The MTV Awards celebrate their 37th anniversary with a live gala packed with music stars

The MTV chain has celebrated this Sunday with a face-to-face gala the 37th edition of its Video Music Awards (VMA), in which Justin Bieber and Megan Thee Stallion started as favorites and Bad Bunny was the artist with the most nominations among Latinos.

The show has had the American rapper Doja Cat as the master of ceremonies and has taken place at the Barclays Center stadium in Brooklyn, in New York.

Korean band BTS has won the best K-Pop award with

.

It is the third consecutive year that the award has been won.

With more than 25 million votes, the Koreans have also won the award for the best group of the year, thus tying three with No Doubt.

The seven teenagers had prepared a thank you video, which they posted to the second one on Twitter to the delight of their millions of fans around the world.

Justin Bieber won Best Pop Song for

and Olivia Rodrigo won her first VMAs in the Song of the Year and Push Artist of the Year categories.

Justin Bieber performs at the MTV gala, where he won the award for best pop song.MARIO ANZUONI / Reuters

Unlike last year's call, which, due to the limitations of the pandemic, interspersed recorded performances and others outdoors from different places in New York, the 2021 installment landed in the Brooklyn arena with an event full of stars and public in direct. As

recalled on the

eve of the ceremony, it is a show that, intentionally or not, generates many viral moments, "halfway between inspiration and irritation": Lady Gaga's steak suit in the 2010 edition, the hypersexualized performance of Miley Cyrus in 2013 or the kiss of Britney Spears, Madonna and Christina Aguilera a year earlier. As usual, the red carpet has been a show of imagination.

The queen of pop, clad in a black leather corset and peaked cap, paid tribute to MTV, which is turning 40, by remembering her arrival in New York and how her career emerged alongside the music network, while on the iconic images of him were projected on stage.

"They said we would not last, but we are still here," said the artist.

Behind her, Justin Bieber, who had not attended the awards since 2015, electrifyingly performed

.

Madonna arrives on stage to perform at the awards ceremony. Bennett Raglin / AFP

Jennifer Lopez and Cindi Lauper presented their respective awards and the second took advantage of the microphone to launch a plea in favor of the right to abortion - almost 100% restricted in the State of Texas - stating that women "want to have control over their bodies ”.

Among the gala performances, the Foo Fighters, recognized as a Global Icon - a new category - for their 25 years in music, played today at the VMAs for the first time since 2007. The rock band shared the stage with Camila Cabello, Chlöe, Doja Cat, Kacey Musgraves, Shawn Mendes, Normani, Olivia Rodrigo, Ozuna, Tainy and Twenty One Pilots. Some of the special performances planned included Travis Barker and Machine Gun Kelly, performing their new single,

. Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow performed

live for the first time.

At the head of the nominees stood out Justin Bieber. A high-profile cameo in the

video

and their hit

put the singer at the top of the list with seven nominations, including artist of the year. Megan Thee Stallion was close behind with six, including the same category. Most of the rapper's nominations were for the song

, a duet with Cardi B. With five choices each featured Billie Eilish, BTS, Doja Cat, Drake, Giveon, Lil Nas X, and Olivia Rodrigo.