Madonna proved she was still the reigning Queen of Pop tonight with a storming performance at the MTV Europe Music Awards.
The 47-year-old opened the ceremony in Lisbon and showed the younger stars how it was done.
Coldplay and Green Day were double winners and there were prizes for Robbie Williams, Gorillaz and James Blunt.
But the night belonged to Madonna, despite the fact she was not nominated for any award.
She performed new single, Hung Up, by bursting from a giant glitterball wearing a purple leotard which revealed her astonishing figure.
The 80s-style leotard was a vintage find which she topped off with £20,000 worth of diamonds on her eyelashes.
Afterwards an awe-struck Robbie Williams - who won Best Male - said: "She looked amazing, I watched with my mouth open all the way through her performance.
"She's an absolute legend and she makes us all look like amateurs."
And he joked: "I can't believe she's 89 and looks like that."
Madonna's muscle-bound figure prompted show host Borat, aka comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, to say: "It was very brave of MTV to start the show with a transvestite."
The award ceremony took place at Lisbon's Atlantic Pavilion.
Madonna returned to the stage to present the Free Your Mind humanitarian award to her "hero" Bob Geldof for his Live 8 effort.
She said: "My hero is someone who has never been afraid to speak his mind, to ruffle feathers, to get the job done, to get down in the trenches and kick some ass.
"I know first hand it's not always considered fashionable to work hard to make the world a better place because I've taken some s*** for that myself."
Oh My Freaking God!!!!! That was an awesome performance. Shame her vocals were a bit strained. But the set and the dancing and the performance in geeneral was excellent. She is such a great entertainer.
Her arm and leg muscles have almost grown into a whole other person, some times it looks like they want to escape from her and live on their own. Is there such a thing as being too toned? In Madonna's case, aparently, yes.
Superstar MADONNA was shocked at the MTV Europe Music Awards (EMAs) last night (03NOV05), when the ceremony's Kazakhstani host BORAT SAGDIYEV labelled her a "transvestite".
The singer opened the Lisbon, Portugal ceremony with a performance of her new single HUNG UP, which samples ABBA's hit GIMME, GIMME, GIMME.
The Abba-inspired track appeared to confuse British ALI G comedian SACHA BARON COHEN's alter-ego Borat, who thought he had stepped back into the Swedish's supergroup's 1970s heyday.
Walking onto the stage at the Pavilhao Atlantico, Borat said, "Welcome to the 2005 Eurovision Song Contest. The singer before me - who was he? It was very courageous of MTV to start the show with a genuine transvestite."
Borat is hilarious.
I know Americans don't like Sacha Baron Cohen and his alias Ali G because he made such amazine fun of Americans when he shot his show in the US (The Barbara Bush remark was CLASSIC!).
Buit he is probably the only guy who could call Madonna a tranny and get away with it. His humour is just so self-depreciating that no one else minds being deprecaited. It's funny!
11-04-2005 05:36 AM
