By Harron Walker
Two major musical acts made their VMA debuts back-to-back at the 2020 Video Music Awards, and we don’t know which one to rave about first! First up, we had Keke Palmer pausing on her hosting duties to whip out a snippet of her new summer jam, “Snack,” followed by Latin American boy band CNCO giving us their extremely playlist-friendly track, “Beso.” Where to begin? Well, since Keke held down the whole shebang, let’s start with her.
Clad in a neon yellow zip-up leotard that stretched all the way to her Day-Glo manicured fingers, which she paired with a lime Jell-O see-through visor, Palmer kicked off the doubleheader with her feel-good, feeling yourself anthem, “Snack,” off of her new EP, Virgo Tendencies, Pt. 1. From the high-energy choreography to the lyrics promoting self-love — not to mention the 2020 VMA host’s all-around stellar performance — it would be pretty hard to keep a smile from creeping across your face as you watch the Hustlers star do her thing from home.
Then, as Keke closed out her set, the five deeply crushable dudes of CNCO — that’s Erick Brian Colón, Christopher Vélez, Zabdiel De Jesús, Richard Camacho, and Joel Pimentel — emerged from the fancy cars surrounding Palmer’s mini-stage. Crooning us with their latest fire-breathing single, the group nearly swept us off our feet with their killer vocals and incredible dance moves, including some totally unexpected, high-flying acrobatics performed atop a sedan.
Like I already said, tonight marked both Keke and CNCO’s first turns on the VMAs stage. Here’s hoping there are many more performances in their respective futures!
The 2020 VMAs have kicked off across MTV’s linear and digital platforms, as well as with several outdoor performances around New York City. Find the complete winners list here and everything else you need to know at vma.mtv.com.
