2012 MTV VMA recap with complete list of winners

2012 MTV Video Music Awards logo graphic

The hippest event in all of television went off without a hitch last night as the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards was able to wrap up its two-hour show just in time for President Barak Obama’s scheduled speech at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte.

Kanye West and Lady Gaga were not in attendance, host Kevin Hart kept things relatively uncontroversial, and Taylor Swift was able to retain her microphone. The result was a rather tame (by VMA standards) but very entertaining two hours that saw One Direction take home three Moon Men including Best New Artist, Chris Brown winning Best Male Video for “Turn Up the Music,” Nicki Minaj winning Best Female Video for “Starships” and Rihanna taking the top prize of Video of the Year for “We Found Love.”

Here is a complete recap of the evening, including a list of all the winners, from the official MTV press release:

A HUGE NIGHT OF MUSICAL FIRSTS AT THE  “2012 MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS,” WITH DEBUT PERFORMANCES OF BRAND NEW SONGS BY TAYLOR SWIFT, ALICIA KEYS, LIL WAYNE, P!NK, GREEN DAY AND MORE

Highlights:

One Direction is Night’s Big VMA Winner with Three MTV Video Music Awards

Chris Brown and M.I.A. Followed with Two Wins Each

“Video of the Year” Winner Rihanna Kicked Off the VMA Festivities With a Super Sexy Performance

Taylor Swift Closes Out the Show with a Rousing Performance of Her Smash-Hit Single “We are Never Ever Getting Back Together”

Soul Sensation Frank Ocean Mesmerizes with an Intimate Performance

First-Time VMA Host Kevin Hart Delivered Huge Laughs

Los Angeles, LA (September 6, 2012) – The “2012 MTV Video Music Awards,” broadcast live this evening from STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, was a night of musical firsts with the debut TV performances of new songs by Taylor Swift, Alicia Keys, Lil Wayne, P!nk, Green Day and more. First-time host Kevin Hart set the lively tone for the evening the moment he emerged with his own unique security detail, while One Direction, Frank Ocean, 2 Chainz and Calvin Harris marked their first-ever VMA performances.

Rihanna 2012 MTV Video Music Awards red carpet photo

Rihanna, who took home the biggest prize of the night, “Video of the Year,” for “We Found Love,” opened the show with a sultry performance of “Cockiness (Love It)” featuring A$AP Rocky.” She then turned the arena into a huge dance party, performing her VMA award-winning song, “We Found Love,” with mega-hit producer and “2012 VMA house D.J.” Calvin Harris, who won a VMA of his own for “Best Electronic Dance Music Video.”

Chris Brown won two VMA Moonmen for “Best Male Video” and “Best Choreography” for “Turn up the Music.” Tying Brown with two wins for the night was M.I.A., who took home “Best Direction” and “Best Cinematography” for “Bad Girls.” The Young Money crew also had a night of successes, as Nicki Minaj won “Best Female Video,” and Drake featuring Lil Wayne scored “Best Hip Hop Video.” Coldplay garnered “Best Rock Video,” and VMA pre-show performer Demi Lovato took home “Best Video with a Message.”

Pink 2012 MTV Video Music Awards red carpet photo

A gravity-defying P!nk got the party started from a flying trapeze, performing her chart-topping hit “Blow Me (One Last Kiss).” Rising R&B singer-songwriter Frank Ocean took the stage for an intimate performance of his single “Thinking Of You,” off his debut album. Accompanied only by a guitarist, it was an enchanting performance by the VMA newcomer.

U.K. sensation One Direction, took home three Moonmen for “Best New Artist,” voted on live throughout the show, “Best Pop Video,” and first-time VMA fan voted social media category, “Most Share-Worthy Video” presented by Bing, ascended from beneath the stage to a throng of screaming fans, and performed their hit single “One Thing” on a platform high above the audience.

Hip-hop rising star 2 Chainz took to the VMA stage for the first time ever, and together with Lil Wayne, ignited the audience with a performance of “Yuck,” followed by Lil Wayne’s new single “No Worries,” from his highly anticipated mix tape, “D4.” In a pulsating performance from the center of a writhing human mosh pit, Green Day rocked out to their new song “Let Yourself Go.”

Alicia Keys 2012 MTV Video Music Awards red carpet photo

Alicia Keys’ electrifying performance of new single “Girl on Fire” featured a surprise appearance by Nicki Minaj, and was accompanied by U.S. Olympian Gabby Douglas, who performed her gold medal-winning moves on stage.

Taylor Swift closed out the epic evening with a fun performance of her new Smash single, “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” that brought the entire crowd to their feet. Starting the song in a recording booth, Swift was soon draped by a team of backup dancers as they paraded down the stage with a shower of flower petals raining on the wall of hi-def screens behind them. Swift then crowd dived into the crowd at STAPLES Center amid a sea of confetti.

Presenters at the“2012 MTV Video Music Awards” included Katy Perry, Emma Watson, Mac Miller, the “Fierce Five” 2012 Gold Medal-winning U.S. Women’s Olympic Gymnastics Team, The Wanted, Wiz Khalifa, Demi Lovato, Miley Cyrus, Andy Samberg, Rashida Jones, 2 Chainz, Ke$ha, Tyler, the Creator, Rita Ora, Dwight Howard, Rebel Wilson, Zoe Saldana and worldwide Korean hip-hop viral sensation Psy.

VMA night kicked off with social activity booming beginning with with the “Jersey Shore GTL Special” with over 5.2 million tweets and more than 175 trending topics in the US and worldwide. #VMA2012 has persistently been trending as the #1 organic topic since the beginning of the show. @mtv’s most popular tweet was announcing One Direction‘s win for Most Share-Worthy Video.

The “2012 VMA” award winners are:

VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Rihanna f/ Calvin Harris
Title: “We Found Love”

BEST NEW ARTIST
One Direction
Title: “What Makes You Beautiful”

BEST MALE VIDEO
Chris Brown
Title: “Turn Up the Music”

Nicki Minaj 2012 MTV Video Music Awards red carpet photo

BEST FEMALE VIDEO
Nicki Minaj
Title: “Starships”

BEST HIP HOP VIDEO
Drake featuring Lil Wayne
Title: “HYFR”

BEST POP VIDEO
One Direction
Title: “What Makes You Beautiful”

BEST ROCK VIDEO
Coldplay
Title: “Paradise”

BEST ELECTRONIC DANCE MUSIC VIDEO
Calvin Harris
Title: “Feel So Close”

BEST VIDEO WITH A MESSAGE
Demi Lovato
Title: “Skyscraper”

MOST SHARE-WORTHY VIDEO (Presented by Bing)
One Direction
Title: “What Makes You Beautiful”

PROFESSIONAL CATEGORIES:

BEST CHOREOGRAPHY
Chris Brown
Title: “Turn Up the Music”
Choreography by Anwar “Flii” Burton

BEST EDITING
Beyonce
Title: “Countdown”
Editing by Alexander Hammer & Jeremiah Shuff

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Skrillex
Title: “First of the Year (Equinox)”
Visual Effects by Deka Bros & Tony T. Datis

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
M.I.A.
Title: “Bad Girls”
Cinematography by André Chemetoff

BEST ART DIRECTION
Katy Perry
Title: “Wide Awake”
Art-Direction by Benji Bamps

BEST DIRECTION
M.I.A.
Title: “Bad Girls”
Direction by Romain Gavras

Red carpet photos: WENN.com/FayesVision