Katy Perry had a simple mission this week: to prove to pop fans that she still deserves our attention.
Perry was the guest of honor at the MTV Video Music Awards on Wednesday. Nearly 15 years after the release of her major label debut, “One of the Boys,” Perry became the newest recipient of the Video Vanguard Award, the VMA’s version of a lifetime achievement award.
As the Vanguard winner, performing a medley from his entire career at the VMAs should be a victory lap. Especially for someone like Perry, one of the biggest stars of the late 2000s and early 2010s, whose breakthrough album “Teenage Dream” is one of only two in history to spawn five No. 1 songs. (The other is Michael Jackson’s “Bad.”)
But her recent comeback did not go according to plan.
After an early career peak – Perry has released nine chart-topping hits to date, all before 2015 – she hasn’t had a single in the last decade. Her career has suffered from a series of false starts and flops since then, from the poorly received “purposeful pop” of “Witness” in 2017 to the cheesy clown imagery of “Smile” in 2020.
This brings us to July 2024, when Perry ushered in her new era. Armed with glossy images, flashy outfits, and a big-budget music video, it was clear that Perry intended to return to the top ranks of pop.
Unfortunately, the first single, “Woman’s World,” was derided by fans and critics as insensitive, embarrassing, and all-around unpleasant. This was bad enough to jeopardize Perry’s comeback and quickly developed into a “career crisis.”
Katy Perry’s new album is called “143”. Arturo Holmes/Getty Images
It’s unclear if Perry was already selected as this year’s Vanguard honoree before her new album was released, or if this was negotiated as a last-ditch effort to save it. But Perry’s new album, “143,” is out next week, and she still has to convince people it’s worth listening to. (“Woman’s World” debuted at No. 63 on the Billboard Hot 100, while its follow-up, “Lifetimes,” didn’t even make the charts.)
Either way, Perry came to the VMAs to celebrate her career. She strutted down the red carpet, took selfies with fans, and chatted happily with MTV hosts. As she passed through the press area, a journalist next to me called out, “How does it feel to be the most beautiful woman on the carpet?” Perry immediately responded in a flirtatious voice, “You know that!” Everyone erupted in giggles and applause. Perry was in full charmer mode.
I admit that I had very low expectations for her performance at Vanguard. If you had asked me yesterday who the most anticipated entertainers of the evening were, Perry wouldn’t have even made the shortlist. (The answer would of course have been Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan.)
But when Perry walked onto the stage—or rather, floated above it—and opened with an acrobatic combination of “Dark Horse” and “ET,” my first thought was, quite honestly, “Damn. She got me.”
Perry’s hits still sound as fun, fresh and crazy as ever. At the height of her creativity, Perry’s lyrics were sassy and her melodies were catchier than anyone else’s. Even as I write this, the morning after the VMAs, I find myself repeatedly humming “Kiss me, kk-kiss me.”
The highlight was clearly “Teenage Dream,” the title track from Perry’s 2010 album and one of the most well-constructed pop songs of all time. After the show ended hours later, I heard a girl say in hushed, awed tones, “Being that close to Katy Perry singing ‘Teenage Dream’ was… surreal.” And it was.
The sheer power of Perry’s early discography heard last night was both her triumph and her downfall.
Perry has timeless hits in her catalog. Nobody can take that away from her. But by mixing them into a medley of singles from 143, Perry’s latest effort sounds even more hollow and derivative in comparison.
Perry’s collaboration with Doechii, “I’m His, He’s Mine,” out tomorrow, had the misfortune of being sandwiched between “ET” and “California Gurls.” There’s nothing wrong with the duet itself, but it felt like an interlude—a forced break before getting back to the stuff we all know and love. Perry and Doechii carefully executed their intimate, tabloid-baiting choreography, intertwining their legs (a la Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion) and bringing their faces close enough to kiss, as if to be shocking enough to distract from the song itself.
Perry capped off the medley with “Lifetimes,” a run-of-the-mill dance song that wouldn’t have been a convincing closer even without the one-two punch of “I Kissed a Girl” and “Firework.” I would never recommend chasing fireworks with a plastic bag floating in the wind.
If Perry wanted to put on an impressive spectacle and sing her heart out, she definitely succeeded. But if she wanted to prove that her new songs could hold their own against her beloved hits, I’m sorry to report that she failed.
