1999 MTV Video Music Awards
The 1999 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on September 9, 1999, honoring the best music videos from June 13, 1998, to June 11, 1999. The show was hosted by Chris Rock at Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. Lauryn Hill was the big winner of the night, taking home four Moonmen, including Best Female Video and the big one, Video of the Year
Highlights of the show included Diana Ross jiggling Lil' Kim's exposed breast in response to her outfit, which left her entire left breast uncovered, but for a small pastie on her nipple. The mothers of slain rappers Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G., Afeni Shakur and Voletta Wallace, came together to present the Best Rap Video Award. The Beastie Boys' Adam Horovitz made a plea for peace in the wake of the sexual assaults at Woodstock '99. Near the end of the night, MTV staged a tribute to Madonna, the most-nominated artist in VMA history, by presenting a host of male drag performers dressed as the singer in her past music videos. Rapper DMX was scheduled to perform but was a no-show; as a result, Jay-Z's solo set was extended. Another moment of the ceremony was the debut of Britney Spears performing her debut single "...Baby One More Time", and then, NSYNC, performed their song "Tearin' Up My Heart".
As Backstreet Boys came up and accepted their award for Viewer's Choice, a stranger came onto the stage and said, "Wake up at 3". This person was later revealed to be John Del Signore, who crashed the ceremony in a failed attempt to sell Viacom a show idea.
The awards show featured a line-up of sponsors and cross-promotions, most notably with SEGA, as the date of the show also coincided with the launch of their Dreamcast game console.
Nominations
Winners are in bold text.Video of the Year
Lauryn Hill – "Doo Wop "- Backstreet Boys – "I Want It That Way"
- Korn – "Freak on a Leash"
- Ricky Martin – "Livin' la Vida Loca"
- Will Smith – "Wild Wild West"
Best Male Video
- Eminem – "My Name Is"
- Lenny Kravitz – "Fly Away"
- Ricky Martin – "Livin' la Vida Loca"
Best Female Video
- Jennifer Lopez – "If You Had My Love"
- Madonna – "Beautiful Stranger"
- Britney Spears – "...Baby One More Time"
Best Group Video
- Backstreet Boys – "I Want It That Way"
- Limp Bizkit – "Nookie"
- NSYNC – "Tearin' Up My Heart"
- Sugar Ray – "Every Morning"
Best New Artist in a Video
- Kid Rock – "Bawitdaba"
- Jennifer Lopez – "If You Had My Love"
- Orgy – "Blue Monday"
Best Pop Video
- Backstreet Boys – "I Want It That Way"
- Jennifer Lopez – "If You Had My Love"
- NSYNC – "Tearin' Up My Heart"
- Britney Spears – "...Baby One More Time"
Best Rock Video
- Kid Rock – "Bawitdaba"
- Lenny Kravitz – "Fly Away"
- Limp Bizkit – "Nookie"
- The Offspring – "Pretty Fly "
Best R&B Video
- Aaliyah – "Are You That Somebody?"
- Brandy – "Have You Ever?"
- Whitney Houston – "Heartbreak Hotel"
Best Rap Video
- 2Pac – "Changes"
- DMX – "Ruff Ryders' Anthem"
- Nas – "Hate Me Now"
Best Hip-Hop Video
- Busta Rhymes – "What's It Gonna Be?!"
- Lauryn Hill – "Doo Wop "
- TLC – "No Scrubs"
Best Dance Video
- Cher – "Believe"
- Fatboy Slim – "Praise You"
- Jordan Knight – "Give It to You"
- Jennifer Lopez – "If You Had My Love"
Best Video from a Film
- Aaliyah – "Are You That Somebody?"
- Jay-Z – "Can I Get A..."
- Will Smith – "Wild Wild West"
Breakthrough Video
- Busta Rhymes – "Gimme Some More"
- Eels – ""
- Eminem – "Guilty Conscience"
- Korn – "Freak on a Leash"
- Unkle – "Rabbit in Your Headlights"
Best Direction in a Video
- Busta Rhymes – "What's It Gonna Be?!"
- Eminem – "My Name Is"
- Korn – "Freak on a Leash"
- TLC – "No Scrubs"
Best Choreography in a Video
- Ricky Martin – "Livin' la Vida Loca"
- Will Smith – "Wild Wild West"
- Britney Spears – "...Baby One More Time"
Best Special Effects in a Video
- The Black Eyed Peas – "Joints & Jam"
- Busta Rhymes – "What's It Gonna Be?!"
- Korn – "Freak on a Leash"
- Madonna – "Nothing Really Matters"
- Will Smith – "Miami"
Best Art Direction in a Video
- Barenaked Ladies – "One Week"
- Busta Rhymes – "What's It Gonna Be?!"
- Korn – "Freak on a Leash"
- TLC – "No Scrubs"
Best Editing in a Video
- 2Pac – "Changes"
- Cher – "Believe"
- TLC – "No Scrubs"
Best Cinematography in a Video
- Hole – "Malibu"
- Korn – "Freak on a Leash"
- Madonna – "Beautiful Stranger"
- Will Smith – "Miami"
Best Artist Website
- David Bowie
- Sheryl Crow
- Jennifer Lopez
- Limp Bizkit
- Massive Attack
- The Smashing Pumpkins
Viewer's Choice
- Jay-Z – "Can I Get A..."
