Sabrina Carpenter channels Britney, Madonna, Marilyn in VMAs performance

Sabrina Carpenter brought her blond ambition to the stage at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards. Performing a medley of her hits “Taste,” “Espresso,” and “Please, Please, Please,” Carpenter channeled VMA queens Britney Spears and Madonna, with a healthy dose of Marilyn Monroe thrown in for good measure.

Before she even entered the UBS Arena, Carpenter was feeling her archival oats, wearing Madonna’s vintage Bob Mackie gown from the 1991 Oscars. And then with her ex Shawn Mendes and his new/old girlfriend Camila Cabello in the audience, Carpenter had the last laugh.

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Carpenter started her performance by descending from the ceiling on a swing while singing “Please, Please, Please.” The Short n’ Sweet songstress was then joined by an astronaut and used the opportunity to reference Spears’ “Oops! I Did It Again” with her Titanic-referencing bit as the intro to “Taste.”

For those of you unfamiliar with history, in the 2000 video, Spears falls in love with an astronaut, who gifts her, for whatever reason, the Heart of the Ocean necklace that she thought “the old lady dropped it into the ocean at the end” of TItanic. The astronaut informs her that he went and got it for her and Brit responds, “Aww, you shouldn’t have.”

And that’s where Carpenter kicks off the Mendes/Cabillo baiting “Taste.” Layers, people!

The lone astronaut gave way to an army of moon men and their intricate choreography, with Carpenter ending the performance in an homage to Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (or Madonna’s “Material Girl,” depending who you ask and their birthdate).

Oh, and she also made out with an alien.

The singer and actress was up for six VMAs including Artist of the Year and won big with Song of the Year for “Espresso.” Check out her performance below: