TThe MTV annual Video Music Awards (VMAs) saw female artists dominate several categories – but everyone was talking about one artist – Taylor Swift.
The 33-year old won every televised category which she was nominated in — all nine: Video of the Year, Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Pop, Best Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, Show of the Summer, and Album of the Year.
Nominated for a record number of 11 awards, Swift took out Artist of the Year — a category that was all female, for the first time in history. Swift beat out Beyoncé, Doja Cat, Nicki Minaj, Karol G and Shakira to win the award.
By winning the award for Video of the Year for ‘Anti-Hero’, Swift has become the first artist in history to win the award four times.
“OK. This is unbelievable,” Swift said, accepting the Video of the Year Award at the Prudential Center in New Jersey on Tuesday night.
“This is… I just want to say that the fact that this is a fan-voted award means so much to me based on the memories that we’ve made recently.”
‘Anti-Hero’ also took home Best Pop Song, Best Direction and Song of the Year. Swift used her acceptance speech to praise her longtime friend and collaborator, Jack Antonoff, 39. (Antonoff recently tied the knot with Andie MacDowell’s daughter, Margaret Qualley).
“I want to say I’m really, really lucky I get to write songs with one of my best friends in the world,” she said. “[Jack] is so talented, it is incomprehensible, and I’m so lucky I’ve been making music with him since we made an album called 1989.”
“I started writing songs when I was 12, and it always starts with a very isolated emotion, like a very specific type of insecurity or self-loathing that I feel like I’m the only one who is feeling in that moment, but then when I go out on tour, I’ve got a stadium singing the words back to me.”
“It brings me to this very relaxing feeling of maybe we all have the same issues so thank you so much to the fans. I love you so much. This means the world to me.”
Winning her third award, for best direction, Swift acknowledged her collaborators Chancler Haynes and Rina Yang, using her speech to talk about her experience of directing.
“If there is one thing that I’ve learned about direction that it is absolutely a team sport so I brought my team with me tonight,” she said. “I’m so lucky to work with these brilliant, brilliant collaborators. [We] worked together so many times, and every time it is so much fun. And I’m just so lucky because I also want thank the actors who played my nightmare horrendous future children [in “Anti-Hero”].”
“I’m so, so lucky to get to direct and write my music videos. I love it so much. So thank you so much to the VMAs and the fans for honouring me. Thank you.
Swift entered the evening with 14 VMA awards already. After Tuesday night, she now tallies a total of 23 awards – putting her second place behind Beyonce, who has a grand total of 26 wins.
Swift has recently wrapped up the first leg of her Eras Tour – which she described on Tuesday night as “the most joyful and exhilarating experience.”
“And we’re not even halfway done with it. It’s really felt like the adventure of a lifetime this past year.”
She continues her tour in November with shows in Argentina and Brazil, before her monumental tours in Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and the U.K next year.
Next month, she’ll release her Eras Tour concert film, and her latest re-record, “1989 (Taylor’s Version)”.