But Roan didn’t need pyrotechnics to make an impression among the evening’s onslaught of performances, few of which possessed a real spark, let alone star power. Last night’s milestone ceremony sorely lacked actual award presentations, and instead bloated its three–plus hour runtime with a glut of performances. Witnessing the parade of featured acts — over 15 on site in total — felt like being locked in a doom scroll, constantly jumping between bite-sized content but rarely gleaning anything memorable.
Last night, pop’s self-crowned Midwest princess torched a medieval castle onstage with the simple tug of a blazing crossbow, then cruised through her current smash “Good Luck, Babe!” dressed in Joan of Arc-esque armor. Roan’s performance was a sword-wielding standout of the ceremony at New York’s UBS Arena, as was her touching dedication to “queer and trans people who fuel pop” upon winning best new artist.
At the 40th MTV Video Music Awards — the same notoriously messy ceremony that’s contributed jaw-dropping liplocks, feuds, and meat dresses to pop culture — it’d be a shame if no one played with fire. Thank heavens Chappell Roan did.
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Chappell Roan performed at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards on Wednesday. Noam Galai/Getty Images for MTV
Last night’s lineup spanned hip-hop legends LL Cool J and Public Enemy to reggaeton phenomenon Karol G and omnipresent pop sweetheart Sabrina Carpenter. While diverse, the lineup lacked a sense of curation, and instead devolved into a grab bag plea for viewership to fans of every genre. As if sensing that they would be sandwiched into the ceremony, many artists displayed an adequate level of stage presence, but little zeal.
Roan’s medieval drama, an elastic medley from Megan Thee Stallion (also the evening’s underutilized host), and Benson Boone belting his TikTok hit “Beautiful Things” proved to be a few exuberant exceptions. And despite the less-than-favorable reception of her new material, Katy Perry’s performance as this year’s Video Vanguard Award recipient melded her catalog into a stream of maximalist pop that soundtracked her gymnastic flight across the stage while strapped into a harness.
Katy Perry performed at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards at UBS Arena on Wednesday. Noam Galai/Getty Images for MTV
When accepting the award, she thanked “Myspace, Warped Tour, and all the bygone places” where she first found a voice and artistic community. It was a woefully ironic line, given that many viewers would consider the VMAs themselves a “bygone” gathering place for pop culture in 2024.
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But there are plenty of folks overseas who would argue the opposite. Towards the evening’s end, host Megan Thee Stallion announced that this year’s show boasted its “biggest global audience” to date. Despite seven MoonPeople going to Taylor Swift (officially make her the solo artist with the most career VMA wins, surpassing previous record holder Beyoncé) the ceremony presented her with “only” two of the awards in real time: best collaboration and video of the year , both for her “Fortnight” video with Post Malone.
Megan Thee Stallion performed on stage during the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards at UBS Arena on Wednesday. Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for MTV
Skipping over her other wins in major categories like artist of the year, the ceremony instead presented categories that represent the true breadth of mainstream music’s global footprint. Last night broadcast major wins for international acts like Tyla (best Afrobeats for “Water”), LISA (best K-pop for “Rockstar”), and Anitta (best Latin for “Mil Veces”). MTV announced all other genre-based categories either before the telecast or via a brief pre-recorded announcement.
The category choices offered mere sound bites of representation. Yet despite their brevity, they provided most of the evening’s triumphant, future-facing moments — for pop culture and the VMAs as a whole.