The 2002 MTV video awards were played out in glitzy fast forward last night as controversial rapper Eminem walked off with the coveted best video prize.
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Eminem at the 2002 MTV Video Awards
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Eminem's
Without Me
won the video of the year award, beating off the challenge of 'N Sync's
Without Me
and POD's
Alive
among others. As well as picking up a fistful of awards, which included best rap and best male videos, Eminem performed two quick numbers which kept the shows censors on their toes as they bleeped out the rapper's trademark expletives.
The annual back-slapping show at New York's landmark Radio City had been kicked off with a powerful but poignant performance by Bruce Springsteen who sang the title track from his September 11th-inspired new album The Rising.
Other performers during the evening included P Diddy, Sheryl Crow and Shakira, while a bemused-looking former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani was among the surprise presenters.
"Last year at this time I would have been outside ticketing all of your cars," Giuliani joked to the star-studded audience.
Two singers whose careers have been in the doldrums of late made an early appearance, with a black leather-clad Britney Spears presenting the self-styled king of pop Michael Jackson with an "Artist of the Millennium" award.
Teen-queen Spears recently announced she would be taking a six-month sabbatical for a spot of professional and spiritual regeneration. Jackson is in a bitter dispute with his recording company Sony following disappointing sales of his last album Invincible.
The awards show were brought forward by several weeks from their usual date so as not to clash with the run-up to the first anniversary of the September 11th attacks.
AFP