A backstage fight and 'drunk Taylor': Mamamia recaps the 2023 MTV VMAs.

I'm endlessly thankful to MTV.

Where else would Doja Cat, who came dressed in nothing but a cobweb, summon demons on stage, while Megan Thee Stallion and, uh, *NSYNC get into a tussle backstage?

No one does chaotic like the VMAs.

(Although, next year, if they could wrap the chaos up in the allotted time RATHER THAN THE FOUR HOURS IT TOOK TODAY, THAT'D BE GREAT.)

This year, there was madness AND a whole heap of confusion – as they didn't even announce a slew of big awards???

Here are the biggest/funnest/most absurd moments from the 2023 VMAs.

Read more: Just every single look from the 2023 VMAs red carpet.

Give it up for these red-carpet icons.

No, I do not know who Fresh X Reckless are.

But I *do* know that I greatly enjoyed their time in front of the red-carpet cameras.

Image: Getty.

Image: Getty.

11/10, thank you for your service. Don't even question the chicken and the... feet.

There were, of course, plenty of looks that could only ever fit the dress code that is 'MTV Video Music Awards'.

Like, uh, an outfit giving 'metal fence at the Baseball' and... literal devil.

Imagine the pain of sitting down. Photo: Getty.

It was 29 degrees in Jersey today! I hope this man has deodorant in one of his many pockets! Image: Getty.

Hello to... N.J. Devil, whose presence remains a mystery. Image: Getty.

Olivia Rodrigo, and 30 other Olivia Rodrigos, perform.

Young popstar of the moment Olivia Rodrigo performed 'Vampire' and 'Get Him Back' off her new album Guts, and it was mildly terrifying on account of the many look-a-likes.

The song is all about taking a dude back so you can ruin his life a little.

So like... good luck to him.

olivia and her 150 clones going to get that man back i guess pic.twitter.com/Aq6zjR8LX6

— ro (@lacyvinyl) September 13, 2023

GET HIM GIRL(S).

Taylor Swift fangirling over *NSYNC.

Girl, SAME.

*NSYNC reunited on stage – like, all five of them! Chris Kirkpatrick, JC Chasez, Justin Timberlake, Lance Bass AND Joey Fatone! – to present Best Pop to Taylor Swift.

And for the less tragically Swifties who missed it, the Swift x NSYNC lore goes deep. Her ultimate celeb crush (Justin Timberlake) even surprised her on The Ellen DeGeneres Show early in her career.

Taylor Swift reacting to NSYNC reuniting at the #VMAs is all of us. pic.twitter.com/HoK7MksnCi

— E! News (@enews) September 13, 2023

While accepting the award, she let her fangirl run wild.

"I had your dolls," she said to them. "Are you doing something? What's gonna happen now? They're going to do something and I need to know what it is!

"You guys are pop personified so to receive this from your golden pop hands, it's too much."

She then freaked out AGAIN over Timbaland and Nelly Furtado presenting her with Song of the Year for 'Anti-Hero'.

"I'm very millennial triggered," she joked.

@mamamiaaus VMAs then and now 🫶 #mtvvmas #vmas #thenandnow #taylorswift #nsync #selenagomez ♬ original sound - Mamamia

Footage of Megan Thee Stallion yelling at *NSYNC emerged.

This quickly became the night's greatest mystery!!! And truly the last feud we ever would have predicted.

Following Megan Thee Stallion and Cardi B's performance of their new single 'Bongos', footage of Megan yelling at *NSYNC as they walked past her emerged.

Footage going viral of Megan Thee Stallion and Justin Timberlake backstage at the #VMAs. pic.twitter.com/1vvKKSrlRV

— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) September 13, 2023

Soon after, a source told Variety that it wasn't anything bad – it was just Megan insisting that she meet *NSYNC ~properly~ at some point.

'[Timberlake] said, 'It's so nice to meet you,' and she said, 'No, no this don't count, this don't count. We gotta meet proper.'"

Professor Doja Cat and her demon students.

Doja performed a medley of singles from her upcoming album Scarlet, which is being released later this month.

She began with 'Attention', then transitioned to 'Paint the Town Red' and finally into 'Demons', which – pun intended – SLAYED.

Doja Cat performs “Attention,” “Paint the Town Red,” & “Demons,” at the 2023 MTV #VMAs
pic.twitter.com/rigvSkzesb

— Rap Alert (@rapalert6) September 13, 2023

No seriously, is this a cult thing? I'm feeling vulnerable.

Shakira receives the Video Vanguard Award.

The Video Vanguard Award is essentially the VMAs' lifetime achievement award, and this year's recipient was Shakira.

To celebrate, she performed a medley of her hits and when I tell you it was BANGER after BANGER.

Shakira opens her #VMA performance with “She Wolf.” https://t.co/DSFZnpplMT

— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) September 13, 2023

When she went 'Whenever, Wherever' into 'Hips Don't Lie'? Lives were changed.

Shakira was presented her award by Wyclef Jean, of 'Hips Don't Lie' fame of course, and thanked MTV.

"Thank you, MTV, for being part of my career since I was 18 years old," she said. She also thanked her creative partners who helped bring her (iconic) music videos to life and her kids, who were her dates to the show.

