Instead of taking place at a packed Barclays Center, artists took the stage in audience-less locations around New York City to adhere to social distancing guidelines. Those performers included BTS, The Black Eyed Peas, DaBaby, The Weeknd, Doja Cat, Maluma with CNCO and Lady Gaga with Ariana Grande. `Hustlers` star Keke Palmer served as host.
The Weeknd won the biggest prize of the night, video of the year, for his `Blinding Lights,` which he performed to open up the 2020 VMAs. But the most prevalent of the evening may have been Gaga who, in addition to her medley performance for which she was briefly joined by Grande, won artist of the year, song of the year, best collaboration and best cinematography. She was also feted with the inaugural Tricon Award, taking the stage again to give an emotional speech.
Other big winners included BTS (best pop, best K-pop, best group and best choreography), Taylor Swift (best direction), Doja Cat (best new artist), Megan Thee Stallion (best hip-hop) and Blackpink (song of the summer). This show's unusual circumstances also inspired two new, quarantine-specific categories: best music video from home, which went to Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber for `Stuck With U,` and best quarantine performance, which was given to CNCO.