See Taylor Swift's Mesmerizing MTV VMAs Performance of 'Lover' and 'You Need to Calm Down'

From ELLE

Taylor Swift just opened the MTV VMAs with a bang tonight. The singer gave her first live performance since her album Lover's release on Friday. She chose to sing "You Need to Calm Down" and then a more mellow "Lover." The stage was full of color as she opened the show.

Swift gave a passionate, heartfelt performance of both songs. Her friends Gigi Hadid and Camila Cabello were super into it.

Fans captured video of it straight after:

Swift is up for 10 awards tonight. She has nominations for Video of the Year ("You Need to Calm Down"), Song of the Year ("You Need to Calm Down"), Best Collaboration ("ME!" featuring Brandon Urie), Best Pop Song ("You Need to Calm Down"), Best Video for Good ("You Need to Calm Down"), Best Direction ("You Need to Calm Down"), Best Visual Effects ("ME!"), Best Editing ("You Need to Calm Down"), Best Art Direction ("You Need to Calm Down"), and Best Cinematography ("You Need to Calm Down").

Swift was last at the MTV VMAs in 2015, her peak 1989 squad days. The singer spoke to The Guardian this weekend about how she feels, public image-wise, she can't really win. “I’m kinda used to being gaslit by now," she started. "And I think it happens to women so often that, as we get older and see how the world works, we’re able to see through what is gaslighting. So I’m able to look at 1989 [that era in my public life] and go...oh my God, they were mad at me for smiling a lot and quote-unquote acting fake. And then they were mad at me that I was upset and bitter and kicking back.”

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