The 2015 MTV Video Music Awards were held on August 30, 2015.[3] The 32nd installment of the event was held at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California, and hosted by Miley Cyrus.[4][5] Taylor Swift led the nominations with a total of ten, followed by Ed Sheeran, who had six,[6][a] bringing his total number of mentions to 13. Swift's "Wildest Dreams" music video premiered during the pre-show.[7] Cyrus also announced and released her studio album Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz, right after her performance at the end of the show.[8] During his acceptance speech, Kanye West announced that he would be running in the 2020 United States presidential election.[9] Taylor Swift won the most awards with four, including Video of the Year and Best Female Video.[10] The VMA trophies were redesigned by Jeremy Scott.[11]
| 2015 MTV Video Music Awards | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Date | Sunday, August 30, 2015 |
| Venue | Microsoft Theater (Los Angeles, California) |
| Country | United States |
| Hosted by | Miley Cyrus |
| Most awards | Taylor Swift (4) |
| Most nominations | Taylor Swift (10) |
| Website | www |
| Television/radio coverage | |
| Network | |
| Runtime | 190 minutes |
| Produced by | Amy Doyle Jesse Ignjatovic Dave Sirulnick Van Toffler |
| Directed by | Hamish Hamilton |
This 2015 edition was seen by 9.8 million people in the United States during its simulcast across ten Viacom-owned networks.[12][13] However, the ceremony's airing on the flagship MTV network alone had one of the lowest audience in the ceremony's 31-year history (with the following year's ceremony being the lowest of all time). According to Nielsen, it logged 5.03 million viewers on MTV, 39% less than the previous year, while cumulative viewers drew 9.8 million with the nine other simulcasting networks. The lowest viewed edition since Nielson began tracking in 1994 was in 1996, with 5.07 million viewers. This broadcast, however, broke the "US Twitter record", being the most tweeted about non-sports program, with 21.4 million tweets delivered by 2.2 million people.[14] It was also streamed live through the MTV app for authenticated users on mobile devices and television sets via iOS, Android and Chromecast. Through its website, viewers could also get to see un-aired audience shots and backstage coverage.[15] mtvU aired a behind-the-scenes feed and MTV Hits went dark.
Performances
edit| Artist(s) | Song(s) | |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-show | ||
| Walk the Moon | "Shut Up and Dance" "Different Colors" | |
| Todrick Hall | Video of the Year nominees' covers ("Uptown Funk", "7/11", "Bad Blood") | |
| Nick Jonas | "Levels" | |
| Main show | ||
| Nicki Minaj Taylor Swift |
"Trini Dem Girls" (Minaj) "The Night Is Still Young" "Bad Blood" | |
| Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Eric Nally Melle Mel Kool Moe Dee Grandmaster Caz |
"Downtown" (Live from outside The Orpheum Theatre) | |
| The Weeknd | "Can't Feel My Face" | |
| Demi Lovato Iggy Azalea |
"Cool for the Summer" (Live from outside The Orpheum Theatre) | |
| Justin Bieber | "Where Are Ü Now" "What Do You Mean?" | |
| Tori Kelly | "Should've Been Us" | |
| Pharrell Williams | "Freedom" (Live from outside The Orpheum Theatre) | |
| Twenty One Pilots ASAP Rocky |
"Heavydirtysoul" "M's" "Message Man" "Lane Boy" "LSD" | |
| Miley Cyrus | "Dooo It!" | |
Presenters
editPre-show
edit- Sway and Kelly Osbourne – hosts
- Kelly Osbourne and Jeremy Scott – presented Best Rock Video
- Carly Aquilino, Charlamagne Tha God, and Vic Mensa – presented Best Pop Video
- Awkwafina and Nessa – presented Song of Summer
Main show
edit- Nicki Minaj – introduced Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
- Ike Barinholtz and Andy Samberg – appeared in a pre-taped skit with host Miley Cyrus
- Britney Spears – presented Best Male Video
- Jared Leto – introduced The Weeknd
- Rebel Wilson – presented Best Hip-Hop Video
- Tyga, Juicy J, Mike Will Made It and Billy Ray Cyrus – appeared in a pre-taped skit with host Miley Cyrus
- Big Sean and Nick Jonas – presented Best Female Video
- Hailee Steinfeld – introduced Demi Lovato outside The Orpheum Theatre
- Serayah and Jussie Smollett – presented Best Video with a Social Message
- Ne-Yo and Kylie Jenner – introduced Tori Kelly
- Taylor Swift – presented Video Vanguard Award
- John Legend – introduced Pharrell Williams outside The Orpheum Theatre
- Rita Ora and Emily Ratajkowski – presented Artist to Watch
- Miguel and Gigi Hadid – introduced Twenty One Pilots and ASAP Rocky
- Ice Cube and O'Shea Jackson, Jr. – presented Video of the Year
- Happy Hippie Foundation members[16] – introduced Miley Cyrus
Winners and nominees
editThe nominations were announced on July 21, 2015 via Apple Music's Beats 1.[17] Nominees for the social media-driven category, Song of Summer, were announced on August 18, 2015.[18] Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar were tied with most nominations, 10. Ed Sheeran had 6, Nicki Minaj had 4.
