by Annie Vischer
When fans from around the world cast an incredible 292 million votes to support their favourite artists, you know this is a music a event to sit up and take notice of.
Amsterdam played host to the annual award show this Sunday, which featured spectacular performances from the likes of Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, Bruno Mars and The Killers. Cyrus saw little need to tone down her notoriously controversial performance style, and descended to the stage from the top of an impressive space-inspired set on a throne for a brief rendition of ‘We Can’t Stop’ before bringing out her soul-side in ‘Wrecking Ball’. Her now fairly predictable little shocking skit was to light up a dubious looking roll-up on stage as she held onto a Chanel clutch.
Katy Perry also hit the heights as she sang her latest single ‘Unconditionally’, whilst suspended from the ceiling as her dancers performed beneath her. She ended her song in a mirrored body suit that reflected a host of lasers that shone throughout the Ziggo Dome.
Bruno Mars kept things a tad more grounded with his performance of ‘Gorilla’, and was accompanied by a world-class band. It wasn’t all speakeasy pomp though as the elaborate set and surrounding acts included an incredibly talented pole dancer and vibrant neon lights.
Robin Thicke managed to avoid another collaborative spectacle with Miss Cyrus on this occasion, but did take to the stage to entertain the audience with a rendition of ‘Feels Good’ before giving the fans what they wanted when he was joined by Iggy Azalea to shimmy his way along to ‘Blurred Lines’.
Will Ferrell popped up throughout the MTV EMA Awards in character as the universally beloved Ron Burgundy of Anchorman fame, ahead of the release of the much anticipated sequel. Various vignettes peppered the evening, showing him experienceing the culture and sights of Amsterdam, to enthusiastic rounds of applause.
The real stars of the show, however, were of course the award winners, who were as follows:
BEST SONG – Bruno Mars – “Locked Out Of Heaven”
BEST VIDEO – Miley Cyrus – “Wrecking Ball”
BEST NEW – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
BEST FEMALE – Katy Perry
BEST MALE – Justin Bieber
BEST POP – One Direction
BEST LIVE – Beyoncé
BEST HIP HOP – Eminem
BEST ROCK – Green Day
BEST ELECTRONIC – Avicii
BEST ALTERNATIVE – Thirty Seconds To Mars
BEST LOOK – Harry Styles
BIGGEST FANS – Tokio Hotel
BEST WORLD STAGE – Linkin Park – Mexico 2012
BEST PUSH – Austin Mahone – April 2013
BEST WORLDWIDE ACT – 李宇春Chris Lee (Mainland China/Hong Kong/Southeast Asia/Taiwan)
GLOBAL ICON – Eminem