- Korn – "Freak on a Leash"
- Ricky Martin – "Livin' la Vida Loca"
- NSYNC – "Tearin' Up My Heart"
- TLC – "No Scrubs"
International Viewer's Choice Awards
[MTV Australia]
Silverchair – "Anthem for the Year 2000"- Neil Finn – "Sinner"
- The Living End – "Save the Day"
- Powderfinger – "Already Gone"
- Spiderbait – "Stevie"
[MTV Brasil]
- Banda Eva – "De Ladinho"
- Barão Vermelho – "Por Você"
- Capital Inicial – "O Mundo"
- Charlie Brown Jr. – "Zoio D Lula"
- Cidade Negra – "Já Foi"
- Claudinho e Buchecha – "Só Love"
- Engenheiros do Hawaii – "Eu Que Não Amo Você"
- Jota Quest – "Sempre Assim"
- Kid Abelha – "Eu Só Penso em Você"
- Leonardo – "120, 150, 200 km/h"
- Nativus – "Liberdade pra Dentro da Cabeça"
- Os Paralamas do Sucesso – "Depois da Queda o Coice"
- Pato Fu – "Canção pra Você Viver Mais"
- Pepê e Neném – "Mania de Você"
- Sandy & Junior – "No Fundo do Coração"
- SPC – "Sai da Minha Aba "
- Skank – "Mandrake e os Cubanos"
- Caetano Veloso – "Sozinho"
- Vinny – "Shake Boom"
[MTV India]
- Shankar Mahadevan – "Breathless"
- Sonu Nigam – "Ab Mujhe Raat Din"
- Alka Yagnik and Udit Narayan – "Kuch Kuch Hota Hain"
- Alka Yagnik and Udit Narayan – "Mera Mann"
[MTV Korea]
- Cho Sung Mo – "To Heaven"
- Jinusean – "Taekwon V"
- No Brain – "Youth 98"
- Shin Hae Chul – "Invitation to My Daily Life"
- Yoo Seung Jun – "Burning Love"
[MTV Latin America] (North)
- Bersuit Vergarabat – "Sr. Cobranza"
- Café Tacuba – "Revés"
- Control Machete – "Sí, Señor"
- Molotov – "El Carnal de las Estrellas"
[MTV Latin America] (South)
- Los Auténticos Decadentes – "Los Piratas"
- Miguel Mateos – "Bar Imperio"
- Molotov – "El Carnal de las Estrellas"
- Los Pericos – "Sin Cadenas"
[MTV Mandarin]
- Chau Wa-Kin – "Someone with a Story"
- Valen Hsu – "Don't Say Goodbye"
- Faye Wong – "Quitting in Halfway"
- Harlem Yu and Jeff Chang – "Love Turning Around"
- Zhang Chen-Yu – "I Want Money"
- Zheng Jun – "Happiness"
[MTV Russia]
- Linda – "Otpusti Menyia"
- Mumiy Troll – "Ranetka"
- The Offspring – "Pretty Fly "
- Otpetye Moshenniki – "Lyubi Menia, Lyubi"
- Britney Spears – "...Baby One More Time"
[MTV Southeast Asia]
- Mai Charoenpura – "Mai Han Pen Rai"
- Krisdayanti – "Menghitung Hari"
- Poetic Ammo – "Everything Changes"
Performances
Pre-show
- Smash Mouth – "All Star"
- Blink-182 – "What's My Age Again?"/"All the Small Things"
Main show
- Kid Rock – "King of Rock" / "Rock Box" / "Bawitdaba" / "Walk This Way"
- Lauryn Hill – "Lost Ones" / "Everything Is Everything"
- Backstreet Boys – "I Want It That Way" / "Larger Than Life"
- Ricky Martin – "She's All I Ever Had" / "Livin' la Vida Loca"
- Nine Inch Nails – "The Fragile"
- TLC – "No Scrubs"
- Fatboy Slim – "Praise You"
- Jay-Z – "Jigga My Nigga" / "Can I Get A..." / "Hard Knock Life "
- Britney Spears and NSYNC – "...Baby One More Time" / "Tearin' Up My Heart"
- Eminem, Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg – "My Name Is" / "Guilty Conscience" / "Nuthin' But a "G" Thang"
Appearances
Pre-show
- Chris Connelly and Ananda Lewis – announced the winners of the professional categories and presented Best R&B Video
Main show
- Moby – DJed during the commercial breaks
- Janet Jackson – presented Best Dance Video
- Puff Daddy and Denise Richards – presented Best Group Video
- Chris Rock – introduced Kid Rock
- Tom Green – appeared in vignettes about Viewer's Choice voting procedures
- Wyclef Jean and Charlotte Church – presented Best New Artist in a Video
- David Bowie – introduced Lauryn Hill
- Will Smith – introduced Afeni Shakur and Voletta Wallace and presented Best Rap Video with them
- Carson Daly and Pamela Anderson – described balloting procedures, and introduced the Backstreet Boys
- Gavin Rossdale and Susan Sarandon – presented Best Female Video
- Christina Aguilera and Tommy Lee – presented Best Rock Video
- Chris Rock – introduced Ricky Martin
- Janeane Garofalo and Method Man – presented Breakthrough Video
- Mark McGrath and Jennifer Lopez – presented Best Video From a Film
- Johnny Depp – introduced Nine Inch Nails
- Limp Bizkit and Heather Locklear – presented Best Pop Video
- Prince – introduced TLC
- Mira Sorvino and Freddie Prinze Jr. – presented Best Male Video
- Regis Philbin – introduced Fatboy Slim, Richard Koufey and the Torrance Community Dance Group
- Renée Zellweger and Jay Mohr – introduced the International Viewer's Choice Awards winners
- Stone Cold Steve Austin – introduced Jay-Z
- Buddy Hackett, Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard and Michael C. Williams – presented Best Direction in a Video
- Chris Rock – introduced Britney Spears and NSYNC
- Mary J. Blige and Lil' Kim – introduced Diana Ross and presented Best Hip-Hop Video with her
- Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Heidi Klum and Tim Robbins – presented Viewer's Choice
- Lars Ulrich – introduced Eminem
- Madonna – introduced Paul McCartney and presented Video of the Year with him