2015 MTV VMAs: Nicki Minaj, Taylor Swift team for ‘The Night is Still Young’ in opening

Tonight, the VMAs made a bold attempt to start off the show in grand fashion, and with someone widely considered to be one of the biggest hip-hop stars out there in Nicki Minaj. She had a chance to perform for a huge audience, and did she ever have a surprise to go along with it.

Mere week after there was a much-publicized Twitter “battle” between Nicki and Taylor Swift over the type of artists being nominated in the main categories at the show, Taylor joined her onstage for a performance of “The Night is Still Young” at the start of the show. From there, things eventually transitioned into a performance of “Bad Blood,” a pretty tongue-in-cheek reference to what had been going on. (Before Taylor came on, Nicki performed “Trini Dem Girls.”)

We do think that the comments that were made over social media a ways back were genuine, and this performance was not meant to be some sort of elaborate publicity stunt for this performance. It probably came together as a way to have a little bit of fun and create a huge TV moment … which they did. The negative headlines can now end, and it feels like Taylor and Nicki can now move forward and not have to worry about the bad press anymore. It’s smart, and it’s no surprise that these two figured out to do this: They are two of the smartest marketers working in the business right now.

Hopefully, we’ll have some sort of video of the performance in the future, so be on the lookout for that.

If you missed it, head over here to get some coverage of the VMAs red carpet right now! Also, you can sign up here to get some more TV news on everything we cover, courtesy of our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: MTV.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQLLIKuZOxo