2022 MTV EMAs: Taylor Swift dominates ceremony with 4 wins and other highlights
- Taylor Swift was the queen of the MTV European Movie Awards on Sunday night, taking home four trophies – the most of any artist
- The ‘Midnights’ singer was up for six awards, right behind Harry Style with seven nods
The ‘Midnights’ singer won best artist, best video, best pop and best longform video. Photo: AFPTaylor Swift won big at Sunday’s 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 “Anti-Hero” from her record-breaking new album Midnights, 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 “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 did not 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.
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”, recently released 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 was not 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”.