Image Courtesy of Richardcuyar, via Wiki Commons

A picture of an advertisement supporting the event. This was the 40th VMA which was held at the UBS Arena on September 11th.

On September 11, 2024, the 40th annual Video Music Awards took place. The event was hosted in the UBS Arena in Elmont, New York. This year’s host was Megan Thee Stallion, this was the rapper’s debut as a host in any award show. Megan Thee Stallion has won anterior awards at the event and even tied with other artists for the most amount of awards that night.

The event was originally supposed to be held at the UBS Arena the previous night, but was moved to September 11th due to the presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris to avoid conflicts. Due to this fact, the event honored the tragedy that occurred in 2001 in nearby New York City. 

This year had a lot of amazing performers. Some of which were: Eminem, Lisa, Shawn Mendes, Sabrina Carpenter, Anitta, Chappell Roan, Megan Thee Stallion, Benson Boone, Rauw Alejandro, Halsey, Lenny Kravitz, Camila Cabello, GloRilla, LL Cool J, and last but not least Katy Perry. Many artists from previous years also came and performed, such as Karol G who sang “Si Antes Te Hubiera Conocido” and last year performed her songs “Oki Doki” and “Ta Ok” a collaboration with Brazilian producer Dennis. Another artist who returned from the previous year was Anitta, who also had an amazing performance.

Another notable performance was from the K-Pop star Lisa. This was her solo debut at the VMA’s in which she performed “New Woman” and “Rockstar”. Lisa had previously performed at the VMA’s with the rest of her K-pop group BLACKPINK. Lisa won the best K-pop award that night, marking it her second award since last year when her group received the award.

Katy Perry also made a return to the stage. She received the Video Vanguard Award that night, and after gladly accepting the award she gave one of the most iconic performances that night. Katy Perry performed some of her biggest hits including “Dark Horse”, “E.T.”, and “Teenage Dream”. This performance certainly gave some of the audience nostalgia of the early 2000’s. Although a great performance she did not perform songs from her albums “Witness” and “Smile” which left some fans a bit disappointed.

One memorable part of the show was when the program gave tribute to Britney Spears’ 2001 performance of “I’m a Slave 4 U” on screen. During this performance, Britney performed with a huge python which became one of the most iconic moments to happen at the VMA’s. After the video was played they showed the host Megan Thee Stallion with a giant python around her, which shocked the audience.

Another memorable part of the show was when Eminem was given a callback by dozens of lookalikes outside the arena. He did this in an earlier performance in 2000. As the VMA’s 40th anniversary was this year, it seemed they really wanted to bring back some of the great memories that were made in previous years.

One of the biggest awards of the night was Best New Artist. The winner of this category was Chappell Roan. Chapell Roan gave a speech in support of the LGBTQ community, and also gave tribute to queer kids in the midwest stating “she is one of them”. The star of the show that night must have had to be Taylor Swift, who won 7 moon person trophies out of 12 nominations- making it 30 she has won so far and making her the most awarded solo artist in the history of the VMA’s. Taylor has had a long history with the VMA’s, going way back to 2009. That year her first VMA she got to take home was for Best Female Video, in which rapper Kanye West made headlines after he got up on stage and stated he thought Beyoncé should have won.

The VMA’s continue to be an important and iconic event of music and just overall pop culture. This award show has had some of the biggest music artists perform and receive awards for the past 40 years now. This show has brought back a sense of nostalgia to many of the viewers who have been tuning into the awards for years. The VMA’s continue to have amazing performances which feature some of the most iconic artists and their contributions to the music industry. The fans also have a big part in the awards- as they get to vote for their favorite artists to win, giving the event a bigger sense of community.