1986 MTV Video Music Awards

Background

MTV announced in June that the 1986 Video Music Awards would be held at New York's Palladium and Los Angeles's Universal Amphitheatre on September 5. Nominees were announced on August 4. The decision to broadcast the ceremony from multiple venues came out of a desire to make the ceremony more casual, as did the decisions to forego a traditional host, present awards throughout the venues instead of at a podium, and loosen time limitations. Winners were selected by a group of over 1,700 individuals from the recording industry. The ceremony was preceded by a two-hour MTV VMA 1986 Pre-Game Show special. Hosted by Bob Costas and Huey Lewis, the pre-taped special highlighted the nominees.

Performances

Robert Palmer, The Monkees, INXS, Mr. Mister, Whitney Houston, and Pet Shop Boys performed from Los Angeles. The Hooters, 'Til Tuesday, Simply Red, and Tina Turner performed from New York.

Presenters

• Jay Leno – presented Best Stage Performance in a Video
• Joe Davola and Alan Hunter – talked about the Viewer's Choice award and introduced the nominees
• Janet Jackson – presented Best Choreography in a Video
• Bobcat Goldthwait – presented Best Concept Video
• Steven Wright – introduced the winners of Best Editing in a Video and Best Cinematography in a Video
• Don Johnson – presented Best Female Video
• The Bangles – presented Best Overall Performance in a Video
• Robert Palmer – presented the Video Vanguard Award to Madonna
• Pet Shop Boys – presented the Video Vanguard Award to Zbigniew Rybczyński
• Bananarama – introduced the winner of Best Art Direction in a Video
• Martha Quinn – presented the Special Recognition Award to Jack Healey
• Whitney Houston – presented Best Male Video
• Steve Winwood – presented Best Direction in a Video
• Gilbert Gottfried – introduced the winner of Best Special Effects in a Video
• David Lee Roth – presented Best Group Video
• Elvira, Mistress of the Dark – introduced the world premiere of Don Johnson's video for "Heartbeat"
• Bob Costas – introduced a segment on the ties between sports and music called "Rock 'n Roll Sports"
• Belinda Carlisle – presented Best New Artist in a Video
• Robin Williams – presented the Special Recognition Award to Bill Graham
• Paul McCartney – introduced Tina Turner
• Mötley Crüe (Vince Neil and Tommy Lee) – presented Most Experimental Video
• Van Halen – presented Viewer's Choice
• Don Henley – presented Video of the Year

Winners and nominees

Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold.

Artists with multiple wins and nominations

Music Videos with multiple wins and nominations

Other appearances

• Adam Whittaker – accepted the Best Editing and Best Cinematography awards on behalf of David Yardley and Oliver Stapleton
• Grace Jones – accepted the Best Overall Performance award on behalf of David Bowie and Mick Jagger
• Simon Fields – accepted the Best Direction award on behalf of Steve Barron
• Rod Stewart – appeared in a pre-commercial vignette via satellite

References

References

1. (June 19, 1986). "MTV video awards". [[Press & Sun-Bulletin]].
2. (August 5, 1986). "a-Ha, Houston top MTV best video finalists". San Pedro News-Pilot.
3. Graff, Gary. (September 5, 1986). "MTV turns to street to enliven its awards". [[Detroit Free Press]].
4. (August 23, 1986). "1986 MTV awards show to pave new ground". [[Democrat and Chronicle]].
5. (September 3, 1986). "Video Music Awards Program To Be Broadcast". Arroyo Grande Times-Press-Recorder.
6. Masley, Ed. (August 23, 2014). "MTV Video Music Awards: 30 memorable moments through the years". [[AZ Central]].
7. "1986 MTV Video Music Awards".
8. "1986".