The 2023 MTV Video Music Awards were held at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on September 12, 2023. The show was hosted by Nicki Minaj, marking her second consecutive year in the role. This was the first time the ceremony was held on a Tuesday. A new award category, "Show of the Summer", was awarded this year through fan votes. Shakira received the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award which was presented by Wyclef Jean. Diddy received the Global Icon Award which was presented by Mary J. Blige. Taylor Swift was the most nominated and awarded artist of the night, winning nine out of her eleven nominations.
The 2023 edition was the most watched MTV Video Music Awards show on the flagship linear network to air since 2020. It was the highest-rated edition of the show in three years among the 18–49 demographic with a 1.03 (compared to a 0.58 in 2020), as well as among adults 18–34, where the show saw its best rating since 2019, up 118% to a 1.14. Viewership across all networks was comparable to the prior year with 3.92 million viewers.
Performances Pre-show The performers for the pre-show were announced on September 6, 2023. Artist(s) Song(s) NLE Choppa "Ain't Gonna Answer""It's Getting Hot"/"Hot in Herre" Sabrina Carpenter "Feather""Nonsense"
Main show The first round of performers for the main show were announced on August 22, 2023. The second round of performers for the main show were announced on August 31, 2023. Olivia Rodrigo was announced as a main show performer on September 7, 2023. The third round of performers for the main show were announced on September 8, 2023. Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion were announced as main show performers on September 9, 2023. Performers for the Hip Hop 50th Anniversary Medley were announced on September 11, 2023. Due to the ceremony's diversity, the musical performances featured artists from every country: United States, Barbados, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Mexico, Italy, South Korea, and Trinidad and Tobago. Artist(s) Song(s) Lil Wayne "Uproar""Kat Food" Olivia Rodrigo "Vampire""Get Him Back!" Cardi BMegan Thee Stallion"Bongos" Demi Lovato Revamped Medley "Heart Attack (Rock Version)""Sorry Not Sorry (Rock Version)""Cool for the Summer (Rock Version)" Anitta "Used To Be""Funk Rave""Casi Casi""Grip" Doja Cat "Attention""Paint the Town Red""Demons" Shakira Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Medley"She Wolf""Te Felicito""TQG""Objection (Tango)" "Ojos Así""Whenever, Wherever""Hips Don't Lie""Bizarrap Music Sessions: Volume 53" Nicki Minaj "Last Time I Saw You""Big Difference" Karol G "Oki Doki""Tá OK" (Remix) DiddyYung MiamiKeyshia Cole Global Icon Medley"I'll Be Missing You""It's All About the Benjamins"<br/ >"Bad Boy for Life""I Need a Girl (Part Two)""Gotta Move On""Last Night"<br/ >"Mo Money Mo Problems" Peso Pluma "Lady Gaga" Stray Kids "S-Class" Metro BoominFutureSwae LeeA Boogie wit da HoodieNav "Superhero (Heroes & Villains)""Calling" Fall Out Boy "We Didn't Start the Fire" Tomorrow X TogetherAnitta "Back for More" Måneskin "Honey (Are U Coming?)" Kelsea Ballerini "Penthouse" DMCDoug E. FreshGrandmaster Flash and the Furious FiveLil WayneLL Cool JNicki MinajSlick Rick Hip Hop 50th Anniversary Medley"The Message""The Show" "Itty Bitty Piggy""Red Ruby da Sleeze""A Milli""I'm Bad""Mama Said Knock You Out""Rock Box""Walk This Way"
Extended Play stage Extended play stage performers were announced on September 6, 2023. Artist(s) Song(s) Kaliii "Area Codes""K Toven" Reneé Rapp "Too Well""Pretty Girls" The Warning "More""Evolve"
Rankings Following the show, performances were ranked by various music and news outlets.
