Throwback: Sabrina Carpenter’s VMA Pre-Show Performance, “Nonsense/Feather”

At the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards, Sabrina Carpenter is slated to play the main stage. After the kind of year she has had, is it any wonder she cinched such a gig? It’s one big step up from her slot at the 2023 VMAs, where she played the slightly less prestigious pre-show. Though her performance of two of her biggest hits at the time, “Nonsense” and “Feather,” was impressive enough, we can only imagine what she will do with a primetime placement.

While we wait to see what kind of magic Carpenter drums up at the 2024 VMAs, let’s take a look back at her pre-show performance, below.

[RELATED: The Best Sabrina Carpenter “Nonsense” Outros, From Clever to Cringey to Purely Unhinged]

Throwback: Sabrina Carpenter’s VMA Pre-Show Performance, “Nonsense/Feather”

If there is one thing Carpenter is becoming known for, it’s her powerful stage presence. She’s impossible to not watch when she’s underneath a spotlight, singing one of her many hits. After watching her pre-show performance at the VMAs, it’s no wonder she got an even bigger gig the following year.

It feels so good
Not carin’ where you are tonight
And it feels so good
Not pretendin’ to like the wine you like

Well, I slam the door, I hit ignore
I’m saying, “No, no, no, no more”
I got you blocked, excited to never talk, I
I’m so sorry for your loss

Carpenter starts off the performance with a black and white retro motif–something she is no stranger to. She boasted heavenly vocals while singing through the ultimate breakup anthem, “Feather.” Not only were her vocals pitch perfect, but her choreography and flirty persona were top tier as well. Can someone say triple threat?

Think I only want one number in my phone
I might change your contact to “Don’t Leave Me Alone”
You said you like my eyes, you like to make ’em roll
Treat me like a queen, now you got me feelin’ thrown, oh

I’ll be honest
Lookin’ at you got me thinkin’ nonsense
Cartwheels in my stomach when you walk in
And when you got your arms around me

As “Feather” came to a close, Carpenter transitioned into her playful hit “Nonsense.” The tongue-in-cheek track helped to put Carpenter on the map. Naturally, it deserved a moment at one of her biggest performances to date (at least at the time).

She switched up the pacing–and the color scheme–with this track. While “Feather” is a song about feeling relieved after the end of a relationship, “Nonsense” is about diving head first into infatuation. And, of course, Carpenter had to add in a suggestive, MTV-centric outro: He said that it’s bigger than a Moonman / Guess that means I’m holdin’ it with two hands / VMAs, I love you, I’m a huge fan.

Revisit the performance, below.

(Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images for MTV)