Numerous icons in music officially lit up the 2014 MTV Europe Music Awards in Glasgow, Scotland on Sunday, November 9. Hosted by Nicki Minaj, the event saw both Ariana Grande and One Direction walking away with multiple nods.
Grande picked up the night’s Best Song trophy for her Iggy Azalea collaboration “Problem”. The opening act said upon accepting the accolade, “I was just onstage one second ago! Thank you so much, this means so much to me. This has been a really crazy year, last year I was presenting to Iggy and this year I’m nominated for a bunch of things and I got to open the show and I can’t thank everybody who’s been supporting me this past year enough. I can’t tell you how grateful I am.”
She continued, “I also want to thank MTV for having me again because last year, when I met Iggy, I feel like that’s part of the reason ‘Problem’ happened, which is why everything happened this year, so thank you.” She also won the Best Female vote.
One Direction was not present to accept their trophies as they were in London to prepare for their performance at “The X Factor”. But all of them, except for Zayn Malik who was sick, appeared in a video to thank Directioners for voting them in the category of Biggest Fans. “Thank you so much for everything. We really wanted to be there tonight, but we can’t be. Thank you,” the band said in a recorded tape. The boys also won Best Pop and Best Live trophies later that night.
It was also a big night for pop-punk boy band 5 Seconds of Summer who walked away with Best New, Best Australian Act, and Best Push. Fifth Harmony won for the Best U.S. Act category while Chinese singer Bibi Zhou won Best Worldwide.
Justin Bieber won Best Male for the fifth year in a row but he was not there to accept the award. He sent his love via Twitter, writing, “Just won Best Male at the #EMAs. Thank you all so much. Big things coming. Love you.”
Full Winners List:
Best Song: “Problem” – Ariana Grande feat. Iggy Azalea
Best Video: “Dark Horse” – Katy Perry feat. Juicy J
Best Song with a Message: “Pretty Hurts” – Beyonce Knowles
Best Female: Ariana Grande
Best Male: Justin Bieber
Best Pop: One Direction
Best Push: 5 Seconds of Summer
Best Hip-Hop: Nicki Minaj
Best Rock: Linkin Park
Best Alternative: 30 Seconds to Mars
Best Electronic: Afrojack
Best New: 5 Seconds of Summer
Breakout Rock Group: Royal Blood
Best Live: One Direction
Best Worldwide Act: Bibi Zhou
Best World Stage: Enrique Iglesias
Best Australian: 5 Seconds of Summer
Global Icon: Ozzy Osbourne
Best Look: Katy Perry
Biggest Fans: One Direction
