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Music •

MTV EMAs 2017: the winners, the reactions, the tweets

Andy Walker, former editor
By Andy Walker, former editor
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mtv banner mtv emas motif catcher flickr

Last night, media monster MTV hosted the latest edition of its annual European Music Awards (or EMAs) in London.

Although likely forgotten by most, #MTVEMAs did trend through much of Europe late Sunday. In South Africa, we were a bit too concerned about the weekend’s sporting failures.

Taylor Swift was nominated for six awards, but as we all found, nominations don’t always mean guaranteed wins (especially when it comes to a social media-based voting system).

On that note, we’ve rounded up some of the winners on the night, and their reactions as told through their Twitter and Instagram posts.

Best Song and Best Artist: Shawn Mendes for “There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back”

Going up against “Despacito” in a year that saw it become YouTube’s first ever four-billion-view video must have be daunting, but Shawn Mendes came out on top.

Clean Bandit’s “Rockabye”, Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You” and Snapchat-king DJ Khaled’s “Wild Thoughts” were also in the running.

Mendes also did the double, and won the Best Artist award, beating Ariana Grande, Ed Sheeran, Kendrick Lamar, Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift.

Best Look: Zayn Malik

In a category that has absolutely nothing to do with music, ex-One Direction member Zayn Malik won the Best Look award.

Pipping former bro Harry Styles, the British duo Dua Lipa and Rita Ora, and once again, Taylor Swift.

Even his Twitter reaction was on trend.

Best Pop: Camila Cabello

Shawn Mendes couldn’t quite complete the triple. Instead, former Fifth Harmony member Camila Cabello saw out Demi Lovato, Miley Cyrus, and Taylor Swift.

She also wins our award for best text reaction of the night.

“BAHDBWJANWNSNSHJAWNA!!!!!!” gained over 12 000 retweets and 40 000 likes in just over 12 hours.

Best New: Dua Lipa

Julia Michaels, Khalid, Kyle and Rag’n’Bone Man lost the Best New award to British songstress Dua Lipa.

“So happy with the win and so proud to be representing London x,” she patriotically tweeted, after receiving a shout out from the Mayor of London Twitter account.

Best Video: Kendrick Lamar for “Humble”

Kendrick rarely attends an awards ceremony without winning anything, so it was fitting that “Humble” grabbed the Best Video award on the night. The hip hop star however remained completely silent on social media.

Katy Perry, Twitter’s most followed user who was also nominated for “Bon Appetit”, also remained mum.

Lil Yachty however — nominated for his appearance in “iSpy” alongside Kyle — broke the silence somewhat with this tidbit of unrelated wisdom.

Oh, and Taylor Swift was shunned once again for “Look What You Made Me Do”.

Best Live: Ed Sheeran

The Best Live nominee list included some mega stars, like U2, Eminem and Coldplay. But Ed “Teddy” Sheeran walked away with the award.

Although still on something of a Twitter hiatus, Sheeran did post this introspective, broody and wholly unrelated snap to Instagram.

@marksurridge

A post shared by Ed Sheeran (@teddysphotos) on

Bruno Mars was also nominated but too shunned social media.

Best Rock: Coldplay

Coldplay won the Best Rock award, beating the likes of the Foo Fighters, Royal Blood, The Killers and U2.

“Thank you so much MTV and everyone who voted. Love from Brazil,” read an image tweeted by the band.

Best Electronic: David Guetta

Calvin Harris, Major Lazer, Martin Garrix and The Chainsmokers were beaten by French electronic stalwart David Guetta to the Best Electronic award.

He had just enough time for a retweet before performing “Dirty Sexy Money” live.

Best Hip Hop: Eminem

Drake, Future, Kendrick and Post Malone lost out to the rap god Eminem, but Mr. Mathers too didn’t have enough time to tweet thanks to his 22-million fans.

He did however perform his new single “Walk On Water” live on stage, with Skylar Grey filling in for Beyonce.

Best Alternative: Thirty Seconds To Mars

“Thank you Europe to everyone who voted 🙏🏼 See you in March, April, and May,” tweeted Jared Leto, after Thirty Seconds To Mars won Best Alternative.

Leto also published a short clip to the social network.

Imagine Dragons, Lana Del Rey, Lorde and The xx were also nominated.

Best Push: Hailee Steinfeld

Usually reserved for up and coming artists, Best Push is MTV’s way of saying you’ll probably make it big in the next few years.

The nominees included Jon Bellion, Julia Michaels, Kacy Hill, Khalid, Kyle, Noah Cyrus, Petite Meller, Rag’n’Bone Man, SZA, and The Head And The Heart.

But Hailee Steinfeld ultimately walked away with the prize.

And yes, we reserved the best filmed reaction for last:

“WHHAAAAATTTTTT?!?!?! WE WON WE WON WE WON!!!!!!!!! I’M SCREAMING,” she tweeted.

Feature image: motif_catcher via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0, resized)

Andy Walker, former editor

Andy Walker, former editor

Andy wrote for Burn Media between 2014 and 2020, serving as Editor for Memeburn, Gearburn, and Motorburn from 2017 until 2020.

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