It was the perfect choice for a night that really celebrated the achievements of Latin artists, including Anitta, and Karol G.

Yes, there WERE lots of Taylor Swift dancing clips, actually.

It's not an awards show without the cameras planted firmly on Swift, drink in hand, living her best life in the crowd.

How important is Taylor Swift to the #VMAs? There is a camera operator tasked with filming her continuously during the live performances onstage. pic.twitter.com/ukSvGhqsUd

— Ramin Setoodeh (@RaminSetoodeh) September 13, 2023

Taylor Swift living her best life at the #VMAs dancing to Shakira. https://t.co/XLhrIqiHvZ

— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) September 13, 2023

taylor dancing at the award shows is my favorite genrepic.twitter.com/4CHfokk4wn

— iya ★ (@hotmessjunk) September 13, 2023

📹 | Taylor Swift and Ice Spice dancing during Demi Lovato’s performance #VMA pic.twitter.com/ufZ3QxjVtI

— Taylor Swift News 🩵 (@TSwiftNZ) September 13, 2023

Taylor Swift dancing along to Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s #VMAs performance of ‘Bongos’.

pic.twitter.com/1zBOZaZ1h7

— Pop Base (@PopBase) September 13, 2023

🎥| Taylor singing and dancing along to Doja Cat’s performance of Paint The Town Red at the #VMAs! pic.twitter.com/SvgMbCSIgR

— Taylor Swift Updates 🩵 (@swifferupdates) September 13, 2023

As the night went on, Swift became increasingly chaotic in the best way, taking over her seat buddy Ice Spice's phone and just being an uninhibited icon.

📲| @TaylorSwift13 took over Ice Spice's phone pic.twitter.com/5QgTmQ5gyE

— The Swift Society (@TheSwiftSociety) September 13, 2023

🎥| @TaylorSwift13 struggling to get out her drink pic.twitter.com/o8eNGLgu7o

— The Swift Society (@TheSwiftSociety) September 13, 2023

Say thank you to the bartender.

Selena Gomez's reaction to Chris Brown's nomination.

Chris Brown was nominated for Best R&B (he lost to SZA), and as his name was called as part of the nominees list, Selena Gomez screwed her face up.

Because this is an awards show and she is *very* famous, cameras caught it and the footage went next-level viral.

Selena Gomez reacting to Chris Brown being nominated at the #VMAs. pic.twitter.com/ngx4Ep8aD5

— Pop Base (@PopBase) September 13, 2023

Considering Brown's history, we love this for her.

Celebrating 50 years of hip-hop.

It was a HUGE night for hip-hop, with five decades of the genre honoured throughout the show.

Diddy was honoured with this year's Global Icon award and performed a medley including 'I'll Be Missing You' and 'Bad Boy For Life'.

Image: Getty.

Mary J. Blige and one of his daughters, Chance, then introduced Diddy to receive his award.

"This is a dream come true," he said. "I grew up watching MTV like 'Man I wish I could be up there.'"

Host Nicki Minaj won Best Hip-Hop.

"I had this really strong sense of gratitude, that's the truth," she said during her acceptance speech. 

"I thank you guys, the people who go out and support, the people who never skip a beat on the internet, the people at the tour. I want to thank you guys and MTV, thank you for showcasing rap and showing me love."

Finally, there was an incredible 50 years of hip-hop celebration medley, featuring DMC, Doug E. Fresh, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Lil Wayne, LL Cool J and Nicki Minaj.

OH RED RUBY pic.twitter.com/4eqbmvTtnH

— ryan (@ryryscientist) September 13, 2023

Fall Out Boy's shoulders.

Image: Getty.

THEY ARE RIDICULOUS AND I LOVE THEM.

THAT IS ALL.

And the night's biggest winner was...

No seriously.

Who could it be?

Take a guess.

Image: Getty.

It's her, hi.

Tay won Best Pop, Song of the Year, Best Direction and the biggest award of the night, Video of the Year for 'Anti-Hero', during the ceremony.

She is the first person in history to win Video Of The Year four times.

"I just want to say the fact that this is a fan-voted award means so much to me, based on the memories that we've made recently... it's really felt like the adventure this past year," she said.

They just... didn't announce Artist of the Year.

The show came to a rather abrupt end, leaving multiple categories, including Artist of the Year, Best Group and Album of the Year, unannounced.

Artist of the Year was meant to be ESPECIALLY exciting this year as it was the first time the category featured all women nominees. So that is pretty disappointing.

MTV announced a bunch of them after the show ended:

• Song of Summer Winner: Jung Kook ft. Latto – "Seven"
• Group of the Year Winner: BLACKPINK
• Show of the Summer Winner: Taylor Swift 
• Album of the Year: Taylor Swift
• Artist of the Year: Taylor Swift

Nicki Minaj also teased a big surprise a few times, which eventuated to... a new song being dropped on YouTube, without her having time to mention in during the show.

I take back what I said in the beginning about giving thanks to MTV because WHAT THE HECK?!

Chaos reigns supreme once again.

See you – and hopefully a full list of winners??? – next year.

Feature image: Getty/MTV.