VMAs 2012: The Winners

Just hours ago, the who’s who in the music industry got together for one of the highlights of the year: the MTV Video Music Awards 2012. Artists performed and made surprise announcements, but even more were on hand to be awarded for their achievements in music.

One Direction, the British-Irish boy band that has conquered the hearts of millions of women from all over the world (more so than the groups that made history back in the ‘90s), was the big winner of the night.

The five handsome guys scooped up 3 awards in major categories, all for the video for “What Makes You Beautiful”: Best Pop Video, Best New Artist and Best Share-Worthy Video.

If their legions of screaming fans weren’t confirmation enough of their superstar status, they also have now three Moonmen to show to their friends.

Rihanna took a back seat as compared to previous editions of the same awards ceremony, but she still managed to win a Moonman for Video of the Year for “We Found Love.”

Nicki Minaj won Best Female Video, while Chris Brown took home the award for Best Male Video with “Turn Up the Music.”

Chris’ so-called rival, Drake, also won a Moonman, for Best Hip-Hop Video with “HYFR” (featuring Lil Wayne).

Katy Perry, Beyonce and M.I.A. also nabbed an award each in the technical categories.

Below is the complete list of winners. Check it out to make sure your favorite made the cut: after all, you must have voted for him / her / them.

Video of the Year – Rihanna (featuring Calvin Harris) – “We Found Love”
Best Male Video – Chris Brown — “Turn Up the Music”
Best Female Video – Nicki Minaj — “Starships”
Best New Artist – One Direction — “What Makes You Beautiful”
Best Pop Video – One Direction — “What Makes You Beautiful”
Best Rock Video – Coldplay — “Paradise”
Best Hip-Hop Video – Drake (featuring Lil Wayne) — “HYFR”
Best Electronic Dance Music Video – Calvin Harris — “Feel So Close”
Best Video with a Message – Demi Lovato — “Skyscraper”
Most Share-Worthy Video – One Direction — “What Makes You Beautiful”
Best Direction in a Video – M.I.A. — “Bad Girls” (Director: Romain Gavras)
Best Choreography in a Video – Chris Brown — “Turn Up the Music” (Choreographer: Anwar “Flii” Burton)
Best Visual Effects in a Video – Skrillex — “First of the Year (Equinox)” (Visual Effects: Deka Brothers and Tony “Truand” Datis)
Best Art Direction in a Video – Katy Perry — “Wide Awake” (Art Director: Benji Bamps)
Best Editing in a Video – Beyoncé — “Countdown” (Editors: Alexander Hammer and Jeremiah Shuff)
Best Cinematography in a Video - M.I.A. — “Bad Girls” (Director of Photography: André Chemetoff