Camila Cabello is bringing the Miami beach to the VMAs stage. The C, XOXO pop star hit the stage at the 2024 Video Music Awards to perform an emotional, cathartic medley of her Magic City songs “June Gloom” and “Godspeed.”
Cabello’s performance started with a video of the singer—with bright blonde hair—singing “June Gloom before Cabello, in real life, this time with her brown hair, approached a laptop and shut the performance off to sing her new single “Godspeed” live.
Cabello sang from inside a giant clear box surrounded by dancers dressed in ski masks as she sang into a camera that played on a large screen. “We’re livin’ in a ghost world/You’re livin’ in a past life,” Cabello sang. “If everything could stay the same/Wouldn’t it be nice?”
Throughout the performance, Cabello’s emotions intensified. By the end, she grabbed her laptop prop, threw it on the ground, and destroyed it before stepping out to sing the track’s outro to the crowd. “Let you go, and I feel more like me,” sang Cabello before nodding at the song’s drama, which is rumored to be about her ex Shawn Mendes. I wish you well, but far away from me.”
On the red carpet, Cabello seemed to be inspired by a funeral as she wore a lacy dress with a cross around her neck. “I’m in my ‘Godspeed’ era, and that song is very much about letting go of everything that does not serve you,” Cabello said of her outfit to Billboard. “So I kind of am having a funeral today for just everything that is negative, everything that doesn’t serve me.”
“Death to the things that are negative, death to the people and the situations that try to bring you down,” she added.
The performance of “Godspeed” comes several days after Cabello released the Magic City version of her album C, XOXO, featuring four additional songs. Cabello said on social media that “Godspeed” was “the first song I ever wrote for this album,” and that the four new songs featured on the Magic City edition represent “the soul of this album.”
This year, Cabello was nominated for Best Pop against Dua Lipa, Olivia Rodrigo, Sabrina Carpenter, Tate McRae, and Taylor Swift. Her video for “I Luv It” with Playboi Carti was also up for Best Trending Video against visuals by Beyoncé, Chappell Roan, Charli XCX, Megan Thee Stallion, and Tinashe.
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Cabello last performed at the VMAs in 2021, when she hit the stage with Familia single “Don’t Go Yet.” She also performed a duet of “Señorita” with Mendes at the 2019 awards, where the former couple won Best Collaboration and Best Cinematography for the song. Cabello is a four-time Moon Person winner. She also took home the trophies for the highly coveted Video of the Year award for “Havana,” along with Artist of the Year, in 2018.
Cabello, Anitta, Benson Boone, Halsey, Chappell Roan, Karol G, Rauw Alejandro, and Sabrina Carpenter were among the performers to hit the stage at this year’s VMAs. The 2024 Video Music Awards are airing live on MTV from the UBS Arena in Long Island.
