Kendrick Lamar Wins Big, VMA Ratings Suffer Big Loss

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Hosted by Katy Perry, the 2017 Video Music Awards took place on Aug. 27 in Inglewood, Calif., at The Forum. They drew in about 5.4 million viewers, which is the lowest number of viewers the VMAs has ever received.

The award show was up against the season finale of Game of Thrones, which may explain the low award show numbers. The finale raked in about 12.1 million viewers, blowing the award show’s viewership out of the water.

Kendrick Lamar was nominated for eight awards and took home six of those, including Video of the Year for “Humble.” Ed Sheeran also won big, taking home the award for Artist of the Year. Pink was honored with the coveted Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award and performed a medley of hits before being honored with the award.

Other performers included Lamar, who opened the show with an energetic performance of “DNA” and “Humble.” Gucci Mane and Fifth Harmony performed their collaboration “Down.” Ed Sheeran performed his hit record “Shape of You” and was joined on stage by new artist Lil Uzi Vert. Together, they performed Lil Uzi Vert’s song “XO Tour Llif3.” The show was closed out with Katy Perry and Nicki Minaj performing their single “Swish Swish.”