The MTV European Music Awards went down in Glasgow last night and, as usual, a majority of the prizes were given to acts that were not at all from Europe. Although it has to be said that the biggest winner of the night was one of the few from the hometown continent, as One Direction took home three trophies. The group won for Best Live Act, Best Fans and Best Pop Act.
Katy Perry and 5 Seconds of Summer (no, Australia does not count as "Europe") both grabbed two prizes as well. Although the European version of events doesn't feature a "Best Artist" prize per se, Perry managed to get Best Video for "Dark Horse," which might as well be the biggest prize at the event as Europe doesn't have a separate Video Music Awards (her other trophy was for Best Look, a less gratifying prize). The Australian boy band got Best New Act and "Best Push."
Best Female Act went to Ariana Grande and Best Male Act went to Justin Bieber. Grande also grabbed Best Song for "Problem."
One genre where a European winner was guaranteed was Best Electronic Act, which featured five nominees, all from the continent. The trophy ended up going to hometown hero Calvin Harris (he's actually from Dunfries in Scotland), who fended off Frenchman David Guetta, Swede Avicii and the dual-Dutch attack of Hardwell and Afrojack. An American EDM winner would have produced rioting, no doubt.
Hostess Nicki Minaj would not go home unrewarded. She fended off label mate Drake, fellow femcee Iggy Azalea, plus icons such as Eminem and Kanye West to take the Best Hip Hop Act award.
One prize worth noting was Worldwide Act, which went to Chinese Mando-pop star Bibi Zhou (she beat 5 Seconds of Summer). Glad to see at least one part of the program tried to introduce a wider audience to new music.
