Madonna to open VMAs with first live performance in 23 years

Madonna is set to open this year’s MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) with her first live performance at the ceremony in 23 years.

The pop icon last performed at the VMAs in 2003, when she shared the stage with Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera in one of the show’s most memorable moments.

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Madonna is also leading this year’s nominations with 11 nods following the release of her latest album “Confessions II”. She is ahead of Taylor Swift, who received nine nominations, while Ariana Grande and Sabrina Carpenter earned seven each.

With 19 career VMA wins, Madonna has previously led nominations twice — receiving nine nominations for “Vogue” in 1990 and another nine for “Ray of Light” and “Frozen” in 1998.

The singer is currently celebrating the success of “Confessions II”, a follow-up to her 2005 dance album “Confessions on a Dance Floor”. The album, her first in seven years, debuted at No 1 on the Billboard 200 chart with 134,000 equivalent album units and recorded her biggest streaming week to date.

The album’s success has also sparked speculation among fans that Madonna could become a major contender at next year’s Grammy Awards, particularly in the dance and electronic music categories.

This year’s VMAs will be held at the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles, marking the ceremony’s return to the West Coast after nine years. The last Los Angeles-based VMAs broadcast took place in 2017, hosted by Katy Perry.

Rapper Snoop Dogg will host this year’s ceremony, while additional performers, presenters and special guests will be announced in the coming days.

The VMAs will air live on September 27 at 4:30pm PT on CBS, with simultaneous broadcasts on MTV and streaming on Paramount+ in the United States. The show will be available internationally the following day on Paramount+ and MTV.