Accepting the award for song of the year from the latter, after having already received the prize for best pop from the former, Swift landed the night’s best line in her acceptance speech, saying: “I’m sorry, I’m very Millennial-triggered by my choice of presenters tonight.”

Although Australia’s one artist in contention, Troye Sivan, lost song of the summer to BTS member Jung Kook’s Seven, there was a local presence at the show – particularly among the Kpop contingent. Korean boy band Stray Kids, which features two members from Sydney, won the award for best Kpop, and Blackpink, whose singer Rose grew up in Melbourne, won group of the year.

Perhaps less enthusiastically, local country music star Morgan Evans was present in his absence: Kelsea Ballerini, the Newcastle singer’s ex-wife, landed the show’s most powerful performance – including a deafening mid-song pause – with her song, Penthouse, inspired by the pair’s sudden divorce last November.

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