A Big Night for Britney Spears

Britney Spears, alongside Jonah Hill, opened the show with a skit. She then officially kicked off the evening on stage in front of an audience who gave her a standing ovation.

The pop singer was nominated in three categories at the VMAs and she took home all three trophies. Even though she had been nominated several times in the past, Spears had never won the statue. This year, she was honoured in the categories for "Best Pop Video," "Video of the Year" and "Best Female Artist Video" for the song Piece of Me, reports Rolling Stone.

Singer Chris Brown also left with "Best Male Video" for the song With You. The Pussycat Dolls won the prize for "Best Choreography" for When I Grow Up.

The group Linkin Park was awarded "Best Rock Video" for Shadow of the Day, and the "Best Hip-Hop Video" went to Lil Wayne for Lollipop.

The public chose the group Tokio Hotel for "Best New Artist."

During the event, many artists performed, including Rihanna, The Jonas Brothers, T-Pain, Lil Wayne and Leona Lewis, Paramore, Pink, Katy Perry, and even Christina Aguilera, who sang her new song, Keeps Getting Better.

Kanye West closed the evening with his performance.