MTV VMAs 2018: Camila Cabello snags top honors

MTV's Video Music Awards -- Music's most unpredictable night -- landed Monday. Camila Cabello took home the top honors of the night, winning Moon Man trophies for artist of the year and video of the year. Jennifer Lopez won the coveted Michael Jackson Vanguard Award for lifetime achievement.

This year's VMAs took place at New York's Radio City Music Hall. Paul "Pauly D" Delvecchio and Vinny Guadagnino from "Jersey Shore Family Vacation" hosted the pre-show, along with actor Terrence J. and radio and TV personality Nessa.

Read updates below as they happened Monday night.

Aerosmith performs with Post Malone

11:46 p.m.: Lenny Kravitz introduced Post Malone and 21 Savage to the stage to perform "Rockstar." They were soon joined by more rock stars -- the members of Aerosmith, who performed "Dream On." The stage was soon ablaze with flames as the legendary rock band teamed up with Post Malone, who shredded on the guitar, to close out the night.

Camila Cabello wins video of the year

11:33 p.m.: The VMAs returned with a clip of Aretha Franklin singing "I Say a Little Prayer." Madonna took the stage and spoke about her early career.

"Aretha Louise Franklin changed the course of my life," she said. "I left Detroit when I was 18, $35 in my pocket. My dream was to make it as a professional dancer. After years of struggling and being broke, I decided to go to audition for musical theater." She said that later, she had the chance to audition to be a backup singer for a French artist, but forgot to bring sheet music.

"Fortunately one of my favorite albums was 'Lady Soul' by Aretha Franklin. I blurted out, 'You make me feel like a natural woman,' you know, by Aretha Franklin," she said. Madonna said weeks later, one of the producers from the audition called her and said though she wasn't right for the job, they saw potential in her and wanted to bring her to Paris to meet famed songwriter and producer Giorgio Moroder. But Madonna said after spending time in Paris, she left because she wanted to write her own songs instead of following someone else's music.

The singer said, "None of this could have happened without our lady of soul. She led me to where I am today and I know she influenced so many people in this house tonight ... Long live the queen."

Madonna also shared a memory of performing "Like A Virgin" as part of the original VMAs show in 1984 before presenting video of the year, which went to Camila Cabello for "Havana."

Cabello bowed to Madonna as she got on stage to accept the award, and told her, "I've seen every music video of yours ... you've inspired me so much." She thanked her fans and friends and wrapped by saying, "Honestly, I dedicate this to Madonna."

Childish Gambino wins for "This is America"

11:14 p.m.: Amandla Stenberg, Algee Smith and Sabrina Carpenter presented video with a message, which went to Childish Gambino for "This is America."

Sherrie Silver, the choreographer for the video, accepted the award on the rapper's behalf.

"[It's] such an important video," she said. "It means so much to me to see African dance on such a platform."

Rita Ora and Bebe Rexha took the stage together and Ora said of Avicii's posthumous award, "Please make some noise for Avicii -- amazing talent."

Ora and Rexha introduced Latin artist Maluma to the stage to sing "Felices los 4." The singer briefly stepped into the audience to sing with Camila Cabello.

Jennifer Lopez, DJ Khaled and Cardi B win best collaboration

11:08 p.m.: The VMAs announced several awards in succession, including best cinematography for "APES**T" by the Carters, best choreography for "This is America" by Childish Gambino, best visual effects for "All the Stars" by Kendrick Lamar featuring SZA, best editing for "Lemon" by N.E.R.D. featuring Rihanna, a posthumous award for best dance video for Avicii's "Lonely Together" featuring Rita Ora and best rock video for "Whatever It Takes" by Imagine Dragons.

Jennifer Lopez, DJ Khaled and Cardi B won best collaboration for "Dinero." Lopez said she felt grateful to win two awards on Monday.

When it was Cardi B's turn to talk, she said, "I just want to say, Bronx b***hes be poppin'."

Juice WRLD performed "Lucid Dreams."

