The Ten Best VMA Performances Of All Time

Lady Gaga, “Paparazzi” (2009)

Gaga has had some epic fails at the VMAs. Her worst was that college level performance art thing with “Jo Calderone” where she tried to be a jersey boy in male drag, and it was all sorts of “please take acting classes.” Since then she’s gone the oldest of old schools with Tony Bennett, and basically left the VMAs behind until she decides she needs them again.

But back before Gaga got the wrong kind of weird for the VMAs, she was the darling of these things. She showed up in an egg, out of which she hatched. She showed up wearing raw meat. She was exactly the right kind of weird. And her 2009 performance from her breakout year reminds us of just that. She allows herself to be “killed” right on stage, with gun shots, blood, and being strung up. It’s performance art, but it’s MTV level stuff. I miss that Gaga sometimes.

Next: Britney Spears, “I’m a Slave 4 U” (2001)