LOS ANGELES -- This year may go down in history as the year of the train wreck ... the big, glorious, star-studded train wreck. From Paris Hilton working the drive-thru to Courtney Love and her countless court dates, they kept us tuned into to reality-TV "life" (of both the "Surreal" and "Simple" varieties), sent us surfing to The Smoking Gun in search of mug shots and drove us to the newsstand looking for more unflattering scare shots of "stars without makeup."

So it's no surprise that Wednesday's VH1 Big in '04 award show spent a good chunk of time saluting the fascinatingly unstable. There was Anna Nicole Smith, just slightly more coherent than she was at the American Music Awards, threatening to flash the Shrine Auditorium audience after accepting the Big Makeover of '04 award. There was Paris Hilton mispronouncing "economical" backstage after winning the Big Catch Phrase award for "That's hot." And, of course, there was the ultimate odd couple, Flavor Flav and Brigitte Nielsen, fondling each other from the "beige carpet" to the stage, which they entered on a horse-drawn carriage. (They also tried to fondle Smith after presenting her with the trophy.)

And there was notorious "Bachelor" floozy Trish, "Survivor" hero Rupert and "Amazing Race" tandem Charla and Mirna being honored (or mocked?) onstage by Kathy Griffin. There was even polarizing filmmaker Michael Moore drawing his usual mix of cheers and boos while accepting the Big Boat Rocker Award (and comparing his political crusade to that of Rosa Parks).

But beyond the odd, 2004 offered a lot more, and the Big in '04 awards tried to hit it all, from the sweet to the star-powered. Among the night's tender moments, Jamie Foxx and Stevie Wonder sang an impromptu jam after Wonder presented the actor/singer with the Big Entertainer of '04 award. Later, P. Diddy gave an impassioned speech about his Vote or Die campaign after being presented with the Maverick Award for the second year in a row.

And, of course, it seems that no award show is complete these days without a dose of Usher. The R&B powerhouse continued his award-show hot streak by winning Big Musical Artist. "This is for everyone who ever doubted me," he said, holding up the trophy.

As host, Nick Lachey (who now has two reality shows to promote) was his usual calm, cool self, with skits that mocked the attention his and Jessica's relationship has been getting in the tabloids.

Black Eyed Peas, Green Day, Maroon 5 and Velvet Revolver performed during the show, which also honored Big Bummer Moment, Big Banned, Big Second Coming and Big Family.