It was just twelve years ago that Madonna and Britney Spears shared a tender show of affection in front of a worldwide audience at the 20th annual MTV Video Music Awards. In order to commemorate this historic event, PPcorn is counting down the Top 5 most eye-popping moments from over thirty years of musical mayhem. It’s beyond difficult to pick out just five moments from over thirty years of pop culture history, so here are three honorable mentions that just missed out on the list: Nirvana’s 1992 Guitar Smashing Performance, Justin Timberlake’s 15 Minutes Performance Capped off with a Nostalgic N’Sync Reunion, Lil Kim’s Impromptu Boob Adjustment Courtesy of Diana Ross. And here they are. Drumroll Please…
Number Five: Miley Cyrus and the Trainwreck You “Can’t Stop” Watching (2013). You know an audience is freaked out when they completely forget about an insane Lady Gaga performance that took place just an hour ago. Cyrus delivers a hodge-podge of visual insanity that features teddy bears, twerking with Beatlejuice, and your nightmares for the next three months. This was the performance that freed Cyrus from her Hannah Montana guise and allowed her to do whatever in God’s name it is she’s doing now.
Number Four: Madonna and Britney Spears Kiss, Cause Controversy and Jumpstart Puberty for Millions (2003). There really was no better way to honor Madonna’s scandalous 1984 VMA performance than to create an equally scandalous incident nineteen years later. Looking back, we have to feel sorry for Christiania Aguilera in this situation. After all, she kissed Madonna as well and no one seemed to care. Though that may be because the camera cut away to show the priceless reaction of Spears’s then lover Justin Timberlake.
Number Three: Michael Jackson Reminds Everyone That He is Michael Jackson (1995). If there is a person out there uneducated in the ways of Michael Jackson’s music then they need to crawl out of the rock they’re living under and watch this 15-minute course in kicking ass. Almost all of Jackson’s classic songs and dance moves are on display in one of the greatest uninterrupted live sets in history. As impressive as Timberlake’s 2013 performance was, it still can’t compete with the original King of Pop.
Number Two: Kanye West Politely and Eloquently Finishes Taylor Swift’s Speech (2009). Never has less than a minute of an acceptance speech so encapsulated the personas of two very different celebrities. On one end there is the passionate loudmouth Kanye, who will stop at nothing to make sure his discontent is ham-fistedly communicated. Then there’s Swift, who despite any accomplishments she achieves will forever be the victim of cruel, egotistical men. In less than one minute these two created a real-world soap opera.
Number One: Madonna is Anything BUT a Virgin (1984). This was it. This was THE definitive performance, and not just definitive for The VMAs, Madonna, or the many who would emulate her in the future. No, this was the performance that established the identity of MTV as a whole. Once the music world was rocked by this never-before-seen primetime gyration, the Music Television Network knew their mission was to provide the people with content that would wow and shock, thrill and enrage, excite and disgust, and above all else: give people something to talk about. So far, mission accomplished. That’s our top 5. What do you think of our list?