2017 VMAs: Best & Worst Moments
1. vmas-best-moments-ellen-degeneres
BEST: AND ELLEN'S!
Ellen DeGeneres was also a fun (and frequent) cutaway. Like, she's definitely more of a dancer, but still gives good face.
2. vmas-best-moments-paris-jackson
BEST: ACTION JACKSON
With her emboldened speech about "white supremacist jerks," Paris Jackson got the ball rolling on what would become a night full of powerful political statements.
3. vmas-best-moments-handmaids-tale
WORST: THE HANDMAID'S FAIL
For example... whatever this was.
4. vmas-best-moments-banana
BEST: MONKEY BUSINESS
First things first: If you asked us for our mood at any point during the VMAs, our answer would be this picture of Jack Antonoff eating a banana in the audience.
5. vmas-best-moments-ed-sheeran
WORST: SECOND STRING
We like Ed Sheeran a lot — more than the average Game of Thrones viewer, apparently — but why would MTV schedule him directly after the guy who literally lit himself on fire? We didn't need a cool-down act in the first 10 minutes of the VMAs.
6. vmas-best-moments-vanessa-hudgens
BEST: VANESSA HUDGENS' FACE
Seriously, this is like the Blue Steel of audience reaction faces. Well done, V.
7. vmas-best-moments-kendrick-lamar
BEST: MAN ON FIRE
Lit? Fire? Take your pick in describing Kendrick Lamar's performance. Neither will change the fact that a man SET. HIMSELF. ABLAZE.
8. vmas-best-moments-taylor-swift
BEST: #IWOKEUPLIKETHIS
The zombie makeup in Taylor Swift's video was cool and all — but it also served as a bitter reminder that the VMAs were preventing us from watching the Game of Thrones season finale in real time.
9. vmas-best-moments-julia-michaels
WORST: THE RUDEST OF SNUBS
Why did MTV play Julia Michaels off the stage — directing viewers to Twitter for the full performance — when it could have simply shortened Hailee Steinfeld's intro speech? By, like, a lot?
10. vmas-best-moments-lorde
WORST: LORDE ATTACKS!
Actually, we'll cut Lorde some slack for lip syncing her way through this performance, given that she tweeted about coming down with the flu. But that doesn't change the fact that her outfit looked like a recycled-material challenge from Project Runway: Junior.
11. vmas-best-moments-jared-leto
BEST: TOUCHING TRIBUTES
Having Jared Leto say a few kind words about the late Chester Bennington and Chris Cornell was a nice addition to the show...
12. vmas-best-moments-linkin-park
BEST: TOUCHING TRIBUTES
...as was the re-airing of a Linkin Park performance from the 2010 VMAs.
13. vmas-best-moments-adam-levine
WORST: THE RUDEST OF SNUBS
See? Adam Levine agrees.
14. vmas-best-moments-tiffany-haddish
BEST: HOW TIFFANY HADDISH STOLE THE VMAs
I could watch Haddish rub her success in her ex-boyfriends' faces all day long. For real, best VMA speech of the year... or ever?
15. vmas-best-moments-cardi-b
BEST: GIVE HER A HAND!
Few things in this life are more difficult to watch than a wardrobe malfunction playing out on live television. Fortunately, Cardi B. managed to fix her situation before things got too... out of hand.
16. vma-2017-fifth-harmony
BEST: SHADE IN MOTION
Fifth Harmony "metaphorically" pushing former band member Camila Cabello off the stage was, frankly, one of the night's most underrated moments. MTV promised us drama, and if Katy Perry wasn't going to deliver it, Fifth Harmony was happy to shoulder the burden.
17. vmas-best-moments-suicide-song
BEST: MUSIC MATTERS
There wasn't a dry in the house after Logic, Khalid and Alessia Cara's moving performance of the anti-suicide anthem "1-800-273-8255."
18. vmas-best-moments-kesha
BEST: NO WORDS
[Insert angel emoji].
19. vmas-best-moments-alessia-cara
WEIRDEST: AMERICAN HORROR STORY... VMAS?
Seriously, did Alessia Cara just spoil Season 8?
20. vmas-best-moments-30-seconds-to-mars
WEIRDEST: SPEAKING OF JARED LETO...
What was this?!
21. vmas-best-moments-katy-perry-jokes
WORST: THE COMEDY STYLINGS OF KATY PERRY
After returning from "space," Perry delivered a tone-deaf monologue about the problems plaguing the world in 2017. But rather than adding anything meaningful to the conversation, she simply made a joke about the world being "on fire." Followed by many other terrible jokes.