion – “Her” (Choreographer: Sean Bankhead)
• Panic! at the Disco – “Middle of a Breakup” (Choreographer: Monika Felice Smith)
• Sam Smith and Kim Petras – “Unholy” (Choreographers: Marine Brutti, Jonathan Debrouwer, and Arthur Harel)

BEST ART DIRECTION

• Boygenius – “The Film” (Art Director: Jen Dunlap)
• Blackpink – “Pink Venom” (Art Director: Seo Hyun Seung)
• Doja Cat – “Attention” (Art Director: Spencer Graves)
• Lana Del Rey (featuring Jon Batiste) – “Candy Necklace” (Art Director: Brandon Mendez)
• Megan Thee Stallion – “Her” (Art Director: Niko Philipides)
• SZA – “Shirt” (Art Director: Kate Bunch)

BEST EDITING

• Blackpink – “Pink Venom” (Editor: Seo Hyun Seung)
• Kendrick Lamar – “Rich Spirit” (Editor: Grason Caldwell)
• Miley Cyrus – “River” (Editor: Brandan Walter)
• Olivia Rodrigo – “Vampire” (Editors: Sofia Kerpan and David Checel)
• SZA – “Kill Bill” (Editor: Luis Caraza Peimbert)
• Taylor Swift – “Anti-Hero” (Editor: Chancler Haynes)

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There you have it, the nominees and winners for the 2023 VMAs. Fans can vote for their favorite artists 10 times every day leading up to the event on September 12. 

And make sure you have DIRECTV so you can watch the winners accept their awards live! Plus, you don’t want to miss any performances from the night – after all, at least one of them will likely going down in pop-culture history. 

Sign up today!

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