Jaunted

British comic Russell Brand ("Forgetting Sarah Marshall") hosted this year's awards, which featured performances by Rihanna, Kanye West and Lil' Wayne as well as a pre-show screamalong by tween faves the Jonas Brothers. ("I Kissed A Girl" singer Katy Perry later mocked their pure images by changing her cover of Madonna's "Like A Virgin" to "Like A Jonas.")

Other major award winners were Chris Brown (Best Male Video, "With You"), Lil' Wayne for the NSFLife "Lollipop" and German band Tokio Hotel snatching Best New Artist out of the grasp of Perry, Jordin Sparks and Miley Cyrus.

Olympian Michael Phelps bombed with his introduction of Leona Lewis, but Shia LaBeouf held his own with Slash while co-presenting Best Rock Video. Backstage gossip: Alex Blagg of "Best Week Ever" reports that a combination of bathrooms outside the venue and a stickler fire marshal meant celebs like Paris Hilton and LL Cool J were forced to wait outside with lowly bloggers for re-entry.

Related Stories:
· Britney's Pre-VMAs Vacay [Jauned]
· VMA Post Mortem: Kid Rock/Tommy Lee Fight Video [Jaunted]
· Celeb Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: JustJared]

Where: Los Angeles, CA, United States

Tags: Celeb Travel / Britney Spears / VMAs / MTV / Michael Phelps / Miley Cyrus / Jonas Brothers

by egw