The VMAs were last night, and I have a lot of thoughts.

Madonna won big with seven of her thirteen nominations, which was great for me. I voted for Madonna every single day. It was also a good night for Swifties, with Taylor Swift winning three awards of her own.

Who should have won?

The artist categories: Madonna, BTS, Sienna Spiro.

Madonna, of course, won Artist of the Year. Once again, I was rooting for her to win. Confessions II was fantastic. If Olivia Rodrigo had been nominated, she would have been my second choice, but since she wasn’t, Ariana Grande would have been my second choice. I loved her music this year.

Best Group was, of course, BTS. Who else? Once again, ARMYs will always come in clutch. I was rooting for BLACKPINK or KATSEYE, but it isn’t like BTS didn’t deserve the award after their huge comeback. They’re very talented.

Sienna Spiro won Best New Artist. I’m not very familiar with her, but her performance was beautiful last night. It was clear that she’d win when she was the only nominee performing (which, similar to Alex Warren last year, wouldn’t have been “out of the ordinary”). I was casually rooting for CORTIS, but I didn’t feel passionate about any of the nominees this year. ADÉLA not being nominated was a crime, though. I would have voted for her easily.

The main music and video categories: Madonna dominated.

The big category was, of course, Video of the Year. I was rooting for Madonna’s Confessions II – The Film. Instead, Taylor Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia” won. That was my second choice, and I do think she was deserving. “The Fate of Ophelia” is my favorite Taylor Swift video in years.

Best Album was, of course, Madonna’s Confessions II, as it should be. My second choice would have been Olivia Rodrigo, for you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love, but I wanted Madonna to win, so I’m very happy with the outcome.

Song of the Year went to “Swim” by BTS. ARMYs will always come in clutch for BTS. I was rooting for Madonna and Sabrina Carpenter (a common theme of this article) or RAYE for “WHERE IS MY HUSBAND!,” but this was a good category, so once again, no win would have upset me. I was definitely hoping for another Madonna/Sabrina win, though.

Song of the Summer went to Ariana Grande for “hate that i made you love me.” I love that song, so I’m happy about it, but I was rooting for Sabrina Carpenter for “House Tour.” I also would have been a happy Swiftie if “I Knew It, I Knew You” won, simply because I want Taylor to be awarded for country so she makes more of it. I’m still a happy Arianator.

Once again, I was rooting for Madonna (and Sabrina Carpenter) for Best Collaboration. “Bring Your Love” is such a fun song, and they are such an intuitive pair. My second choice would probably be PinkPantheress and Zara Larsson’s “Stateside,” simply because it was so ubiquitous. How successful it was could have earned it an award.

The return of the Best Dance award was definitely to give another award to Madonna. There was no chance of anyone else winning that award. If anyone else were to have won that award, I’d probably give it to Tate McRae’s “Nobody’s Girl.” Tate is a great dancer.

Best long-form video was, once again, inevitably going to go to Madonna for Confessions II – The Film, and deservedly so. GENER8ION and Yung Lean would have been a worthy choice for “STORM,” but Madonna deserved it.

The genre categories: No surprises, and lots of deserved awards.

Best Pop went to LISA for “Dream feat. Kentaro Sakaguchi.” While that’s a good song, I was rooting for either “House Tour” by Sabrina Carpenter or “drop dead” by Olivia Rodrigo. It was a good year for pop music, so I wouldn’t have been upset about anyone’s win.

Best K-pop went to BTS, of course. ARMYs are probably the most dedicated music fanbase, except for maybe Swifties. It was a good category this year. I wouldn’t have been upset by anyone winning, but I was rooting for LE SSERAFIM and j-hope for “SPAGHETTI.” LE SSERAFIM is great and I think they deserve every award ever. I also would have been happy with BLACKPINK.

Bad Bunny won Best Latin for “NUEVAYoL.” This was a very deserved award. If Bad Bunny hadn’t gotten the award, I probably would have given it to Shakira and Burna Boy for “Dai Dai,” but I was rooting for Bad Bunny.

Who was going to win Best Country but Ella Langley for “Choosin’ Texas?” I love that song (and Dandelion in general), but I was rooting for Kacey Musgraves. “Dry Spell” was such a fun song. “Choosin’ Texas” was inevitable and deserved, though. Ella is one of the biggest breakout artists this year, and “Choosin’ Texas” is great, so I’m not upset at all, even as a Kacey fan. Kacey got to perform the stunning Dolly Parton tribute, so she still had one of the biggest moments of the night.

Best Hip Hop went to Cardi B and Kehlani for “Safe.” I think this was a good choice. I would have given it to either them or Tyler, The Creator for “Sugar On My Tongue.”

Onto Best R&B. The award went to Bruno Mars for “I Just Might.” I was rooting for Kehlani, but Bruno was a deserving winner.

Best Alternative went to Olivia Rodrigo for “the cure.” I’m not sure if that counts as alternative, but I voted for it anyway. If it hadn’t gone to her, I would have given the award to Noah Kahan for “The Great Divide.” Both of them are fantastic artists.

The professional categories: I’m less qualified, but I still have opinions about them.

Taylor Swift won Best Direction for “Opalite.” This is so special because she won the Artist Director Honors as well, so that means she won an award for her direction as a whole and a specific video on the same night. “Opalite” has a great music video, so I’m happy about it. I was rooting for Madonna or GENER8ION, but I’m happy about Taylor.

Best Art Direction went to PinkPantheress and Zara Larsson for “Stateside.” I was rooting for Taylor Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia,” but I’m not upset about this win.

Madonna’s Confessions II – The Film won Best Cinematography. I don’t know much about cinematography, but I’m inclined to agree from my limited knowledge of what goes into it. My pick was either Confessions II – The Film or Taylor Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia.”

I know even less about editing, but the Best Editing award went to “House Tour” by Sabrina Carpenter, and that’s a fantastic video, so I’m happy about it. I was casually rooting for “hate that i made you love me” by Ariana Grande, but that may have been based on a misunderstanding of how editing works.

Best Choreography, of course, went to Madonna’s Confessions II – The Film. What else? My second choice would have been either GENER8ION and Yung Lean’s “Storm” or KATSEYE’s “PINKY UP,” but I was very much rooting for Confessions II – The Film.

Finally, Best Visual Effects went to Ariana Grande’s “hate that i made you love me,” which I was hoping for. I love the part at the end where there are a bunch of Arianas. My second choice probably would have been “Click Clack Symphony” by RAYE and Hans Zimmer.

So, how happy am I?

Honestly, I think that the winners were all solid. Even the songs I didn’t listen to were still good choices. Twelve out of my twenty-three top picks won, which is about 52.2%, so more than half. This was a good year for music. I’m still upset about the Olivia Rodrigo and ADÉLA snubs, but that’s about nominations, not wins. It was a great night to be a Madonna fan. Seven wins out of thirteen nominations is great. The VMAs were a really fun watch this year.

You can watch the big winner, Madonna’s Confessions II – The Film, below.

Emma Platt