The 2016 Video Music Awards were as shocking as they were entertaining. The beloved pop star, Britney Spears was one of the most anticipated performers. Spears has had stellar VMA performances in the past as well as her infamous performance following her 2007 breakdown.

Spears made a comeback this year and while her performance was noticeably sharper than her previous 2007 performance, Spears followed Beyonce.

Beyonce’s rendition of her Lemonade album received immense praise from the public and she was awarded with: Video of the Year, Best Female Video, Best Pop Video, Breakthrough Long Form Video, Best Choreography, Best Direction, Best Cinematography, and Best Editing.

Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj performed their new single “Side to Side.” The routine consisted of hot pink leotards and spinning bikes. The male back up dancers in Grande and Minaj’s performance were treated like props or boy toys.

In a verse from “Side to Side” Minaj suggests that Grande is the queen of pop. Therefore, it was interesting to see the contrast of gender roles in Grande’s performance comparatively to Spears’ performance.

Seasoned Spears’ danced around and up against featuring artist, G-Eazy as if she was recreating her 2001 hit “I’m a Slave for You.” Whereas Grande and Minaj reversed those outdated gender roles and ran the show.

Rihanna and Beyonce were the obvious stars of the VMAs this year. Rihanna had four performances at the VMAs. Songs in Rihanna’s performances included: Don’t Stop the Music, Only Girl (In the World), Rude Boy, What’s My Name, Work, Needed Me, Pour It Up, Stay, Diamonds, and Love on the Brain.

Beyonce’s detail oriented and inspired performance lasted approximately 16 minutes. Beyonce’s performance featured tracks from her latest album Lemonade including: Pray You Catch Me, Hold Up, Sorry, Don’t Hurt Yourself, Formation.

Drake received Best Hip Hop Video. However, the rapper was stuck in traffic and was unable to receive the award in person.

There has been speculation as to whether or not Rihanna and Drake are dating considering their obvious chemistry in their collaborative music video for the hit song, “Work” and recent photographs of them together.

The grand finale of the VMAs consisted of Drake walking on stage in a tuxedo. His mission? To give Rihanna the highly regarded Vanguard award.

Drake said many favorable things about Rihanna including compliments on her musical ability and her character.

Some of Drake’s final and most meaningful words were, “She’s (Rihanna) someone I’ve been in love with since I was 22 years old.”

While 8.3 million tuned in to the VMAs, this was still less than previous years. Videos of select performances are available online at http://www.mtv.com/vma.