At last year's MTV Video Music Awards, we were treated to Tokio Hotel barreling up to the red carpet in a silver-grilled monster truck and T-Pain thundering in on top of an elephant. In 2009, Taylor Swift and Pink, two of this year's [article id="1620966"]VMA performers[/article], saw those wacky arrivals and raised them one.

Early on in the evening, a New York City fire truck flashed its lights and blared its sirens, and for a second it looked like the red-carpet show was going to get shut down before it had a chance to truly get started. But wait! It was all good; Pink was just making a serious statement with her VMA arrival.

Unforgettable 2009 VMA Arrivals

The fire truck pulled up in front of Radio City Music Hall, and the pop star, wearing an ultra-short black-and-silver dress, was helped down by some firefighters and accompanied by husband Carey Hart as she did her best not to suffer an unplanned wardrobe malfunction. No malfunctions, thankfully, though her dress is exactly the same as the one we saw on Shakira minutes earlier.

"Thank you guys!" Pink said to New York's Bravest. "I felt like a princess!"

Minutes later, 19-year-old Swift clip-clopped to Radio City like a 21st-Century Cinderella, coasting along in an ornate horse and carriage, driven by a man in a cowboy hat.

"I have a castle complex," she confessed. "I really like fairy tales."

In the show's first half hour, Swift will perform "You Belong With Me," which is nominated for Best Female Video. We can't spill details about what she's got planned, but we'll just hint that it's a performance that could only happen in New York. And coming off her 2008 VMA rendition of "So What," Pink will swing onto the stage this year to sing a track from her multiplatinum album Funhouse.

The 2009 MTV Video Music Awards are live now! Stay tuned for the night's big winners, red-carpet coverage, behind-the-scenes updates and more.