One Direction swept with five awards in total at the 20th annual MTV European Music Awards on Sunday night (Nov. 9), winning televised awards as Best Pop, Best Live and Biggest Fans. The group, who wasn’t in attendance, thanked the Directioners for their support through a pre-recorded message. The show took place in Glasgow, Scotland.
MTV EMA 2014: Winners List | Photos
Ariana Grande kicked off the show with a performamce of My Everything singles, “Problem,” sans featured guest Iggy Azalea, and “Break Free.”
After leaving the audience speechless with her vocal prowess, Grande strutted back on stage to accept the award for Best Song for “Problem.”
Host of the night, Nicki Minaj, made a grand entrance by floating down on to the stage, in a two-piece grey ensemble and combat boots.
The night continued onto the second performance of the night. Kiesza popped out of a mirrored telephone booth, to join a handful of backup dancers for a choreographed set of “Hideaway.”
Charli XCX kept the crowd hyped with a two-song performance of her singles “Boom Clap” and “Break the Rules.”
Katy Perry, who won for Best Look and Best Video (for “Dark Horse”) made a special appearance through a pre-recorded message to her Katy Kats. Justin Bieber and Linkin Park also thanked fans for their wins through pre-recorded messages. Bieber won for Best Male Artist. Linkin Park won for Best Rock Artist.
Nicki Minaj took a break from her hosting duties to accept the award for Best Hip-Hop, beating out Drake, Kanye West, Eminem and Iggy Azalea. After thanking MTV, Young Money/Cash Money, her glam squad and more, Minaj plugged her upcoming third studio album: “I do want to say, after two years I’m releasing my third album, The Pinkprint. I’ll be here out her next year to perform.”
U2 performed “Every Breaking Wave.” Beyoncé, who wasn’t in attendance, won Best Song with a Message for her emotional Beyoncé song, “Pretty Hurts.”
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“Scotland, I’d like to take you on a journey tonight,” Minaj said before kicking off her three-song set with her top five Billboard hit, “Super Bass.” With Skylar Grey behind the keys and singing the hook, the rapper/singer previewed a new song titled “Bed of Lies.” The Head Barbz in Charge closed her set with her latest addictive single, “Anaconda.”
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Ed Sheeran crooned “Thinking Out Loud,” while acrobatic dancers slid around him.
Enrique Iglesias, who won the award for Best World Stage performance earlier in the night, performed “I’m A Freak” and “Bailando.”
Through out the show, a large-size dinosaur kept taunting Minaj, which playfully pushed her to curse: “I’m sorry I just cursed, but I’m Nicki Minaj.”
Ariana Grande won her second award for Best Female. She thanked her Arianators, especially for DMing her the night before when she was too excited to sleep.
5 Seconds of Summer won back-to-back awards: Best Push and Best New, while Thirty Second to Mars won for Best Alternative.
Alicia Keys, and her baby bump, took to the piano to perform her latest single, “We Are Here.”
Slash, Myles Kennedy, Simon Neil and the Conspirators closed the MTV EMAs with a tribute to the Global Icon, Ozzy Osbourne. Slash honored the legendary Ozzy Osbourne with the Global Icon award earlier in the night.