Katy Perry’s return to the music scene is one of the most notable in recent years. The author of Roar decided to take a break from music to focus on her family and 143, her new album, has marked her return in style.
The Santa Barbara native has received a real crowd-pleaser from her peers at the 2024 MTV VMAs gala, receiving the prestigious MTV Video Vanguard award to honour the impact that audiovisual productions linked to her music have had throughout her career.
Katy Perry thus joins a very select club that has only included women since its creation in 2016: Rihanna, Pink, Jennifer Lopez, Missy Elliott, Nicki Minaj and Shakira. In fact, it was the Colombian who was in charge of passing the baton, as she was the last winner of the award in 2023.
As is usual with this award, the artist has performed a spectacular medley number in which she has sung some of her greatest hits: California Gurl, Dark Horse, Fireworks, Roar, ET, California Gurl, I Kissed A Girl and Teenage Dream. In addition, the singer has taken the opportunity to perform her latest hits, Lifetimes and I’m His, He’s Mine.
But what stood out most about the performance, in addition to stirring up nostalgia for both those present at the event and the spectators, was the great performance by Katy Perry, with which she made clear the well-deserved recognition.
The singer began her performance suspended in the air with a harness, which simulated the artist floating. During several songs the Woman’s World vocalist danced and sang, defying gravity.
The artist rose in the middle of an illuminated circle. Finally, on the ground, she gave way to the artist Doechii to sing together their unreleased song, I’m His, He’s Mine. Meanwhile, the dance team had a futuristic style.
In the next part of the performance I was introduced to a sliding platform, where the artist climbed, danced and slid to the sound of her most typical songs.
Finally, she reappeared on stage with giant wings on her back and was very close to her audience, who never stopped applauding her.
Award presentation with Orlando Bloom
The singer received the Video Vanguard Award from none other than her husband, Orlando Bloom. Very emotional and tired from the effort of the performance, she thanked her record label and her fans for all the successes of her career.
Of course, there was no lack of humor in her speech: “I did all this on the first day of my period, can you believe it?”
The singer gave special thanks to the LGTBIQ+ community, “without which I wouldn’t be here.” She also thanked the actor “for keeping her grounded and celebrating” all her successes.
Katy Perry also showed great awareness of mental health: “I’ve heard a lot of ‘do this, don’t do that, wear less, wear more now, don’t cut your hair’… one of the biggest reasons I’m here right now is because I learned to block out all the noise that every artist has to constantly fight against, especially women.”
The Vanguard Award is a well-deserved prize given the singer’s influence in music since her emergence in the 2010s. As VMA executive producer Bruce Gillmer explained when the news was announced, Katy Perry is “a musical powerhouse and a true pop culture icon.”
