Kelsea Ballerini's Outfit Change Mid-Performance at MTV VMAs Confuses Fans: 'Explain This Sorcery to Me!'

Kelsea Ballerini stunned and then confused fans with her sudden outfit change mid-performance during her set at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards.

While she was performing her emotional song, "Penthouse," the country music star shed her white strapless floor-length gown, and through the smoke, she emerged wearing a little black strapless dress.

"I need someone to explain this Kelsea Ballerini sorcery to me," a fan wrote.

"That outfit change."

"Wow! Nice way to wrap up your 30th birthday, you nailed it as always Ms. Kelsea B," another added.

Ballerini eventually revealed how she changed her dress mid-performance: she wore the black dress underneath the white one and easily snapped the fasteners at the side to quickly take it off for the grand reveal.

Kelsea Ballerini Stuns MTV VMAs Crowd

What the audience saw on television and through the live streams was a seamless transition between the white and the black dress, which made some fans speculate how the change was so smooth and effortless.

"It was pre-filmed the night before. She sang the song twice, once in the black dress, once in the white. It was edited together for the 'showing' last night at the VMAs," one wrote.

During her video demo, Ballerini showed how it worked and explained how she would be pausing dramatically right before the bridge of the song.

"A light goes in front of the camera," she explained, "And I go... and I go... Wait, how do I? Do I press it in?" Before eventually ripping the dress off.

READ MORE: Kelsea Ballerini Turns 30, Reflects on Upcoming Phase of Her Career: 'I Have No Regrets'

Kelsea Ballerini Reflects on Country Music

Days before the 2023 MTV VMAs, Ballerini celebrated her 30th birthday and reflected on the direction her life and her music career are headed for.

She first entered the music industry as a starry-eyed 19-year-old, and since then, she has shifted gears and grew not only as an artist but also as a person.

"It was just my way of saying, 'thank you so much for changing this chapter of my life, and I hear you loud and clear, and here you go,'" she said about the release of "Rolling Up the Welcome Mat (For Good)." "It was really just for the people that have made it what it's been."

With her VMAs debut, Ballerini reflected on how far she has come along in her career and life: ​​"That's naturally where I've always wanted to go, but I've always operated from a place of being scared that people wouldn't like me. Call it turning 30, call it getting divorced, I don't know. I just care way less about that now."

READ ALSO: Kelsea Ballerini Sings About Divorce in New Songs, But Urges Fans to Move On: 'Let Music Be Music'