Cardi B wins best new artist

10:57 p.m.: Millie Bobby Brown presented best new artist, which went to Cardi B -- Brown attempted to imitate Cardi B's signature catchphrase, "Okurr," as she made the announcement.

The rapper said, "A couple of months ago a lot of people were saying you're gambling your career, you're having a baby, what are you doing ... I carried a baby and I'm still winning awards. I want to thank all of my friends, my family that supported me."

She closed off her speech by saying, "God gave me something that you can't buy -- b***h."

DJ Khaled introduced a performance of "Stop Trying to be God" by Travis Scott featuring James Blake, who also appeared with the rapper. Scott sailed on an amusement park ride before emerging from a giant structure modeled after his head on a stage themed after his album, "Astroworld."

Camila Cabello wins artist of the year

10:40 p.m.: Rae Sremmurd and Karlie Kloss introduced a performance by Ariana Grande. The singer performed "God is a Woman" against a celestial backdrop along with dozens of backup dancers wearing gold clothes and crowns. Her mother and grandmother joined her as she closed her performance.

Keegan-Michael Key and Olivia Munn then appeared on stage to present artist of the year, but they quickly realized they were saying each other's lines, with Munn referring to herself as a black man and Key referring to himself as a mixed-race Asian woman.

Camila Cabello won the VMA and gave a shoutout to the women nominees in particular. She also gave a shoutout to her mother, who was her date to the show.

Boy band PRETTYMUCH performed "Summer on You."

Jennifer Lopez accepts the Vanguard Award

10:26 p.m.: Jennifer Lopez floated down to the stage, suspended by cables as she sang her throwback hit "Waiting for Tonight." The Michael Jackson Vanguard Award winner then transitioned to another hit -- "On the Floor" -- as the stage exploded with neon lights, fireworks and fog bursts.

She quickly cycled through her most well-known songs, including "Ain't Your Mama," "Love Don't Cost a Thing" and "Get Right."

As she opened her song, "All I Have," the stage transformed into a winter wonderland with snowflakes descending as the singer put on a fur coat.

DJ Khaled distracted the audience before Lopez emerged again onto the stage, riding a 6 Train as she sang "Jenny From the Block." Ja Rule joined Lopez for a performance of "I'm Real" before they sang "Ain't It Funny."

Her boyfriend, Alex Rodriguez, looked stunned as Lopez launched into "Dinero." With his jaw dropped, he recorded Lopez's performance with his phone from the audience.

Shawn Mendes presented her with the Vanguard Award, calling her a "classic triple threat." He said, "Her journey has taken her from the Bronx, where she started dancing at the age of five, to Hollywood red carpets and the top of Billboard charts." He also pointed out that Lopez was the first artist to have a No. 1 movie and No. 1 album in the same week.

Lopez held up her Moon Man trophy and said, "I grew up on MTV, and this is really a tremendous honor for me. It has been an incredible journey of dreaming my wildest dreams and then kind of watching them come true. Music, acting, performing, this career has always been kind of an obsession for me."

Then she said that when her children came into her life, "Everything changed." She said, "I knew I had to be better. I knew I had to go higher, I had to be stronger than I had been before." The singer thanked her children and said, "The future is brighter now because of you," before thanking all of her friends, family and collaborators.

She thanked Rodriguez and said, "You're like my twin soul. We are like mirror images of each other ... There's so much more to experience and there's no one else I'd rather do that with."

Nicki Minaj performs

10:01 p.m.: Nicki Minaj appeared on a gilded, Egyptian-themed stage in New York City's Oculus, wearing a Cleopatra-style blonde wig. Minaj was flanked by dancers all in gold as they performed songs like "Majesty" and "Fefe." It's not clear if the performance was pre-recorded.

The show returned to Radio City Music Hall. Shanina Shaik and Liam Payne presented best Latin video, which went to J. Balvin for "Mi Gente." Collaborator Willy William accepted the award on Balvin's behalf, though he pointed out that he is from France.

"Balvin was the first who told me you have to put [the song] in international things," he said.

Hayley Kiyoko performed "Curious."