Billboard Source: Billboard Performance Rank Shakira – Video Vanguard Award Medley 1 Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five, Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh, Nicki Minaj, LL Cool J, Lil Wayne & Darryl "DMC" McDaniels – medley 2 Peso Pluma – "Lady Gaga" 3 Demi Lovato – medley 4 Anitta – "Used to Be" & "Funk Rave" 5 Stray Kids – "S-Class” 6 Doja Cat – medley 7 Karol G – "Oki Doki" & "Ta OK" 8 Olivia Rodrigo – "Vampire" & "Get Him Back!" 9 Metro Boomin, Future, Swae Lee, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie and NAV – "Superhero (Heroes and Villains)" & "Calling" 10
USA Today Source: USA Today Performance Rank Shakira 1 Demi Lovato 2 Olivia Rodrigo 3 Nicki Minaj 4 Tomorrow X Together and Anitta 5 Kelsea Ballerini 6 Sean 'Diddy' Combs 7 Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion 8 Måneskin 9 Karol G 10
Presenters The first round of presenters were announced on September 6, 2023. Saweetie hosted the 90-minute pre-show event with co-hosts Nessa, Dometi Pongo, and Kevan Kenney. Nicki Minaj was announced as the main show host on September 8, 2023. Alejandra Espinoza provided in-show commentary for the Spanish-language network broadcast.https://www.thewrap.com/2023-vmas-spanish-version-channel-time-unimas/
Pre-show Kevan Kenney – presented Push Performance of the Year Saweetie and Dometi Pongo – presented Video for Good
Main show NSYNC – presented Best Pop Dove Cameron – announced the finalists for Best New Artist and presented the award later in the night Charli D'Amelio and Dixie D'Amelio – presented Best K-Pop A Boogie wit da Hoodie – introduced Kaliii and the Extended Play Stage Nelly Furtado and Timbaland – presented Song of the Year Madelyn Cline – introduced Anitta Ashanti and French Montana – presented Best R&B Ice Spice – introduced Doja Cat Wyclef Jean – introduced Shakira and presented the Video Vanguard Award Billy Porter – introduced Nicki Minaj Fat Joe and Thalía – presented Best Latin Emily Ratajkowski – introduced Karol G Coco Jones – introduced Reneé Rapp Mary J. Blige – introduced Diddy and presented the Global Icon Award Shenseea – introduced Peso Pluma Tiffany Haddish – presented Best Afrobeats Saweetie – introduced Stray Kids Anuel AA – introduced The Warning Jared Leto and Shannon Leto – presented Best Hip-Hop GloRilla – introduced Metro Boomin, Swae Lee, Nav, Future and A Boogie wit da Hoodie Rita Ora – presented Best Collaboration Bebe Rexha – introduced Fall Out Boy Nicki Minaj (emcee) – presented Best Direction Sabrina Carpenter – introduced Tomorrow X Together and Anitta Chloe x Halle – introduced Måneskin Reneé Rapp – introduced Kelsea Ballerini Metro Boomin, Swae Lee, Nav and A Boogie wit da Hoodie – introduced the Hip Hop 50th Anniversary Medley LL Cool J – presented Video of the Year
Winners and nominees The first round of nominees were announced on August 8. The nominees for the Group of the Year, Show of the Summer, Album of the Year, and Song of Summer were announced on September 1. Taylor Swift led the nominations with eleven, followed by SZA with eight nominations, and Doja Cat, Miley Cyrus, Nicki Minaj, Blackpink, and Olivia Rodrigo each with six nominations.
Voted categories The winners of the following categories were chosen by fan votes. The first round of voting known as the "General Voting Period" began on August 8 at 12 pm. ET, for the categories which nominees were announced on the same day and concluded on September 1 at 6 pm. ET, except for Best New Artist, which concluded on September 12 at 10 p.m. ET. "Instagram Story Voting" began on September 3 at 11 am. ET and concluded on September 12 at 11 am. ET.
Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold.