Artists with multiple wins and nominations
edit| Wins | Artist |
|---|---|
| 4 | Taylor Swift |
| Nominations | Artist |
|---|---|
| 10 | Taylor Swift |
| 6 | Ed Sheeran |
| 5 | Beyoncé |
| Mark Ronson | |
| 4 | Diplo |
| Nicki Minaj | |
| Skrillex | |
| 3 | Fetty Wap |
| FKA Twigs | |
| The Weeknd | |
| 2 | Ariana Grande |
| ASAP Rocky | |
| Big Sean | |
| Childish Gambino | |
| Flying Lotus | |
| Hozier | |
| Wiz Khalifa |
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ Another nominee, Kendrick Lamar, received four nominations for his video "Alright." The videos for Swift's "Bad Blood" and Flying Lotus' "Never Catch Me" (both of which he features on) earned seven and two nominations respectively—however, those are not counted since he is not the lead artist.
References
edit- ^ Yahr, Emily (August 30, 2015). "VMAs 2015 FAQ: Where to watch the show, who's performing, red carpet details". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
- ^ "2015 MTV Video Music Awards". Zap2it. Archived from the original on September 2, 2015. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
- ^ Linder, Emilee (November 13, 2014). "Save The Date! The 2015 VMAs Are Set For…". MTV.com. Archived from the original on November 20, 2014. Retrieved April 26, 2015.
- ^ Alexis, Nadeska (July 20, 2015). "Start Freaking, The 2015 MTV VMA Nominations Are Coming". MTV.com. Archived from the original on July 22, 2015. Retrieved July 20, 2015.
- ^ Lindner, Emilee (July 20, 2015). "Miley Cyrus Is Hosting The 2015 VMAs. This Is Not A Drill". MTV.com. Archived from the original on July 21, 2015. Retrieved July 20, 2015.
- ^ Lindner, Emilee (July 21, 2015). "2015 VMA Nominations: Get The Full List Now". MTV.com. Archived from the original on July 23, 2015. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
The list... is lead [sic] by Taylor Swift, who is up for nine Moonmen.
- ^ Hosken, Patrick (August 23, 2015). "Taylor Swift's 'Wildest Dreams' Video Will Premiere During The VMA Pre-Show". MTV.com. Archived from the original on August 26, 2015. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
- ^ Bell, Crystal (August 31, 2015). "Miley Cyrus Just Dropped A Free Surprise Album – Here's Where You Can Hear It". MTV News. Archived from the original on August 31, 2015. Retrieved August 31, 2015.
- ^ Stone, Natalie (August 30, 2015). "Kanye West: 'I Have Decided in 2020 to Run for President'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 30, 2015.
- ^ "MTV Video Music Awards 2015: The Winners Are…". Billboard. August 30, 2015. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
- ^ Lindner, Emilee (August 17, 2015). "Jeremy Scott Redesigned The VMA Moonman, And It's Totally Rad". MTV.com. Archived from the original on August 19, 2015. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
- ^ O'Connell, Michael (September 1, 2015). "2015 VMAs Ratings: Miley-Hosted Show Suffers 3 Million Viewer Drop From 2014 on MTV". Billboard. Retrieved August 29, 2015.
- ^ "2015 MTV Video Music Awards". Zap2it. Archived from the original on September 2, 2015. Retrieved August 29, 2015.
- ^ Kissell, Rick (September 1, 2015). "Video Music Awards Viewership Plummets on MTV". Variety. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
- ^ "MTV VMAs 2015 Live Stream: How To Watch Online". Heavy.com. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
- ^ "Here Are All The Beautiful People In Miley's Happy Hippie Squad". MTV. Archived from the original on August 31, 2015.
- ^ "MTV VMAs: Taylor Swift leads way with nine nominations". Guardian. July 22, 2015. Retrieved July 23, 2015.
- ^ Stutz, Colin (July 21, 2015). "2015 MTV Video Music Awards Nominees Revealed: Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar, Ed Sheeran & More". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved July 21, 2015.