2013 MTV Video Music Awards

Performances

House artist

DJ Cassidy

Presenters

List of presenters:

Sway – Pre-Show

One Direction – presented Best Pop Video

Shailene Woodley and Vanessa Bayer (as Miley Cyrus) – introduced Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke

Iggy Azalea and Lil' Kim – presented Best Hip-Hop Video

Kevin Hart – speech

Jared Leto – introduced Kanye West

Daft Punk, Nile Rodgers and Pharrell Williams – presented Best Female Video

Ed Sheeran – presented Best Video with a Social Message

Jimmy Fallon – presented Video Vanguard Award

Vampire Weekend – presented Best Song of the Summer

A$AP Rocky and Jason Collins – introduced Macklemore, Ryan Lewis and Mary Lambert

Emeli Sandé and Adam Lambert – presented Artist to Watch

TLC (T-Boz and Chilli) – introduced Drake

Taylor Swift – presented Best Male Video

Selena Gomez – introduced Bruno Mars

Joseph Gordon-Levitt – presented Video of the Year

Allison Williams – introduced Katy Perry

Winners and nominees

Nominees were announced on July 17, 2013. Winners were announced on August 25, 2013.

Video of the Year

Justin Timberlake – "Mirrors"

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis (featuring Wanz) – "Thrift Shop"

Bruno Mars – "Locked Out of Heaven"

Taylor Swift – "I Knew You Were Trouble"

Robin Thicke (featuring T.I. and Pharrell) – "Blurred Lines"

Best Male Video

Bruno Mars – "Locked Out of Heaven"

Kendrick Lamar – "Swimming Pools (Drank)"

Ed Sheeran – "Lego House"

Robin Thicke (featuring T.I. and Pharrell) – "Blurred Lines"

Justin Timberlake – "Mirrors"

Best Female Video

Taylor Swift – "I Knew You Were Trouble"

Miley Cyrus – "We Can't Stop"

Demi Lovato – "Heart Attack"

Pink (featuring Nate Ruess) – "Just Give Me a Reason"

Rihanna (featuring Mikky Ekko) – "Stay"

Artist to Watch

Austin Mahone – "What About Love"

Iggy Azalea – "Work"

Twenty One Pilots – "Holding On to You"

The Weeknd – "Wicked Games"

Zedd (featuring Foxes) – "Clarity"

Best Pop Video

Selena Gomez – "Come & Get It"

Miley Cyrus – "We Can't Stop"

fun. – "Carry On"

Bruno Mars – "Locked Out of Heaven"

Justin Timberlake – "Mirrors"

Best Rock Video

Thirty Seconds to Mars – "Up in the Air"

Fall Out Boy – "My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)"

Imagine Dragons – "Radioactive"

Mumford & Sons – "I Will Wait"

Vampire Weekend – "Diane Young"

Best Hip-Hop Video

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis (featuring Ray Dalton) – "Can't Hold Us"

A$AP Rocky (featuring 2 Chainz, Drake and Kendrick Lamar) – "Fuckin' Problems"

J. Cole (featuring Miguel) – "Power Trip"

Drake – "Started from the Bottom"

Kendrick Lamar – "Swimming Pools (Drank)"

Best Collaboration

Pink (featuring Nate Ruess) – "Just Give Me a Reason"

Calvin Harris (featuring Ellie Goulding) – "I Need Your Love"

Pitbull (featuring Christina Aguilera) – "Feel This Moment"

Robin Thicke (featuring T.I. and Pharrell) – "Blurred Lines"

Justin Timberlake (featuring Jay-Z) – "Suit & Tie"

Best Direction

Justin Timberlake (featuring Jay-Z) – "Suit & Tie" (Director: David Fincher)

Drake – "Started from the Bottom" (Directors: Director X and Drake)

Fun. – "Carry On" (Director: Anthony Mandler)

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis (featuring Ray Dalton) – "Can't Hold Us" (Directors: Ryan Lewis, Jason Koenig and Jon Jon Augustavo)

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – "Sacrilege" (Director: Megaforce)

Best Choreography

Bruno Mars – "Treasure" (Choreographer: Bruno Mars)

Chris Brown – "Fine China" (Choreographers: Richmond Talauega, Anthony Talauega and Anwar "Flii" Burton)

Ciara – "Body Party" (Choreographer: Jamaica Craft)

Jennifer Lopez (featuring Pitbull) – "Live It Up" (Choreographers: J.R. Taylor and Beau Smart)

will.i.am (featuring Justin Bieber) – "#thatPOWER" (Choreographers: Fatima Robinson and Ryo Noguchi)

