VMA 2016: winners and best moments from the awards show

The 2016 MTV Video Music Awards were held yesterday August 28, 2016 at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan. Adele’s «Hello» was the most nominated video with seven categories. Beyoncé led the nominations with a total of eleven, followed by Adele, who had eight. Rihanna received the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award after performing several medley numbers during the ceremony. Britney Spears marked her first performance at the awards show since the heavily-criticized 2007 show nine years prior. Beyoncé won eight awards thus beating Madonna for the most moon men awarded to one artist with twenty four.

The ceremony was shown on multiple Viacom cable networks and through smart TV and mobile devices which allow access to MTV’s TV Everywhere -authenticated live stream within their app (dependent upon provider), along with MTV’s website.

597574280

597576074

Rihanna had four performances throughout the night. She kicked off the show with a medley including past hits like «Don’t Stop the Music» and «Only Girl (In the World).»

Later, with her second performance, she kicked things up a notch by dancing her face off in neon to another medley including «Rude Boy,» «Work,» and «What’s My Name.»

The next time we saw her, she turned down the lights and ramped up the attitude for the one-two-three punch of confident, sexy-as-hell anthems, «Needed Me,» «Pour It Up,» and «Bitch Better Have My Money.»

But even if some of the medleys were definitely stronger than the others, Rih still proved why she was getting this award honoring her career arc, even though she’s only 28 years old. For the last decade, she’s had hit after hit after hit — and as she proved at the VMAs, her performing abilities and charisma have only gotten stronger with every passing year.

She also proved that she’s got the music industry wrapped around her finger — including one guy in particular.

As it was prophesied in the book of Celebrity Comebacks, Britney Spears returned to the VMA stage.

A full nine years after the disastrous 2007 «Gimme More» performance that made Britney fans and skeptics alike sigh in resignation, Britney celebrated the August 26 release of her ninth album Glory by coming back to the VMAs to prove that writing her off back then was a mistake.