It was a very good night for Justin Bieber who scored five wins at MTV’s 2015 Europe Music Awards, during a star-studded show held Sunday at the Mediolanum Forum in Milan aired across MTV’s global network of more than 60 channels and hundreds of digital platforms.
Ed Sheeran, Nicki Minaj, One Direction, Rihanna, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Taylor Swift, and Shawn Mendes also won EMAs, which were based on more than half billion votes from around the globe.
Bieber, who performed his tropical ballad hit single “What Do You Mean?” on the Milan stage, scooped EMAs for Best Male; Best Look; Worldwide Act: North America; Best Collaboration for his work with Skrillex and Diplo on “Where Are You Now?”; and also the Biggest Fans prize in a heated social vote, with One Direction landing in second place.
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis opened the show with a high-octane performance of their award-winning song “Downtown,” which featured mopeds, travellators and Eric Nally flying high above the stage. Later in the evening, they scored the Best Video prize for “Downtown.”
Andrea Bocelli performed his classic “Time To Say Goodbye,” and then joined singer-songwriter Tori Kelly to bring down the house with a duet rendition of Pink’s hit “Learn To Love Again.” Appropriately, Milan marked the first time the Italian tenor attended the EMAs. Bocelli’s new album “Cinema,” which was released globally Friday by Sugar Music/Universal Music Group features great movie themes, including from “Doctor Zhivago,” “West Side Story,” and “The Godfather.”
The closing act was Pharrell Williams’ potent perf of his hit track “Freedom.” The broadcast then cut to Milan’s cantral Piazza Duomo, where thousands of fans held up a massive ‘Freedom’ flag comprising national flags from all over the world. It symbolized the birth of a utopian country that knows no borders and kicked off the MTV Freedom campaign, which seeks to raise awareness, activism and donations in support of the refugee crisis in Europe.
Duran Duran were honored with the first ever MTV Visionary Award.
Here’s the FULL LIST OF 2015 MTV EMA Winners
BEST SONG
Taylor Swift featuring Kendrick Lamar “Bad Blood”
BEST POP
One Direction
BEST FEMALE
Rihanna
BEST MALE
Justin Bieber
BEST LIVE ACT
Ed Sheeran
BEST NEW ACT
Shawn Mendes
BEST VIDEO
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis “Downtown”
BEST ROCK
Coldplay
BEST ALTERNATIVE
Lana Del Rey
BEST HIP HOP
Nicki Minaj
BEST ELECTRONIC
Martin Garrix
BEST PUSH
Shawn Mendes
BEST COLLABORATION
Justin Bieber, Skrillex, Diplo “Where Are You Now?”
BIGGEST FANS
Justin Bieber
BEST LOOK
Justin Bieber
BEST WORLD STAGE
Ed Sheeran V Festival, Hylands Park, UK 2014
VIDEO VISIONARY AWARD
Duran Duran
WORLDWIDE ACT: North America
Canada – Justin Bieber
WORLDWIDE ACT: LATIN America
Brazil – Anitta
WORLDWIDE ACT: Europe
Italy – Marco Mengoni
WORLDWIDE ACT: Africa / India
Africa – Diamond Platnumz
WORLDWIDE ACT: Asia
China – Jane Zhang
WORLDWIDE ACT: Australia / New Zealand
Australia – 5 Seconds of Summer
Source: Variety.com