From mediaeval garb to angelic lingerie, onstage scissoring to impromptu flamenco, 2024’s VMAs ceremony was a long and celebratory affair. But whilst men tried their best to create some big talking moments — a strong vocal performance from Shawn Mendes; even stronger vocals, backflips and Harry Styles catsuits from Benson Boone — it was women who stayed on top, winning 20 of the evening’s 25 awards.
Taking place on September 11th, Taylor Swift was the first to acknowledge that no amount of glitz or glamour could overshadow the memory of all those lives lost in New York 23 years ago. But to nod to another anniversary — the VMAS’s 40th birthday — pop’s breakout women lent heavily in more playful themes of nostalgia orchestrated through some seriously referential fashion. Host Megan Thee Stallion did a great impression of Britney’s banana snake look, whilst Sabrina Carpenter and Addison Rae both opted for Madonna-as-muse, sporting white with the confidence of true material girls. Tate McRae also pulled a lacey Britney, and Glorilla paid tribute to Lisa ‘Left Eye’ Lopez, a recurring theme of her red carpet looks.
Sabrina Carpenter wore archival Bob Mackie gown to the #VMAs previously worn by Madonna at the 1991 Oscars. pic.twitter.com/C4Y3iKo6QA
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) September 12, 2024
It wouldn’t be the VMAs if the performances and outfits didn’t draw way more attention than the awards themselves. Karol G demonstrated the growing ubiquity of Latin music with a fun performance of ‘Si antes te hubiera conocido’ that got both Taylor and Camila Cabello up on their feet, while best K-Pop winner Lisa bodied the sleek choreography of ‘New Woman’ and ‘Rockstar’. Aping the monologue of Britney’s ‘Oops I Did It Again!’ before canoodling with an alien, Sabrina Carpenter topped off her summer of raunch, whilst Chappell Roan swung big with a ginormous budget for a badass take on ‘Good Luck Babe’, firing off an arrow to kickstart some impressive pyro. On the more lowkey end, Halsey delivered a garage band performance of ‘Ego’ evidently inspired by the glory years of Avril Lavigne, Ashlee Simpson and the Freaky Friday OST, whilst Anitta celebrated her third Best Latin Artist win in a row, holding her performance down despite some overzealous cameos from Fat Joe and DJ Khaled.
Good luck to ME on being able to breathe after @ChappellRoan's #VMA debut performance of "Good Luck, Babe!" 🥹 pic.twitter.com/u59f0OX84U
— Video Music Awards (@vmas) September 12, 2024
She's short, she's sweet, and she ROCKED the #VMAs stage…she's @SabrinaAnnLynn 💝 pic.twitter.com/245v0zNWSq
— Video Music Awards (@vmas) September 12, 2024
In an era where very few awards ceremony moments can truly feel shocking or unscripted, some online commentators were disappointed that most of the big moments on the night relied on homage and references to VMA years past, rather than pushing for new or exciting sensibilities of their own. But if one thing was to be truly appreciated from this year’s event, it was how the undeniable industry dominance of women allowed performers to feel comfortable in asserting their boundaries. Following on from a series of instances where she has spoken about uncomfortable dynamics in the music industry, Chappell Roan caused a stir on the red carpet when she (quite rightly) clapped back at a photographer who was speaking to her too briskly, whilst Tyla used her acceptance speech for ‘Water’ to firmly remind organisers that African pop music is not monolithic under Afrobeats, and that more space should be made to appreciate African artists as multi-faceted creatives. Camila Cabello’s performance of ‘June Gloom’ and ‘Godspeed’ operated as a fairly literal critique of surveillance and chronically online culture, whilst Katy Perry, potentially scorned by some of the unfavourable recent discourse surrounding the quality of her comeback, used her acceptance speech for the Video Vanguard award to speak to ideas of autonomy and longevity.
“I’m excited when I look around music today and I see all the amazing young artists who are operating with confidence, agency, vulnerability, and authenticity,” she said. “I’ve heard a lot of do this, don’t say that, wear less, wear more… one of the biggest reasons I’m standing here right now is because I learned how to block out all of the noise that every single artist in this industry has to constantly fight against, especially women. I just want to say with my whole heart, do whatever it takes to stay true to yourself and true to your art. Turn off social media, safeguard your mental health. Pause. Touch grass. And do what you were born to do, just like I was born to do this.” With the camera turning to a profusely nodding Taylor Swift — celebrating her own record-breaking 30th Moonman win – it felt like a moment of sage coven wisdom, as well as a reminder of just how deeply that ‘Bad Blood’ drama has been buried in the annuls of the 2010s.
You can thank me in advance for this #povMA footage of @taylorswift13 matching @katyperry's energy🥰 #VMAs pic.twitter.com/QCdtAmWDTw
— Video Music Awards (@vmas) September 12, 2024
As a timestamp of what’s big and popular in any given year, the 2024 VMAs thrived on this feeling of collectivity, of women politely applauding one another for their achievements and giving credit where credit was due. With Sabrina Carpenter’s ‘Espresso’ meaning that Song Of The Year has now been won by women for five years in a row, logic dictates that at some point, there will be some new male and non-binary acts ready to break through into the pop sphere for 2025, hopefully adding to the diversity of the field rather than overshadowing the excitement and prowess that young women have bought to pop music in the 2020s. For now though, we can relish in the joy of an awards show well done — at times distracted by the past, but with the hope of stepping into an even brighter future.
