2017 MTV Video Music Awards Performance Reviews

Hey guys and welcome back! I thought I would give a performance review for this year's MTV Video Music Awards, as it was pretty good for the most part. Katy Perry hosted this year's show. She was a good host, although her humor was lacking at times. Anyways, in all this was much better than last year's show, which was a complete mess with annoying hosts and weird performances. Anyways, this year there were sixteen performances and one music video premiere. I will list the sixteen performances in order of what I thought was best to worst. Then I will review Taylor Swift's Look What You Made Me Do music video. So, let's get going.

16) Kendrick Lamar - DNA./HUMBLE.

I don't understand why anyone thought this performance was the slightest bit appealing. I had not a clue what he was saying, nor was the stuff on fire the slightest bit entertaining. This was some of the most boring few minutes of the show we saw the whole night. Plus, the song choices Kendrick Lamar made were just terrible. I don't understand what's so pleasing to this country about these two songs. His past music has been a bit better than this, I just don't like this music of his these days.

15) KYLE - iSpy

It's a good thing that this was one of the performances cut short, as it wasn't good either. I did like this song for some time, but KYLE's vocals on the performance Sunday night were just not good at all, and nothing like the original track. He had no good presence, and just jumped around, which I thought was really weird and something that is very generic for a performance. Overall, it's not worse than Kendrick's mess, but this could have been way better than what it was.

14) James Arthur - Say You Won't Let Go

This performance was indeed better than the last two, but was still yet a yawner. I am quite honestly getting sick of this song. The performance was also at a weird time, and I just wasn't quite the fan of James Arthur's voice on this song live. I'm sure others disagree with me, but I had a hard time paying attention during this performance.


13) Alessia Cara - Scars To Your Beautiful

Okay, you all may hate me for this. I do indeed like the message to this song. Oh, 100%. I just felt like this wasn't the best performance Alessia has showed us of this song. Her vocals were just outstanding, although the odd costume changes and weird dancers were what made this a little bit lower than what it was going to be. Likewise, I just don't think the dancers really fit this song that good anyways. All said and done, her other performance was a lot better than this one.

12) DNCE/Rod Stewart - Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?

I had a pretty similar reaction to this as I did to Alessia Cara's first performance of the night. The vocals were really good, but the weird setup and all the people in the setting were just not fitting like I thought they would be. That's really all I have. I just thought this would be a lot better without a crowd of people everywhere, not giving the performers space. Rod Stewart had a very small space to walk through.

11) Thirty Seconds To Mars/Travis Scott - Walk On Water

So, I do indeed like this new song from Thirty Seconds To Mars very much. The only downside to this performance was the presence of Travis Scott, as I thought that was very weird. Otherwise, I loved the way it was presented. At first, I wasn't sure whether or not I would like the way this would be presented, but as the performance went on, I began to like it more and more.

10) Shawn Mendes - There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back

This performance was alright. There wasn't too much going on. The vocals were pretty good. It was just a pretty average performance, nothing too special to me about it, although it was better than our last few.

9) Lorde - Homemade Dynamite

I feel bad that Lorde had the flu and we couldn't hear her raspy, cool voice the other night. Even though she didn't sing, she did a beautiful job dancing to Homemade Dynamite, which has made it's way onto my playlist rotation since I saw this performance. I thought she did pretty good for someone who had the flu, and props to Lorde for having that "the show must go on" mindset. That is a very good quality in an artist.

8) Ed Sheeran/Lil Uzi Vert - Shape Of You/XO Tour Llif3
I thought that the beginning with Shape Of You was very good, like what we usually hear from Ed Sheeran. Then we all got surprised, I'm sure when Lil Uzi Vert came out and started singing with Ed on his single, XO Tour Llif3. I would have never expected someone like Ed to sing with such a singer. Even though I'm not a fan of the original track by the artist, I did indeed enjoy the stage performance with Ed Sheeran on it.

7) Julia Michaels - Issues

This was another performance that was cut short, just like KYLE's. However, Julia Michaels did much better than him for the time allotted. Her vocals were very good and she just looked beautiful in her dress. She was definitely dressed to perform the song, and she did it in a more casual way than usual, which I liked very much.

6) Demi Lovato - Sorry Not Sorry

I think we can all agree that this performance was quite the party. Even though I said before the crowd was too much for DNCE and Rod Stewart, it perfectly fit for Demi's poolside performance of her new somewhat "diss" track. I thought her vocals sounded pretty good for the setting she was at and the setting and dancing was just really good considering where she was. So, this didn't make my top 5, but it was very good, nonetheless.