Best Visual Effects

Capital Cities – "Safe and Sound" (Visual Effects: Grady Hall, Jonathan Wu and Derek Johnson)

Duck Sauce – "It's You" (Visual Effects: Royal Post / Paris)

Flying Lotus – "Tiny Tortures" (Visual Effects: Dustin Bowser)

Skrillex (featuring The Doors) – "Breakn' a Sweat" (Visual Effects: Bonnie Brae, BEMO, Jeff Dotson and Erik Lee)

The Weeknd – "Wicked Games" (Visual Effects: Drop and Abel)

Best Art Direction

Janelle Monáe (featuring Erykah Badu) – "Q.U.E.E.N." (Art Director: Veronica Logsdon)

Thirty Seconds to Mars – "Up in the Air" (Art Director: Floyd Albee)

Alt-J – "Tessellate" (Art Director: Charlie Lambros)

Capital Cities – "Safe and Sound" (Art Director: Teri Whittaker)

Lana Del Rey – "National Anthem" (Art Director: Lou Asaro)

Best Editing

Justin Timberlake – "Mirrors" (Editors: Jarrett Fijal and Bonch LA)

Miley Cyrus – "We Can't Stop" (Editors: Paul Martinez and Nick Rondeau)

Calvin Harris (featuring Florence Welch) – "Sweet Nothing" (Editors: Vincent Haycock and Ross Hallard)

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis (featuring Ray Dalton) – "Can't Hold Us" (Editors: Ryan Lewis and Jason Koenig)

Pink (featuring Nate Ruess) – "Just Give Me a Reason" (Editor: Jackie London at Sunset Edit)

Best Cinematography

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis (featuring Ray Dalton) – "Can't Hold Us" (Directors of Photography: Jason Koenig, Ryan Lewis and Mego Lin)

Thirty Seconds to Mars – "Up in the Air" (Director of Photography: David Devlin)

A-Trak and Tommy Trash – "Tuna Melt" (Directors of Photography: TS Pfeffer and Robert McHugh)

Lana Del Rey – "Ride" (Director of Photography: Malik Sayeed)

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – "Sacrilege" (Director of Photography: Alexis Zabe)

Best Video with a Social Message

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis (featuring Mary Lambert) – "Same Love"

Beyoncé – "I Was Here"

Kelly Clarkson – "People Like Us"

Miguel – "Candles in the Sun"

Snoop Lion (featuring Drake and Cori B.) – "No Guns Allowed"

Best Song of the Summer

One Direction – "Best Song Ever"

Miley Cyrus – "We Can't Stop"

Daft Punk (featuring Pharrell Williams) – "Get Lucky"

Selena Gomez – "Come & Get It"

Calvin Harris (featuring Ellie Goulding) – "I Need Your Love"

Robin Thicke (featuring T.I. and Pharrell) – "Blurred Lines"

Best Latino Artist

Daddy Yankee

Don Omar

Jesse & Joy

Pitbull

Alejandro Sanz

Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award

Justin Timberlake

Controversy

Pop singer Miley Cyrus became the subject of widespread media attention and public scrutiny following a controversial performance with Robin Thicke. The performance began with Cyrus performing "We Can't Stop" in bear-themed attire. Following this, Thicke entered the stage and Cyrus stripped down to a skin-colored two-piece latex outfit while they performed "Blurred Lines" in a duet. Cyrus subsequently touched Thicke's crotch area with a giant pedicured foam finger and twerked against him.

An article published in The Hollywood Reporter described the performance as "crass" and "reminiscent of a bad acid trip". The performance was described by XXL critic B. J. Steiner as a "trainwreck in the classic sense of the word as the audience reaction seemed to be a mix of confusion, dismay and horror in a cocktail of embarrassment", while the BBC said Cyrus stole the show with a "raunchy performance". Katy Kroll of Rolling Stone magazine wrote in 2014, "there were dancing teddy bears, an overused foam finger, an unflattering flesh-colored bikini, some very obvious groping and twerking – lots and lots of twerking. For lack of a better term, it was a hot mess."

The performance generated 306,100 tweets per minute on Twitter, Cyrus' performance resulted in a gain of over 213,000 Twitter followers, 226,000 likes on Facebook, and 90,000 downloads of her new promotional single, "Wrecking Ball", within days of the controversial performance. This amounted to a total 112% increase in Cyrus' social media activity. The performance topped Twitter during the East Coast telecast, with Timberlake behind with 219,800 tweets per minute at its peak. The most-mentioned performers on Twitter were Cyrus (4.5 million), Timberlake (2.9 million) and Lady Gaga (1.9 million).