Eminem voted MTV best singer
He was nominated for three other trophies due to be announced later in the 24-category musical extravaganza that MTV said was being broadcast to a billion people around the world.
Eminem performed a selection of his most popular raps, leaving out the expletives.
The award for best pop singer went to Kylie Minogue, while Alicia Keys took the award for best R&B and rockers Linkin Park won honours for best group.
It was the ninth edition of the MTV Europe Music Awards.
Winners are decided by fans voting online, by mobile phone and at special MTV voting booths.
U2, Kylie Minogue, Eminem, Coldplay, Pink, Shakira and Enrique Iglesias are all up for four awards each.
Raunchy pop diva Christina Aguilera, veteran star Whitney Houston and Latin heart-throb Enrique Iglesias added some intriguing flavours to the pop cocktail while Bon Jovi, currently riding high in the charts on both sides of the Atlantic, hope their career-long sales could now top 100 million with their latest album.
Hip hop star Wyclef Jean was seduced by the audience potential. “It’s a chance to reach one billion people,” said the star who hosted the awards ceremony two years ago in Stockholm but now hands over that mantle to rap star Sean P Diddy” Combs.
MTV Europe boss Brent Hansen said the glittering line-up was a refreshing change as manufactured bands are flooding the market.
“We very much want artistic merit to win through,” he told Reuters. “A show like this can help to show that we believe in this kind of thing.”
Even those giving out prizes were stars in their own right. They ranged from FC Barcelona striker Patrick Kluivert to James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan.
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