It’s Time To Bring Back Chaotic Morning Show Performances

Nostalgia is at an all-time high for... well, basically any other time period. The Legally Blonde prequel series, Elle, is taking us back to the ’90s, while Hilary Duff is letting us relive our Y2K glory days on her Lucky Me Tour, and Justin Bieber made Coachella more expensive than ever once fans realized he would bring back his 2010s hits.

However, there’s one key part of pop culture that has been forgotten over the past decade: the chaotic morning show performances.

At one point in time, waking up obscenely early to perform on Today or Good Morning America was not only a pop star rite of passage, but an unmissable promo opportunity that helped send your new album up the charts. Even Beyoncé has subjected herself to this. And not only were artists expected to put on a proper show before 9 a.m., but it often led to some of their most chaotic performances (complimentary) that still go viral over a decade later.

For example, Duff’s 2007 performance on Today that led to “go girl, give us nothing” memes and the now-viral “With Love” dance may not have become iconic if she didn’t have to attempt that choreography at 8 a.m. And with that context, it’s no wonder why she gave the bare minimum. Nearly two decades later, Duff now brings up fans on stage to reenact that dance, turning what could be an embarrassing moment into a celebration.

In 2012, Nicki Minaj played her hit “Starships” bright and early on Today, which was an absolute shambles (in a good way). The rapper’s flow was sharp as usual, but she let her backing track do the work for the chorus, which is precisely when her dancers deserted her for no reason, leaving her to just circle the studio. Then, as NBC displayed headlines about a tornado that damaged 1,000 homes in Dallas, they started twerking.

She ended the performance by basically speaking gibberish during the final beat drop, all before the clock struck 9 a.m. Even Minaj was aware of the chaos, yelling, “Is this too much for early morning, you guys?” The answer was yes, but the performance was better as a result.

Over a year later, instead of simply playing her latest single on Good Morning America, Lady Gaga decided to reenact The Wizard of Oz. She literally dressed as Dorothy, complete with an actual dog as Toto (who was not harmed in the making of this performance), singing Judy Garland’s “Over the Rainbow” for the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion. She then went into “Applause,” taking them back to Oz on the yellow brick road, with the audience dressed as red poppies. (Yes, really.)

If that wasn’t enough, Gaga transformed into Glinda the Good Witch in just one pre-chorus, and then did an onstage costume change to become Elphaba, literally snatching her dancer’s green wig in the process. For the final chorus, the pop star changed back into Dorothy as she went home — but made her high-fashion. It’s astounding that she wasn’t cast in Wicked when she can clearly play every role.

The cherry on top of this excess campiness is that it all happened at 8:30 a.m., which is far too early for anyone to process this madness. But sadly, Gaga’s number may be the last time a morning show performance has gone viral for its sheer mayhem (pun intended). Nowadays, our most fabulous pop girls have no need to wake up this early for promotion, and the artists that GMA and Today book don’t put in nearly as much effort, making these numbers a lost art.

Thank god for Zara Larsson, who may be the only pop girl that bothers with morning shows these days. In June, the Swedish phenom performed on Today, serving full-blown choreography, doing splits mid-air, and belting her iconic “Midnight Sun” vocal run all before 9 a.m., like a true working pop star.

Sure, it wasn’t chaotic per se, but Larsson put in the work. And in an age where promotional performances are being shafted in favor of podcasts and eating hot wings (unless it’s an award show), this must be respected. If today’s generation of pop stars wants to win me over, then it’s time to bring maximum chaos back to morning shows, where it belongs.