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MUSIC

Olivia Rodrigo Puts on a Memorable Performance of ‘Vampire’ and New Song ‘Get Him Back!’ at This Year’s VMAs

Olivia Rodrigo returned to the MTV Video Music Award stage after two years with a showstopping performance; literally, a stagehand directed her off the stage mid-song.
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Olivia Rodrigo returned to the MTV Video Music Award stage after two years with a showstopping performance. Literally, a stagehand directed her off the stage mid-song.

Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for MTV

Following Lil Wayne’s opening performance, the camera pans to Rodrigo, who swapped her signature lavender for a red two-piece and sitting in a garden similar to the one in the “Vampire” music video. Of course, Rodrigo starts her performance with “Vampire,” the first single off of her sophomore album GUTS.

During her performance, the pyrotech (fireworks) behind her goes off to the explosive beat of the song, and Rodrigo has a worried look on her face. Immediately after, set pieces came crashing down, including the branches, curtains, and lights.

Olivia Rodrigo Puts on a Memorable Performance of 'Vampire' and New Song ‘Get Him Back’ at This Year’s VMAs
Theo Wargo/Getty Images for MTV

The stage manager rushed her off, and the audience looked startled and confused at this point.

A subtle medley of “traitor” and “good 4 u” plays in the background while a curtain, reminiscent of her SOUR tour backdrop, falls, and about a dozen Rodrigo look-alikes dressed in pink popped up on the stage like the M3GAN press interactions. They line up soul train style, and Rodrigo comes down the middle, in the same outfit, and starts to sing one of the most beloved songs off of GUTS, “get him back!”

For the next two minutes, Rodrigo sang about what nearly every person has experienced at least once: wanting to get revenge on a former lover, but when she does it, it comes across as fun and playful, all the makings of a hit.

Throughout the entire performance, we can clearly hear the crowd singing along to every word, and it’s pretty impressive for a song that just came out a few days ago.

The singer is up for five awards tonight, including Pop Video, Song of the Summer, Song of the Year, Cinematography, and Editing. While she hasn’t claimed any yet, the night is still young.

Check out Olivia Rodrigo’s 2023 VMA performance below.