MTV Europe Music Awards
The MTV Europe Music Awards are awards presented by Paramount International Networks to honour artists and music in pop culture. It was originally conceived as an alternative to the MTV Video Music Awards, which are hosted annually in the United States. The Europe Music Awards are held every year in a different country; it has been hosted mostly in the United Kingdom and Germany. The annual presentation ceremony features performances by prominent artists, and the presentation of those awards that have a more popular interest.
The awards are a reflection of the international and continental music scene. They are representative of geographical origin and of achievement in diverse musical genres and disciplines, indicative of the diversity and scope of the show. Since the 2007 ceremony, viewers are able to vote for their favourite artists in all general categories by visiting MTV's website.
The 1st Europe Music Awards ceremony was held in 1994 at Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, five years after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The annual ceremony broadcast live on MTV Europe, Channel 5 and most of the international MTV channels as well as online.
Notable moments
1990s
1994–1999
1994: The first Europe Music Awards took place in Berlin, Germany, at the Brandenburg Gate and were held on 24 November 1994, five years after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Hosted by Tom Jones, the show featured performances by Aerosmith, Ace of Base, Björk, Roxette, Take That and George Michael, who performed "Jesus to a Child" and "Freedom" surrounded by many famous models including Naomi Campbell. Presenters included East 17, Jean Paul Gaultier, Pamela Anderson and Helena Christensen, who kissed INXS's Michael Hutchence live on stage. Bono received the Free Your Mind Award on behalf of Amnesty International.1995: French nuclear testing in the South Pacific got the most attention at the 1995 ceremony. During his acceptance speech after winning the award for Best Rock, Bon Jovi lead singer Jon Bon Jovi stated, "The only enemy is ignorance. Peace, people. Let's get rid of all this nuclear testing", while U2's Bono said, "What a city, what a night, what a crowd, what a bomb, what a mistake, what a wanker you have for a President." referring to nuclear testing. Greenpeace, the environmental group that has staged creative and controversial protests around the testing site at Mururoa Atoll, took the Free Your Mind award for its campaign against the underground nuclear blasts. "Stop abusing the Earth," urged Madonna in a videotaped segment before designer agnès b. picked up the award for Greenpeace.
1996: During their performance Metallica performed the songs "Last Caress" and "So What?" instead of performing their single "King Nothing" as scheduled. The MTV executives told the band that they weren't allowed to use any curse words during their time on live TV, and upset with the scripted, family-friendly MTV antics, Metallica simply played non-TV friendly songs. The song "So What?" is known for its amount of expletives and references to bestiality among many other controversial lyrics while "Last Caress" has lyrics pertaining to murder and rape. As a result of their performance Metallica's performance and references to Metallica have been removed from future broadcasts of the ceremony.
1997: U2 opened the show performing "Mofo" dressed in boxing gowns. The Prodigy were the big winners of the night, receiving three awards including Best Video. Björk became the first artist to be nominated in the category of Best Female for four consecutive years. The Landmine Survivors Network received the Free Your Mind Award for helping survivors to recover from war, rebuild their communities, and break cycles of violence.
1998: Six new categories were introduced that year, including the MTV Selects; UK & Ireland, Northern, Central and Southern. Faithless opened the show with "God is a DJ" and Madonna performed "The Power of Goodbye". The big winner of the night were the Spice Girls and Madonna with two awards each. Melanie C and Emma Bunton collected the trophy on behalf of the group. On receiving the award, Mel C shouted, "We've done it again. And a big hello from the other two", referring to Mel B and Victoria Adams, both of whom were pregnant and did not attend the ceremony. The Prodigy won Best Dance but according to their frontman, Liam Howlett, they had not done anything to deserve the accolade that year.
1999: Britney Spears was the big winner of the night winning four awards, including Best New Act and Best Song for "...Baby One More Time". She also performed during the ceremony, entertaining the crowd with a medley of her songs "...Baby One More Time" and " Crazy". The Free Your Mind Award, which honours an individual or organisation for aiding in humanitarian efforts and fighting prejudice, was given to Bono for his world peace work. Puff Daddy performed "My Best Friend" backed by a full gospel choir, followed by Iggy Pop, who stagedived into the crowd during the track "Lust for Life". Whitney Houston sang a medley of "Get It Back" and "My Love Is Your Love", while Mariah Carey performed "Heartbreaker". Marilyn Manson, who wore nothing but a G-string, closed the show with a performance of "Rock Is Dead".
