The 2013 “MTV Video Music Awards” erupted with an explosion of musical firsts and epic moments, as the first award show to be broadcast live from Brooklyn… The VMAs were bookended by world premiere performances from two of the biggest female artists – Lady Gaga with “Applause” and Katy Perry with “Roar”.
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New York, August 25, 2013 – The 2013 “MTV Video Music Awards” erupted with an explosion of musical firsts and epic moments from the Barclays Center, as the first award show to be broadcast live from Brooklyn.
The VMAs were bookended by world premiere performances from two of the biggest female artists on the planet. Lady Gaga opened the night with an evocative, theatrical rendition of her newly released “Applause.” The performance was produced by the world renowned theater artist, Robert Wilson, and featured Gaga going through numerous costume changes, from a chaste white, floor-length robe to almost baring all in a Botticelli inspired “Birth of Venus” ending. Closing the show, against the backdrop one of the most iconic Brooklyn landmarks, the Brooklyn Bridge, Katy Perry roared into a boxing ring to perform her new single “Roar.”
The show also included first-ever television premieres of Kanye West’s “Blood on the Leaves,” where he samples Nina Simone’s rendition of Billie Holliday’s indelible “Strange Fruit.” From a darkened stage, Kanye powerfully and in silhouette delivered a riveting performance. Drake started his set by serenading and later grooving the audience with his hit “Started from the Bottom,” and Bruno Mars seduced all with a tropically infused rendition of “Gorilla.”
Before introducing “Best Female Video,” which went to Taylor Swift for “I Knew You Were Trouble,” the French electronic duo Daft Punk premiered a sneak peek from their upcoming music video “Lose Yourself to Dance,” along with Pharell and Nile Rogers. P!nk won “Best Collaboration” for “Just Give me a Reason” with Nate Ruess from fun.; Selena Gomez took home “Best Pop Video” for “Come and Get It;” and 30 Seconds to Mars won “Best Rock Video” for “Up in the Air.”
The VMAs also introduced two new awards this year, including Artist to Watch, which went to Austin Mahone for “What About Love.” The other new award – “Best Song of the Summer,” powered by Windows Phone – went to One Direction for the group’s “Best Song Ever.”
After her whimsically naughty performance, Miley Cyrus helped open “Blurred Lines” with the suave Robin Thicke, who was later joined on stage by 2 Chainz and Kendrick Lamar performing “Give it 2 U.” DJ Cassidy kept the night moving as the VMA house deejay.
To build anticipation for the show, MTV launched a successful cross platform social communications campaign, #RoadToTheVMAs, which features the Moonman in a myriad of iconic locations throughout Brooklyn and NYC. Thus far, the campaign has garnered more than 100 million social media impressions, including over half a million likes on Instagram, nearly 60 million impressions on Twitter, more than 40 million impressions on Facebook and over 1.2 million impressions on Tumblr.
MCA Music (Universal Music Group) List of 2013 “MTV Video Music Awards” Winners Below:
Best Female Video
Taylor Swift – “I Knew You Were Trouble”
Best Pop Video
Selena Gomez – “Come and Get It”
Artist To Watch Presented by Taco Bell®
Austin Mahone – “What About Love”
Best Rock Video
Thirty Seconds To Mars – “Up In The Air”
Best Visual Effects
Capital Cities – “Safe and Sound”
For additional information on Drake, Lady Gaga, Kanye West, Katy Perry, Robin Thicke or any VMA nominated artist, including music, videos, interviews, and news, visit MTV’s Artist Platform (Artists.MTV.com) a music discovery site that powers MTV/CMT/VH1’s network of 60 million passionate music fans online and 100M homes on-air.
For updates, to see photos or for additional information on this year’s show, please head to VMA.MTV.com or www.mtvpress.com, and follow @mtv on Instagram or Twitter.
Official sponsors of the 2013 “MTV Video Music Awards” adidas Originals, COVERGIRL, Kia Motors, ORBIT® GUM, Pepsi®, State Farm®, Taco Bell® and Windows Phone.