The
2017 MTV VMAs at the Forum in Inglewood, Calif., kicked off with a
lasers, fire and Kendrick Lamar. Break dancers performing amidst the
light beams and fog as the rapper performed "DNA." The song culminated
with a ninja breakdancing while engulfed in flames. Then the rapper
transitioned to "HUMBLE." and Lamar's backup performers, who were
wearing martial arts uniforms, clamored up and down a ladder that was
set ablaze.
Audience members sang along as Ed Sheeran took the
stage to perform "Shape of You" against a prismatic set. Then, Lil Uzi
hopped onstage to add a few rap lines and help Sheeran close out the
song before the two launched into "XO TOUR Llif3."
The show cut
to a skit featuring host Katy Perry hatching up a scheme to visit space,
asking for advice from Buzz Aldrin, Peggy Whitson, Abbi Jacobson,
Kathryn Hahn and Kevin Bacon, who reminded Perry, "I wasn't really on
Apollo 13." Perry then detailed her fictional trip to space before she
floated down to the stage in her holographic space suit.
When she got to the stage, Perry explained to the audience that she has been missing in action because of her trip to space.
She said: "The world is doing so well right? Everything is fine, great! Maybe not so much."
Perry
explained she wanted to change clothes. As she started to disrobe, she
went through a rack of clothes. At one point, she took a "Handmaid's
Tale" uniform out and asked what it was. She said, "You guys have really
been going through it, haven't you? How the f**k are you coping right
now?" before she was handed a fidget spinner as an explanation.
Paris Jackson presented best pop video award, but not before giving an impassioned statement against white supremacists.
"Let's
leave here tonight remembering we must show these Nazi, white
supremacist jerks in Charlottesville and all over the country that as a
nation with liberty as our slogan, we have zero tolerance for their
violence, their hatred and their discrimination," said Jackson. "We must
resist."
Fifth Harmony won best pop video for "Down" and they got teary
as they thanked their families and Gucci Mane, who was on the stage with
them.
Hailee Steinfeld announced Julia Michaels' performance of "Issues."
The VMAs premiered Perry's frenemy Taylor Swift's video for her new single "
Look What You Made Me Do."
The video opened with a zombie-like Swift emerging from a grave, moving
to scenes of her singing from a bathtub filled with jewelry (which
could be a reference to
Kim Kardashian West's Paris robbery,
when she was locked in a bathroom while burglars took her jewelry), a
throne, a swing in a cage and more. Swift also crashed a car and as the
door opened, the singer looked startlingly like Perry with bleach blond,
side-swept bangs.
Later,
Swift stood at a podium in bondage-style clothing inside of a neon room
in front of crowds of similarly dressed women. Then, she channeled
Beyonce's "Formation" by appearing in a similar outfit to the pop star
while standing in front of a row of male dancers dressed in crop tops
and knee-high boots.
The video closed with a dozen versions of
Swift -- including her early-career appearance with curly hair and a
guitar and a 2009 VMAs version -- quibbling with each other. One asked
the 2009 VMAs Swift, "What are you doing here? Getting receipts?"
clearly referencing when
Kardashian West leaked recordings of Swift's conversation with Kanye West.
Just in case viewers were in doubt, the 2009 VMAs version of Swift
said, "I would very much like to be excluded from this narrative," which
is exactly what she said in July 2016 when the leak took place.
Yara
Shahidi announced Shawn Mendes' performance of "There's Nothin' Holding
Me Back." Mendes walked up to fans in the audience and grabbed their
hands as he sang.
Perry returned to the stage with a message for people affected by
Hurricane Harvey and said, "We are praying for your safety … because we're all in this together."
Later,
the VMAs host asked the audience if she could play the voicemails she
got while she was "in space." She had an increasingly distressed
"voicemail" from a friend at the failed Fyre Festival who kept saying to
Perry, "Let me know when you get here."
Alessandra Ambrosio and Jack Antonoff, who sported a prominent Star of David necklace, announced a performance by Lorde.
Lorde
opened by turning on a boom box onstage and dancing to her song
"Homemade Dynamite." Later, backup dancers joined her to lift her into
the air so she could float over the stage. She ended the performance
without singing a single word.
Pete Wentz and Teyana Taylor presented best dance, which went to "Stay" by Alessia Cara and Zedd.
The VMAs returned after a commercial break to a skit with Perry consulting with a ponytailed guru, played by Fred Armisen.
"What makes a hit," Perry asked.
Armisen
played the riff from "Shape of You" on a xylophone for Perry and called
it the secret to a hit. He then squeezed a squeaky toy for Perry and
said, "Write it in C-sharp."
Perry returned to the stage with a
"social media baby" named Bella, sponsored by Fit Tea. Perry boasted,
"She has 1.7 million followers on Instagram."
"She knows all of the lyrics to 'Despacito,' unlike some other babies I know," she said, making fun of Justin Bieber.
DJ
Khaled took the stage with his real baby, Asahd Tuck Khaled, who Perry
said would obviously win the social media baby contest. He then
announced a performance by Fifth Harmony. The girl group started with
"Angel," before transitioning into "Down."
Ludacris and Olivia
Munn presented best collaboration, which went to "I Don't Wanna Live
Forever" by Zayn and Taylor Swift. Jack Antonoff and his "favorite new
artist" Sam Dew accepted the award on the singers' behalf.
Jared
Leto took the stage to pay tribute to late musicians Chester Bennington
and Chris Cornell. He talked about seeing Bennington at Cornell's
funeral and said, "Chester said of Chris, 'Your voice was joy and pain
and anger and forgiveness, love and heartache all wrapped up into
one.' Just weeks later, Chester himself was gone. Chester was my friend
as he was to so many and witnessing his life taught me important things,
especially about working relentlessly, pursuing dreams and being kind
and caring while doing it."
He added, "If there's anyone out there
who feels like there is no hope, hear me now. You are not alone. There
is always a way forward. Reach out, share your thoughts. Do not give up
and I promise you this: The absolute biggest breakthroughs in life lie
just beyond the darkest days." Leto then urged audience members and
viewers at home to stand up for a performance by Linkin Park.
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