Happy Thursday!! Weird that I am in your inboxes on a Thursday instead of a Sunday isn’t it? It’s for a good reason. It’s time for our second special edition of the newsletter! Last night, MTV held its 40th annual Video Music Awards at UBS Arena in Long Island, New York. The ceremony was hosted by Megan Thee Stallion. Taylor Swift broke a VMAs record, Katy Perry received the Video Vanguard honor and pop girls of the summer Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter rocked the night. I had the opportunity to attend music’s most iconic night and given the fact that its been a dream of mine to attend the iconic award show for a very long time, it was nothing short of amazing.

In this VMAs special edition of the newsletter, I’m gonna break down what you need to know from one of the biggest nights in music. Plus! Stick around until the end for a mini recap of this week’s trending stories so far.

The Winners

Video of the Year - 🏆 “Fortnight” - Taylor Swift ft. Post Malone

Artist of the Year - 🏆 Taylor Swift

Song of the Year - 🏆 “Espresso” - Sabrina Carpenter

Best New Artist - 🏆 Chappell Roan

Best Group - 🏆 SEVENTEEN

Best Collaboration - 🏆 “Fortnight” - Taylor Swift ft. Post Malone

Song of the Summer - 🏆 “Fortnight” - Taylor Swift ft. Post Malone

VMAs Most Iconic Performance - 🏆 ”Roar” - Katy Perry at the 2013 VMAs

The full winner’s list is available on the official VMAs website.

Best Performances

1. Pop princess Sabrina Carpenter delivered a dazzling medley of her hits that had everyone singing along. She began with a breathtaking descent from the ceiling of the arena that was so sparkling diamond Satine, before navigating a love triangle with an astronaut and an alien for a performance of her latest single “Taste.” Carpenter ended the set by strutting down a catwalk to song of the year “Espresso.”

2. One of the most exciting things about Chappell Roan is her dedication to theming each performance and appearance, fully committing to a unique look. At the VMAs, Roan chose to take us back to the Medieval days as she performed her hit single “Good Luck, Babe” dressed as a knight in shining armor. Everyone in UBS Arena was on their feet for the fiery performance, proving that she truly is your favorite artist’s favorite artist.

3. Megan Thee Stallion pulled double duty last night, both hosting and performing at the show. She began with a high energy rendition of one of my favorites, “Boa,” before rapping through recent hits "HISS” and "B.A.S.” The highlight of her set was the performance of her recent viral single “Mamushi,” where she brought out Japanese rapper Yuki Chiba, whose featured on the track, for their very first live performance together.

4. Shawn Mendes has been out of the spotlight for a few years after canceling his tour and taking a mental health break. Last month, he debuted his first single since releasing his album Wonder in 2020. As someone who has been following Mendes’ career since his Vine days in 2014, I’ve been super excited to see him back. Shawn Mendes, too, was very excited to be back onstage as he decided to debut a brand new song, “Nobody Knows,” at the VMAs. Not only was the performance vocally impressive, I feel that Mendes has finally found the right sound. “Nobody Knows” is mature and soulful, the type of music I prefer to hear from Mendes over some of his more upbeat, poppy hits. I’m even more excited for when Shawn releases next month.

5. Benson Boone, donned in a sparkling blue jumpsuit that I previously thought only Harry Styles could pull off, commanded the stage with his performance of “Beautiful Things.” What I love about this song is its buildup, starting with a slow, piano introduction and growing into an alternative sound that you wanna scream and head bang along to. I had hoped Boone would showcase his flipping behavior at the VMAs (he’s known to do front flips mid-song) and luckily we were graced with not one, but two flips. The crowd went WILD. I had missed Benson Boone at Lollapalooza and was pretty disappointed about it, but this performance definitely made up for it.

6. Halsey has one of the coolest concepts for their upcoming album, The Greatest Impersonator. The project takes listeners on a journey throughout different decades in music. At the VMAs, Halsey took us back to the ‘90s with a punk garage band performance of “Ego“ featuring Måneskin’s Victoria De Angelis.

