Few artists had a bigger year than Sabrina Carpenter, who won the MTV Video Music Award for song of the year for “Espresso.”
“This is really special,” he said in a speech, dedicated to his fans. “And thanks for the me-espresso.”
Earlier in the night, she brought her summer pop to the awards show, belting out her hit singles “Please Please Please,” “Taste” and “Espresso” while dancing with moon men and aliens.
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Taylor Swift and Post Malone won the first award at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards for best collaboration, presented by Flavor Flav and Olympian Jordan Chiles.
Swift began her speech by paying tribute to all those who died and their loved ones on 9/11, 23 years ago, before discussing Malone.
“There’s a reason Post Malone is my favorite person in music to collaborate with,” he turned his attention to her. “It took a long time for me to get him to stop calling me Mom.”
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Women dominate award shows, no greater example than Chappell Roan’s imaginative, medieval set.
Drag queen Sasha Colby introduced her to “your favorite drag queen’s favorite artist,” a reference to Roan’s now famous Coachella performance, which Colby also inspired. Real fans don’t always get a kick out of hyper-referential tidbits.
Roan appeared in armor, taking a dim crossbow at the castle gate that stood behind him, burning in the process. Her dancers are chivalrous, fighting with incredible choreography as she sings the whimsical pop song, “Good Luck, Babe.”
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Tyla won the best Afrobeats award.
Katy Perry received the Vanguard Video Award, performing a medley of eight songs from her career: “Roar,” “ET,” “California Gurls,” “Teenage Dream,” “I Kissed a Girl,” “Firework,” “Lifetimes.”
“I did everything on the first day of my period, can you believe it?” he joked in his acceptance speech. “There are a lot of things that need to be aligned to have a long and successful career as an artist. No accident lasts a decade.”
He also teased a new song, “I’m His, He’s Mine,” featuring Doechii, which samples the Crystal Waters classic, “Gypsy Woman (La Da Dee La Da Da).”
Previous recipients of the Vanguard Video Award include Shakira, Beyoncé, Minaj, Madonna, Janet Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, Rihanna and Missy Elliott.
An army of Slim Shady-lookalikes followed Eminem as he kicked off the VMAs, belting out a medley of his hits “Houdini” and “Somebody Save Me,” featuring Jelly Roll’s broadcast feed. (The song refers to Jelly Roll’s country radio hit, “Save Me.”)
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Megan Thee Stallion welcomed the crowd as the first host on Wednesday, joking that today’s VMAs are “Megan’s fun awards.” He then performed.
Earlier in the evening, Karol G took over, for a performance of his hit, “Si Antes Te Hubiera Conocido.” Rauw Alejandro brought Puerto Rico to the stage, walking through “Touching The Sky,” “DILUIVO” and “DĂ©jame Entrar.”
Halsey takes to the suburbs for her new single, “Ego,” channeling a garage band.
Blackpink’s LISA made her way to the VMA stage for the first time as a soloist, mastering two new singles, “New Woman” and “Rockstar.” Shawn Mendes makes his long-awaited return, debuting a new John Mayer-esq. the acoustic number, “No One Knows.”
Anitta performed “Paradise,” “Alegria,” and “Savage Funk,” joined by DJ Khaled, Fat Joe and Tiago PZK. Benson Boone seemed to have a lot of fun as he performed his viral hit “Beautiful Things” on stage at the VMAs.
The 40th VMAs were held at the UBS Arena on New York’s Long Island.
The night has been compared to celebrities and promises more Swift, who came to the award ceremony wearing a green tartan corset with a matching train and long black leather gloves.
The pop star leads the nominations with 12 – eight for the “Fortnight” music video, two social categories and nominations in the pop category and best artist of the year. He was followed by Post Malone’s “Fortnight” collaborator, who had 11. He was nominated with Swift 10 times and earned an 11th nom for his country song “I Had Some Help,” featuring Morgan Wallen.
Another win could give Swift an important platform to voice her support for Kamala Harris’ presidential bid. Fast approved by the vice president Tuesday night, moments after Harris’ debate with former president Donald Trump ended.
Shaboozey responded to Swift’s endorsement on the VMAs red carpet, telling The Associated Press, “I’m just what you are, you know? What you feel in your heart. Just be honest with yourself,” he said. “Just the right walk, you know.”
If previous years are any indication, Swift can make a lot of speeches.
She took home nine VMAs last year, bringing her total to an impressive 23. That places her just behind Beyoncé, who has 30 and just ahead of Madonna, who has 20 awards. Lady Gaga is 19.
Swift’s seven wins would tie BeyoncĂ©’s record, and if she wins eight, she could become the most awarded musician in VMA history.
That is, if BeyoncĂ© doesn’t bring her own trophies. He was up for song of the year (“Texas Hold ‘Em”) and two social categories.
Throughout the night, MTV flashed back to history-making over the VMAs’ 40-year-run, including Britney Spears’ albino python and Madonna’s performance of “Like A Virgin.”
Other scheduled performers include GloRilla, Halsey, Lenny Kravitz, LL COOL J and Camila Cabello.
The VMAs aired on MTV and were simulcast on BET, BET Her, CMT, Comedy Central, Logo, MTV, MTV2, Nick at Nite, Paramount Network, Pop, TV Land, VH1, and in Spain on Univision.
