Beyonce, Miley Cyrus and Katy Perry big winners at 2014 MTV Video Music Awards
Beyonce, Miley Cyrus and Katy Perry ruled the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards at The Forum in Inglewood, California on Sunday (24Aug14), by picking up the biggest honors.
The Roar hitmaker took home the first Moonman trophy of the night for Best Female Video for Dark Horse and was joined onstage by rapper Juicy J who appeared on the track.
Cyrus, who returned to the prizegiving a year after causing a stir
with her raunchy routine with Blurred Lines singer Robin Thicke,
was all about the message this year, choosing to use her Video of
the Year acceptance speech for Wrecking Ball to pay tribute to
homeless youths.
The pop star sent a man named Jesse to accept the prize on her
behalf for the "1.6 million runaways and homeless youths in the
United States, who are starving, lost and scared for their lives
right now."
He continued, "I know this because I am one of these people... If
you want to make a powerful change in the world right now, please
join us and go to Miley's Facebook.com page. A dream you dream
alone is only a dream, but a dream you dream together is
reality."
Beyonce was feted with the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award and
wowed the crowd with a show-stopping performance featuring a medley
of hits from her self-titled album, including Partition, Flawless
and Drunk in Love.
After her stunning set, which brought the audience to its feet, she
was presented with the accolade by daughter Blue Ivy and husband
Jay Z, who called his wife "the greatest living entertainer."
Beyonce tearfully accepted her award, saying, "I'm so full. Thank
you, I have nothing to say, but I'm filled with so much gratitude.
I just thank God for this moment and I love y'all so much. Blue I
love you, my beloved I love you, my fans I love you, MTV I love
you, goodnight."
The moment appeared to be her bid to once and for all end divorce
rumors.
Ed Sheeran and Fifth Harmony were also big winners, taking home the
Best Male Video and Artist to Watch awards, respectively.
Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj and Jessie J kicked off the ceremony
with Grande singing her hit Break Free, followed by Nicki Minaj
giving a jungle-themed performance of her new track Anaconda.
Jessie J then started off the trio's new hit song Bang Bang, but
Minaj suffered an embarrassing wardrobe malfunction when she did
not complete her quick-change in time and was forced to hold the
front of her dress together so as to not expose her bare breasts as
she returned to the stage.
Other performance highlights included Sam Smith with his hit song
Stay With Me and Maroon 5, who made their VMAs debut with a
performance of Maps outside of the venue.
Iggy Azalea and Rita Ora also hit the The Forum stage for their
first-ever live performance of Black Widow.
There was also a couple of serious moments in among the festivities
- Robin Williams, who passed away earlier this month (Aug14), was
remembered and rapper Common asked for a moment of silence for
Missouri teenager, Michael Brown, who was killed by a police
officer in Ferguson, Missouri on 9 August (14), sparking the
ongoing unrest in the state.
The 2014 MTV VMAs winners were:
Video of the Year - Wrecking Ball by Miley Cyrus
Best Hip-Hop Video - Hold On (We're Going Home) by Drake featuring
Majid Jordan
Best Male Video - Sing by Ed Sheeran
Best Female Video - Dark Horse by Katy Perry featuring Juicy J
Best Pop Video - Problem by Ariana Grande featuring Iggy Azalea
Artist to Watch - Fifth Harmony
Best Rock Video - Royals by Lorde
Best Lyric Video - Don't Stop by 5 Seconds of Summer
MTV Clubland Award - Stay the Night by Zedd featuring Hayley
Williams
Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award - Beyonce