Sabrina Carpenter gets support from fans in the pit as she performs at the 2025 VMAs. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for MTV)ELMONT, N.Y. - Get there up to four hours before the show. Prepare to walk a mile to the arena. Lock your phone in a magnetic pouch that renders it useless. Dress on-trend, but don't wear white, sequins, neon, heels, open-toed shoes, hats or shirts with logos on them. Clap with your hands above your head. Keep that enthusiasm for three straight hours.
These are just a few of the rules that the people who have been selected to serve as on-camera audience members have to follow to attend the 2025 MTV Video Music Awards, which are kind of like the Olympics for pop music superfans.I infiltrated the seated section just beyond the pit, where audience members gather around the stage to cheer for the many acts that deliver short but intense performances throughout the night. In those higher levels, we didn't have to stand for seven hours or surrender our phones, which made me all the more appreciative of the more intense stans who did. Their stamina and offline enthusiasm were nearly as impressive as that of the artists themselves.
Superfans, assembleMTV set me up with a seat through 1iota, a website where fans can apply for free tickets to on-air events. Inside the UBS Arena, where the VMAs were held, I sat beside two 27-year-olds from Queens, N.Y., who have been going to concerts together since high school. Joyce goes to a lot of events through 1iota, including the VMAs in 2022, where she specifically wanted to see K-pop group Blackpink. Her friend, Anika, joked that she was Joyce's third choice for a plus-one, but she wasn't offended because she knows Joyce is very strategic about her fandom.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementJoyce was even hesitant to tell me which artists she was most excited to see. To get these tickets, we all had to list which acts we wanted to watch the most, and Joyce tells me she just named as many people as possible. She didn't want to discriminate. As a fan, she's a generalist, which means she's just constantly enthused.
Fans wave their hands in the air as Tate McRae performs at the 2025 VMAs. (Arturo Holmes/Getty Images for MTV)That seemed to be exactly what the show's producers were looking for. One took the stage just before the broadcast to instruct audience members on how to clap - with your hands above your head, because that's what looks best on TV."I'm here to make sure we make good television today," the producer said, reminding people to "show love to everybody who hits the stage." The same stans screaming for Tate McRae would also need to lose their minds for artists whose careers peaked before they were born, like Busta Rhymes and Ricky Martin. It's an odd request for fans in 2025, when the internet is more fragmented and radicalized than ever. Even the audience-voted awards at the VMAs pit superfans against each other, mobilizing online armies to swarm web pages, promote their causes online and tear down the competition.
Still, the absence of rabid stans - or the pacification of them - was likely deliberate. The goal in the arena was good TV and good vibes, not sparking internet debate about which artists had the best outfits, sets or music. That's a game that can be played entirely from home.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementOn my left sat my husband, Alex, the most even-keeled person I know. I planned to compare his reactions as a fish-out-of-water to the fans who were taking this event, and their roles in it, very seriously. He has one weakness, though: He's been a longtime Lady Gaga supporter, aka a little monster, since 2008. Naturally, she was the first celebrity everyone freaked out about, including him - especially because no one expected her to actually show up to the Long Island arena when she had a performance scheduled at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan at the same time. Her powers transcended the limitations of New York City traffic.
Just before the show began, there was a rustling in the middle of the venue as people throughout every section craned their necks and phones to see what celebrities had descended to sit among the common folk. It was Ariana Grande in polka dots and Lady Gaga in a dramatic feathered dress. This was no TV-friendly response, but a burst of authentic, widespread joy - the A-listers' arrivals set the bar high for fan reactions throughout the night.
Ariana Grande signs autographs for fans in the pit at the 2025 VMAs. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for MTV)FandemoniumAs someone who spends a lot of time lurking in fan spaces online, I thought I could predict most of the artists who would inspire an especially intense reaction, but I was still surprised by a few: People rushed to their feet for Lola Young's 2-minute performance of her TikTok-famous song "Messy." McRae's particularly athletic dance moves earned feral cheers. A Busta Rhymes fan behind me screamed so much throughout his wildly energ