SPACED OUT!

Katy Perry descended on the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards stage, at The Forum, Inglewood, California, sporting a metallic moon person outfit and turned it into one of her videos — a logic-defying act, which was entertaining in parts. “You guys look so great because actually, before I left, I took a little break — and when I left it seemed like things were kinda screwed up,” she said in her kickoff and then jumped straight into poking fun at the socio-political climate by pulling out a faux newspaper with the headline “The world is on fire!”

Of course, she couldn’t help but throw a shade towards her rival Taylor Swift, who didn’t attend the annual do on Sunday evening. While climbing out of her spacesuit, the Swish Swish (which she performed here with Nicki Minaj, whose performance was  p-e-r-f-e-c-t) singer asked the audience what she should wear: “Should I wear a choker and some ripped jeans? Maybe some Yeezys (a Kanye West brand)?” Hmm… subtle, subtle!

But not all her jokes impressed, especially the one about how babies help improve one’s social media presence: “My management told me I should have a fake baby to increase the publicity and have more followers.”

So was Katy the hostess with the mostest? Girls creator Lena Dunham’s boyfriend Jack Antonoff appeared to be the “judge”. He nonchalantly chomped on a banal piece of banana, looking as if he couldn’t care less.

 A JACKSON SPEAKETH

After her Sunday night appearance, Michael Jackson’s daughter Paris Jackson will be taken seriously. Turning up in a Dior sheer tulle dress worn over Dior logo briefs and bra, the 19-year-old addressed America’s political climate before presenting the award for the Best Pop Song (to Fifth Harmony for their song Down, featuring Gucci Mane). “So, let’s leave here tonight remembering that we must show these Nazi white supremacist jerks in Charlottesville, and all over the country, that as a nation — with ‘liberty’ as our slogan — we have zero tolerance for their violence, their hatred, and their discrimination. We must resist,” she said. Now let’s wait for her to make her feature film debut opposite Charlize Theron in an untitled David Edgerton comedic thriller for Amazon. 

The most poignant note of the evening came from the mother of Heather Heyer, the woman killed by a white nationalist during the Charlottesville protests. Susan Bro said: “I want people to know that Heather never marched alone. She was always joined by people of every race and every background in this country.”

TAY’S 3K BASHING!

The highlight of the event turned out to be the person who was not in attendance — Taylor Swift. But her 4.15-minute video, Look What You Made Me Do (13,575,114 YouTube views in eight hours!), all but made up for that by making its debut. And she is absolutely unapologetic in the video, which begins with a shot of Tay’s gravestone. A zombiefied version of the singer escapes the grave to become a nightmare which will haunt the three Ks she hates — Kanye, Kim Kardashian and Katy Perry. She lies in a tub of diamonds, referencing Kim’s robbery in Paris last year. Around the 1.07-minute mark, she takes a dig at Katy as she dresses up almost like her frenemy while holding a Grammy (Tay has 10 and Katy, zilch!). Finally, the many versions of the Bad Blood singer shown in the video appear side by side. The 2009 version — the one insulted at the VMAs by Kanye — announces: “I would very much like to be excluded from this narrative.” By the way, her ex, Tom Hiddleston, also gets bashed as her dancers wear ‘I Heart TS’ tees!

THE MEN WHO CRUSHED IT

Kendrick Lamar, whose music cannot be separated from socio-political contexts, didn’t win the Artiste of the Year Moon Person (the iconic Moonman title has been done away in favour of a gender-free space traveller) but he sure did offer a fiery performance of DNA and Humble. Performing against a wall of fire, dancers resembling ninjas put up a fine show, including one who literally set himself on fire. No wonder Lamar took home the Video of the Year prize for Humble...  and five other trophies!

Trust Ed Sheeran to put in a no-nonsense performance. He began with the song that has crossed two billion views on YouTube — Shape of You — and then took his kick-ass performance to a new level when hip-hop artiste Lil Uzi Vert turned up to bust out his own hit XO Tour Llif3. Ed beat out Kendrick Lamar to win the Artiste of the Year Moon Person.

The other man who lit up the stage was Shawn Mendes with There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back. The 19-year-old’s voice was in fine form and the women in the front rows couldn’t get enough while the crowd was left jumping with light-up bulbs in their hands.

GOOD LORDE!

Not even flu could stop Lorde. She fought her way through and gave a wonderful performance with a twist. Instead of the usual song-and-claw routine, she simply danced while her track Homemade Dynamite played in the background. At one point, she dropped to the floor only to be carried off in formation.

LACE TO POOL

Demi Lovato, who sashayed into The Forum in a black lace bodysuit and harem pants from designer Zuhair Murad’s Autumn 2016 Couture Collection, ripped through her song Sorry Not Sorry in a blue bodysuit with a pool-party vibe. #Splash

CUT IT OUT

Unexpectedly edgy. Fifth Harmony’s knockout performance of Angel and Down began with knocking off a fifth dummy member off the stage, obviously a reference to Camila Cabello. And their performance became crazier when it started to ‘rain’!

PROMISE KEPT

At the 2013 VMA, Miley Cyrus was at the heart of the now infamous twerking routine with Robin Thicke. All that has been forgotten after her Sunday night performance of Younger Now. After all, she had promised her dad, Billy Ray Cyrus, she would be “good” this year at the VMA.

‘PEARL’ OF A SPEECH

This year’s winner of the Video Vanguard Award at VMA is P!nk. Not only was her career-spanning medley — Get the Party Started, Raise Your Glass, F**kin’ Perfect, Just Give Me A Reason and her new song What About Us — perfect, so was her speech, dedicated to six-year-old daughter Willow. “Recently, I was driving my daughter to school and she said to me, out of the blue: ‘I’m the ugliest girl I know.’… I said to her: ‘Do you see me growing my hair?’ She said: ‘No, Mama.’ ‘Do you see me selling out arenas all over the world?’ ‘Yes, Mama.’ ‘OK! So, baby girl. We don’t change. We take the gravel and the shell and we make a pearl.”

If you missed the live broadcast of 2017 MTV Video Music Awards, watch the repeat telecast on Vh1 today at 9am