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Last night’s MTV Video Music Awards were filled with memorable moments. From bombastic performances like Bad Bunny’s concert at the Yankee Stadium and Taylor Swift’s reveal of a new record coming out in two months, the show was engaging and entertaining. Surprisingly, two of the most nominated stars of the evening were missing.
Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo didn’t attend the awards show. The two were nominated for a variety of awards and appear to have made the decision to disregard the stress of the awards show, especially since they weren’t scheduled to perform.
Eilish was nominated for Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Longform Video, and Best Pop Video, and was silent on social media all through the night. But her reasons for missing out on the show might be due to a very busy schedule. Eilish performed in Tokyo this past Friday, with her next tour date being in New Zealand on September 8th. Attending the VMAs in New York would require her to take several flights within a short span of time.
In the case of Rodrigo, it’s unknown why she decided to skip out. She recently joined Billy Joel at his concert in Madison Square Garden for a performance of “Uptown Girl.” “Literally because you played her uptown girl… such an honor to perform with one of the best songwriters alive last night. Billy Joel 4 life!!!!” she wrote on her Instagram. Rodrigo was nominated for Video of the Year, Best Pop Song, Best Longform, and Best Editing at this year’s VMAs.
The Video Music Awards were hosted in Newark, New Jersey, and featured a variety of topics that will be heavily discussed in the days to come, including a surprise Johnny Depp appearance, Taylor Swift’s new record announcement, a Nicki Minaj medley, and Bad Bunny kissing a male and a female dancer, tipping his hat to that Madonna and Britney Spears kiss at 2003’s VMAs.