The best and worst moments of the 2024 MTV VMAs

The MTV Video Music Awards are celebrating their 40th anniversary this year and are full of nostalgia. Lots of old rappers, for example, at a show opened by Eminem and closed by LL Cool J to celebrate Def Jam’s 40th anniversary. But that’s not the only reason this year’s awards show seemed a touch more mature, with a Lenny Kravitz/Quavo duo straight out of the Grammy playbook, a special appearance by TRLby Carson Daly (who said he returned to the VMAs primarily because the event was held at the arena of his and his children’s favorite hockey team) and flashbacks (Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley!) were aimed directly at the target audience’s parents.

Honestly, the entire three-hour-plus show felt calmer than usual: fewer hectic cuts, fewer shots of the crowd, barely any reaction from Taylor Swift. (Last year, we saw her react to practically the whole thing.) Of course, Swift still went home with the first award of the night. And She won Best Collaboration and Video of the Year (and several more) at the last awards for the self-directed video “Fortnight” featuring Post Malone, barely 24 hours after making headlines with her support for Kamala Harris.

Everyone here is media savvy, but this year’s VMAs seemed particularly work-ready. That’s in part thanks to first-time host Megan Thee Stallion, who surely has a long TV career ahead of her, as well as an extra-long new Pepsi commercial that reimagines the gladiator classic by Beyoncé, Britney and P!nk. Even for a show that regularly features promotional logos onstage, the marketing tie-ins were inevitable (said Big Sean, “We love Doritos”). Scan to order the VMA Whopper Meal, and read on for our best and worst performances from music’s most confusing night.

–Anna Gaca

The best

Give Sabrina Carpenter a double

She works long hours because she’s a singer! Descending from the rafters on a diamond-shaped swing (how many carats is that?), Sabrina Carpenter sang live in a delightfully distinctive way, even doing a little show, and earned a rapturous reception with a mashup of “Please Please Please,” “Taste,” and “That Me Espresso.” For some reason, she also kissed a sexy blue alien, although at the VMAs, the interior of a neon-signed store filled with breakdancing astronauts fits the tone of the occasion perfectly. If only our Short and sweet The Queen’s appearance had not been… so short.