No one expects rehearsals for a major awards show to go perfectly. With all the involved props, eye-popping staging and complex choreography, it's surprising there aren't more mistakes come show night.

Naturally, being all too aware of what could go wrong leads to pre-show jitters, and artists tend to deal with nervousness in different ways. Some get all quiet and pensive, some pull star trips and throw fits, others throw up. At this year's MTV Video Music Awards rehearsals, artists handled anxiety mostly in two ways: through humor or brute determination.

Before Coldplay began rehearsing "The Scientist," frontman Chris Martin was told that a good chunk of the song had to be cut off at the end to save time. At the conclusion of the first run-through, Martin was signaled when to end. "How much time have they taken off of it?" he asked incredulously, then laughed. "Why don't we just come out and bow without playing a note?"

(Click here for the complete list of the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards winners.)

Drummer Will Champion caused Martin to start laughing during one of the six takes of the song by shifting into a punk rock beat as the singer crooned, "Nobody said it was easy." And between takes, bassist Guy Berryman and guitarist Jon Buckland killed time by improvising a loose version of the Stone Roses' "Fool's Gold," among other less recognizable songs.

Coldplay weren't the only artists to burst into impromptu jams. When he wasn't playing with a yo-yo, Good Charlotte bassist Paul was thumbing out the rhythms for Jane's Addiction's "Ted, Just Admit It ...," Green Day's "When I Come Around" and Nirvana's "In Bloom." When it came to tomfoolery, Good Charlotte took the crown. During one take of "The Anthem," frontman Joel Madden paced in a straight line from left to right across the stage, and then back, displaying little emotion. During another take, he turned around and started shaking his butt like Shakira, and at one point, guitarist Benji Madden mimicked his brother as he roamed the stage, then slid on his knees, stuck out his tongue and made a devil's sign with his right hand like he was in Ratt.

"You've gotta have fun with rehearsal or else it's just boring," Good Charlotte bassist Billy said.

For Beyoncé, performing is no laughing matter. When you're focusing on writhing like a python while descending from the rafters, emulating the Queen of Sheba and busting into dance moves that could make Ginger Rogers' jaw drop, practical jokes just aren't that funny. Although Beyoncé's VMA rehearsal moves were flawless, the same can't be said for her dancers. One girl was facing the wrong way for an awkward moment, and two others bumped into one another while wiggling like Slinkys. And then a pair of male dancers had trouble cleanly removing the singer's split and velcroed red sweatpants. That's a problem, because if you're ever in the position to get a celebrity's pants off, you wanna be smooth.

Show executives were probably reaching for the Tylenol during 50 Cent's rehearsal for "P.I.M.P.," but not 50, who maintained his composure even though he missed the same cue and had to restart time after time. One humorous moment occurred during the first version of the song after the rapper climbed from a stepladder into a giant jewel-encrusted pimp goblet. Upon looking down from the lofty height, he laughed and exclaimed, "I gotta jump outta this cup?"

Metallica occasionally display a sense of humor offstage, but during rehearsal they were all business. While the heavy metal veterans might have mastered playing arenas and TV shows, playing snippets of Michael Jackson, Lenny Kravitz and the White Stripes could make any metal band shiver with trepidation. New bassist Robert Trujillo didn't know the bassline for the White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army" (which, in actuality, doesn't have a bassline), and had to be instructed by steely frontman James Hetfield. At first, the medley sounded a little shaky, but after a couple of tries, Metallica had it nailed. Strangely, guitarist Kirk Hammett seemed most at home playing the wah-wah parts of "Beat It" and Hetfield turned the main riff of "Seven Nation Army" into a crunchy wall of steel. At first, the band had trouble ending the medley in unison. Two run-throughs later, they had it down, enabling them to bash through a version of their current single, "Frantic," unhampered.