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From Madonna voguing in Versailles to Beyoncé’s baby bump reveal, the MTV Video Music Awards have never skimped on high drama.
The fireworks continued at Sunday’s show in Newark, New Jersey, where Taylor Swift celebrated her video of the year win for “All Too Well” by announcing new album “Midnights.” Elsewhere during the ceremony, Eminem and Snoop Dogg teamed up for a NFT-inspired performance, while Video Vanguard Award honoree Nicki Minaj brought a stripper pole to the Prudential Center stage for a career-spanning medley of her greatest hits.
Here’s our ranking of the best and worst performances from the night:
Two rap icons, taking the VMAs stage together for their first collaboration in two decades. It should’ve been an instant highlight of this year’s show – but instead, Eminem and Snoop Dogg’s “From the D 2 the LBC” got lost in the metaverse. The hip-hop stars used Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs for the song’s music video, and took the sidelines for the bulk of Sunday’s “performance” as their cartoon avatars rapped inside an oversized pinball machine and spider web, among other computer-generated locales. It was only toward the end of the song that it finally came alive, as Eminem and Snoop “woke up” on a couch onstage and finished the track in person. Props for trying something different, but maybe keep your NFT away from our MTV next time.
On Sunday, Kane Brown became the first male country singer ever to perform on the VMAs. Bathed in green and blue neon lights on an outdoor stage, the 28-year-old crossover artist made every moment count as he sang a sprightly rendition of “Grand,” his pop-leaning anthem about appreciating the big and small things in life.
Khalid’s silky vocals were characteristically flawless, as he and electronic artist Marshmello took the stage to perform upbeat team-up “Numb,” their second collaboration after 2017’s “Silence.” If only we could’ve actually seen what was going on: Because of a psychedelic camera filter, much of the performance was extremely blurred and out of focus, with multiple viewers complaining on Twitter that it made them dizzy.
The K-pop quartet made their VMAs debut in sensational style, appearing from a cloud of pink smoke to perform their latest single “Pink Venom.
