Though Beyonce took home the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at Sunday night”s MTV Video Music Award for her overall body of work, for her 17-minute plus (!!) performance, she focused on a medley from “Beyonce,” the album she dropped without warning last December.
It was a compelling performance as she captivated the audience as she ran through selection after selection, including “Drunk In Love,” “No Angel,” and “Haunted,” from the chart topper, often accompanied by background dancers, and other times, such as during “Partition,” adopting poses from the videos for the album. For “Flawless,” she included the “billion dollar elevator” line from the recently released remix. As she performed, the cameras frequently panned to hubby Jay Z, holding their daughter Blue Ivy, looking adoringly at his wife.
The pair joined Beyonce to present the award, “I feel so much gratitude, I thank God for this moment,” she said, before referring to Jay Z as “my beloved.” (so much for those divorce rumors).
Beyonce and Iggy Azalea led all nominees with eight nods each. While Beyonce was bested in several categories, she did snag awards for best collaboration (“Drunk In Love”), best video with a social message (“Pretty Hurts”) and best cinematography (“Pretty Hurts”)