MTV EMAs 2022: Taylor Swift thanks her fans as she takes home four top awards

Taylor Swift has dominated this year’s MTV Europe Music Awards, taking home four of the six gongs she was up for – best artist, best video, best pop and best long-form video.

There had been high hopes for some of the British stars to win awards – including Adele, Ed Sheeran and Harry Styleswho had led the nominations, however — Swift proved to be the queen of the MTV EMAs.

The 32-year-old megastar – who recently recorded some of her earliest hits to regain control of her work – praised her legion of fans (known as Swifties) as she accepted each award, thanking them for their unwavering support.

Receiving the best artist gong from Baywatch star David Hasselhoff, Swift told the auditorium of screaming fans: “You have no idea how much this even means to me to do this as a career…

“There’s not a single moment I take it for granted. I love you so much, I can’t believe I get to do this as a job, and it’s all down to you. Thank you so much.”

The annual international music awards, which took place in Düsseldorf, Germany and were hosted by celebrity power couple Rita Ora and Taika Waititi, also saw stars such as Nicki Minaj, Muse and Gorillaz take home gongs from 20 gender-neutral categories.

Read more: See the full list of MTV EMA winners here

Performances on the night included Stormzy – who, away from his usual style, performed his ballad Fire Babe on TV for the first time – plus live music from Lewis Capaldi, Bebe Rexha and Eurovision winners Kalush Orchestra.

British TikTok star and Eurovision runner-up Sam Ryder also bought a bit of Eurovision glam to the evening, presenting the prize for best collaboration to French DJ David Guetta and American star Bebe Rexha. Guetta also took the best electronic act.

There was even a surprise recorded message from Hollywood A-lister Tom Cruise, who introduced OneRepublic’s Top Gun: Maverick hit song I Ain’t Worried.

As her night of wins continued, Swift accepted the award for Best Long Form Video – which was one of two new categories this year – from singer/songwriter Julian Lennon, son of the late John Lennon.

As she took the stage, Swift again praised her fans for their continued support, telling them, “You’re the reason anything has ever happened to me.”

She explained: “I’ve been writing and directing my music videos for a long time, but this was the first short film I’ve made and I felt like I learned so much about myself about how filmmaking can be a natural extension of my storytelling. to write song.”

Stranger Things star Sadie Sink and Teen Wolf actor Dylan O’Brien appeared in the music video, which went viral earlier this year after fans speculated the song was based on Swift’s breakup with actor Jake Gyllenhaal.

In addition to the long-form award, it also took home Best Video, with Swift telling fans, “This almost never happened,” going on to explain that when she first released the song 10 years ago, it wasn’t a single and made it. has no video.

She continued: “I can only explain this by saying that the fans wanted this to happen. I will never stop thanking you for this.”

The video also picked up prestigious video of the year at the MTV Video Music Awards earlier this year.

When Swift received the award for best pop, he joked: “You have to wear a lot of sequins and learn choreography and it’s very difficult.”

She has been dominating the charts all over the world for the past few weeks after it releases her new album Midnights – the best-selling album of the year.

Nicki Minaj took the award for Best Song with Super Freaky Girl, along with Best Hip Hop Act.

Despite having the most nominations (seven), ex-One Direction star Harry Styles only took home one award on the night – Best Live Performance. He was not there in person to collect his award.

Best Rock Act went to Muse, who opened the ceremony with their new track Will Of The People.

Refusing to shy away from hard political truths amid the showbiz night’s glamour, lead singer Matt Bellamy told the MTV crowd: “We would love to dedicate this entire album to the people of Ukraine and the women of Iran who are fighting for their freedom as we celebrate tonight. “

Gorillaz – fronted by Blur star Damon Albarn – took best alternative band, while Sam Smith took video for good.

It was also a good night for K-pop, with South Korean boy band Seventeen taking Best New Act and Best Push, Blackpink taking Best Metaverse Performance (the night’s second new category), and one of the band’s members, Lisa, taking Best K- pop acts and BTS take the biggest fans.

Best Latin artist went to Anitta and best R&B to American star Chloe.

The 2022 MTV EMAs aired live on MTV on Sunday, November 13. You can watch the full MTV EMA 2022 show from November 14 on Paramount+ UK