Making sense of the crazy at the VMAs

Led by outrageous host Miley Cyrus, this year's MTV Video Music Awards naturally gave viewers plenty to scratch their heads about.

WHAT ON EARTH WAS MILEY CYRUS WEARING?

Bieber might have shocked with his hair, but Cyrus' slew of outfits were a complete assault on decency and good taste.

From being almost naked on the red carpet in her awful Versace "dress" with two silver straps barely covering her breasts (left), to being almost naked on stage in a selection of rainbow-hued monstrosities, there were plenty of fashion horror moments to behold.

Better luck at next year's VMAs, girl.

WHAT'S WITH JUSTIN BIEBER'S HAIR?

It was supposed to be The Bieb's triumphant return to the stage after releasing his first single in three years, What Do You Mean?.

Instead, the 22-year-old Canadian pop star was upstaged by his floppy new hairstyle, which drew comparisons to football mums, 90s boybanders and even Donald Trump.

After his performance, Bieber briefly flew through the air on a harness and appeared to be crying, covering his face in his hands.

One wonders if he was breaking down over his painful-looking contraption - or the fact the Internet did not approve of his regretful 'do.

DID NICKI MINAJ REALLY SHADE MILEY CYRUS?

Although US rapper Nicki Minaj and Swift were at odds just before the VMAs, they buried the hatchet by performing part of Swift's Bad Blood together on stage, ending the collaboration with a hug.

But a fresh catfight was started when Minaj called Cyrus a "b****" in a completely unscripted moment.

Cyrus had previously criticised Minaj for her Twitter feud with Swift, which started when Minaj felt MTV had left her out of the Video of the Year nominations because of her race.

Minaj, 32, was receiving her award for Best Hip-Hop Video for Anaconda when she blasted: "And now back to this b**** that had a lot to say about me in the press. Miley, what's good?"

While Minaj's microphone was cut off, a stunned Cyrus recovered by responding: "We know how they (the media) manipulate", while Minaj continued to glare at Cyrus and mouth the B-word.

"The Nicki Minaj and Miley Cyrus feud is a very real thing," an MTV source told People magazine, adding that their "jaws dropped" while watching the feed.

WHAT CAUSED KANYE WEST'S RANT?

West, 38, admitted he had "rolled up a little something" to "knock the edge off" during his bonkers 10-minute acceptance speech for the Video Vanguard Award, and boy did it show.

He started by apologising to US pop star Taylor Swift - who presented the award and called him "my friend" - for his infamous stunt at the 2009 VMAs when he interrupted her on stage.

After launching into a bizarre rant about MTV not listening to the kids and exploiting his beef with Swift, he dropped a bombshell by declaring he would run for president in 2020.

The rapper is known for his delusions of grandeur and has compared himself to Jesus and Steve Jobs, so let's hope West's political ambitions are just a joke.

We don't think he'd be welcome in the White House anyway. US President Barack Obama had previously called West a "jackass" on two different occasions.

With Miley Cyrus at the helm and hosting this year's MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs), the annual pop culture extravaganza showcased what it did best: Craziness and controversy.

Held at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday evening (Monday morning Singapore time), the VMAs saw an eye-popping, trippy performance of Cyrus' new song Dooo It! flanked by drag queen backup dancers

The 22-year-old US singer-actress also accidentally flashed her breast backstage and made references to marijuana smoking.

Let's just say Cyrus' heavily censored antics made twerking to Blurred Lines at the VMAs two years ago look like something out of Hannah Montana.

In between, there were plenty of other "what just happened?" moments to scratch our heads over.

Here are five post-show burning questions we were left with...

WHY THE ABRUPT CUTS?

After settling in for a morning of fun, trashy TV, we were sorely disappointed when the local VMAs broadcast was disrupted multiple times.

Several parts of the two-and-a-half-hour show, which was broadcast live at 9am yesterday on MTV Asia, were censored.

Some audio was cut, visuals omitted, and some scenes were replaced entirely by a picture of MTV's signature Moonman mascot.

These included sizeable chunks of Cyrus' emcee script and skits that had drug and sexual references.

Parts of US rapper Kanye West's Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award acceptance speech, where he admitted to smoking something, most likely pot, were also removed.

Australian actress Rebel Wilson's presenter segment was also edited, as she stripped off a police uniform top to reveal a T-shirt emblazoned with the words 'F*** tha stripper police'.

Viewers were left even more confused, especially when the finale of Cyrus' Dooo It! was abruptly interrupted and never resumed.

This was likely due to the song's references to pot, its liberal use of expletives (the F-word reportedly appeared 35 times in the lyrics), and her saucy dancing with a phallic firework bong.

On MTV Asia's heavy-handed censorship, Ms Adeline Ong, senior director of Corporate & Brand Communications, Asia for Viacom International Media Networks, told The New Paper in a statement: "Apart from a slight delay usually built in for the US telecast, we had another five minutes built in for censorship purposes by MTV Asia, given the anticipated outrageous moments... You have to be prepared for Miley!"

She added: "In cases where any content was edited for broadcast on MTV Asia - (like) muting or blurring of inappropriate language or scenes - these decisions were made to comply with media regulations, and to ensure that the content remains appropriate for our Asian youth audience.

"We will endeavour to make the viewing experience as smooth as possible for the repeat telecasts."

This article was first published on Sept 1, 2015.
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