by ALISON LEVIER Section Editor
The 2012 MTV Video Music Awards were held on September 6, and proved to be an exciting night for new talent.
Opening up the show with a mashup of her hits “Cockiness (Love It)” and “We Found Love,” pop star Rihanna, 24, kicked off the night with a performance featuring lots of dance and lip-synching. Throughout the entire performance, the star seemed thoroughly bored and unenthused.
Following Rihanna’s performance, comedian Kevin Hart, 32, was introduced as the night’s host. Making easy jokes about events such as Kristen Stewart’s affair with a director, and Drake and Chris Brown’s ongoing feud, Hart was actually quite entertaining to watch throughout the night.
The first award for Best Pop Video went to the British boy band One Direction, who also took home an award for Most Share Worthy Video before the awards even started.
Next to perform was P!nk, who sang “I’m Coming Up” and “Blow Me (One Last Kiss)” in her usual sassy punk style. Although P!nk put on a very nice performance herself, the highlight of the bit was the giant lips that were dancing behind her.
Drake won two awards for Best Male Video and Best Hip-Hop Video. Frank Ocean then performed an acoustic version of his song “Thinkin’ About You.”
One Direction performed their hits “What Makes You Beautiful” and “One Thing,” one of two great performances of the night. The boys seemed very happy to be there, and every one of them appeared to have a nice voice.
Prior to Nicki Minaj winning for Best Female Video, rappers 2 Chainz and Li’l Wayne took the stage for a frightening performance of a song called “Yuck.” Maybe it was that song; no one could really tell with all the censoring.
Green Day then performed for some reason, and then Twilight stars Taylor Lautner, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Reaser, Peter Facinelli and Jackson Rathbone presented a sneak-peek of the newest movie in the saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 2.
Best New Artist went to One Direction, and Alicia Keys was joined by the Fab Five for her performance of “Girl on Fire.” Rihanna then won for Video of the Year.
To close the night, none other than the fabulous Taylor Swift performed her newest hit “We Are Never Getting Back Together” in an adorable shorts and a ponytail ensemble. This was the second truly impressing performance of the night; a great way to end the show.