The MTV Video Music Awards are always a chance
for artists to push the limits, and the 2020
ceremony was no different.
While it was a little more tame than in past
years, due to being broadcast in accordance
with social-distancing protocol for COVID-19,
there were still some iconic moments.
One of those moments was most definitely Miley
Cyrus' performance of "Midnight Sky," which
she performed solo in front of a simple set.
But it was the simplicity, and a callback
to her "Wrecking Ball" days, that made Cyrus's
VMAs performance so epic and talked-about.
And Cyrus didn't come to play.
She arrived on the socially distanced red
carpet with a retro shaggy haircut and a bold
red lip, donning a sheer, rhinestoned Mugler
dress, according to Vogue.
It was a vibe that she would carry over into
the first live performance of "Midnight Sky"
later that night.
Cyrus has been a staple at the MTV VMAs since
she was first nominated for Best New Artist
in 2008.
Despite being nominated for Best Pop Video
and Song of the Summer, among other awards,
for "We Can't Stop" in 2013, she hasn't actually
won at the award show too many times.
Her first win ever at the VMAs was when "Wrecking
Ball" won for Video of the Year in 2014, and
she definitely didn't forget that when she
was planning her performance of "Midnight
Sky."
This year, that single was nominated for Song
of the Summer, and another single, "Mother's
Daughter", which was also nominated for Song
of the Summer last year, took home the award
for Best Editing and Best Art Direction.
Cyrus also hosted the show in 2015 and has
performed at the VMAs five times.
Last year, she debuted her single "Slide Away"
at the show, just after her split from her
ex-husband, Liam Hemsworth.
But Cyrus' performance of the song "Midnight
Sky," which she released in mid-August 2020
after announcing her breakup from Cody Simpson,
will certainly be one that everyone remembers.
Cyrus opened the performance singing in a
slinky dress and stilettos in the dark, with
lights changing behind her.
There really wasn't that much to it, but with
her vocals, it was hard not to be captivated
by the pared-down performance.
Of course, "pared-down" doesn't usually last
all that long for Cyrus.
At the end of the performance, she ripped
off her skirt to reveal a bikini bottom and
hopped on a massive sparkly disco ball to
finish out the song, a nod to her iconic music
video for "Wrecking Ball" in which she rides
a wrecking ball wearing, well, nothing.
People loved the performance on Twitter.
One fan wrote that she "absolutely killed"
her performance, while another tweeted,
"STOP SLEEPING ON MILEY CYRUS!
SHE'S AN ICON!"
That pretty much sums up the majority of the
reactions to Cyrus' VMAs performance on social
media.
If there's one word to describe Cyrus' 2020
MTV VMAs performance and her new, punk-rock-y
mullet look, it's fierce.
Which seems to be the vibe Cyrus is going
for these days.
In mid-August 2020, she told SiriusXM's The
Morning Mash-Up that "Midnight Sky" is all
about finding personal independence.
She explained,
"I think we're kind of set up for devastation,
in that, from the time we're little kids,
we're taught to claim other humans as our
best friends forever.
And you just don't know who you're going to
be sitting with here right now.
You never know who you're going to evolve
to be and who they're going to evolve to be.
So I think that we, especially as women in
relationships, a lot of the time we can get
villainized when 'forever' doesn't happen."
"I had to unlearn my relationship to the word
'forever.'
I try to avoid it."
Cyrus self-directed the actual music video
for "Midnight Sky," the first single off her
next album, She Is Miley Cyrus, which has
no release date yet, according to People magazine.
If the song is about personal independence,
the powerful VMAs performance of "Midnight
Sky," and its callback to her hit video "Wrecking
Ball," are right in line with that.
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