Miami – Rock was resplendent at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday night, as the veteran punk group Green Day took home seven moonmen statues and newcomers The Killers and Fall Out Boy won one each.
Green Day, who arrived at the venue in the vintage green convertible from their gritty “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” video, won best rock video and video of the year for the clip, two of their leading eight nominations. They also won the viewer’s choice award, best group and several technical categories, losing only to Gwen Stefani’s “What You Waiting For?” for art direction.
In recent years, hip-hop and pop have dominated the show. Not this year: My Chemical Romance and Coldplay were among the showcase performances, and Kanye West was the only rapper to win an “all- genre” award, with his “Jesus Walks” taking best male video.
“It’s great to know that rock music still has a place at MTV,” said Green Day lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong.
The Killers won for best new artist. Fall Out Boy won the MTV2 award for their song “Sugar, We’re Going Down,” beating out artists Mike Jones, My Chemical Romance and reggaeton star Daddy Yankee.
But Pete Weintz of Fall Out Boy downplayed the “rock is resurgent” angle. “The return of rock doesn’t mean anything else is going away,” he said backstage.
The annual bash was briefly overshadowed by Hurricane Katrina, which hit South Florida on Thursday, killing several people.
As the storm passed, a celebratory mood took over the city – until early Sunday morning, when rap mogul “Suge” Knight was shot in the leg at a party.
MTV vowed that neither Katrina nor the shooting would affect the ceremonies – and they didn’t.
“The theme of tonight is, anything can happen,” said host Sean “Diddy” Combs, whose entrance included dancers, pyrotechnics and a waterfall – a spectacle that rivaled the show’s over-the-top performances.
“Desperate Housewives” star Eva Longoria donned a skimpy one-piece pink swimsuit on stage, saying: “Hey, Diddy, you said anything goes, and I wasn’t going to let a little hurricane prevent me from wearing my bathing suit!”
