Just like her first time, Madonna made jaws drop and cheeks blush at the 20th annual MTV Video Music Awards -- only she had help on Thursday night from the latest generation of video divas, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera.
Proving they've come a long way from their Mouseketeer days, the young pop tarts gave a gyrating, writhing tribute to Madonna to open the show. Dressed in the same kind of white bustier wedding dress Madonna wore while performing Like a Virgin during MTV's inaugural awards broadcast in 1984, Spears and Aguilera sang a cover of the not-so-innocent tune.
Then, while Madonna sang her new Hollywood in a masculine all-black outfit, she shared an open-mouthed kiss with both Aguilera and Spears.
PHOTO: REUTERS
It was all in a night's work for MTV's annual extravaganza, where mere music takes a back seat to wacky antics, barely there outfits and eye-popping performances.
There were no big winners -- Missy Elliott's Work It won two awards, including video of the year, while Justin Timberlake, Coldplay and Beyonce had three apiece. The 71-year-old Johnny Cash, nominated seven times for Hurt, won once.
As usual, the most memorable moments had nothing to do with the moonmen trophies.
Besides Madonna, Spears and Aguilera's bump-and-grind number, there was 50 Cent's pimp-a-licous performance of PIMP, during which he was joined onstage by Snoop Dogg, the ubiquitous former pimp Bishop Don Magic Juan, members of his G-Unit posse -- and a bevy of half-naked women.
``Today is the anniversary of Martin Luther King's ``I Have a Dream' speech -- isn't it nice to see that his dream has finally come true?'' cracked host Chris Rock after 50 and company left the stage.
Eminem, who won one moonman for best video from a film for Lose Yourself, poked fun at himself and his verbal tussle with a smart-mouthed puppet at last year's awards show.
``I got into this little anger management program ... and today I stand before you a changed man,'' said Eminem, onstage with the puppet Ed from the off-color, off-Broadway musical, Avenue Q.
``Working with Ed has taught me that puppets, just like people, have feelings too,'' Eminem said gently -- before attacking the puppet for being too talkative.
And Fred Durst and Jack Black poked fun at last year's embarrassing moment, when Michael Jackson thought a birthday trophy presented to him was an ``Artist of the Millennium'' award.
``If someone had told me, when I was a kid, that I was going to win the super-genius of the century award, I would have never of believed it,'' gushed Black, wearing a Jacko-esque outfit complete with metallic shin guards.
However, the evening had a potential to be poignant. Cash's haunting Hurt threatened to upstage all the craziness at the Radio City Music Hall extravaganza.
Although Cash had hoped to attend, he was hospitalized with a stomach ailment.
Cash's video, nominated for video of the year, best male video and best direction, among others, was hardly a staple on MTV over the past year. His cover of the Nine Inch Nails song wasn't played very much, and most die-hard MTV watchers may not recall even seeing it. But it resonated with those who vote on the nominations, including music executives, video directors and journalists. It won for best cinematography.
More people were familiar with Missy Elliott's Work It, the most-nominated video, which had eight nods. The music clip was loaded with special effects, dancing and surreal images. It won the evening's first award, for best hip-hop video, which Elliott picked up after participating in the Madonna tribute.
Beyonce's sexy video Crazy in Love, featuring her boyfriend Jay-Z, won three awards. She gave a showstopping, hip-shaking performance with dozens of dancers, garnering a standing ovation from the crowd.
Nominated for seven awards was Justin Timberlake's Cry Me a River video, which takes a not-so-subtle dig at ex-girlfriend Spears; the video features Timberlake exacting revenge on a cheating Spears look-alike.
Timberlake won best pop video for Cry Me a River, and best male video, beating out Cash.
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