MTV VMAs turned 40 and the celebration certainly did not disappoint steamy performances broken records memorable debuts and the return of Legends we've got you covered with the highlights from the music industry's most entertaining night are you ready for it then let's go guess who's back Eminem AKA Slim Shady kicked off the show which was held at the UBS arena in New York Performing Houdini the track that later earned him the best hip-hop award the star was joined on stage by an army of lookalikes in bleached wigs a perfect intro for fellow rapper and host of the ceremony Megan the stallion in her opening Megan gave a nod to Team USA with one of her numerous outfits for the night I want to give a shout out to my haies and my Hades cuz I know y'all watching too later she paid homage to Britney's iconic 2001 VMA performance sporting the same look with a yellow snake the show had quite a few Deja Vu moments to honor its four Decades of history and some bold fashion statements from the black carpet were literally from the past Hy was all about the color red and vintage rocking a cheetah print dress originally designed for Elizabeth Hurley so this is 1996 Giani Versace hasn't been worn since the singer later switched their long wig for a pixie cut yet kept the red hair to perform their new new single ego Sabrina Carpenter served some good old Hollywood glamour channeling Marilyn Monroe she sparkled in a vintage white gown by Bob Mackey the exact one Madonna wore to the 1991 Oscars the sweet and short singer was nominated for seven Awards and took home her first well-deserved moonman for song of the year espresso I've literally never won one of these this is really special Sabrina also treated the audience to a space inspired performance of her hits sealed with an extraterrestrial Kiss by the way Carpenter was introduced by none other than one of the first VMA winners in history Cindy loer herself but back to the fashion choices from the past Chapel ran took things the furthest with her medieval looks the Midwest princess gave a strong Joon of Arc Vibes both on the carpet and on stage she posed for paparazzi in a 300-year-old green robe over a sheer brown gown and carried a sword a newcomer to the award show Chapel found the experience quite overwhelming which led to a heated exchange with a photographer a lot of uh anxiety around people yelling at you it the the carpet is horrifying yeah and I need to I yelled back we're going to shut the up [Music] spoty trampel not me during the ceremony she entertained the audience with a fiery performance in full body armor singing her track good luck babe Chapel rone a firsttime nominee triumphed by winning the award for best new artist I dedicate this to queer and trans people that fuel Pop All Around from debutant to the return of the pros Lenny Kravitz performed at the ceremony for the first time since 1998 the legend stayed true to himself you could still see his abs behind that leather outfit on the carpet a black tie look for a rock star and a winner Kravitz dedicated his best rock trophy to his late mother who was his VMA date 31 years ago another high-profile comeback came from LL Cool J last week the Hip-Hop star released a new album after a decade long break he also performed some '90s hip-hop Classics much to the joy of fans 27 years ago LL Cool J became the first rap artist to win the video Vanguard award for outstanding contributions and profound impact on music videos and popular culture and this year the honor of receiving the Michael Jackson video Vanguard award went to Katie Perry before accepting her special Moon person Katie delivered a stunning 10-minute performance of her biggest hits she was introduced by her partner and baby daddy Orlando Bloom who couldn't have been more proud the singer soared over the stage hopped on her dancer shoulders and twerked while delivering her Mighty vocals in her own words she did everything she was born to do Katie Perry started her speech with her signature humor saying I did all that on the first day of my period too can you believe it thank you so much to MTV for believing in my weirdness from day one and for helping artists extend their worlds Beyond a song one of the biggest reasons I'm standing here right now is I learn how to block out all the noise that every single artist in this industry has to constantly fight against especially women but that wasn't the only statuette Perry received that night she was also honored with an award for most iconic performance for her 2013 hit Roar which was handed to her during the pre-show Megan the stallion ticked all the boxes at the ceremony in addition to hosting she also won twice including the best trending video award for mamushi a collaboration with Yuki Chiba the duo had a blast performing the song as part of Megan's energized medley of hits another electrifying show was delivered by the multi-talented Benson Boon this has been the craziest Year of My Life by far the winner in the best alternative category for his viral hit beautiful things Benson impressed the crowd with a few perfect flips during his performance no wonder the audience went wild check out Bina Carpenter's reaction to that among the other performers of the night were Camila Cabo with her impassioned new single godspeed and her ex Shawn Mendes who debuted his new song Nobody Knows the VMAs celebrates diverse musical cultures with Puerto Rican raal Alejandro Colombian Carol G and Brazilian Anita bringing us Latin Pop at its best but it was Anita who scored the win in the best Latin C ategory but thank you for my country they're always supporting me if there's one reason why I'm always here I always come back it's because I know Brazil always got my back meanwhile South African singer Tyla took home a moon person for best AFR beats for her hit water she also emphasized that African music is diverse and not limited to AFR beats the global impact that water has had on the world just proves that Afric music can be pop music too the night wouldn't be complete without K-pop artists MTV push performer the quintet Le seraphim brought the heat with their debut both during the pre-show and the ceremony and the black pink Alum Lisa scored a victory in the K-pop category with her hit Rockstar which she also performed on stage um rock starle was a um meaningful comeback for me after Lisa um but the biggest winner and recordbreaker of the night was none other than Taylor Swift she was nominated for 12 Awards and took home seven including the top prize video of the year for fortnite her hit collaboration with post Malone with this Swift triumphed in the main category for the third consecutive year making history with five video of the Year trophies to date she also became the first artist to win the artist of the year award twice on top of it all Taylor is now tied with Beyonce for the most wins by an artist with 30 moonmen as a reminder this happened 15 years after Kanye infamously interrupted Swift's acceptance speech to declare that Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time throughout the night Taylor used her time on stage to highlight important topics she honored the memory of September 11th victims and asked her fans to register to vote waking up this morning in New York on September 11th I've just been thinking about what happened 23 years ago everyone who lost a loved one and everyone that we lost this is a fan voted award and you voted for this I I appreciate it so much and if you are over 18 please register to vote for something else it's very this request comes just a day after Swift formally endorsed kamla Harris for president and humble as she is she thanked everyone who fueled her success her fans team and family Swift also praised post Malone for his talent and shared a funny detail about their creative relationship honestly so unfailingly polite it has taken me forever to get him to stop calling me ma'am another sweet mention in Taylor speech was of her supportive boyfriend I would always just hear like someone like like cheering and like woo like like from across from across the studio um where we were shooting it and that that one person was my boyfriend Travis apart from that the singer had the time of her life cheering for other nominees and performers dancing and singing along like she always does overall the 20124 MTV VMAs had a really friendly Vibe and tons of moments to revisit whose performance or speech impressed you the most share your thoughts in the comments and stay awesome oh [Music]