STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The 2023 MTV Video Music Awards (VMA) happened this week, and for one Staten Islander, it is now a spectacular memory!
The highly anticipated awards show was held at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, on Sept. 12, and hosted for the second year in a row by singer Nicki Minaj. This was the first time the ceremony was held on a Tuesday.
Rossville resident Nicole Sutherland won an online lottery for the VMA tickets and was shocked to learn she had won.
“I put in for tickets online weeks ago, and found out the morning before the show that I won! I couldn’t believe it,” Sutherland said. “I only had a day to sort out what I was going to wear, and who I was going to bring. I asked Gianna Callegari, my best friend from high school, and she immediately said yes.”
Both young ladies are alumnae of Notre Dame Academy High School — Sutherland is a senior at St. John’s University (Staten Island Campus), double majoring in English and communication arts, and Callegari is a senior at New Jersey’s Stevens Institute of Technology, studying Chemical Biology.
The VMA experience proved well worth the excitement leading up to the show that honors the best in the music video medium.
“It was surreal to share a room with so many high-profile celebrities and watch performances from artists I know very well, such as Demi Lovato and Olivia Rodrigo, and some from artists I didn’t know as well,” said Sutherland. “It was amazing to hear so many genres in one night, and see legends like Diddy and Shakira take the stage.
“The highlight, for me, was definitely when Taylor Swift walked in the room! We were sitting directly across from her, so we were able to watch her dance all night.”
Best friends Nicole Sutherland and Gianna Callegari, both alumnae of Notre Dame Academy, Grymes Hill, attended the MTV Video Music Awards, held on Sept. 12, 2023, at the Prudential Center. (Courtesy Nicole Sutherland)
GREAT SEATS AND UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE
The night…
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