2000s
2000–2004
2000: The show was hosted by Fugees's Wyclef Jean, who presented a variety of stars and outfits, including one consisting of boxer shorts only, after he jumped into the crowd and had his red leather suit ripped from him. The performance of the Spice Girls during the ceremony was the last before their breakup. The most elaborate appearance was probably by Jennifer Lopez, who literally landed on stage in an aeroplane. The performance was a world premiere of her new song, "Love Don't Cost a Thing", taken from her forthcoming album, J.Lo. Madonna paid tribute to fellow performer Kylie Minogue by appearing on stage in a T-shirt bearing the name "Kylie". Madonna performed Music, one month after giving birth to son, Rocco, with a screen background of clips reminiscent of her long career. Sacha Baron Cohen made his career debut during the ceremony whilst introducing Madonna.Political issues were present as well during the night, with Nick Carter from Backstreet Boys speaking against a recount of votes in the U.S. presidential election. Robbie Williams won Best Song for "Rock DJ", but he told the audience: "I am not going to say anything bad about people's choices on this one, but I think it's a terrible song and a silly song." He also referred to his roots in Stoke-on-Trent, saying: "When I was growing up I dreamt of being a pop star and I would like to thank MTV for my three houses, my five cars and my supermodel girlfriend."
2001: The ceremony was the first entertainment broadcasts following the September 11th attacks in New York City. When Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett from Gorillaz walked onto stage to make a speech, Albarn sported a T-shirt with the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament logo on it. Albarn, in a response to the recent invasion of Afghanistan said "So, fuck the music. Listen. See this symbol here, this the symbol for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. Bombing one of the poorest countries in the world is wrong. You've got a voice and you have got to do what you can about it allright?" Fred Durst took the stage with Wes Scantlin and Jimmy Page to perform the classic Led Zeppelin's song "Thank You".
2002: One of the highlights was the offer made by host Puff Daddy giving away a lush ring to the first woman to undress on stage. A lady took the stage take off her clothes and won the ring. When Moby came on stage to collect the award for Best Website he wished the best wishes to Eminem, showing that he bore no grudge after the confrontation on the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards. Robbie Williams and Whitney Houston performed their songs "Feel" and "Whatchulookinat" for the first time ever. Enrique Iglesias performed an acoustic version of his single "Maybe" and then a rock version of the track "Love to See You Cry" done to the music of Billy Idol's "White Wedding".
2003: During the pre-show, Christina Aguilera refused to walk the red carpet if Kelly Osbourne, a guest VJ for the event, was present. Kelly responded by calling Aguilera's music "crap" and saying she was a "cow." Later, a skit was aired of Christina Aguilera throwing darts at a board decorated with a picture of Kelly Osbourne. This irked the Ozzy offspring, who voiced her disapproval when she came onstage to present an award. Kelly stated, "If Christina Aguilera has to resort to throwing darts at my head after everything she's achieved and everything she's done, then she's a really sad, sorry person". Aguilera later retorted with a voice of mock sympathy, saying "Honey, if you can dish it out, you've got to learn how to take it back".
During Travis' performance of "The Beautiful Occupation" an assembly of nude protesters marched onstage with signs that covered their private areas. At the end of the song, they lifted the signs. While near at the end of performing "Baby Boy", Beyoncé and Sean Paul both were up on stage when their backing track suffered a technical difficulty. This went on for a near minute in which both artist and dancers exited the stage while the error went on. This also left confusion among presenter Christina Aguilera, who walked on stage to continue hosting which ended the backing track error. Both artists later decided to retake the performance again. The retake would later replace re-airings of the show and would be the first show to extend time with this retake.
2004: The show was held at Tor di Valle Racecourse in Rome. The outdoor stage was situated in front of the Colosseum, where artists such as Eminem, Franz Ferdinand, Beastie Boys, and Anastacia performed to an attendance of over 400,000 people. Outkast received both Best Song and Best Video for their track "Hey Ya!". Other multiple winners include Usher and Muse with two awards each. Presenters on the night included Jamelia, Alicia Keys, N.E.R.D, Naomi Campbell, Andre 3000, Kid Rock and Kanye West.