But with every bit of praise and excitement by some, will come a counteractive portion of dismay by others, because,far longer than the two have even been dating, social media has been speculating over whether or not Shawn Mendes is, in fact, straight, or just hiding his true sexuality to protect a professional image. All the more reason for fans to have been excited for their joint appearance on the stage of the VMAs. That is until, at the height of their collaborative hit single, ‘Señorita’, Mendes and Cuban-American songstress Camila Cabello came forward as a couple, publicly exchanging kisses and holding hands while strolling through the streets of what feels like every city in North America. He’s a nice guy, no dirt to his name, very vanilla and fairly private. Always an acoustic guitar at hand, Mendes went from Vine micro-celebrity to chart-topper in just a few years, infiltrating radio stations all around the globe with catchy, hook-heavy songs of love and the loss of it. The former, a Canadian pop act, best known for songs like ‘ Stitches’ or ‘ There’s Nothing Holding Me Back‘, is what a music exec’s money-making dreams are made of, the epitome of a stadium-filling, male musician. However, one particular paring’s performance might’ve poured more fuel into the fire of rumours surrounding the nature of their relationship: Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello. Other highlights included the first-ever Fashion Trailblazer Award for Marc Jacobs, a jaw-dropping performance by the evening’s prime honoree, hip-hop Legend and Vanguard Award winner Missy Elliot, as well as Miley Cyrus’ minimalist performance of “Slide Away”, a break-up track jabbing at her recently failed marriage to long-time partner Liam Hemsworth.īut all in all, the ceremony itself-both pre- and post-occasion happenings considered-scored little to no controversy. As Variety points out in its review of 2019’s version of events, the gig felt less political than expected, with Taylor Swift-a formerly apolitical country-gone-pop star-delivering one of very few statements in reflection of a Trump-era America, and the difficult state of LGBTQ+ lives within it.
The who’s-who of mainstream pop music’s poster children come together in what tends to be an excessively over-the-top celebration of music and fashion, singing, laughing and crying with, for and over one another whilst being handed silver-plated astronaut figurines-the near-iconic award statue, nicknamed the “Moonman”. Year after year, MTV invites us all to watch as it gives out the much sought-after Video Music Awards.