2011 MTV Video Music Awards
The 2011 MTV Video Music Awards took place on August 28, at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, honoring the best music videos from the previous year. On July 20, the nominees were announced. Katy Perry received the most nominations this year at ten, followed by Adele, and Kanye West, who were both tied at seven. A Britney Spears tribute was held, consisting of adult and children dancers alike, they wore costumes based on the music videos of Spears. British television director Hamish Hamilton directed the show for television viewing.
At the ceremony, Katy Perry won three awards, including top prize Video of the Year for "Firework". Adele also won three awards, all in the technical fields, including Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction and Best Editing for "Rolling in the Deep". Britney Spears won a total of two awards, Best Pop Video for her single Till the World Ends and the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award for her influence and impact in music. Lady Gaga also won two awards, including Best Female Video for "Born This Way".
Other winners included Beyoncé, Justin Bieber, Tyler, the Creator, Nicki Minaj, Kanye West, Foo Fighters, and the Beastie Boys who all won one apiece.
During the awards ceremony, Beyoncé revealed that she was pregnant with her first child, when she ended her performance of "Love on Top". The Huffington Post later confirmed that Knowles was five-months pregnant and her pregnancy announcement had broken the "most tweets per second recorded for a single event" Twitter record, receiving 8,868 tweets per second. MTV reported that Knowles' performance of "Love on Top" and the announcement of her pregnancy at the awards ceremony combined with Britney Spears tribute helped 2011's MTV Video Music Awards become the most-watched broadcast in MTV history, pulling in 12.4 million viewers. In addition, data from Google Insights showed that the most searched for term from August 29, 2011 to September 4, 2011 was "Beyonce pregnant" which reached 'breakout' levels – a term used by Google to describe a search with an increase of over 5,000 percent.
Performances
Presenters
- Kevin Hart – performed opening monologue welcoming audience to show and introduced the first set of presenters
- Jonah Hill and Nicki Minaj – presented Best Pop Video
- Miley Cyrus and Shaun White – presented Best Rock Video
- Will Ferrell, Seth Rogen, Jack Black and Odd Future – presented Best Hip-Hop Video
- Beavis & Butt-Head and Nicki Minaj - performed a comedy sketch.
- Demi Lovato and Chord Overstreet – presented Best Collaboration
- Rick Ross and Paul Rudd – introduced Pitbull, Ne-Yo and Nayer
- Katy Perry – introduced Adele
- Kim Kardashian – presented Best Male Video
- Joe Jonas and Victoria Justice – introduced Chris Brown
- Lady Gaga – introduced the Britney Spears tribute performance and presented the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard award
- Britney Spears and Lady Gaga – introduced Beyoncé
- Selena Gomez and Taylor Lautner – presented Best New Artist.
- Jared Leto and Zoe Saldana – introduced Young the Giant
- Cloris Leachman, Sammi Giancola, Snooki, Deena Nicole Cortese and JWoww – presented Best Female Video
- Russell Brand – presented the Amy Winehouse tribute introducing Tony Bennett and Bruno Mars
- Tony Bennett – introduced a clip of his recording sessions with Amy Winehouse
- Jennifer Lawrence – introduced a clip of The Hunger Games
- Katie Holmes – presented Video of the Year
- Drake – introduced Lil Wayne
Awards
Video of the Year
Katy Perry – "Firework"- Adele – "Rolling in the Deep"
- Beastie Boys – "Make Some Noise"
- Bruno Mars – "Grenade"
- Tyler, the Creator – "Yonkers"
Best Male Video
- Eminem – "Love the Way You Lie"
- Cee-Lo Green – "Fuck You"
- Bruno Mars – "Grenade"
- Kanye West – "All of the Lights"
Best Female Video
- Adele – "Rolling in the Deep"
- Beyoncé – "Run the World "
- Nicki Minaj – "Super Bass"
- Katy Perry – "Firework"
Best New Artist
- Big Sean – "My Last"
- Foster the People – "Pumped Up Kicks"
- Kreayshawn – "Gucci Gucci"
- Wiz Khalifa – "Black and Yellow"
Best Pop Video
- Adele – "Rolling in the Deep"
- Bruno Mars – "Grenade"
- Katy Perry – "Last Friday Night "
- Pitbull – "Give Me Everything"
Best Rock Video
- The Black Keys – "Howlin' for You"
- Cage the Elephant – "Shake Me Down"
- Foster the People – "Pumped Up Kicks"
- Mumford & Sons – "The Cave"
Best Hip-Hop Video
- Chris Brown – "Look at Me Now"
- Lupe Fiasco – "The Show Goes On"
- Lil Wayne – "6 Foot 7 Foot"
- Kanye West – "All of the Lights"
Best Collaboration
- Chris Brown – "Look at Me Now"
- Nicki Minaj – "Moment 4 Life"
- Pitbull – "Give Me Everything"
- Kanye West – "All of the Lights"
Best Direction
- Adele – "Rolling in the Deep"
- Eminem – "Love the Way You Lie"
- Katy Perry – "E.T."
- Thirty Seconds to Mars – "Hurricane"
Best Choreography
- Lady Gaga – "Judas"
- LMFAO – "Party Rock Anthem"
- Bruno Mars – "The Lazy Song"
- Britney Spears – "Till the World Ends"
Best Special Effects
- Chromeo – "Don't Turn the Lights On"
- Linkin Park – "Waiting for the End"
- Manchester Orchestra – "Simple Math"
- Kanye West – "Power"
Best Art Direction
- Death Cab for Cutie – "You Are a Tourist"
- Lady Gaga – "Judas"
- Katy Perry – "E.T."
- Kanye West – "Power"
Best Editing
- Manchester Orchestra – "Simple Math"
- Katy Perry – "E.T."
- Thirty Seconds to Mars – "Hurricane"
- Kanye West – "All of the Lights"
Best Cinematography
- Beyoncé – "Run the World "
- Eminem – "Love the Way You Lie"
- Katy Perry – "Teenage Dream"
- Thirty Seconds to Mars – "Hurricane"
Best Video with a Message
- Eminem – "Love the Way You Lie"
- Katy Perry – "Firework"
- Pink – "Fuckin' Perfect"
- Rise Against – "Make It Stop "
- Taylor Swift – "Mean"
Best Latino Artist
- Don Omar and Lucenzo – "Danza Kuduro"
- Enrique Iglesias – "Tonight "
- Maná – "Lluvia al Corazón"
- Prince Royce – "Corazón Sin Cara"
Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award