Pop artists from around the world gathered in the city of Frankfurt on Thursday night for the annual MTV Europe Music Awards. A crowd of more than 7,000 packed Frankfurt's festival hall arena to see their favorite stars in action.

The show was hosted by British cult comedian Ali G, alias Sacha Baron Cohen. An estimated billion viewers tuned in to watch the ceremony.

Surprise Winner and Popular Stars

Newcomers did well at this year's event. British R&B singer Craig David, and the virtual group Gorillaz, scooped up five awards between them.

But the surprise winner of the night was an American group of rap-rock pioneers - "Limp Bizkit." The rappers won awards for best group, best album and best website.

Some of America’s biggest acts, such as Jennifer Lopez and Janet Jackson decided to stay home.

Veteran artists - superstars like Madonna, U2, Depeche Mode and REM more than made up for their absence. They performed at the ceremony but left Frankfurt without picking up any prizes.

Fans at the MTV Europe Music Awards were treated to performances by top-notch stars such as Kylie Minogue, U2, R.E.M., Depeche Mode, Dido, and Atomic Kitten.

Not Just Entertainment

Entertainment took a backseat for a moment when Damon Albarn, who fronts the virtual band Gorillaz, appealed for a halt to the US bombing of Afghanistan when collecting his MTV Europe Music award.

"See this symbol," he said, pointing to the white symbol of the anti-nuclear movement on his t-shirt. "This is the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. Bombing one of the poorest countries in the world is wrong."

Laughs and Yawns

Britain's Robbie Williams and American Jennifer Lopez won the MTV Europe Music Award for best singers at the ceremony.

Robbie Williams, who last year won the Best Song award, provoked much laughter when he thanked MTV in a videotape from a tour in Australia. He mocked his 2000 acceptance speech when he jokingly praised MTV for helping him get three cars, five houses and a supermodel girlfriend.

"I'm very humbled to receive an award from MTV once again," he said. "Last year I was very arrogant with my acceptance speech. This year's it's completely different. The supermodel girlfriend turned out to be an anorexic lesbian. As far as the houses go, I couldn't keep up with the mortgage payments. I'm living in a caravan now. And the cars...I ran them all off!"

Meanwhile the sizzling Lopez gushed from her home in America in true stars-receiving-awards-style, "Thank you for all your support. I'm just so excited".

Eminem, Dido, Anastacia...

Britain's Craig David won Best R&B award and Best UK and Ireland Act. Britain's Dido Armstrong, known as Dido, won Best New Act.

The abusive Eminem won Best Hip Hop while Blink 182 won Best Rock. The Best Pop award went to American Anastacia,

British band Depeche Mode said that the September 11 suicide hijack attacks in the United States had hardly affected European musicians and concert-goers. He contrasted this to the U.S. situation, where the music industry had slowed down.

Mainly influenced by German electro masters Kraftwerk and Britain's 1970s punk rock, Depeche Mode has sold more than 50 million records since the band's formation in 1979 in Basildon, England.

The "Music Oscars"

The awards are designed to honour the best musicians on the European scene. The winners were picked by an 800-member "voting academy" comprising key record executives in the music industry and MTV viewers from across the continent.

Often described as the "music Oscars", the MTV Europe Music Awards were created in 1994 with the aim of honoring the music and artists that Europeans love.

The Awards were designed as an international celebration of music and pop culture from a distinctly European point of view.

MTV, the round-the-clock music television said the show was beamed into more than 363 million homes in 139 countries on 24 MTV channels and other broadcasters.