7. Lenny Kravitz performed a rocking medley featuring hits "Are You Gonna Go My Way" and "Human," for which he won the award for Best Rock. He ended with a smashing remix of his 1998 hit “Fly” featuring Quavo that’s still stuck in my head.

8. Rauw Alejandro had been on my radar since June, thanks to all the buzz around his Governors Ball set, but I hadn’t heard any of his music until last night. I have to say, with his medley of "Touching The Sky,” "Diluvio,” and "Dejame Entrar," I was truly impressed. He transformed UBS Arena into an energetic, nighttime rooftop scene in New York City, getting the entire crowd dancing along.

It’s truly challenging to narrow down the performances to just a few highlights, given that there were 18 and most of them were great. Other performances I loved include Katy Perry and LL COOL J, who didn’t make this list because we'll be discussing them shortly. Eminem kicked off the show with a bang, Camila Cabello ushered in a new era (she’s no longer blonde!) with a dramatic, visually and vocally stunning performance, and Lisa brought all the girl boss energy with top-notch choreography that left me craving more.

Most Talked About Moments

1. Katy Perry received the Video Vanguard Award and celebrated by playing a massive medley of her hits while flying around the stage, sliding down massive props and being surrounded by giant butterfly drones. From classic hits like “Dark Horse,” “California Gurls” and “Firework” to songs from her upcoming album 143, “Lifetimes” and “I’m His, He’s Mine” featuring DoeChii, Perry had the entire arena jumping for a full ten minutes. She even sang two of my all-time favorite songs by her, “Teenage Dream” and “E.T.” Check out Katy Perry’s acceptance speech for her Video Vanguard Award, which was presented to her by her husband Orlando Bloom here. This was 100% one of my favorite moments of the night.

2. It was a Taylor Swift night! The pop icon showed up along with collaborators Post Malone and Jack Antonoff and racked up seven awards, officially becoming the most awarded solo artist in VMAs history with 30 total wins. Technically, Beyoncé is also the most awarded artist in VMAs history with 30 wins, however, four of those awards were given to her while a part of the girl group Destiny’s Child.

3. While MTV celebrated the 40th anniversary of the VMAs throughout the night, they also took a special moment to honor another milestone — Def Jam Records’ 40th anniversary. This led to an epic performance with the original GOAT, LL COOL J, joined by Public Enemy and DJ Z-Trip.

4. Britney Spears wasn't in attendance, but she was still on the top of everyone’s mind. At the 40th anniversary of the VMAs, multiple artists paid tribute to the lasting impact that Spears has had on the award show. Tate Mcrae recreated Spears' 2001 VMAs look, while Sabrina Carpenter used the monologue intro from “Oops!… I Did It Again” and performed surrounded by astronauts, echoing the music video. Even Megan Thee Stallion got in on the fun, dressing as Spears from her 2001 “I’m a Slave 4 U” performance—snake included.

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What Its Like to Attend the VMAs

I’ve been to awards shows before, but with this being my very first VMAs, I was impressed by the expansive production of the show. I always expect award shows to run overtime, but everything felt very speedy and well organized. Prior to the big night, it was revealed that the set was the biggest yet, with five stages and a 62-foot tall projection-mapped Moon Person that weighed 1200 pounds - a fact I wish I hadn’t learned of before attending the show because I ended up directly underneath the gigantic prop 😬

Where I was for the show was located inside the stage, to the point where I can say I walked on the iconic 2024 VMAs stage multiple times because that was the only way to access our section. It was perfectly situated in between the two main performance stages and directly behind the stage where artists accepted their awards. To say the least, we were quite literally surrounded by all the action. Sometimes it felt like we were even part of the show, being handed props to correlate with artist performances, like cultural flags to wave along to Karol G’s “Si Antes Te Hubiera Conocido” number.

It was a ton of fun, but also slightly overwhelming because of how fast paced the production was. You could watch a phenomenal performance and before you get the chance to process what you just experienced, another massive artist is performing on the next stage.

