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As previously discussed, the VMAs were held on Sunday in New York. Elmont, NY, that is. For those not familiar with the outer edges of NYC’s boroughs, Elmont sits right in the gray area of “Is it Queens or Long Island?” (Answer: originally Queens, then Long Island upon the formation of Nassau County in the late 19th/early 20th centuries.) For perspective, Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens — where one former son was being mercilessly booed at the US Open men’s final — is about halfway between Elmont and NYC. This is all relevant, I swear! Because Our Lady of Gaga was walking into the VMAs as 2025’s most-nominated artist with 12 nods, and she had a Mayhem Ball concert that night at Madison Square Garden. What’s a Gaga to do?! She came up with a nifty solution, imo, which is that she prerecorded live performances of “Abracadabra” and new tune “The Dead Dance” from her Saturday show at MSG, which was then played for the VMAs ceremony. But Mother Monster didn’t stop there! She still trekked out to Elmont for the beginning of the show, where she won Best Artist of the Year.
The 14-time Grammy winner, who is up for 12 VMAs Sunday night, taped her songs for the star-studded awards show during her Saturday, Sept. 6, show at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
Gaga, 39, pre-taped her theatrical production for the VMAs because she is performing at the Garden in Manhattan at the same time the awards show is taking place at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York.
Gaga did make an appearance at the awards show, however, to accept the Moon Person for Artist of the Year at the top of the show before heading back to Madison Square Garden to begin her show on a slight delay. She gave a passionate speech, describing her commitment to being an artist and dedicating her award to the audience.
“Being an artist is a discipline, a craft meant for reaching into someone’s heart, where it grows its roots, and reminding them to dream. Being an artist is a responsibility to make the audience smile, dance, cry, and release at any turn,” she said in part.
“It is a method of building understanding and celebrating community. I hope as you navigate through the mayhem of daily life, you are reminded of the importance of the art of your life, that you can count on yourself and your simple skills to keep you whole, your rehearsal, your discipline, your craft deserves to be rewarded for its passion. The way you move through your life is iconic and rare. It is entirely yours.”
Added Gaga: “I dedicate this award to the audience. You very much deserve a stage to shine on, and I give you all my applause. Thank you, little monsters, my fans, for always supporting me and always supporting the monster in me.”
“I wish I could stay and watch all these amazing performances, but I have to go back to Madison Square Garden.” Gaga concluded her speech.
As a resident of Queens myself (the part much closer to Manhattan), I feel qualified in declaring that it was bonkers to schlep out to Elmont the same evening she had a gig at MSG! Plus on the night of the US Open final, plus with the US-certified worst president in history in town messing up traffic by land and air! But I guess Gaga creates her own winning mojo, cause not only did she haul her platform heels out there for just the beginning of the show, she also won in that early category! How insanely lucky is that?! (Or something other than luck, I leave you to your deductions…)
Anyway, the speech was beautiful and heartfelt, and I can’t help it, I love that she had it printed on black paper to match the whole ensemble. Gaga ended up winning four awards in total: Artist of the Year, Best Collaboration for “Die With a Smile” with Bruno Mars, and Best Direction and Art Direction for her “Abracadabra” video. By the time she took the MSG stage, she had her new statuettes with her. OK, even if they were technically old ones it’s still a diva flex! And speaking of, Gaga also became the third most-awarded artist in VMA history on Sunday, officially surpassing Madonna. And more good news: when Gaga stepped out in NYC the next day the Labubu was GONE from her Hermès Kelly bag!
Photos credit: Getty, imageSPACE/MediaPunch/INSTARimages, Backgrid
