LONDON: Canadian teen singer Shawn Mendes on Sunday won best artist and best song at the MTV Europe Music Awards (EMA) in London, pipping heavyweight competitors such as Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus and Ed Sheeran.
The awards ceremony at Wembley Arena, the first to be staged in the British capital in 20 years, were hosted by Rita Ora and featured performances by U2 and David Guetta.
In a first for the EMAs, which were created in 1994, MTV announced categories stripped of gender in a bid to “break barriers.”
Mendes, 19, who launched his career by posting song covers to the Internet before getting signed to a record label, also scooped the “biggest fans” award.
He performed the track that won him best song — “There’s Nothing Holding Me Back” — in front of an electrified crowd in London.
Eminem, who opened the show by unveiling his new single “Walk on Water” — ahead of the release on Friday of his latest album “Revival” — won for best hip hop artist.
Cuban-American singer Camila Cabello was honored with the best pop prize, while Coldplay snatched the best rock award.
French DJ David Guetta, who performed in front of the youthful crowd, won for best electronic act.
Taylor Swift, who was expected to be one of the big winners of the night with six nominations, failed to win any awards.
The majority of the winners were picked by music fans in an online vote, from 12 categories listed and a further 32 separate prizes for different countries and regions.
Louis Tomlinson, from the boy band One Direction, landed the best UK and Ireland act.
The best video, claimed by US rapper Kendrick Lamar, was one of the few awards to be chosen by the MTV team.
Other big-name winners included Ed Sheeran, for best live act, and Dua Lipa, for best new performer.
Thirty Seconds to Mars were named best alternative.
Irish band U2 collected MTV’s “Global Icon” gong, previously awarded to Queen, Whitney Houston and Eminem.
“U2’s impact on music, pop culture and social issues around the world has been tremendous,” said Bruce Gillmer, producer of the awards ceremony.
“For over four decades and counting, they’ve entertained, influenced, and inspired fans around the globe,” he added.
U2 performed in London’s Trafalgar Square the night before the MTV awards, along with DJ Guetta, to a crowd of 7,000 who won free tickets in a ballot.
This year saw the MTV Europe Music Awards return to London for the first time since 1996.
British singer and actress Rita Ora took charge of the ceremony and also turned in a popular stage performance.
The cable channel also runs the Video Music Awards which are renowned for top performances and the occasional controversy, including pop diva Lady Gaga wearing a dress made of meat to the ceremony in 2010.
The previous Video Music Awards saw hip hop artist Kanye West leap on stage to interrupt an acceptance speech by Swift and argue that Beyonce was better.
Shawn Mendes wins best artist at MTV Europe Music Awards
Shawn Mendes wins best artist at MTV Europe Music Awards
Arts festival’s decision to exclude Palestinian author spurs boycott
- A Macquarie University academic who researches Islamophobia and Palestine, Abdel-Fattah responded saying it was “a blatant and shameless act of anti-Palestinian racism and censorship,” with her lawyers issuing a letter to the festival
SYDENY: A top Australian arts festival has seen the withdrawal of dozens of writers in a backlash against its decision to bar an Australian Palestinian author after the Bondi Beach mass shooting, as moves to curb antisemitism spur free speech concerns.
The shooting which killed 15 people at a Jewish Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Dec. 14 sparked nationwide calls to tackle antisemitism. Police say the alleged gunmen were inspired by Daesh.
The Adelaide Festival board said last Thursday it would disinvite Randa Abdel-Fattah from February’s Writers Week in the state of South Australia because “it would not be culturally sensitive to continue to program her at this unprecedented time so soon after Bondi.”
FASTFACTS
• Abdel-Fattah responded, saying it was ‘a blatant and shameless act of anti-Palestinian racism and censorship.’
• Around 50 authors have since withdrawn from the festival in protest, leaving it in doubt, local media reported.
A Macquarie University academic who researches Islamophobia and Palestine, Abdel-Fattah responded saying it was “a blatant and shameless act of anti-Palestinian racism and censorship,” with her lawyers issuing a letter to the festival.
Around 50 authors have since withdrawn from the festival in protest, leaving it in doubt, local media reported.
Among the boycotting authors, Kathy Lette wrote on social media the decision to bar Abdel-Fattah “sends a divisive and plainly discriminatory message that platforming Australian Palestinians is ‘culturally insensitive.'”
The Adelaide Festival said in a statement on Monday that three board members and the chairperson had resigned. The festival’s executive director, Julian Hobba, said the arts body was “navigating a complex moment.”
a complex and unprecedented moment” after the “significant community response” to the board decision.
In the days after the Bondi Beach attack, Jewish community groups and the Israeli government criticized Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for failing to act on a rise in antisemitic attacks and criticized protest marches against Israel’s war in Gaza held since 2023.
Albanese said last week a Royal Commission will consider the events of the shooting as well as antisemitism and social cohesion in Australia. Albanese said on Monday he would recall parliament next week to pass tougher hate speech laws.
On Monday, New South Wales state premier Chris Minns announced new rules that would allow local councils to cut off power and water to illegally operating prayer halls.
Minns said the new rules were prompted by the difficulty in closing a prayer hall in Sydney linked to a cleric found by a court to have made statements intimidating Jewish Australians.
The mayor of the western Sydney suburb of Fairfield said the rules were ill-considered and councils should not be responsible for determining hate speech.
“Freedom of speech is something that should always be allowed, as long as it is done in a peaceful way,” Mayor Frank Carbone told Reuters.
