Maneskin Delivers Risque Performance of ‘Supermodel’ at 2022 VMAs
After Maneskin member Victoria De Angelis flaunted her Lil Kim circa 1999 VMA-inspired outfit on the red carpet at the 2022 MTV VMAs on Sunday (Aug. 28), it was her bandmate Damiano David’s turn to cause a stir during their electric performance of “Supermodel.”
The bare-chested David had no problem showing off his goods, wearing chaps that exposed his rear end. For at-home viewers, MTV zoomed out on the group’s performance various times while an undeterred David partied away with a group of clad dancers alongside him. Despite the camera tricks, Maneskin electrified the crowd in attendance and kept the vibes intact with their hit. In July, the rock quartet achieved its second No. 1 on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay chart after “Supermodel” landed at the summit. Their first was “Beggin,” which reigned supreme for 11 weeks last October.
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In a May interview with Billboard, Maneskin gushed about the making of “Supermodel” alongside pop producer heavyweight Max Martin. “It was cool because Max and all of his team, they never tried to force us to do something that we didn’t want to do,” said David. “He basically wanted to understand how we work and how we’re used to making music and what makes us happy about music. He was very humble and said, ‘How can I help you to make it global?’ It was fun because we were used to writing only by jamming. This new thing of using computers and stuff was really mind blowing for us.”
Earlier in the night, Maneskin notched their first Moon Person after clinching a win for best alternative for “I Wanna Be Your Slave.” In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, the foursome celebrated the historic victory, as they were the first Italian group to win a VMA award. “We didn’t expect to [win],” admitted David. “There’s a lot of great, great artists here, so it’s an honor for us, of course.”
Maneskin was also nominated for best new artist and best group.
