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The MTV Video Music Awards — the most unpredictable night in music returns tonight, August 28th at 9pm. There are so many memorable moments and fashion from the VMAs, including Beyonce‘s pregnancy announcement, Britney Spears‘ nude ensemble, Madonna rolling around on stage in a wedding dress, Prince‘s assless chaps, Lady Gaga‘s meat dress, and of course Kanye West stealing Taylor Swift‘s moment, saying “Single Ladies” was the greatest video of all time… Oh yeah, and Lil Mama crashing Jay Z and Alicia Keys “Empire State of Mind” performances and the meme’s that ensued.
We’ve compiled all you need to know about tonight’s show, including performances and presenters. Take a look below.
It will air on MTV and MTV.Com
The red carpet starts on MTV at 6:15 p.m. ET. The livestream picks up on mtv.com at 7 p.m. ET. The pre-show begins at 8 p.m. ET, the main show will air live from Madison Square Garden at 9 p.m. ET/PT and post-show at 11:30 p.m. ET for those masochists without a bedtime.
There is no host
At least no official host has been announced. The show has gone without an emcee before, and may again, though maybe Kanye will announce himself as the official ringleader.
Speaking of which, Kanye is getting some unfiltered air time
An MTV rep familiar with the situation but unauthorized to speak publicly about it confirmed to USA TODAY that the Pablo artist and VMA improv star will have four minutes of free time. Because that sounds like it’ll go well.
Britney is back for the first time in 10 years
In another VMA throwback, Britney Spears will take the stage and perform her new single Make Me… with G-Eazy. She had a good warmup with Carpool Karaoke this week so hopefully we’ll get more flashbacks to her boa constrictor glory and less of the Gimme More failed comeback. She’ll also be raffling off her outfit to raise funds for the flood victims in her home state, Louisiana.
Ariana Grande will be there, too
Along with Nicki Minaj performing Side to Side. Nick Jonas is also slated to perform Bacon featuring Ty Dolla $ign, as is Atlanta rapper, Future and producer duo The Chainsmokers.
Beyonce leads the pack of nominees
Queen Bey is up for 11 awards, including video of the year for Formation, along with Drake’s Hotline Bling, Justin Bieber’s Sorry, Kanye West’s Famous, and Adele’s Hello. See the full list here.
Rihanna will receive the Video Vanguard award
The This Is What You Came For singer has a few top notch videos under her belt, so this honor is no-brainer. But anytime we get to see Rih on stage is a win. See some of her best videos here.
Michael Phelps and the Final Five gymnasts will be presenters
Phelps and Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas, Laurie Hernandez and Madison Kocian will join Jimmy Fallon, Kim Kardashian, Alicia Keys and Puff Daddy as presenters.
Taylor Swift will be not there
There’ll be no re-enactments of the 2009 Kanye-Taylor episode that started it all. Swift isn’t up for awards, and will not likely make an appearance. Perhaps we’ll all get out of this one without any new never-ending celebrity beef? One can hope.
