Array
Perhaps the best performance at this year’s MTV Video Music Awards — held for the second time at the Prudential Center on Sunday night — didn’t even take place on the VMAs stage. That was when Artist of the Year winner Bad Bunny had the audience hopping from his show at Yankee Stadium, whether they were concertgoers or viewers watching the awards all around the around.
But it was also a night that big winner Jack Harlow, who took home four VMAs, and Video Vanguard recipient Nicki Minaj were better at performing than they were at co-hosting. Meanwhile, Global Icon Award honorees Red Hot Chili Peppers led a rock resurgence that also featured Panic! At the Disco and Italian breakout band Maneskin.
Before MTV goes back to forgetting about music for another year, we look back on the best and worst performances of the 2022 VMAs.
Doing “Pink Venom” — from their upcoming second album “Born Pink,” due Sept. 16 — the K-pop girl group underwhelmed in their debut performance on a US awards show. It was bad enough that many in the audience — both in the Prudential Center and around the world watching — probably didn’t know the song, but the stiff, lifeless performance failed to establish the group as a live force to be reckoned with on the VMAs stage.
Co-host Jack Harlow gets props for bring back Fergie from the musical oblivion — where exactly has she been? — after he generously sampled her 2007 hit “Glamorous” on his 2022 No. 1 hit “First Class.” Respect was due, and he gave it to a star much in need of some love. And then when you added Lizzo to the opening on “2 B Loved (Am I Ready),” well, we already know that Lizzo makes everything better.
