K-pop kings BTS win 4 MTV Europe Music Awards at virtual ceremony

K-pop stars BTS picked up four prizes at the MTV Europe Music Awards on Sunday, including best song for "Dynamite" and best group, capping a year in which the Korean band underlined its status as a major global act.

The group's first English-language song, Dynamite logged nearly 34 million US streams and 300,000 sales in its first week, making BTS the first Korean act to debut at No. 1 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

The seven-member band also snagged MTV awards for best virtual live act and the biggest fans, although the coronavirus pandemic meant there was no audience and no ceremony to mark their achievement.

Instead, the music channel created a virtual stadium full of waving and cheering fans for the event, with acts appearing in pre-recorded performances from wherever they were located and winners accepting awards to camera.

British band Little Mix hosted the show, without member Jesy Nelson who was reported to be ill. They appeared on a computer generated stage within the "stadium".

In a nod to the pandemic, US rapper Jack Harlow sang "Whats Poppin" on a stage with four dancers wearing face masks.

Karol G won the new best Latin act category and best collaboration for "Tusa" featuring Nicki Minaj, Lady Gaga took the best artist award and DJ Khaled was awarded best video.

Little Mix, who performed "Sweet Melody" in a performance recorded in London, won the best pop act for 2020.

Cardi B was named best hip-hop act, Coldplay won the best rock category and Hayley Williams won the award for best alternative act.

Among the performers was Alicia Keys who sang "Love Looks Better" and Sam Smith, who performed "Diamonds" on the stage of an empty theatre.

US singer and rapper Doja Cat, who took home this year's best new act award, opened the show with her hit "Say So".

French DJ and producer David Guetta, who won the award for best electronic act, performed "Let's Love" with British singer Raye at the Széchenyi Bath complex in the Hungarian capital Budapest, accompanied by a laser show. 

-reuters-

Lockdown sends David Guetta back to his teens

IBIZA, Spain -- For French DJ and record producer David Guetta, lockdown has been a welcome relief from a punishing, if stellar, career and brought back some of the freedom he had in his teens.

Speaking to Reuters ahead of his virtual MTV Europe Music Awards (EMA's) performance on Sunday, he said this "moment of confinement" had been positive in many ways although he was very much aware how lucky he was not to have to worry about money.

"I started to make music every day, which I usually don't because I'm touring so much," he said via Zoom.

"I'm just making music for fun, like I was doing when I was 17, you know, and, and it's amazing ... it's one of the best moments of my life when it comes to enjoying and making music and being inspired."

The Best Electronic nominee prerecorded his EMAs performance in Budapest. He described his set as "pretty spectacular" and said he was "really, really impressed" with the show.

It will be the latest of several virtual performances since March, including two United at Home charity livestream events from Miami and New York in April and May which raised $1.5 million for coronavirus relief.

Guetta admitted that not having a live audience was hard. "I connect a lot with the crowd, you know, that's probably what made me successful more than anything. So, I missed that connection."

Known for his massive collaborations over almost two decades with international artists such as Akon, J Balvin, Nicki Minaj and Kelly Rowland, he said his latest track is different from anything he had done in the past.

"Let's Love," for which he reunites with Australian singer-songwriter Sia, is nominated for a Europe Music Award, in new category Video for Good and has also become a viral sound on TikTok.

The DJ said his children had to show him how the video-sharing social network worked but that he now sees its merits. "It's really unbelievable how it really influenced the music markets of today," he said.

Performances for the EMAs, which will be hosted by Little Mix, were filmed in various locations across Europe. The line-up includes Sam Smith, Maluma, YUNGBLUD and Alicia Keys and Lady Gaga leads the nominations this year with seven. 

-reuters-

Miley Cyrus lights 'joint' at MTV awards

AMSTERDAM -- Katy Perry won the award for best female singer at the 2013 MTV EMA music awards on Sunday, pipping Lady Gaga and Miley Cyrus to the post in MTV's first award ceremony since the launch a week ago of the upstart YouTube Music Awards.

But Cyrus stole the show by lighting what could have been a joint, in a nod to the host city's famously tolerant attitude towards soft drugs.

She had earlier been photographed in one of Amsterdam's best-known coffeeshops where soft drugs are on the menu.

With the three pop divas in contention, the prize for best female was the most closely watched battle at the Viacom-owned music network's 20th annual European awards ceremony.

Claiming her third EMA award, U.S. singer Perry gave a dramatic rendition of her song "Unconditionally," suspended like a sequin-covered glitter ball 9 meters above a gigantic outer-space-themed set.

"It's my goal to get (my music) to as many ears as possible," she said on the red carpet before the show. "If that's happening, I'm happy."

When Cyrus picked up her best video award for "Wrecking Ball," she made a show of not finding the space for the bauble in her handbag.

"You know I couldn't fit this award in my bag but I did find this," she said, pulling out a hand-rolled cigarette which she lit as she walked off the stage.

Earlier, the former Disney star, who caused a sensation with her raunchy "twerking" performance with actor Robin Thicke at the U.S.-based Video Music Awards in August, took to the red carpet in a bold mini dress on which the words "Please Stop Violence" were wrapped tightly around her hip.

British-Irish boy band One Direction had a good night, taking the prize for best pop, while Harry Styles, known as much for his singing in the band as for his celebrity girlfriends, was awarded best style.

Thirty Seconds to Mars frontman Jared Leto reacted to his band's winning the best alternative prize by calling for a minute of silence for those affected by typhoon Yolanda, which hit the Philippines on Friday, killing an estimated 10,000 people. The call went largely unheeded.

"It's hard to hear in there ... but the message is what's important, to send some love and support across the world," he said backstage afterwards.

Justin Bieber held on to his best male status for a fourth consecutive year, while Beyonce and Bruno Mars won awards for best live act and best song, respectively. China's Chris Lee won best worldwide act.

New competition

U.S. rapper Eminem was given a "Global Icon" prize for lifetime achievement along with best hip-hop, just a week after being declared artist of the year at the inaugural YouTube Music Awards, run by emerging music industry rival Google.

In the face of the new competition, the MTV EMA awards are being seen as a test of the ability of MTV, one of the most prominent brands of the 1980s and 1990s, to flourish in the internet era.

Robert Bakish, head of Viacom's broadcast division, said he was confident the company would rise to the challenge.

While MTV has dominated the field with its annual pop music awards since 1984, when the Video Music Awards were launched, video-sharing site YouTube, with its one billion viewers a month, has utterly remade the popular music business.

"There's always competition, traditional competition and new competition," Bakish told Reuters on the red carpet before the show.

"The EMA is the ultimate multiplatform expression, we combine live television with digital and on Web and on mobile," he said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com