2009 MTV Video Music Awards | |
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Date | Sunday, September 13, 2009 |
Location | Radio City Music Hall, New York City, New York |
Country | United States |
Hosted by | Russell Brand |
Most awards |
Beyoncé, Green Day and Lady Gaga (3) |
Most nominations | Beyoncé and Lady Gaga (9) |
Official website | mtv.com/ontv/vma/past-vmas/2009 |
Television/Radio coverage | |
Network | MTV and VH1 |
The 2009 MTV Video Music Awards took place on September 13, 2009, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, honoring the best music videos from June 19, 2008, to June 29, 2009. Comedian Russell Brand hosted the event for the second time in a row. The awards were held a few months after Michael Jackson died. The VMAs dedicated the night to Jackson with an opening performance featuring a music video montage medley with dancers performing Jackson's choreography and concluding with a special appearance by Janet Jackson performing her duet "Scream" alongside footage of her brother. Madonna opened the show with a speech about Jackson. For the finale of the show, they showed the trailer of Michael Jackson's This Is It.
On August 4, the nominees were announced. Beyoncé and Lady Gaga led the pack with nine nominations each, closely followed by Britney Spears with seven. Beyoncé, Green Day and Lady Gaga won three awards each, the most of the night.
The show was watched by a total of 9 million people, a 17% increase over 2008's show and the biggest ratings since the 2004 award show. This year was also the first year since 2006 to return to the Radio City Music Hall for the awards and unlike in 2008, where the show was held in a warehouse, this show was at a real venue with a live audience.
During the show, Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swift's speech for winning the award for Best Female Video ("You Belong with Me"), which spawned the "I'mma let you finish" internet meme.