I was astonished when Rick Astley was named as a nominee for ‘Best Act Ever’ at the MTV Europe Music Awards alongside the likes of Green Day and U2. So imagine my utter shock and horror when Astley actually won the damn thing last night at the ceremony in Liverpool.
MTV itself were clearly embarrassed by the whole thing because Rick himself didn’t appear to accept the award and there wasn’t even an acceptance video in light of his non-appearance. This is because MTV had its clever voting system hoodwinked by a viral online campaign to secure Astley the award.
The thing is, Astley probably deserved the award just as much as most of the other nominees, with Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Green Day, Tokio Hotel and U2 also making the list. His career may have ended years ago whilst the others are all still going but he has a whole new set of fans thanks to the Rickrolling phenomenon.
The sad thing is that even though the Awards are meant to be biased towards European acts, and were held in Liverpool, birthplace of The Beatles, only three British acts won, Rick Astley, Paul McCartney, and Leona Lewis, with the majority of the rest of the winners being American.
The full list of MTV EMAs 2008 winners:
Album Of The Year: Britney Spears – ‘Blackout’
Most Addictive Track: Pink – ‘So What’
Act of 2008: Britney Spears
Best New Act: Katy Perry
Ultimate Urban: Kanye West
Rock Out: 30 Seconds To Mars
Headliner: Tokio Hotel
Video Star: 30 Seconds To Mars – ‘A Beautiful Lie’
Best UK Act: Leona Lewis
Best Act Ever: Rick Astley
Artists’ Choice: Lil Wayne
Ultimate Legend: Sir Paul McCartney
So, not a good year for British acts. Leona Lewis deserved her award but it was a UK specific award, not Europe-wide. Rick Astley only won his thanks to a legion of fans online gaming the system, and Paul McCartney (I refuse to call him Sir) basically got given the ‘here’s an award before you die’ token prize.
Maybe it’s time to limit the MTV Europe Music Awards just to European acts? That way, the UK would absolutely clean up.
[Photo Source: michelleoshen at Flickr]