{alltv} Lady Gaga wins early prizes at MTV music awards

Sunday, September 12, 2010

{alltv} Lady Gaga wins early prizes at MTV music awards

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Lady Gaga overshadowed country starlet Taylor Swift to claim the first prize at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday, barely managing to get across the stage in her elaborate costume.

The flamboyant pop singer, decked out in a flowing multi-layered dress and towering high heels, took the prize for best female video for her song "Bad Romance," beating a field that included Swift's "Fifteen."

"Tonight, little monsters, we are the cool kids at the party," Lady Gaga said, using her term of affection for her fans.

Lady Gaga, 24, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, also claimed a pair of awards that were announced before the ceremony began at the Nokia Theater: best dance music video for "Bad Romance," and best collaboration for "Telephone," featuring Beyonce.

The ceremony's second award, best rock video, went to actor Jared Leto's rock band 30 Seconds to Mars and its clip for "Kings and Queens."

Lady Gaga leads the pack with 13 nominations, including a pair of nods for video of the year. Rapper Eminem, who opened the show with a medley of his hits "Not Afraid" and "Love the Way you Lie," picked up eight nominations.

Award presentations at the MTV awards are often little more than distractions from the performances. Canadian teen pop idol Justin Bieber raised the decibel level to ear-splitting as he performed on an outdoor stage for legions of screaming female fans.

Beforehand, host Chelsea Handler got in a few jabs at the 16-year-old's expense. "Imagine how good his music will be when he sees a vagina," she said.

Handler, who also implored winners to be on their worst behavior, wasted little time reminding the audience of last year's big controversy, when rapper Kanye West interrupted Swift's acceptance speech.

She described the issue as "the big black elephant in the room."

Swift will not get a chance to be interrupted. Her sole nomination was the female pop video category. But she was scheduled to perform a new song later in the ceremony, as was West.

MTV, owned by Viacom, will probably be the night's big winner. Last year's ceremony drew 9 million viewers, a 6 percent increase over 2008 and the largest turnout since 2004.