From snakes to meat, to twerking; the MTV Video Music Awards have certainly had some unforgettable moments, 
The broadcast opened with a bang from Ariana Grande singing Break Free, followed by Nicki Minaj performing Anaconda. And yes she twerked during her performance, and she was rocking way more back there than Miley Cyrus ever could.
Then came Jessie J singing Bang, Bang. Nicki Returned in a barely-there little black dress, that she seemed to need to hold together. MTV really doesn’t want another issue, wardrobe or otherwise. It looked like Nicki Minaj was trying to prevent a serious wardrobe malfunction. There will definitely be a story behind this one.
Gwen Stefani and Snoop Dog were the first presenters from The Forum in Englewood, CA. There was a small audio issue during their opening presentation, but they continued through to present the Best Female Video Award. The VMA went to Katy Perry and Juicy J for Dark Horse.
Jay Pharoah from Saturday Night Live was up next and had to comment on Nicki twerking on Drake in her Anaconda video. He felt for Drake, especially since he couldn’t even touch her.
He introduced the Artist to Watch Award and told the audience they could send a text vote in for their favorite to win.
Next came Lorde to introduced Taylor Swift performing her new hit Shake It Off. Followed by Chelsea Handler to present the award for Best Male Video. Her joke about Taylor Sift being skinny and white fell flat, but she presented the VMA to Ed Sheeran and Pharrell for Sing.
Jay Pharoah returned doing an imitation of Jay Z. It went on a bit longer before we knew where he was going with it. And it went nowhere. It was another opportunity for the audience to vote again for the Artist to Watch Award.
Jim Carrey and his Dumb and Dumber co-star Jeff Daniels came out to do a bit, but Jim Carrey took a dive on stage during it, and it looked like he hit pretty hard. He said he meant to do it, but it certainly didn’t look like it. They played the moment off to introduce the next VMA, and the award went to Ariana Grande and Iggy Azalea for Problem.
Kim Kardashian introduced a performance from Sam Smith singing his great song Stay With Me. Beautiful.
Next came Common who mentioned the issues taking place in Ferguson, Missouri. He then said Hip Hop is a voice for social change and asked for a moment of silence for Michael Brown and peace in the world.
He then announced the nominees for the best Hip Hop Video, and the VMA went to Drake and Majid Jordan for Hold On (We’re Going Home). Drake couldn’t be there, so Common accepted the award for him.
Jay Pharoah returned doing an imitation of Kanye West. Not the funniest skit, but at least he had Kim laughing in the audience.
Uzo Aduba, Laverne Cox, and Taylor Schilling, the ladies of Orange is the New Black came out to introduce Usher singing She Came to Give It to You. He was then joined by Nicki Minaj and he banged his head against her Anaconda. Yikes!
Nina Dobrev and Trey Songz introduced the nominees for the Best Rock category, not before Trey Songz said happy birthday to his grandmother. Lorde won for Royals. She got through her acceptance speech, but not before dropping a four-letter word. She apologized, so it wasn’t on purpose, and it was catch and bleeped out.
The 2014 Video Music Awards continued with 5 Seconds of Summer singing Amnesia.
Now Jay Pharoah came back to announce the winner of the Artist to Watch Award, and the VMA went to 5th Harmony for Miss Movin On. They were moved to tears for the win.
Next came the tribute to Robin Williams. It was very brief. Surprisingly so.
Jennifer Lopez was the next presenter in a very sexy silver cut-out gown. She introduced Iggy Azalea and Rita Ora performing Black Widow. The ladies burned up the stage.
Demi Lovato and Jason Derulo announced their own upcoming tours before introducing Adam Levine and Maroon 5 singing their new song Maps.
Jimmy Fallon hit the stage next to announce the Video of the Year, but not before he called on the Hug Cam, danced on the stage and then called for the High Five Cam, which Taylor Swift took him up on.
The VMA for Video of the Year went to Miley Cyrus for Wrecking Ball. Miley brought a young man to the stage named Jessie who said he was homeless. He proceeded to read an acceptance speech from a handful of notes. Miley sat on the side of the stage and cried while he read this plea for homeless youth. It was awkward, but hopefully, it will help some struggling youth people.
Maroon 5 returned singing One More Night.
Beyoncé came up with no introduction, but does Queen B really need one? Mrs. Carter sexed it up on the VMAs, especially by the time she sang Turn That Cherry Out and then went into Drunk in Love. The cameras caught dad, Jay z holding baby Blue Ivy in the audience as mom continued her performance. Beyoncé got even hotter as she moved into Partition.
Her next was Bow Down and Flawless, and Blue Ivy is featured in one and is very cute. It was a very beautiful on-stage moment for Beyoncé. She then dedicated her song XO to all of her fans. She put on an excellent performance.
Jay Z then joined her on the stage with Blue Ivy. Blue applauded her mother and Jay Z gave Beyoncé the Video Vanguard Award trophy. All Beyoncé could say was she was, “I am so full.” She fought back tears, thanked her family, her fans, MTV and said goodnight. The show ended with the Carter Family walking off the stage.
The 2014 Video Music Awards was a great show MTV! Another great year!
Go to Aurn.Com for my continued coverage.
Tanya Hart