During commercial breaks, performers and presenters were really friendly as they prepared for their appearances. One of my favorite moments was my section hyping up Megan Thee Stallion and her dancing with us during the break before she performed. Many of the celebs, including Post Malone and Taylor Swift, also took the time to greet and high-five audience members after accepting their awards. At another point in show, we were warned someone would be “crash landing” into our section. That ended up being the alien Sabrina Carpenter pushed off stage during her performance of “Taste.”

As for thoughts on the show itself, I really enjoyed the excitement of attending the award show in a commemorative year. I loved all the throwback clips shown throughout the night for the 40th anniversary, especially the ones that brought back memories of moments I watched live. However, it would have been nice to see more legacy acts and talent from the early days, in addition to Eminem, LL Cool J, and former TRL host Carson Daly, who was part of MTV’s Y2K era and pointed out that my generation doesn't know who he is (I do!) Maybe they'll save even bigger comebacks for the 50th ceremony.

My biggest gripe with the award show, however, was the lack of awards actually given out. Of 25 categories this year, only eight Moonman statues were presented onstage. The show was packed with 18 performances, so I understand there can’t be enough time for everything, but it seemed overwhelmingly lacking in award giveaways, especially in the first half of the show. It also seemed as if the awards given out during the broadcast were just the ones where the winners were present, so maybe that was a factor.

Overall, attending my first VMAs was an unforgettable experience. Whether it was the surreal nature of the event or the fact that I was running on little sleep—having worked late for Tuesday’s presidential debate and not getting to bed until 2 AM after the VMAs on Wednesday—by Thursday morning, it all felt like a dream. Given that I’ve wanted to attend this show since I was 12, it was a milestone moment, and I hope it won’t be my last.

🗞️ Making Headlines This Week 🗞️

🎶 Nominations for the 2024 CMA awards were revealed, but not without controversy as Beyoncé’s record smashing country project “Cowboy Carter” was noticeably absent from the list. Various artists spoke out about the snub, including Shaboozey, who was featured on the album and wrote “Thank you @Beyonce for opening a door for us, starting a conversation, and giving us one of the most innovative country albums of all time.” 

Beyoncé (GQ), Chappell Roan (Rolling Stone), Normani (Wonderland) and Tyla (Elle) are cover girls for October magazines. Kelsea Ballerini announced a one night only concert at Madison Square Garden, Megan Moroney is going on tour in 2025 and Donald Glover postponed the remainder of his tour to focus on his physical health. Plus! Kendrick Lamar released a new song and a new brat album is coming from Charli XCX on October 11.

🎭 John Mulaney is headed to back to Broadway in December to star in the play All In, which will also feature rotating appearances with a variety of stars including Fred Armisen, Chloe Fineman, Renée Elise Goldsberry and Richard Kind. Grey Henson will lead Elf: The Musical’s return to Broadway for the holiday season.

🎥 Nate Bargatze is leading a primetime comedy special at CBS in December, Macaulay Culkin is going on a tour in celebration of “Home Alone” and Shailene Woodley is starring in a Janis Joplin biopic. Plus! Tom Holland will return for “Spider-Man 4,” with “Shang-Chi” director Destin Daniel Cretton in talks to direct.

📺 HBO has an open casting call for the three leads in its upcoming “Harry Potter” series and Aubrey Plaza and Patti Lupone faced each other off in First We Feast’s Hot Ones. Plus! The cast for Saturday Night Live’s 50th season has been set, with Punkie Johnson, Chloe Troast and Molly Kearney departing, and Ashley Padilla, Emil Wakim and Jane Wickline joining the cast.

Legendary EGOT winner James Earl Jones, known for numerous iconic roles including being the voice of Darth Vader in the “Star Wars” franchise and Mufasa in Disney’s “Lion King,” has passed away at the age of 93.

Iconic soul singer, founder of funk band Maze and king of Black cookout music, Frankie Beverly, has passed away at the age of 77.

Thanks for reading this special edition of the Pop Recap newsletter! If you enjoyed it, make sure to share with a friend. As a reminder — this week’s newsletter schedule is a little different. We will have another special edition release about Sunday’s Emmys ceremony on Monday. Stay connected with the Fan Fave community on social media. Also, the newsletter has its own Instagram, so you should follow it right here :)

xx Katrina