2021 MTV Video Music Awards

NOIAFT was honored to cover the VMA’s and 40th anniversary of MTV on Sunday at the Barclays Center. 

Hosted by Doja Cat, the show saw Lil Nas X take home the top prize, followed by Justin Bieber and Olivia Rodrigo who were also big winners. There were a number of Italian Americans featured including icons such as Madonna and Cyndi Lauper who presented, Alicia Keys who performed, and Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga who were nominated.

Billie Eilish presented the first-ever U.S. Global Icon Award to the Foo Fighters. From the dozens of acts, Brooklyn’s own Busta Rhymes gave the UNEQUIVOCAL superstar performance of the night.

There’s an incredible amount of work that goes into putting on a show of this size and scope. At the very least, it was a formidable educational experience watching everything assembled so seamlessly. Practicing, traveling, figuring out your identity as a person and artist, trying to take care of yourself and the people in your life…for a musician, every moment, on and off the stage, can be an audition to fail…we appreciate the dedication and confidence it takes for any artist to put out their work, let alone mastering the completely different nature of performing live and at this level. Of course, music videos are an art form in and of itself and the directors, cinematographers, production designers, PAs, should not be overlooked for their efforts in calculating and executing the magic. NOIAFT sends its congratulations to ALL!

Thank you to the staff for making this a fun and safe night and HUGE thank you to NOIAFT member Austin at ViacomCBS for making this possible for NOIAFT!

Currently, you can see some of our coverage on the NOIAFT Instagram page. More videos coming to YouTube soon.

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About NOIAFT: The National Organization of Italian Americans in Film and Television (NOIAFT) aims to connect and empower Italian Americans to achieve their artistic goals.

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