Taylor Swift, Ice Spice, and a crowdsurfing Shakira, oh my! The 2023 Video Music Awards (VMAS) were held at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, on Tuesday night, and while they were absent any major scandal or breaking news, there were still plenty of unmissable moments. Below, find the most notable performances, wins, and speeches from this year’s VMAS (because, come on, who can watch every single award show? I mean, I can, but it s my job).
It was Taylor Swift night in America (again)
Swift was nominated for a whopping 11 VMAs this year, and she took home a cool nine of them, breaking her own record for most wins at this particular award show.
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Ice Spice correctly won best new artist
I’m a devoted Reneé Rapp stan who was genuinely rooting for her to win best new artist, but nobody’s music has has the impact of Ice Spice’s, and I was thrilled to see her take home the coveted award. (Perhaps even more thrilling was hearing Rapp tell Ice Spice, “Anything you say, I’ll do,” and thus continue her streak of being the most relatable queer woman alive.)
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NSYNC gave me the reunion I’ve been patiently awaiting for 16 years
It’s not every day that your favorite embarrassing aughts boy band reunites, but that’s exactly what happened at this year’s VMAs, where all five members of NSYNC (yes, including Justin) showed up to shower Taylor Swift with awards. (She then admitted that she used to own their dolls—sorry, “marionettes”—which I genuinely loved.)
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Olivia Rodrigo absolutely nailed her rendition of “Vampire”
Despite some (intentionally?) weird stuff going on with the set dressing during her performance, Rodrigo (unsurprisingly) knocked the hit song from her sophomore album out of the park. The bright red outfit was perfect, too, in a very Britney-circa-“…Baby One More Time” way that feels appropriately nostalgic.
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Shakira crowd-surfed her way into everyone’s hearts
Nobody performs a 10-minute song-and-dance medley quite like Shakira, especially when it’s capped off by a truly epic crowd-surf. (I would be so afraid of being dropped, but that’s why Shakira is Shakira and I’m me.)
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Diddy’s performance was an adorable family affair
You either die young or live long enough to see yourself become a dad with accordingly dad-like (i.e. slightly goofy) dance moves, and that’s exactly what seems to have happened to Diddy, who had his kids onstage with him as he accepting the Global Icon Award.
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Anitta thanked…herself after winning in the Best Latin category.
Huge mood!
