Best VMA Performances Of All Time
The VMAs, which air tonight at 5:00 on MTV, have a lot of shocking and iconic performances from different artists throughout the years. As the 2019 VMA’s approach, Eastside’s students talked with us about stand-out past performances. From Lady Gaga’s bloody shocker to Kendrick Lamar’s fiery masterpiece, here are the four most memorable VMA performances according to the students of Eastside High.
#4: Lady Gaga’s Paparazzi
It’s 2009, and Lady Gaga steps on the stage to perform her two-time winning single ‘Paparazzi.’ A few minutes into the song, she starts bleeding. It’s terrifying, especially for a seven-year-old to watch.
“I remember watching Lady Gaga’s performance where she started bleeding,” says Eastside senior Billy Mars explains. “As a seven-year-old, I was traumatized, so I kept asking my mom ‘Is she dead?’ She was just laughing at me so I started crying. Now that I’m older, I think that’s like the best performance I’ve seen in an award show.”
Lady Gaga’s performance was so shocking, MTV didn’t post it on YouTube until last week, ten years later.
#3: N’Sync’s Bye Bye Bye
The class of 2020 wasn’t even born yet. In fact, most of them wouldn’t be born for a couple of years still. But, in 2000, N’Sync shook the stage with their single at the time ‘Bye Bye Bye,’ a performance that has since been re-aired on MTV multiple times. That performance has since impressed students who weren’t even born yet.
“I was just watching the countdown on MTV, and they [N’Sync] were on there,” says Eastside senior Samantha Yam. “I liked it because it just gave me a vibe as if I was a girl that was born in the ’90s, seeing it for the first time as if it was iconic.”
N’Sync would later reunite in 2013 to perform again on the VMAs stage. Yah, however, was less impressed. “I’ve seen that [performance] too, but it wasn’t interesting to me,” she says.
#2: Eminem’s The Real Slim Shady
That same year, another performance gave an unforgettable performance. Eminem, the then-controversial rapper, had hundreds of look-alikes join him on stage to perform “The Real Slim Shady.”
Almost twenty years later, Eastside senior Jamie Junior still considers himself a fan of the rapper and watches the performance regularly. “I do consider a fan of Eminem, especially from how aggressive and unapologetic he was in his earlier music,” says Jaime. “I watch the Slim Shady performance at least once a day.
As Jaime mentions, the rapper unapologetic, even violent, lyrics put him in the spotlight even before he took the stage. He’s written songs about a fan killing himself and his girlfriend and another about wanting to kill his then-wife.
#1: Kendrick Lamar’s DNA./HUMBLE.
Eminem’s performance wasn’t Junior’s only favorite performance. Junior was also explained with a 2017 performance from Kendrick Lamar. The performance included a ninja who was on fire, backup dancers climbing on a fiery gate, and a whole lot of red.
“I did like Kendrick Lamar’s performance a lot,” says Junior. “I think that performance was the main reason I decided to listen to his newest album, and his older stuff, That man is talented.”
The VMAs have given stars like Kendrick a bigger fanbase. It’s safe to say that the same thing will happen in the 2019 VMAs, with performances by Normani, Lizzo, H.E.R., Ava Max, Big Sean, and many more.
The 2019 VMAS airs on August 26th at 5 pm PDT.
