Trapeze-y does it! Pink swings into the VMAs on a giant pair of lips

Luscious lips ... Pink makes her grand entrance

PINK made a mouthy entrance at the MTV Video Music Awards last night, arriving on stage on a giant pair of lips.

The singer was lowered into Los Angeles' Staples Center wearing fishnet stockings and sequined hot pants held up by a pair of braces.
She then rocked the 20,000-strong crowd with a performance of her hit Blow Me (One Last Kiss) - walking amongst fans while red confetti shot from the massive mouth, before climbing on a trapeze and spinning around high above the stage.

Pink's people ... Confetti shoots out of the giant mouth as Pink walks among the audience

It was one of the standout performances at an event jam-packed with pop royalty.
Taylor Swift used her VMA stage to try to shed her image as the good girl of pop.

Swing sister ... Pink shows off her trapeze skills

The 22-year-old singer strutted out on stage wearing a red and white striped T-Shirt that made her look like Where's Wally? before diving headfirst into the crowd while she belted out her hit We Are Never Getting Back Together.
Taylor earlier admitted she was anxious about her performance.

Where's Wally? ... Taylor Swift looks a dead ringer for the mysterious adventurer

She said: "You get really nervous. It's a mixture of all these emotions of excitement of nerves, of planning, of making sure that you have enough rehearsal time, know all your blocking ... because the thing about the VMAs is, the people that help put together the performances are honestly some of the best people you have ever worked with and they put together these huge, vast, massively entertaining performances."
Rihanna set the standard for the night when she kicked off the performance part of the VMAs with a duet of her brand-new track Cockiness (I Love It) with rapper A$AP Rocky.

Red alert ... Rihanna performs Cockiness at the MTV VMAs last night

The singer, dressed from head to toe in red, sat upon a gold throne, before marching into the crowd singing We Found Love, the track that earned her the Video Of The Year Award.
But it was boyband One Direction who made the biggest impact on the audience at the Staples Center - with screams ringing out as they came from beneath the stage before climbing a giant staircase, singing their track One Thing.

British invasion ... One Direction try to sing over the screams

There were more screams when the boys returned to collect each three 'Moon Men' awards for Best Pop Video, Best New Artist and Most Share-worthy Video - all for their smash hit What Makes You Beautiful.
Elsewhere, Alicia Keys drafted in Olympic gymnast Gabby Douglas to help her wow the VMA crowd.

Sombre ... Alicia Keys performed a moving duet of Girl On Fire

Just weeks after she won two gold medals at London 2012, the 16-year-old - nicknamed the Flying Squirrel - leapt about the stage while Alicia and Nicky Minaj performed a duet of Girl on Fire.

Outrageous ... Nicki Minaj started the night wearing sequined bodystocking

After arriving at the event wearing a Versace bodystocking emblazoned with red sequins, the colourful rapper chose more sober get-up up for her performance with Alicia - changing into a black hooded playsuit and fishnets.

Woman in black ... she then toned it down for her duet with Alicia Keys, dressing in a black hooded playsuit