5) Miley Cyrus - Younger Now

We are now in the top 5! Miley Cyrus did indeed make my top 5 performances with her presentation of her new single, Younger Now, from her upcoming album, Younger Now. I really enjoyed how Miley's vocals were very similar to the original track, which I am enjoying at the moment, as well as the addition of several older back-up dancers. I just thought it was really interesting, and that's why it notched in my top 5.

4) Katy Perry/Nicki Minaj - Swish Swish

I absolutely loved how this was the finale to the show. The huge stage props, the flying Katy Perry, basketball balloons, and a slam dunk by Katy Perry herself (well sorta), not to mention Nicki Minaj inside of a giant basketball? Yeah, this was good. Katy did reasonably well with her vocals, as did Nicki too. There was a good amount of energy, and I enjoyed how the backup dancers had basketball nets over their faces, and they did do a very good job dancing themselves, anyways.

3) Logic/Alessia Cara/Khalid - 1-800-273-8255

This was just absolutely beautiful. The best message I had seen by far that whole night. The name of the song is the same exact phone number as the suicide prevention hotline, and I just really felt moved by the fact that several suicide survivors joined the beautiful voices of Logic, Alessia Cara, and Khalid on stage for the performance of this track. I hope you all remember, someone cares. Never give up. There's always hope. This should remind all of you to stay strong no matter what you're ever going through and to know that there is always someone there for you, even when there seems like there is not.

2) Fifth Harmony/Gucci Mane - Angel/Down

So, Camila Cabello shade or not you all? I'm not completely completely convinced with Ally's explanation, but you know, who knows? Angel was pretty good and smooth sailing, and the girls looked really good as they transitioned into Down. Their vocals were smooth and they were dressed really nice looking. They added Gucci Mane in and he did pretty well. They added some much deserved energy into the show, including Normani's very impressive split, and the very wet shower they took at the end of the performance. This was really good.

1) P!nk - Get The Party Started/Raise Your Glass/So What/Just Give Me A Reason/Perfect/Don't Let Me Get Me/What About Us

Okay, so this was amazing. The kickoff to this performance was very good with some older hits that I'm sure everyone was jamming out to back in the day. Also, So What was a very interesting highlight to this presentation, as P!nk pulled off a classic move, driving a lawnmower with her little added extra, naked backup dancers. When she slowed things down to Just Give Me A Reason, it gave me a good feeling, as I felt like that was a good transition to get into her new single, What About Us, which was by far the best section of the performance. I loved the similarities to the music video and P!nk's vocals were just on point for the last leg of her presentation. Not to mention, her speech for accepting the Video Vanguard Award was truly inspiring. So, that's what made this my number one performance for the night.

Music Video Premiere: Taylor Swift - Look What You Made Me Do

So, we all know that I love this song as a true Swiftie. Once a Taylor Swift fan, always a Taylor Swift fan. This is quite easily probably her best video ever. Even though her new track might not necessarily be my most favorite tune from her, I did indeed enjoy the visual. It started off with Out Of The Woods Taylor crawling up from the dead to bury her 2014 Met Gala Taylor in the ground. Then we moved on to Taylor in a bathtub with jewelry, and a single dollar bill, most likely alluding to her recent court case in which she won one dollar. Then we move on to different scenes where we see a Taylor sitting on a throne, one robbing a bank, another in a cage, as well as many more. We cut through several of the same scenes that include Taylor lifting motorcycles and posing with her "squad". Then we cut to Taylor on the top of a mound, with all of her other personalities trying to climb to the top, including You Belong With Me Taylor and Red Taylor. Then we cut through the same scenes again, after Taylor sends out a jolt of power, causing her former personalities to fall to their "seeming deaths". After the track finishes playing, we see fourteen Taylors arguing and picking on each other. All of the Taylors are seen saying stuff about each other that the public normally says about Taylor herself. Then we see one additional Taylor in the background, which alludes to the fact that that's the real Taylor, and the other ones have been fakes created by the media. We hear 2009 VMA's Taylor saying "I would very much like to be excluded from this narrative", which if you remember is from when Kanye West stole the microphone from her, after she won an award. When all the other personalities respond simultaneously, saying "shut up" and covering their ears, the video cuts to black. So, this was a pretty epic video and it has already broken tons of records in just a few days, including most viewed VEVO video in 24 hours. So, congrats to you Taylor.

That's all I have for you all tonight! I hope you enjoyed this! See you soon!

Love you guys!

~ Jack :)