| 2018 MTV Video Music Awards | |
| Date: | Monday, at 9:00–11:43pm EDT |
| Venue: | Radio City Music Hall (Midtown Manhattan, Manhattan, New York City, New York) |
| Country: | United States |
| Most Awards: | Cardi B and Childish Gambino (3 each) |
| Most Nominations: | Cardi B (12) |
| Producer: | Bruce Gillmer Jesse Ignjatovic |
| Director: | Alex Rudzinski |
| Previous: | 2017 |
| Next: | 2019 |
The 2018 MTV Video Music Awards were held on Monday night, August 20, 2018 at 9:00–11:43pm EDT at Radio City Music Hall in Midtown Manhattan, Manhattan, New York City.[1] The 35th annual award show aired live from the venue for the 12th time, the most of any previous venue in its history.[2] Cardi B led the list of nominees with twelve nominations. Cardi and Childish Gambino were the most awarded of the night with three each.[3] [4] Camila Cabello won Video of the Year and Artist of the Year,[5] while Jennifer Lopez became the first Latino to receive the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award. This edition of the MTV Video Music Awards saw yet another severe drop in ratings, only achieving a mere 2.2 million viewers on MTV, and only seeing 4.87 million viewers on all of its sister networks.[6]
| Artist(s) | Song(s) | |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-show[7] | ||
| Bazzi | "Mine" | |
| Bryce Vine | "Drew Barrymore" | |
| Backstreet Boys | "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" | |
| Main show | ||
| Shawn Mendes | "In My Blood" | |
| Logic Ryan Tedder | "One Day" | |
| Panic! at the Disco | "High Hopes" | |
| Nicki Minaj | "Majesty" "Barbie Dreams" "Ganja Burn" "Fefe" (Live from the PATH World Trade Center station) | |
| Jennifer Lopez | Video Vanguard Medley
| |
| Ariana Grande | "God Is a Woman" | |
| Travis Scott James Blake | "Stargazing" "Stop Trying to Be God" "Sicko Mode" | |
| Maluma | "Felices los 4" | |
| Post Malone 21 Savage Aerosmith | "Rockstar" "Dream On" "Toys in the Attic" | |
| Push Artist Stage | ||
| Bazzi | "Beautiful" | |
| Jessie Reyez | "Apple Juice" | |
| Hayley Kiyoko | "Curious" | |
| PrettyMuch | "Summer on You" | |
Source:[8]
The nominees for most categories were revealed on July 16, 2018, via an IGTV video. Nominees for Song of Summer, however, were announced on August 13, 2018. Cardi B had the most nominations with 12,[2] with The Carters behind with 8, while Childish Gambino and Drake both received 7 nominations each.[9] [10] Winners were announced on August 20, 2018, on the Video Music Awards broadcast.[11]
| Wins | Artist |
|---|---|
| 3 | Childish Gambino |
| Cardi B | |
| 2 | Camila Cabello |
| The Carters | |
| Nominations | Artist |
|---|---|
| 13 | Cardi B |
| 8 | The Carters |
| 7 | Childish Gambino |
| Drake | |
| 6 | Bruno Mars |
| 5 | Ariana Grande |
| Camila Cabello | |
| 4 | Ed Sheeran |
| Khalid | |
| Young Thug | |
| 3 | Dua Lipa |
| Alessia Cara | |
| Janelle Monáe | |
| Shawn Mendes | |
| SZA | |
| Taylor Swift | |
| 2 | Post Malone |
| Chloe x Halle | |
| Hayley Kiyoko | |
| Jennifer Lopez | |
| DJ Khaled | |
| Logic | |
| N.E.R.D | |
| Rihanna | |
| Jessie Reyez | |
| Demi Lovato | |
| 21 Savage | |
| J. Cole | |
| Eminem | |
| Maluma | |
| Avicii | |
| Rita Ora | |
| Calvin Harris | |
| Justin Timberlake | |
| Maroon 5 |
Entertainment Weeklys writer Darren Franich gave the show a B− and said, "MTV's tagline for the 2018 Video Music Awards was 'Everything might happen.' Hey, they said might. The 35th VMAs had some fiery performances, but the show never quite sparked [...] This was a reasonably satisfying awards show, not the boring trainwreck some VMAs have been, not the exciting trainwreck supernova some VMAs dare to be."[13] For Variety, Daniel D'addario said, "There was a time when the VMAs were a change-of-season status report on pop: As MTV’s target audience heads back to school and those slightly outside that audience get ready to turn their mind to graver things, the pop world had historically united to put on a show that could carry viewers into the fall." and unfavorably compared it to the 2013 show line up.[14] In Billboard, Leila Cobo wrote, "although this year's awards haven't escaped criticism, it hasn't been for lack of Latin power," noting that "Maluma, Cardi B, Jennifer Lopez and Camila Cabello (finally) put Latin music center stage at VMAs."[15]