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MTV VMAs 2021: BTS' 'Butter' bags Song of Summer, ARMY surprised at award after snub

BTS wins three awards out of the seven titles they were nominated for at the 2021 MTV VMAs

The 2021 MTV Video Music Awards popularly known as the VMAs premiered on Sunday, September 12, at 8 pm ET, the same day as the birthday of BTS' leader Kim Namjoon and it is all the more reason for the boyband to celebrate the day. At the ceremony, BTS won not one but three awards for the night as they won the title of Song of Summer for their hit single ‘Butter’, Group of the Year, and K-pop Music Video for the Year.

The first-ever award for Song of Summer was first given out in 2013 where the boy band, One Direction won for ‘Best Song Ever’. The category is a social media voted category where the votes from fans determine the "Song of Summer". In the year 2020, Blackpink won the title for Song of Summer with their song ‘How You Like That’ This year marks BTS’ first time being nominated for this category among other very popular songs. This award also makes it BTS’ ninth ever win at the MTV VMAs over the past three years since their first-ever nomination.

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Other Artists in the category

Justin Bieber’s ‘Peaches’ ft. Daniel Caesar and Giveon, Camila Cabello’s ‘Don't Go Yet’, DJ Khaled’s ‘Every Chance I Get’ ft. Lil Baby and Lil Durk, Doja Cat’s ‘Need to Know’, Billie Eilish’s ‘Happier Than Ever’, Giveon’s ‘Heartbreak Anniversary’, The Kid Laroi’s ‘Stay’ ft. Justin Bieber, Lil Nas X’s ‘Industry Baby’ ft. Jack Harlow, Dua Lipa’s ‘Levitating’, Lizzo’s ‘Rumors’ ft. Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion’s ‘Thot Shit’, Shawn Mendes and Tainy’s ‘Summer of Love’, Normani’s ‘Wild Side’ ft. Cardi B, Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘Good 4 U’ and Ed Sheeran’s ‘Bad Habits’ were all nominees for this year’s Song of Summer. Being a fan-led category, ARMYs votes lead BTS to come out victorious for the third time tonight.

MTV Video Music Awards 2021 was held on September 12, 2021, at Barclays Center, New York City in front of a live audience. The 40th edition of the awards ceremony began at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT and was aired live on CTV.

Fans initially thought BTS was snubbed

Before the award for MTV VMAs Song of Summer was announced, fans thought that BTS did not make a win as they were already snubbed out of other popular categories like Song of the Year won by Olivia Rodrigo and Best Pop won by Justin Bieber. Despite their global dominance, BTS was not nominated for large categories like Artist of the Year while the title for Choreography of the Year was won by Harry Styles for ‘Treat People With Kindness’, a song that hardly had any dance in it.

Overwhelmed by the negative results at the show, fans started tweeting about how BTS has been robbed of the awards they clearly deserved. Soon after, fans were shocked by the announcement that said BTS had, in fact, won Song of Summer at the 2021 MTV VMAs. This is the second time ‘Butter’ has been announced as the Summer Song. On September 8, Billboard announced their Song of Summer chart for the year 2021 where ‘Butter’ was placed at number #1.