2010 MTV Video Music Awards Winners

Lady Gaga, outdoing even herself with her adventurous couture, dominated the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards, adding eight to her collection of Moonmen with awards including “Video Of The Year,” “Best Dance Video,” “Best Pop Video” and “Best Female Video.”  Eminem, who opened this year’s Awards with a triumphant performance, walked away with two statues for “Best Male Video” and “Best Hip Hop Video.”  VMA newcomers 30 Seconds To Mars and Florence + The Machine took home their first wins for “Best Rock Video” and “Best Art Direction,” respectively.  Justin Bieber was voted “Best New Artist.”

A year after Taylor Swift‘s first VMA win was interrupted by Kanye West, the two returned to musically play out last year’s drama, once again on the VMA stage. For an exclusive live performance, Taylor sang “Innocence,” an emotional song she wrote about how she felt after last year’s incident.  Later in the evening and this year as an official performer, Kanye debuted “Runaway” (featuring Pusha T from Clipse), a personal statement on the turbulence of the last year.

MTV aired the 2010 Video Music Awards live on Sunday, September 12 from Nokia Theater in Los Angeles, having transformed the venue into a 1950’s sculptural nod to modernism.  The VMA’s kicked off with an epic performance by Eminem backed by an orchestra to present a medley of his comeback anthem “Not Afraid” into a fiery version of “Love The Way You Lie” with surprise guest Rihanna.  Host Chelsea Handler brought her edgy comedic flair to the Awards, making a dramatic entrance that riffed on Lady Gaga’s extravagant fashion sense, flying onto the stage wearing a suburban house on her head, complete with a single car garage, and ending her monologue by releasing a dove from her dress.  Backstage before taking the stage, Chelsea was shown receiving “encouragement” from well wishers Li’l John, Flo Rida and a score-settling Lindsay Lohan.

Kim Kardashian introduced Justin Bieber, who made his VMA debut performance with an outdoor set of “Baby” into “Somebody to Love” to throngs of adoring fans – including Kim herself who, waving a restraining order, professed she’d nonetheless wait for the young heartthrob in his dressing room.

In another show highlight, the one-and-only Cher presented Lady Gaga with her “Video Of The Year” Award, donning the same outfit (yes, she still fit into it) that she barely wore more than 20 years ago in her own memorable video “If I Could Turn Back Time.”

With an intro by Ke$ha and Trey Songz, Usher’s electric entrance and pounding energy brought down the house with a medley of “DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love” into “OMG!,” showing off his dance moves against an other-worldly combination of visual effects.

The physicality of Usher’s set contrasted with VMA newcomer Florence + The Machine’s ethereal, breakout performance of “Dog Days Are Over,” featuring a large-scale dance number with scores of dancers and percussionists to create a flowing dream-like sequence.

Representing the rock side of the house, Linkin Park extended the VMA stage to include the first-ever performance at the landmark Griffith Observatory, where they performed their powerful single “The Catalyst” against the stunning backdrop of a spectacular Los Angeles sunset.

Hip-hop artist Drake was joined on onstage by Mary J. Blige and Swizz Beatz for a performance of his hit single “Fancy,” set against a supper club backdrop. Shortly following Drake’s performance, Chelsea stumbled upon the cast of “Jersey Shore” in, what else, a hot tub.  Teasing the cast about how dirty the water is, she finally agreed to jump in fully clothed, only to emerge wet and pregnant.

Additional performances included a medley by “dream team” Bruno Mars, B.o.B and Paramore, marking the first time ever that B.o.B and Hayley Williams of Paramore sang their hit single “Airplanes” together.

Joining this year’s VMA house artist deadmau5 to perform their current hit singles was Travie McCoy, Jason Derulo and Robyn.  The night was filled with a long list of musical artists and stars including: Katy Perry, Nicki Minaj, Justin Timberlake, MTV Tr3s Artist of the Year Romeo from Aventura, Sofia Vergara, Jared Leto, Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, cast members from “Glee” and “True Blood,” Ne-Yo, Ellen DeGeneres, the cast of the upcoming film “Jackass 3-D,” Penn Badgley, Selena Gomez, Emma Stone and Ashley Greene.