Eminem Wins Most MTV Europe Music Awards
Like he does with the majority of his recent endeavors, Eminem made the most of the MTV Europe Music Awards, making good on three of his four nominations to lead the pack of winners. ([article id="1458706"]Click to see photos from the show.[/article])
Slim Shady picked up awards for Best Male Act, Best Hip-Hop Act, and Best Album, for The Eminem Show, at the ceremony, held Thursday (November 14) in Barcelona, Spain. Each time he took the podium to accept an honor, -- with D12 member Proof in tow -- Em made a point to thank Interscope Records, Dr. Dre, and his imprint Shady Records. He also shouted out to his daughter Hailie on his first trip to the stage and wished protégé Obie Trice a happy birthday in his final acceptance speech.
Sexy songbird Kylie Minogue, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Linkin Park were tied for second place in the awards race. Minogue walked off with honors for Best Dance Act and Best Pop Act; the Peppers were dubbed Best Live Act and Best Rock Act; and Linkin Park, whose sole present member DJ Joseph Hahn received a chorus of boos after his second acceptance speech consisted only of a mumbled "Thank you," won for Best Group and Best Hard Rock Act.
Although the band wasn't present at the ceremony, the Chili Peppers' taped acceptances were the most entertaining of the speeches. The first featured singer Anthony Kiedis standing front and center with the statuette hanging out of his fly, while Chad Smith provided dramatic drum fills and bassist Flea and guitarist John Frusciante stood on their heads in the background. The second one was even stranger. With Flea behind the kit, Kiedis gave thanks poetically in bursts and stops while standing on a riser above his bandmates. Smith concluded the "thank you" by banging on a cymbal with the award.
Initally evoking an image of the confident don, P. Diddy hosted the
three-hour event with the requisite cavalcade of dumb jokes that mostly fell flat, not the least of which had him pretending to take a cell phone call from convicted shoplifter Winona Ryder, who wanted some free Sean John apparel. His constant costume changes ranged from a gold suit to a Run-DMC-esque leather hat and white T-shirt in honor of the late DJ Jam Master Jay.
Diddy was also responsible for the evening's most outrageous moment, which took place towards the end of the show. After describing his
diamond-encrusted pinky ring, he offered it up to any woman who would get naked on stage. Almost before he finished speaking, a woman in the front row hopped up and shrugged off her dress, suddenly topless before the Bad Boy, a packed Palau Sant Jordi, and an estimated one billion people watching worldwide. She quickly snatched the ring and ran backstage, leaving many wondering if seamlessly-executed stunt was staged.
Besides scoring the most awards, Eminem also laid claim to one of the best performances of the evening. Clad in a black and white hooded sweatsuit, his rendition of "Cleaning Out My Closet" came off slightly lackluster, until the opening monologue of "8 Mile" soundtrack hit "Lose Yourself" began, at which point the crowd went absolutely nuts, singing along and moving their raised arms in unison.
Sung slightly off key, off-kilter Pink's three-song medley of "Get the Party
Started," "Don't Let Me Get Me" and "Just Like a Pill" was clumsy and
less-than-thrilling, despite the singer's revealing bondage-buckled corset.
Speaking of which, the always demure -- not! -- Christina Aguilera performed
"Dirrty" with Redman, wearing only black leather chaps, some sort of swath
for a top and not much else.
Other performance highlights included Bon Jovi's "Everyday," Foo Fighters'
"All My Life," Enrique Iglesias' "Love to See You Cry" with bits of Billy
Idol's "White Wedding" thrown in; Whitney Houston's "Whatchulookinat"; Robbie
Williams' "Feel," from his forthcoming album Escapology and Wyclef
Jean's Tom Jones-inspired "Pussycat." Moby's rather rockin' "In My Heart"
closed the show.
Shakira, who came into the evening tied with Eminem, Minogue, and Pink with four nominations, walked away empty handed.
Europe Music Awards 2002 Winners List:
Catch all the sizzlin', star-packed VMA action direct from Miami on August 28. MTV News' preshow kicks things off at 6:00 p.m. ET/PT, followed by the big show at 8 p.m.
