Ariana Grande turned the VMAs stage into her own personal spin class when she and Nicki Minaj performed their new single āSide To Sideā on Sunday night (28 August).
The two stars delivered one of the biggest performances of the night when they hit the stage, with Ariana kicking things off by singing the first half of the track while riding on an exercise bike.
Yes, the āProblemā singer proved her worth alongside the other hard-hitters at the VMAs when she delivered unfaltering live vocals (no shade, Britney, honestā¦) while still managing to keep up with her backing dancers while doing some pretty demanding exercise bike-based choreography.
After hopping off the bike, Ariana then sidled up to some weight-lifting male dancers in wrestling singlets (the thought of which probably kept her going during the more difficult elements of the performance), before Nicki joined her on stage to perform her rap.
It was camp, it was fun and it was seriously impressive to see Ariana hitting those high notes while doing a task we can usually barely speak during, let alone sing.
āSide To Sideā is the third single to be taken from Arianaās chart-topping album āDangerous Womanā, following the release of the title track and the 10/10-how-did-this-miss-the-top-40-what-is-the-matter-with-everyone āInto Youā.
Ariana and Nicki werenāt the only stars to take to the stage, though, with BeyoncĆ© delivering a masterclass in how to be a popstar with her 16-minute mash-up of āLemonadeā songs.
Rihanna celebrated her Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award victory with a string of short medleys spread out over the course of the evening, while Britney Spears made her much-awaited return to the VMAs almost a decade after her last performance.