Video of the YearSong of the Year Taylor Swift – "Anti-Hero" Doja Cat – "Attention" Miley Cyrus – "Flowers" Nicki Minaj – "Super Freaky Girl" Olivia Rodrigo – "Vampire" Sam Smith and Kim Petras – "Unholy" SZA – "Kill Bill" Taylor Swift – "Anti-Hero" Miley Cyrus – "Flowers" Olivia Rodrigo – "Vampire" Rema and Selena Gomez – "Calm Down" Sam Smith and Kim Petras – "Unholy" Steve Lacy – "Bad Habit" SZA – "Kill Bill"Artist of the YearBest New Artist Taylor Swift Beyoncé Doja Cat Karol G Nicki Minaj Shakira Ice Spice GloRilla Kaliii Peso Pluma PinkPantheress Reneé RappPush Performance of The YearBest Collaboration Tomorrow X Together – "Sugar Rush Ride" Saucy Santana – "Booty" Stephen Sanchez – "Until I Found You" Jvke – "Golden Hour" Flo Milli – "Conceited" Reneé Rapp – "Colorado" Sam Ryder – "All the Way Over" Armani White – "Goated" Fletcher – "Becky's So Hot" Ice Spice – "Princess Diana" Flo – "Losing You" Lauren Spencer-Smith – "That Part" Karol G and Shakira – "TQG" David Guetta and Bebe Rexha – "I'm Good (Blue)" Post Malone and Doja Cat – "I Like You (A Happier Song)" Diddy (featuring Bryson Tiller, Ashanti, and Yung Miami) – "Gotta Move On" Metro Boomin (featuring the Weeknd, 21 Savage, and Diddy) – "Creepin' Rema and Selena Gomez – "Calm Down"Best PopBest Hip-Hop Taylor Swift – "Anti-Hero" Demi Lovato – "Swine" Dua Lipa – "Dance the Night" Ed Sheeran – "Eyes Closed" Miley Cyrus – "Flowers" Olivia Rodrigo – "Vampire" Pink – "Trustfall" Nicki Minaj – "Super Freaky Girl" Diddy (featuring Bryson Tiller, Ashanti, and Yung Miami) – "Gotta Move On" DJ Khaled (featuring Drake and Lil Baby) – "Staying Alive" GloRilla and Cardi B – "Tomorrow 2" Lil Uzi Vert – "Just Wanna Rock" Lil Wayne (featuring Swizz Beatz & DMX) – "Kant Nobody" Metro Boomin (featuring Future) – "Superhero (Heroes & Villains)"Best R&BBest K-Pop SZA – "Shirt" Alicia Keys (featuring Lucky Daye) – "Stay" Chlöe and Chris Brown – "How Does It Feel" Metro Boomin (featuring the Weeknd, 21 Savage, and Diddy) – "Creepin' Toosii – "Favorite Song" Yung Bleu and Nicki Minaj – "Love in the Way" Stray Kids – "S-Class" Aespa – "Girls" Blackpink – "Pink Venom" Fifty Fifty – "Cupid" Seventeen – "Super" Tomorrow X Together – "Sugar Rush Ride"Best LatinBest Rock Anitta – "Funk Rave" Bad Bunny – "Where She Goes" Eslabon Armado and Peso Pluma – "Ella Baila Sola" Grupo Frontera and Bad Bunny – "Un x100to" Karol G and Shakira – "TQG" Rosalía – "Despechá" Shakira – "Acróstico" Måneskin – "The Loneliest" Foo Fighters – "The Teacher" Linkin Park – "Lost" Red Hot Chili Peppers – "Tippa My Tongue" Metallica – "Lux Æterna" Muse – "You Make Me Feel Like It's Halloween"Best AlternativeBest Afrobeats Lana Del Rey (featuring Jon Batiste) – "Candy Necklace" Blink-182 – "Edging" Boygenius – "The Film" Fall Out Boy – "Hold Me Like a Grudge" Paramore – "This Is Why" Thirty Seconds to Mars – "Stuck" Rema and Selena Gomez – "Calm Down" Ayra Starr – "Rush" Burna Boy – "It's Plenty" Davido (featuring Musa Keys) – "Unavailable" Fireboy DML and Asake – "Bandana" Libianca – "People" Wizkid (featuring Ayra Starr) – "2 Sugar"Video for GoodShow of the Summer Dove Cameron – "Breakfast" Alicia Keys – "If I Ain't Got You" Bad Bunny – "El Apagón – Aquí Vive Gente" Demi Lovato – "Swine" Imagine Dragons – "Crushed" Maluma – "La Reina" Taylor Swift Beyoncé Blackpink Drake Ed Sheeran Karol GGroup of the YearSong of Summer Blackpink Fifty Fifty Flo Jonas Brothers Måneskin NewJeans Seventeen Tomorrow X Together Jungkook (featuring Latto) – "Seven" Beyoncé – "Cuff It" Billie Eilish – "What Was I Made For?" Doja Cat – "Paint the Town Red" Doechii (featuring Kodak Black) – "What It Is (Block Boy)" Dua Lipa – "Dance the Night" Fifty Fifty – "Cupid" Gunna – "Fukumean" Nicki Minaj & Ice Spice with Aqua – "Barbie World" Olivia Rodrigo – "Vampire" SZA – "Kill Bill" Taylor Swift (featuring Ice Spice) – "Karma" Tomorrow X Together and Jonas Brothers – "Do It Like That" Luke Combs – "Fast Car" Troye Sivan – "Rush" Yng Lvcas & Peso Pluma – "La Bebe" Album of the Year Midnights – Taylor Swift Renaissance – Beyoncé Her Loss – Drake and 21 Savage Heroes & Villains – Metro Boomin Endless Summer Vacation – Miley Cyrus SOS – SZA
Professional categories The winners of the following categories were chosen by industry professionals.
Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold.
Best Visual EffectsBest Editing Taylor Swift – "Anti-Hero" (Visual Effects: Parliament) Fall Out Boy – "Love from the Other Side" (Visual Effects: Thomas Bailey and Josh Shaffner)