NEWARK, NEW JERSEY – SEPTEMBER 12: Taylor Swift seen backstage during the 2023 Video Music Awards at … [+]
Taylor Swift dominated the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards, earning her place as the evening’s top winner. This achievement is not surprising, as she continues to establish herself as one of the most celebrated artists in the history of the awards show. Her work received recognition in nine out of the 11 categories she was nominated in, and Swift herself collected most of these prestigious awards.
She went into the night as the most-nominated artist, and her work won in all but two of the categories it was in the running for. She tied the all-time record for the most wins in a single evening, according to MTV. Now, with 23 trophies to her name, she comes in behind only Beyoncé for the most wins of all time.
Swift’s impressive night was marked by several historic moments, underscoring her significance at the VMAs and her continual ascent above her peers in the music industry.
One of the standout achievements of the evening was Swift’s “Anti-Hero” being named Video of the Year. This marked the fourth time she has received this coveted award. Her previous wins in this category were for her music videos “Bad Blood” (featuring Kendrick Lamar) in 2015, “You Need to Calm Down” in 2019 and “All Too Well: The Short Film” in 2022. No other musician has claimed the top Video of the Year honor more than twice.
Swift is also now the first artist to win the Video of the Year category twice in a row.
The singer took home the Best Direction trophy, as she has been directing her own music videos for some time now. She previously won the category for both “The Man” in 2019 and “All Too Well: The Short Film” in 2022. She is now just the third director to win three times in this category, following David Fincher and Spike Jonze. Of course, Swift is also the first woman to win Best Direction three times.
Swift and Fincher are the only directors who have managed to make history by winning back-to-back awards in the Best Direction category at the MTV Video Music Awards. Fincher won for directing Madonna’s “Express Yourself” and “Vogue,” and Swift won for directing her own music videos “All Too Well: The Short Film” and now “Anti-Hero.”
Speaking of “Anti-Hero,” the visual was also awarded Best Pop, which is a field Swift has won before. In fact, she now claims two champions in that category, and she’s just one more away from the all-time record. Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake are tied for the most wins in the best pop video category at the MTV Video Music Awards, with each having won three times.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/hughmcintyre/2023/09/13/all-the-ways-taylor-swift-made-history-at-the-2023-mtv-vmas/