Backstreet Boys light up the stage

9:45 p.m.: The Backstreet Boys took the stage to present song of the year, but not before singing lines from all of the nominated tracks.

The award went to Post Malone for "rockstar" feat. 21 Savage. Post Malone admitted he was a bit tongue-tied, but thanked his fans and 21 Savage, who he brought on stage with him.

Jessie Reyez took the stage to sing "Apple Juice."

MTV urges young people to vote in midterm elections

9:41 p.m.: MTV debuted their new campaign, "+1 the vote" to encourage young people to bring their friends to the polls for midterm elections.

Jimmy Fallon presented the next artist and joked, "Post Malone has already gotten a face tattoo in honor of this next performance," before introducing Panic! At the Disco to the stage. Brendon Urie wore a retro brocade suit as he sang backed by a full ensemble of string and brass instruments. and a galaxy-themed backdrop .

Immigrants take the stage

9:30 p.m.: Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick, who co-star in upcoming movie "A Simple Favor," took the stage to talk about their movie but they were interrupted by a loud number backed by the Rockettes. The actresses presented Ariana Grande with the award for best pop video for "No Tears Left to Cry." She thanked all her fans and family members before saying to her fiancé, "Pete Davidson, thanks for existing."

Logic and Ryan Tedder performed "One Day," with Tedder on stage as Logic entered the music hall with dozens of immigrant kids and teens following him. The youngsters gathered on stage wearing t-shirts that said, "We are all human beings" and holding candles; they were later joined by their parents. Meanwhile, Logic wore a t-shirt that said, "F**k the wall."

Nicki Minaj wins best hip-hop video

9:13 p.m.: "Night School" co-stars Tiffany Haddish and Kevin Hart took the stage, boasting that they were a "dream team" of comedians. The two roasted stars in the house, with Haddish cracking, "'Jersey Shore' is back and bigger than ever, which makes sense. If you don't get treatment, that stuff will keep flaring up every couple of years," before targeting DJ Khaled and Lil Xan. The two presented the VMA for best hip-hop video, which went to Nicki Minaj for "Chun Li."

Minaj thanked her collaborators and fans. She also warned Haddish not to make fun of Fifth Harmony, saying, "Don't come for Fifth Harmony, because Normani [Kordei] is that b***h."

Bazzi performed "Beautiful" after Minaj received her award.

Cardi B opens the show

9:08 p.m.: Cardi B opened the show onstage and appeared to be breastfeeding a baby. She said, "I got a little ticky, ticky surprise for y'all," before revealing that in fact, she was nurturing a VMA Moon Man trophy. The rapper dropped the baby blanket on the floor and introduced Shawn Mendes to the stage.

Mendes sang "In My Blood" as it rained on stage.

Cast of "The Hills" hints at a reboot

Former cast members of reality show "The Hills" are on the red carpet, and star Spencer Pratt hinted that he has a "big announcement" coming tonight. It sounds like there might be a reunion special or show on the horizon.

Hayley Kiyoko wins push artist of the year

8:43 p.m.: Hayley Kiyoko won MTV's first ever push artist of the year, chosen from MTV's monthly featured "push artists." The singer said while accepting her Moon Man, "This validates any queer woman of color, that you can follow your dreams."

Stars arrive on the red carpet

7:35 p.m.: Stars are arriving on the VMAs red carpet, including Cardi B, who will open the show. The rapper wore a purple gown and showed off a new short hairstyle. Cardi B welcomed daughter Kulture Kiari Cephus with husband Offset in July.

Taylor Swift snubbed

Cardi B is up for the most awards of the night, with 10 nods. Meanwhile, VMAs stalwart Taylor Swift was shut out from the awards' major categories.

What to expect

With the VMAs taking place just days after the death of Aretha Franklin, many music stars will likely pay tribute to the Queen of Soul. Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj and Jennifer Lopez (this year's Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award winner) are among the performers slated to perform.

Cardi B will not perform, but she will open the show in her first public appearance since giving birth to her daughter.