DUSSELDORF, Germany (AP) 鈥� Taylor Swift won big at Sunday鈥檚 MTV EMAs. Swift who led the nominations along with Harry Styles with seven a piece, walked away with four wins including for best artist, best video and best longform video.
Currently topping the charts with 鈥淎nti-Hero鈥� from her record-breaking new album 鈥淢idnights,鈥� Swift 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 鈥渢he fans are the only reason any of this happens for me.鈥�
David Guetta and Bebe Rexha opened the show with their hit collaboration 鈥淚鈥檓 Good (Blue),鈥� a track that nearly didn鈥檛 get released.
Rexha explained on the carpet 鈥渨e had no idea that it was gonna blow up and be so viral on TikTok. And here we are performing it and nominated for 鈥楤est Collab.'鈥�
Hot on their toes were Muse who returned to the EMAs for a fiery performance of 鈥淲ill of the People,鈥� later winning best rock act. They dedicated their award to the people of Ukraine and the women of Iran.
This year鈥檚 show was hosted by newlyweds Rita Ora and Taika Waititi. Ora didn鈥檛 disappoint with a host of outfit changes and Waititi joked he was channeling his inner popstar.
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 U.S., won for best live performance.
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
鈥淚t鈥檚 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.鈥�
British rapper Stormzy performed ballad 鈥淔ire Babe,鈥� released this week from his highly anticipated third album 鈥淭his is What I Mean.鈥�
OneRepublic performed their 鈥淭op Gun: Maverick鈥� tune 鈥淚 Ain鈥檛 Worried,鈥� with a special video intro from the man himself, Tom Cruise, which they said wasn鈥檛 easy to get.
Other performers on the night included Ava Max who sparkled in a giant diamond singing 鈥淢illion Dollar Baby鈥� and Tate McRae who performed a medley of her hits, 鈥渟he鈥檚 all i wanna be鈥� and 鈥榰h oh.鈥�
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.
Louise Dixon, The Associated Press
