Sabrina Carpenter Makes Out With an Alien in a High-Speed, Hit-Heavy Medley Performance at the MTV VMAs
Sabrina Carpenter delivered a cheeky medley of her chart-topping hits — “Please Please Please,” “Taste” and Espresso” or No. s 3, 4 and 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively — at the 2024 MTV VMAs on Tuesday.
Cyndi Lauper introduced Carpenter, lauding the singer as a “wonderful songwriter,” and ended her speech by inciting the crowd to “get ready to hear the entire place say ‘motherfucker!'” Carpenter then launched into her on-stage VMAs debut — aptly starting with “Please Please Please” atop a glitter-covered silver swing that hovered over the audience standing in the pit.
More from Variety
After delivering the infamous line, Carpenter then landed on the catwalk and segued into “Taste,” even recreating the makeout scene from the song’s accompanying music video with actors Jenna Ortega and Rohan Campbell — though, she did replace them with an alien and an astronaut.
Carpenter is nominated for seven awards at this year’s show, including artist of the year and song of the year for “Espresso.” Her other nominations are for best pop, best direction for “Please, Please, Please” and best editing for “Espresso.”
Shortly after attending the VMAs, Carpenter will set off on her “Short n’ Sweet” tour, which starts Sept. 23 in Columbus, Ohio. The tour will visit 33 arenas in the U.S. including Madison Square Garden in New York and Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena before taking off for the U.K. in 2025.
In a recent Variety interview, Carpenter described her “Short n’ Sweet” album as “the hot older sister” of her fifth studio album “Emails I Can’t Send,” adding, “It’s my second ‘big girl’ album; it’s a companion but it’s not the same. When it comes to having full creative control and being a full-fledged adult, I would consider this a sophomore album.”
In June, Carpenter made Hot 100 History when “Please, Please, Please” and “Espresso,” debuted at No. 2 and No. 3 respectively. That would be the first instance in the 66-year-old history of the Billboard chart where a solo act had two simultaneous top 100 hits.
Best of Variety
Sign up for Variety's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
