Taylor Swift wins big at MTV Europe Music Awards

The US pop singer, wearing a dress of bejewelled mesh, won best artist, best pop, best video and best long-form video.

The event, broadcast on MTV from Duesseldorf in western Germany, honoured musicians from Brazil to South Korea.
AP

The event, broadcast on MTV from Duesseldorf in western Germany, honoured musicians from Brazil to South Korea.

Taylor Swift has walked away with four prizes at MTV's Europe Music Awards, including best video for her 10-minute "All Too Well".

Currently topping the charts with “Anti-Hero” from her record-breaking new album “Midnights,” Swift on Sunday made a surprise appearance at the awards in Dusseldorf to collect her haul, the latest in a long line of accolades for the singer-songwriter. 

Accepting her first award of the night she said “the fans are the only reason any of this happens for me.”

David Guetta and Bebe Rexha opened the show with their hit collaboration “I’m Good (Blue),” a track that nearly didn’t get released.

Rexha explained on the carpet “we had no idea that it was gonna blow up and be so viral on TikTok. And here we are performing it and nominated for ‘Best Collab.'”

Hot on their toes were Muse who returned to the EMAs for a fiery performance of “Will of the People,” later winning best rock act. They dedicated their award to the people of Ukraine and the women of Iran.

This year’s show was hosted by newlyweds Rita Ora and Taika Waititi. Ora didn’t disappoint with a host of outfit changes and Waititi joked he was channelling his inner pop star.

An absent Nicki Minaj also came out on top with a trio of prizes for best song, best hip-hop and a category called super freaky girl. Styles, who is currently touring in the US, won for best live performance.

READ MORE: Taylor Swift makes US song chart history with ‘Midnights’

'Voice for Ukraine'

Following their Eurovision win in May, Ukrainian band Kalush Orchestra gave one of the most powerful and moving performances of the night, turning the auditorium blue and yellow in support of Ukraine. Talking on the red carpet frontman Oleg Psyuk explained that with their new found fame they could support and spread awareness of the plight of the Ukrainian people

“It’s important for us to be a voice of Ukraine, to have opportunity to be all over the world, to perform and to say about Ukraine, to say about war, to say about our culture, culture that fights against war.”

British rapper Stormzy performed ballad “Fire Babe,” released this week from his highly anticipated third album “This is What I Mean.”

OneRepublic performed their “Top Gun: Maverick” tune “I Ain’t Worried,” with a special video intro from the man himself, Tom Cruise, which they said wasn’t easy to get.

Other performers on the night included Ava Max who sparkled in a giant diamond singing “Million Dollar Baby” and Tate McRae who performed a medley of her hits, “She’s all I wanna be’ and ‘Uh oh.”

Voted for by the fans 17 gender-neutral categories were announced during the evening. The show, broadcast from the PSD Bank Dome will be shown in more than 170 countries.

READ MORE: Taylor Swift wins top MTV video award

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