BY Punch Liwanag
AT A GLANCE
Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, Taylor Swift and the rest of the ladies who dominated the recent MTV VMA’s is just further proof that today's world of pop is theirs.
If the recent VMAs are any indication, the current vista of pop music is dominated by the ladies. While the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards had its share of top male performers, one only needs to see the caliber of talent and fame on the female side to know that girls are the dominating force in the world of pop today.
Sure, performances by the one and only Eminem and younger acts Benson Boone, Teddy Swims (a favorite), Shawn Mendes, Rauw Alejandro, and OG’s Lenny Kravitz and LL Cool J were notable. Still, it’s the ladies that turned heads. It’s the performances by the likes of Best New Artist Chappell Roan, Halsey (who reinvented with a pop-tinged garage-rock aesthetic), ‘New Woman/Rockstar’ Lisa, Camila Cabello’s “Godspeed” and Artist of the Year Sabrina Carpenter’s Madonna-inspired moment is what brought the house down.
Add the mighty Katy Perry and her robust greatest hits medley to mark her Michael Jackson Vanguard Award for contributions to pop music via her decade-plus run and still on-going career (she plugged a forthcoming album). Katy Perry was presented the trophy by husband Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and was also recognized by MTV on their 40th year anniversary, the Iconic Performance award for her rendering of “Roar” on the 2013 VMA’s.
Host Megan Thee Stallion took home best art direction (for “BOA”) as the rapper-singer also crushed the Trending Video award with “Mamushi” with a performance featuring Japan’s Yuki Chiba. Winners also include Billie Eilish, who won with “What Was I Made For?” for (quite the interesting category of) Video For Good, A.K.A. best song with a message. Tyla bagged the Afrobeat category via her club hit “Water.” Anitta for Latin Video OTY for “Mil Veces,” and over in the world of K-pop, Blackpink’s top girl Lisa won the nod for her “Rockstar” video. Dua Lipa’s “Houdini” is Best Choreography and Arianna Grande got Best Cinematography for “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love)”. K-pop act all-female group Le Sserafim took the Push performance category with their single “Easy,” as SZA won the Best R&B category for her song “Snooze.”
And while she’s in active audience mode (but had the camera cutting to her vicinity the whole evening), Taylor Swift still took home the biggest moon-man trophy of the night for acing the Video Of The Year Awards for “Fortnight” with Post Malone as well as Best Editing, the Song Of The Summer nod, and the Best Collaboration for said video. Taylor Swift, who was in the headlines just this past week for endorsing US presidential candidate Kamala Harris, is recognized by MTV this year as Artist Of the Year.
And then there’s Sabrina Carpenter who is having a great year just had the VMA’s confirming what everybody (at least those who cares about pop music) already knows: that the diminutive pop dynamite has two of today’s biggest hits with “Espresso” and “Please Please Please.” Both songs have been popping up everywhere and gave Sabrina Carpenter her newly minted pop star status. The “Short n’ Sweet” singer released a full-length album late last month that is chock full of tasty songs that run the gamut, from pop, synthpop, to country and back.
Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, Taylor Swift and the rest of the ladies who dominated the recent MTV VMA’s is just further proof that today's world of pop is theirs.
And we’re all just living in it.
