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\n\tMadonna<\/a> made her big return to the MTV Video Music Awards, her first time at the annual event in 23 years. She practically invented this show the very first time it aired in 1984, making her infamous debut in her white wedding gown as the scandalous floor-humping bride in \u201cLike a Virgin.\u201d That performance did wonders for her, but even bigger wonders for the VMAs<\/a>\u2014it\u2019s the moment this event has always aspired to match ever since. It established her as the once and future queen of this show. But strange as it seems, until last night, she hadn\u2019t rocked the VMAs since 2003, when she did an even better version of \u201cLike a Virgin,\u201d in her legendary make out session with Britney Spears<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\tSo the stakes were high for her hotly-anticipated return last night. But her amazing performance<\/a> with Sabrina Carpenter<\/a> and Charli XCX<\/a> stole the show, with a medley of \u201cOne Step Away,\u201d \u201cBring Your Love,\u201d and \u201cDanceteria,\u201d from her recent Confessions II.<\/em> It wasn\u2019t just the highlight of the night; it was one of the most stunning performances in the entire history of the VMAs, hands down.<\/p>\n \n\tIt\u2019s fitting that she began with Sabrina, who was just four years old when Madonna smooched Britney, but a quintessential Daughter of the House of Ciccone. \u201cIt\u2019s mother,\u201d a voice moaned at the beginning, as Madonna recited her disco catechism. \u201cThe dance floor is not a place,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s a threshold. A ritualistic space where movement replaces language.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tWearing a black beret, Sabrina played the piano with Madonna writhing on top of it. They did their Coachella-slaying duet \u201cBring Your Love,\u201d with Sabrina twisting and crawling in her glitter-spangled black liederhosen. Madonna wrestled with black-clad storm troopers, then got rolled on a gurney through the crowd, until a really confusing interlude where she met a bizarro alien gospel choir in white gowns. (A very Creed touch.)<\/p>\n \n\tBut the performance really exploded when Charli XCX strutted in for \u201cDanceteria,\u201d as the stage transformed into the famous early-Eighties NYC disco, with the cool girls hanging out in the men\u2019s room. Charli even stroked the bathroom hand-dryer\u2014a clever reference to everybody\u2019s favorite scene in Desperately Seeking Susan<\/em>.<\/p>\n