On August 30, Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga made a splashing entrance with their chart-topping hit single “Rain on Me” at the MTV Video Music Award. Not only did many artists win over the hearts of their fans with a performance of the year during a pandemic, but also with the alluring masks that they wore during the award show.

In March, the outbreak of Coronavirus had the whole country shut down and put onto a worldwide quarantine, resulting in several events being canceled. However, MTV’s Video Music Awards was able to exemplify safety and precaution for both the artists that performed and fans that wanted to watch.

Some big-name artists that performed at the MTV VMA’s include The Weekend, BTS, Doja Cat, DaBaby, and Ariana Grande with Lady Gaga. These performances were not only show-stopping but also followed the guidelines of social distancing.

In order for artists to attend the VMA’s, they had to follow the rules that were set to enforce social distancing. The rules consisted of artists not needing to wear a mask when the cameras were rolling for their performance, but once artists were off stage, masks needed to be on. They also had to follow the daily health checks and remain 6 feet apart unless they had to get closer for work purposes. 

Lady Gaga’s performance was a performance that a lot of fans were waiting to see. She came out with her new song, “Rain on Me,” featuring Ariana Grande, 3 months before the VMA’s aired. In the first 24 hours of its release, it had gotten 21 million views on YouTube and is now ranked #3 in the U.S. Billboard’s Adult Top 40 as well as #10 on Billboard’s Mainstream Top 40. 

Lady Gaga was reported to have worn a total of 7 different outfits with a mask to go with each one. She wore a green gown with a mask that resembled tusks when receiving the award for song of the year, a sparkly silver bodysuit with a matching mask, and many more fabulous masks and outfits that night. Her glamorous LED mask that she wore for her performance of “Rain on Me” and “Chromatica” represented a public statement more than a fashion statement. 

“I was wearing a face shield before it was a thing,” Lady Gaga tweeted. 

Many fans believed that the reason for her wearing the mask was because she wanted to show that everyone can and should be wearing one. Fans expressed on Twitter how Lady Gaga shows that wearing a mask is important for everyone’s safety.

“I thought her mask was really cool and unique,” said junior Evelyn Naves.  “The idea behind it was that people should be wearing masks at a time like this because it’s the bare minimum, so I stand by her message.” 

Another group that performed at the VMA’s was BTS. BTS is a South Korean K-pop idol group that hit the U.S. charts in late 2017 with their song “DNA.” They have collaborated with big named artists like Nicky Minaj, Halsey, Lil Nazi X, and many more since then. 

BTS performed their new single, “Dynamite,” which received 100 million views in just 24 hours, at the VMA’s. They took home the awards for best pop, best K-pop, best choreography, and best group. BTS’s performance was unlike the other performers because of its extravagantly eye-catching background.

BTS had a beautiful New York and South Korean skyline as their background during their performance. Many fans noticed that the background was a greenscreen and wondered why. There is speculation that in order to follow social distancing and to keep the idols safe, they stayed in Korea for the performance and used a green screen to make it seem like they were at the award show.

“Social distancing was very well applied in my opinion. I liked that the performers were in front of a green screen and not on a stage like BTS and Doja Cat’s performance,” expressed junior Kendal Smith.

The Weeknd had a unique idea for his performance at the VMA’s as well. His performance touched many hearts by bringing awareness to the social injustices that have been happening in today’s communities. 

According to NBC, “The Weeknd opened the show with a performance on a 1,000-feet-high deck overlooking Manhattan but said he was not in the mood for partying.” 

With the recent awareness being brought to the Black Lives Matter movement and police brutality, many artists are using their platform to bring light to these situations and put an end to this hate. The Weeknds’ performance at the VMAs gave him the opportunity to do so as well.

“‘It’s really hard for me to celebrate right now and enjoy this moment,” said Weeknd in an interview. “I’m just going to say, ‘Justice for Jacob Blake and justice for Breonna Taylor’” referencing the recent police shootings of Blake and Taylor.

Not only did the VMA’S promote social distancing, but they also allowed artists to express their views on the BLM movement throughout the award show. Exemplifying what should be done during this pandemic, the VMA’s provided an entertaining event for all the fans at home with a whopping 6.4 million views.

To find out the winners from that night, check out  https://www.mtv.com/vma