Taylor Swift opened the 2019 MTV VMAs on August 26 with a performance of “Lover” and “You Need to Calm Down,” both off her recent album Lover.
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Swift is up for 10 awards, tying Ariana Grande for the most total nominations. The video for “You Need to Calm Down”—which featured celebs including RuPaul, Laverne Cox, Adam Rippon, and the cast of Queer Eye—is up for Video of the Year, Best Pop Video, Best Direction, Best Editing, Best Art Direction, and Video for Good (one of this year’s two new categories). The song itself is nominated for Song of the Year, and for two fan-voted awards: Song of Summer and Best Power Anthem. The video for “ME!” (ft. Brendon Urie) is up for Best Collaboration, Best Visual Effects, and Best Cinematography.
Swift was nominated for just three awards at the 2018 VMAs, all for the “Look What You Made Me Do” video, and was shut out. This year also marks a decade since Kanye West interrupted Swift’s acceptance speech for Best Female Video, which she won over Beyoncé.
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Choppered and Tuned
Revisit our recent essay “Taylor Swift Won’t Let Go of Pop’s Big Machine,” and find a clip of Swift’s performance above.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=eIRCskNRTDY
