All Taylor, all the time

As Variety sleuthed out, MTV strategically placed a cameraperson whose sole job was to keep focused on Taylor Swift all night long. Swift, a one-woman meme machine at the VMAs (and pretty much everywhere she goes), dominated the night and her priceless reactions were one of the highlights from a very long telecast.

Meanwhile, People chronicled Taylor's full night in photos, for your scanning pleasure.

Songs in the 50th anniversary of hip-hop tribute

• Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five — "The Message"

• Doug E Fresh and Slick Rick — "The Show"

• Nicki Minaj — "Itty Bitty Piggy"

• Nicki Minaj — "Red Ruby Da Sleeze"

• Lil Wayne — "A Milli"

• LL Cool J — "I'm Bad"

• LL Cool J — "Mama Said Knock You Out"

• D.M.C. — "Rock Box"

• D.M.C. — "Walk This Way"

Fall Out Boy performs updated 'We Didn't Start the Fire'

The band took the VMAs stage for the first time since 2007 to perform a remake of the song that picks up where Billy Joel left off in 1989.

Fall Out Boy’s “We Didn't Start the Fire” remakes Joel’s boomer-centric song with millennial/Gen Z-targeted lyrics about notable pop-culture events that took place between 1989 and 2023. Just as Joel’s original dramatically mentioned arguably the defining tragic news story of his generation, the assassination of JFK, FOB’s sequel of sorts ends with “World Trade, second plane” — a reference to their generation’s biggest front-page-news tragedy, 9/11.

FOB’s version covers other heavy news (the Rodney King L.A. riots, the Oklahoma City and Boston Marathon bombings, Columbine, Sandy Hook, George Floyd, Brexit, Trump), as well as various music scandals (Woodstock ’99, Kanye vs. Taylor, Fyre Fest) and random tabloid headline-makers (John Bobbitt, Balloon Boy, Meghan Markle, Tiger King). There are even a couple of nods to FOB’s pop/punk peers: My Chemical Romance’s The Black Parade and Blink-182 singer “Tom DeLonge and aliens.”

Read more from Yahoo Entertainment's Lyndsey Parker on the remake.

Justin Timberlake and Megan Thee Stallion out of sync? Not so fast...

Midway through the show a backstage video caught fire. The clip showed Megan Thee Stallion appearing to jab a finger in the direction of NSync as they passed by, prompting Justin Timberlake to smile, lean in and utter something. Joey Fatone also makes a remark. As the clip went viral, outlets began speculating that we were witnessing the birth of a beef, with Entertainment Weekly labeling it "a tense exchange."

But looks can be deceiving. "Insiders" were quickly dispatched to quash rumors of bad blood. There was "zero fight" an unidentified minion told Variety, saying they were just goofing around. "It was very cute!" Another unnamed source elaborated to People: “[Justin] said, ‘It’s so nice to meet you,’ and [Megan] said, ‘No, no, this don’t count, this don’t count. We gotta meet proper.’”

In other words, nothing to see here.

Shakira shakes it up with stunning performance before accepting Video Vanguard Award

Shakira not only showed that her hips don’t lie, but that they also haven't lost a beat in her performance on the VMAs stage. Wyclef Jean, who featured on “Hips Don’t Lie,” gave her a rave introduction, listing off some of her accomplishments before she appeared onstage.

The artist, given roughly 10 minutes to perform as a recipient of this year’s Video Vanguard Award appeared on stage in a nude-colored dress and immediately started to shake.

Wyclef did not reappear onstage during her “Hips Don’t Lie” performance, but she was joined throughout the show by plenty of dancers as she sang her hits, including "She Wolf" and "La Tortura." She was also joined by drummers and then two guitarists, throwing a guitar over her neck and playing as well.

She wrapped up the bilingual show in the middle of the audience on a tower overlooking the crowd.

Shakira performs. (Photo: Getty Images)

Diddy welcomes son onstage

Diddy welcomed his son, Christian Combs, aka King Combs, onstage during his performance of "Bad Boys For Life."

King Combs and Diddy at the VMAs. (Photo: Getty Images)

The reunited NSync presented an award to “the unstoppable Taylor Swift”… but they never really got started

Taylor Swift greeting NSync. (Photo: Getty Images)

The last time all five members of NSync shared a stage together was exactly a decade ago, at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, during a blink-and-you-missed-it medley of “Girlfriend” and “Bye Bye Bye” celebrating Justin Timberlake’s Video Vanguard Award. The much-hyped “surprise” moment had Taylor Swift fangirling in the audience, but it was so brief – only two disappointing minutes.

Flash-forward to tonight's 2023 VMAs. Amid sightings of all five members in New York, fans grew hopeful for a new VMAs reunion.

Alas, NSync did not perform at Tuesday’s VMAs. They only presented. And their appearance came shockingly early in the night. as they announced first on-air category, Best Pop Video. The award went to the woman Timberlake called “the unstoppable Taylor Swift.”

“I am not doing well,” Swift breathlessly confessed. “I had the [NSync] dolls!”

For more on NSync's VMAs reunion, including a backstage photo, check out Lyndsey Parker's full report.

Look who's back! Diddy, Shakira, Lil Wayne, Fall Out Boy return to perform

The hype is real for the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards and a big part of it is because nostalgia will be in the building. The VMAs, known for birthed legendary moments, is looking to launch some memes with this year's slate of performers, which includes several icons returning to the stage: namely Diddy, Shakira, Lil Wayne and Fall Out Boy.

Each of those artists is performing for the first time on the VMA stage in more than a decade, with Lil Wayne kicking off the broadcast.

Lil Wayne opens the 2023 MTV VMAs. (Photo: Getty Images)

Read more from Yahoo Entertainment's Garin Flowers about what happened the last time Diddy, Shakira, Lil Wayne and Fall Out Boy. graced the stage, respectively.

Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion heat up room with "Bongos" performance​

The sky was the limit for Cardi B, descending from the ceiling on top of an iced-out, ball-shaped chandelier to perform her new single “Bongos.”

She wore a blue dress as she danced amongst shirtless men playing drums and background dancers.

Cardi B performs "Bongos." (Photo: Getty Images)

Then Megan Thee Stallion, who is featured on the track, popped on stage in a blue and green outfit to rap an energetic verse. Both performers stood side by side twerking and delivering their verses. Cardi’s hubby, Offset, cheered gleefully after the performance, while Taylor Swift was seen fanning herself off.