ALL-TIME CONTROVERSIAL MOMENTS

JANET JACKSON'S NIPPLEGATE (2004)

Photo: AFP, Giuseppe Cacace

The event was described as a "wardrobe malfunction", a term now used commonly in pop culture.

Jackson, at Super Bowl in 2004, supposedly exposed her breast accidentally during the famous half-time show as her performance partner, Justin Timberlake, tore off part of her costume.

It earned TV network CBS a S$763,000 fine from the Federal Communications Commission and set off much public debate about the issue of indecency. The controversial performance is now one against which all other such performances are measured.

THE MADONNA-BRITNEY KISS (2003)

It wasn't the first or last time that Britney Spears had engaged in shocking behavior in public, but her kiss (no tongue) with Madonna in the opening number for the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards created a stir worldwide.

According to Spears, the kiss was Madonna's idea during rehearsals.

SINEAD O'CONNOR VERSUS THE POPE (1992)

Photo: Rubyworks

On Saturday Night Live, O'Connor ripped up a photo of Pope John Paul II during her performance of Bob Marley's War.

She'd intended her performance to be a protest against the sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church.

The audience reacted with stunned silence, and the media vilified her as an enfant terrible.

She later apologised for the act.

PRINCE'S CHEEKY EXPOSE (1991)

Call it the original, intentional wardrobe malfunction. The Purple One took the stage at the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards to perform his song, Gett Off.

At the end of the performance, he whirled around to reveal his backless pants, which exposed his butt.

It drew the ire of several parent groups and paved the way for a wave of barely-there performances in years to come, including Britney Spears' striptease at the 2000 Awards, noted MTV.