Sabrina Carpenter Rises From Manhole in MTV VMAs Performance Supporting Trans Rights
Sabrina Carpenter delivered a high-speed and ultra punchy performance of her single “Tears” at the MTV VMAs on Sunday night. Emerging from a manhole, Carpenter recreated the same shimmering look and feel of the song’s Colman Domingo-featuring music video as contestants from “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” including Lexi Love and Symone, joined her.
Carpenter slid across the stage with gusto, singing and dancing her way through the set, decorated to look like the same lit up streets seen in the video. Also in line with the video, she a diamond-encrusted bustier that also drew comparisons to Britney Spears’ much-referenced “Baby One More Time” performance.
The performance closed with the performs holding signs reading “Protect Trans Rights” and “Dolls Dolls Dolls!”
“Man’s Best Friend” — which arrived at the end of August, almost a year after the release of her Grammy-winning “Short n’ Sweet” — debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 on Sunday. Carpenter recorded the 12-song set in London, New York and Los Angeles alongside collaborators Jack Antonoff, John Ryan and Amy Allen.
Sabrina Carpenter was nominated in nine categories, including video of the year for her desert-style “Manchild” music video. She is also up for best pop artist, best pop, best album (for “Short n’ Sweet”), best direction, best cinematography, best visual effects, best editing and song of the summer (for “Manchild.” The VMAs are taking place at Long Island’s UBS Arena for the second year in a row.
Upon its release, her seventh studio album broke the record for the most-streamed album on Spotify in a single day by a female artist this year. It was preceded by the lead single “Manchild,” which marked Carpenter’s first debut atop the Billboard Hot 100 and her second No. 1 hit in the United States overall (after “Please Please Please”).
