In no particular order, I was absolutely taken aback by some of the people who took the stage at the recent VMAs. My opinions are entirely biased on account of the fact that I am the biggest fan of so-called ‘basic white girl music’, so if you don’t agree with anything, please leave your complaints at 0800 NOT THAT SERIOUS. 

Let’s get into it. 

Alex Warren opened up his set with ‘Eternity’, and dressed in a gorgeous dark blue paired with similar hues on the screen behind him made for an incredible atmosphere. The live vocals in this first song would have been mind-blowing on their own, but Alex added in marching band drums that gave his performance a cinematic, almost slightly operatic touch and this just elevated it all so much. He then transitioned into ‘Ordinary’, switching up the atmosphere of the stage by lifting the screen to reveal a little clearing and hill to finish on. I didn’t really think his performance of ‘Ordinary’ was quite as good as ‘Eternity’, but come on, it’s Alex Warren. He’s a global treasure. 

Now I don’t listen to as much Conan Gray as I used to, but the performance he put on might just shove me back into his genre. I mean, the opening scene? It gave me sapphic Snow White/Romeo & Juliet vibes right from the start, and Conan’s outfit for his song ‘Vodka Cranberry’ was very medieval. All I could think about was how heavy that cloak must have been. 

There’s a lot of controversy around Sabrina Carpenter right now which stems from the recent release of her new studio album ‘Man’s Best Friend’, so people might have mixed opinions of her at the VMAs, but I was nothing but blown away. She performed one hit song from the new album, ‘Tears’, and if Sabrina can do one thing right every time, it’s making a good entrance. No one expected her to crawl out of a manhole, but somehow, she made it look classy. Her representation of trans dancers and advocating for trans rights on stage was a powerful statement that stuck with everyone who watched, and it brought so much vibrant choreography and atmosphere to the song. I mean, the whole thing was just pop perfection. The outfit change in the photobooth, the dance break in the rain, the inspiration drawn from Britney Spears? Iconic. 

It took me a while to jump on the Tate McRae train, but I fell in love with her work earlier this year and her VMA set completely blew my mind. She opened up with ‘Revolving Door’ which transitioned into ‘Sports Car’, and all throughout, Tate served some iconic choreography. Her initial move that opened up the ‘Revolving Door’ music video was impressive enough, but for her to do it live as well? I’ll never understand how her body moves the way it does, but she completely commanded the VMA stage with bare feet and feathers in her hair. I’ll never get over the dance break at the end of ‘Sports Car’, which involved her and the backup dancers performing some very fast paced acrobatics in what I think was dark sand. That brought a whole new level to the set, and as always, Tate managed to perform incredible vocals all throughout. 

There were so many other performances I’d need pages to get through them all, but I can’t fail to mention the queen herself. Lady Gaga pre-recorded her performance of ‘Abracadabra’ and ‘The Dead Dance’ so did not perform live at the VMAs, but as always, completely smashed it. Gaga forever.