It was weird. It was loud. It was unapologetically "Katy." On September 11, 2024, at the UBS Arena in New York, the world watched as a 39-year-old woman defied gravity while suspended in a metallic web. This wasn't just another awards show slot. This was the Video Vanguard Award ceremony, and the Katy Perry VMA performance was designed to be a definitive statement for an artist who has often felt like she was fighting for her seat at the table in the 2020s.
Honestly, the stakes couldn't have been higher. Perry had been weathering a pretty intense "hate train" following the release of her single Woman's World. The internet was being its usual brutal self. People were questioning if she still had that "it" factor that dominated the 2010s. Then, she showed up on the red carpet with a giant QR code on her back and a shredded aesthetic that felt like a dystopian butterfly emerging from a cocoon.
The Medley That Left No Room for Haters
When the lights dimmed, she didn't just walk out. She flew. Suspended in mid-air, Perry kicked things off with "Dark Horse" and "E.T." before diving into a ten-minute sprint through her catalog. Most performers play it safe during medleys. They lean on the backing track. But Katy seemed intent on proving she could still handle the stamina.
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The setlist was a calculated mix of "look what I built" and "look where I'm going." We got the classics—"California Gurls," "Teenage Dream," "I Kissed a Girl"—but we also got the live debut of "I'm His, He's Mine" featuring Doechii. The chemistry there was electric. They were literally writhing on stage to a beat that sampled Crystal Waters’ "Gypsy Woman," and for a second, the UBS Arena felt less like a corporate venue and more like an underground club.
Then there was the "Firework" moment.
Usually, this song is all about the pyrotechnics. This time, she stripped it back to minimal piano chords. It was raw. It felt like she was reclaiming the song’s original message of self-empowerment, which—let’s be real—she probably needed to hear herself after the summer she’d had.
A Period Piece (Literally)
In one of the most "human" moments in VMA history, Katy dropped a bombshell during her acceptance speech. After being introduced by her fiancé, Orlando Bloom, she looked at the crowd and basically said, "I did that all on the first day of my period."
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You could almost hear every woman in the audience exhale. It was a classic Perry move—mixing high-glamour, high-concept art with a "too much information" vibe that makes her feel like your slightly chaotic best friend. She wasn't just a pop star; she was a person dealing with cramps while being spun around in a harness.
Behind the Tech: Drones and Butterflies
If you were watching on TV, the visuals looked like a fever dream. That wasn't just movie magic. The production team used Disguise GX3 and VX4+ media servers to power 21 active feeds across the arena. The stage centered around an 18-meter-tall Moonperson that looked like it was reaching for a floating moon.
Many viewers thought the butterflies floating around her during "Lifetimes" were CGI added for the broadcast. They weren't. They were actual physical drones designed to look like robotic insects. It was a massive technical risk. One glitch and a drone hits a dancer or gets tangled in her harness. But the team (which included Silent House and The Squared Division) pulled it off without a hitch.
What Most People Get Wrong About the 143 Era
There’s a common narrative that the Katy Perry VMA performance was just a desperate attempt to save her album, 143. That's a bit of a surface-level take. If you look at the career trajectory, this performance was her becoming the first artist to both host the VMAs and receive both major marquee awards (Video of the Year and the Vanguard).
She talked a lot about "MySpace days" and the "Warped Tour." She was reminding us that her foundation isn't built on TikTok trends; it's built on 20 years of grinding. She mentioned her team has been with her for two decades. That kind of loyalty is unheard of in pop music.
- The Setlist: * Dark Horse / E.T.
- I'm His, He's Mine (with Doechii)
- California Gurls / Teenage Dream / I Kissed a Girl
- Firework (Piano version)
- Lifetimes
Why This Performance Actually Matters Now
Looking back, the performance served as a bridge. It bridged the "Imperial Phase" Katy of the 2010s with the "Legacy Act" Katy of the 2020s. She didn't shy away from the "weirdness" that made her famous. She embraced it.
She also took a moment to get serious about mental health. She encouraged younger artists to disconnect from the social media noise. Coming from someone who was arguably the biggest target of that noise in 2024, it carried weight. She wasn't lecturing; she was surviving.
The Orlando Bloom Factor
We have to talk about the introduction. Orlando Bloom didn't just give a generic "she's great" speech. He called her by her real name, Katheryn Hudson. He talked about her as a mother to their daughter, Daisy Dove. It grounded the spectacle. Seeing him standing there, holding her Moonperson while she breathed through the exhaustion of a ten-minute cardio set, was a reminder that the "Katy Perry" we see is a performance, but the woman doing the work is very real.
Final Practical Takeaways
If you're a fan—or even a critic—there are a few things to take away from that night. First, the technical execution of the Katy Perry VMA performance is now the gold standard for how to use AR and drone technology in a live setting. Second, legacy matters. You can't erase a decade of Diamond-certified hits with a few bad weeks of PR.
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If you want to understand the current state of pop music, go back and watch the transition from her "Dark Horse" harness work into the Doechii collab. It shows an artist who is no longer chasing the #1 spot but is instead focused on protecting her "inner joy," as she put it on Call Her Daddy.
The best way to appreciate this era of her career is to look past the headlines and watch the craftsmanship. You can find the full 4K version of the Vanguard medley on YouTube—pay close attention to the microphone design and the drone patterns during "Lifetimes." It's a masterclass in high-budget stage production that most new artists simply don't have the resources (or the stamina) to pull off yet.