From Mariah Carey's bluff to Sabrina Carpenter's beef to Trump: the best moments of the MTV VMAS

There are no more controversial snogging, no more sabotaged acceptance speeches, no more drunk award winners showing up to collect their awards. But the MTV VMAs still have plenty of excitement beyond the winners' lists, and this year they haven't missed their viral milestone.

One of the most talked-about things has been Mariah Carey's seemingly poor form, whose performance was far below expectations. The New York artist took home the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award and, in addition to criticizing MTV for taking so long to give her an award during her speech, she was unfortunate in the medley of greatest hits she displayed on stage: "It left a lot to be desired, with some very stiff dance moves. Carey, although undoubtedly an icon, has had better nights," summarizes Page Six.

With Lady Gaga, it was the complete opposite. In addition to moving with her heartfelt acceptance speech for Entertainer of the Year, she absolutely blew everyone away with a performance that, despite being recorded, left everyone speechless. It couldn't be performed live because the artist had to rush out of the show to perform at Madison Square Garden, but "she gave it her all again in her fourth VMA performance," reports Cosmopolitan, adding: "Are we surprised? She's been a game-changer for many artists since her debut in 2008, and her iconic VMA performances have raised the bar for iconography."

Also very moving was the tribute to the fallen Prince of Darkness of the music industry, Ozzy Osbourne . Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Yungblud and Nuno Bettencourt performed the greatest hits of the late king of heavy metal, although this time paying tribute to his solo career, since only one of the songs, 'Changes', belonged to Black Sabbath, and the other two, 'Crazy Train' and 'Mama, I'm Coming Home', were from his later career. At the end of the tribute to the singer who died on July 22 at the age of 76, just three weeks after his farewell concert, the musicians shouted: "Ozzy Osbourne forever!"

The pace of the gala slowed down dramatically with the appearance of K-pop star Rosé , a member of Black Pink who won Song of the Year for "APT," a collaboration with Bruno Mars. Standing alone on stage, the K-pop superstar literally thanked everyone she's met in her young life, making the wait for the party to continue endless.

Busta Rhymes , who had lost 16 times at the VMAs before accepting the Rock the Bells Visionary Award on Sunday, was bolder. He took a swipe at MTV for it, like Ariah Carey, but with more grace: “I don’t usually give long speeches; I’m not going to do that today either,” he said while accepting the award. “But the next time it takes you 35 years to give me one of these, you’ll let me talk all I want.”

But the one who took the cake for the most controversial performance was Sabrina Carpenter , currently the number one seller in the United States with her new album 'Man's Best Friend'. She is not a close friend of Donald Trump, as she sang her new song 'Tears' surrounded by drag queens holding signs that read, among other things, 'Dolls Dolls Dolls' and 'In Trans We Trust'. This was a show of support for the trans community at a time when the Trump administration is intensifying its attacks against it.

Lexi Love and Symone were part of a group dancing onstage alongside costumed police officers and even an exhibitionist in a scene set in 1980s New York. As Carpenter sang her cheeky ode to “responsible” men (“a little respect for women can take you a long, long way”), background dancers held signs reading “Support your local drag queens,” “Protect trans rights,” and “If you hate, you’ll never get laid.”

The Quakertown, Pennsylvania, singer, who also paid a veiled tribute to Britney Spears during her performance, later won Best Album for "Short n' Sweet." "I don't take it for granted that you spend time listening to an album," the pop singer said in her acceptance speech. "I'm the luckiest girl in the world."